“The law is obligated to punish the transgressor as much as the transgressor is obligated to obey the law — law has no option. Justice has but one function. The necessity of penalty is as great as the necessity of obligation. The law itself is under law; that is, it is under the necessity of its own nature; and therefore the only possible way whereby a transgressor can escape the penalty of the law, is for a substitute to endure it for him. The deep substrata and base of all God's ethical attributes are eternal law and impartial justice.”

—  William Greenough Thayer Shedd

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 267.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update May 18, 2022. History

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William Greenough Thayer Shedd 5
American theologian 1820–1894

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