Jonathan Mayhew's Weird Philosophy

 On page 389, of Mayhew's memoir, he writes this footnote:

The scriptures make use of no such language as Christ's satisfying divine justice. But I am not disposed to dispute about words. If they who use the phrase, mean no more by the satisfaction of Christ, than is implied in his sacrifice or atonement, I make no objection to it: but I have asserted the doctrine in my sermons, which have been so outrageously attacked.

When I first read it, I thought "can this guy be a divine?" What does the New and Old Testament say takes away sin? Did he not read Mat 24, 25, and 26? Why would Jesus affirm eternal punishment if not for perfect justice?

Matthew 25:41,46
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels..And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. [bold face mine]

A human being can only be righteous unto God by having his sins atoned for by blood. Incidently, verse 14 claims the Holy Spirit is eternal, which Mayhew ignored--his own blood is upon him:

Hebrews 9:12,14
Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us..How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? [bold face mine]

Pelagians have the problem of ignoring God's Word, and instead, quote other people, which is what Mayhew does trying to defend himself against an orthodox divine who has him by the...In seminary, when you study the Book of Romans, it becomes evident Paul is explaining reconciliation, satisfaction, justification, etc. Yes, satisfaction satisfies God's wrath, but the entire Bible explains God is Holy, and perfect--so He has to be perfect justice. No way to get around it:

Romans 5:9-11
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. [bold face mine]

18th century unitarians ignored parts of scripture they didn't believe, under the guise of adhering to biblical inerrancy--how could you not see it? They would have had empty churches by rejecting biblical inerrancy, and Mayhew's cohorts couldn't yet change the meaning of biblical terms--this didn't happen until Channing established unitarianism on a more broad footing in a broader area. Satisfying God's justice because He is Holy, is in almost every book of the New Testament. If God doesn't eternally punish sin, He approves the sin and takes part in it. A thousand years of punishment isn't enough! God is eternal, and man's spirit is immortal, therefore, the punishment is eternal. Morever, God wouldn't be Holy or perfect justice.

All of these problems start when people depart from the CLEAR teaching of God's Word.