The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1910-07-25
Pastor Brooklyn
Tabernade

-ssa7s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-'-'Oo
July 24.-dnce we considered most un.
kind, UNJUST the Bible declaration that
our Creator condemned all OF Adams
race with him on account of Adams
Original Sin" But now, In the light Of
theclearer unfolding Of Gods Word, we
are privileged to; see differently. Now
we perceive. not only that God did no
injustice to Adams children. but. con.
trnriwIse. that in this very particular,
he did them,n klndness-that 1t was in
the interest Of humanity In general
We are aware that this statement mp.
pears paradoxical to- those who have
not yet gotten the proper focus upon
the Divine Plan. The key which I'M.
locks the difficulty is the proper appre-
citation Of the penalty imposed upon
Adam and his race.
The erroneous, unscriptural, view Of
this penalty which came down to US
from the dark ages teaches that God
damned father Adam. mother Eve. and
every child born to them to an eternity
Of torture at the hands OF devils. 1t Is
this unscrIptural and Irrational view
Of the wugc Of Original Sin which
caused all our difficulty. Indeed, 1t is
safe 10 say thht no other false doc
trinc held by Gods people ever drove
away from God, from the Bible and
from the fellowship of ithc Church so
many Intelligent minds. Thousands of
bright. honest minds. after seeing this
teaching of tho Christian creeds formu.
lated In the dark ages. have quietly
withdrawn from them in heart. IL not
outwardly. saying to themselves. Evil
IDENTIFY my reasoning faculties are Of n
different kind from those of many 9th.
ers prominent In the Church: Without
dIsputing the point, ! simply conclude
that l must think for myself and that.
in so doing, l am forced out Of SYM
pathy with the majority Of fellow
Christians on this basic doctrine.
Where Lies tho Difficulty
The difficulty Is that while the ma.
jority Of Christian people heartily re-
pudIate these Misrepresentation Of
God, and his Word. nevertheless the
subject is not clear to them and they
fear thdt TO repudiate this doctrine
would be to rcpudlate the Bible and to
become open infidels. And just here is
their mistake. The majority OF them are
not Bible students. Even amongst min
listers OF the Gospel comparatively few
have any degree of knowledge of Gods
Word. They know what they think
about the Bible; what they believe that
It teaches; what they have been told
thatit teaches; what the catechlsms say
It teaches: but they have never made
critical investigations of the Bible
themselves to ascertain Its teachings.
1t Is n part Of our endeayor to arouse
Christian people everywhere to search
and study the Scriptures and to assist
them with Bible study helps, Bible
keys, etc. And. thank God. there IRE
thousands In Spiritual Israel who are
not bowling their knees to Baal. but
who are anxious to know. to rightly
understand, the Word Of God. Classes
In Bible study are springlng up all
over the world. These have recently
adopted the name of international
Bible Students Association" God is
blessing them. not only with the open.
ing of their own eyes more and more
widely, but also in using them to bring
others tout Of darkness into bis mar
velous light Il Peter 81. o..
The Scriptures speak of n famine.
not for bread nor for water. but for
hearing Of the Word Of the Lord"
This famine Is upon us now. Not only
arc Christian people hungry and thlrs-
ty for the bread Of life and tho water
Of life, but many of the worldly are
feeling longing for something better
than the husks which they have. We
do not know that all Church members,
nor all Of any one Church member
ship. are thus hungering and thlrsting
for Truth. But We do know that every
where In all the various Churches of
all denominations there Is a hungry
class which cannot be satisfied to dis
honestly mlsrepresent itself Us In har-
mony with the creeds. These Devil.
dered sheep are. of late years. finding
the green pastures and still waters OF
Divine Truth and grace-near to them
lin the Word Of God-hidden under
the rubbish of ignorance and superstl:
ton. mistransation and mlsnterpre.a.
ton. a-3. @ l,t RODS
But as for the masses of all denom-
nations: Alas, they are falling into
mbellef! The popular form of infidel-
ity known as Higher Criticism has al
ready swallowed up more than one
half Of the ministry and of the most
intelligent part of the laity. The only
hope for any Of these Is In leaving the
chaff and husks of medieval mlsin.
terpretations Of Gods Word and ia
ending its true meaning. In which Is
refreshment. strength and new life.
"The Wages of Sin Is Death"
However we read our Bibles In the
past eredd into them from the crceds
Of darker time the mischIevous error
that when the Bible declares death
penalty for sin Il really mems tho re.