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EXEMPLARISM

The erroneous theory of the Atonement which holds that Christ's passion and death are salutary only be reason of the example that the Savior gave to mankind. It is a modern variant of Pelagianism, which claimed that Adam's sin was essentially the bad example he passed on to his progeny; and Christ's role would then be only to give the contrary, good example.

All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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