The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1910-07-26
Sermon by
CHARLES T.
RUSSELL,
Pastor Brooklyn
Tabernacle.

our Creator condemned all Of Adams
race with him on account Of Adams
"Original Sin" But now, In the light OF
the clearer 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-
frariwise, that In this very particular.
he did them a kindness-that 1t was In
the interest Of humanity In general.
We are aware that this statement ap-
pears paradoxical to those who have
not yet gotten the proper focus upon
the Divine Plan. The key which un-
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 Mt the hands Of devils. 1t is
this unscriptural and irrational view
of the wage Of Original Sin which
caused all our difficulty Indeed, 1t is
safe TO say that no other false doc
trine held by Gods people ever drove
away from God, from the Bible and
from the fellowship Of the Church so
many intelligent minds. Thousands OF
bright, honest minds, after seeing this
teaching of the Christian creeds formu-
lated in the dark ages, have quietly
la, nj
outwardly, saying to themselves, EYl-
dently my reasoning faculties are Of a
different kind from those of many 9th
ers prominent In the Church: Without
disputlng the point, | simply conclude
that must think for myself and that,
In so doing, 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 that to repudlate this doctrine
would be to repudnte 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
1t teaches; what they have been told
that 1t teaches; what the catechisms say
1t teaches; but they have never made
critical Investigations of the Bible
themselves to ascertain Its teachings.
1t is n part OF our endeavor to arouse
Christian people everywhere to search
and study the Scriptures and to assist
theG with Bible study helps, Bible
keys, etc. And, thank God, there are
thousands In Spiritual Israel who are
not bowling their knees to Baal, but
who are anxious 10 know, to rightly
understand, the Word OF God. Clnsses
In Bible study are springlng up al
over the world, These have recently
adopted the name OF "Internationa
. Bible Students Association" God Ii
blessing them, not only with the open
ing of their own eyes more and more
widely, but also ln using them to brint
Others "out of darkness into his mar
velous light" Il Peter II, 81.
The Scriptures speak OF famine
not for bread uer for water, but fol
hearing of the Word Of the Lord
This famine Is upCd Ms now Not onl.
are Christian people hungry and thlrs
ty for the bread of life and the watc
vof life, but many of the worldly ar
feeling longing for something bette
than the huskS which they have, w
do not know that all Church members
nor nil Of any one Church member
ship, are thus hunscrlng and thlrstln
for Truth. But we do know that every
where I'm all the various Churches o
all denominations there Is II hungr
class which cannot he satisfied To dis
honestly mlsrepresent itself as In hal
mony with the crecds. These bewi
dcred sheep are, of late years, iindin
the green pastures aud still waters q
Divine Truth and grace near to thcI
in the Word Of God hidden undC
the rubbish OF ignorance and superst
ton. mistranslatlon aud mlslnterpreti
ton
But as for the masses OF all denou
nations: Alas. they are falling int
unbelIef! The popular form of inidc
ity known as Higher Criticism has Il
ready swallowed up more thnn on
half Of the ministry and OF the mo
Intelligent part OF the laIty. The on
hope for any of these il In leaving Il
chaff and husks of medieval misi
terpretations OF Gods Word and
finding its true meaning, In which
refreshment. strength and new life.
"The Wages Of Sin Is Death"
However we read our Bibles In {
past we read into them from the cree
of a darker time the mischieyous err
that when the Bible declares deG
penalty for sin 1t really means the
verse Of -Hfe--eternal life In et'
nal torture. Who had the right
twist the inspired words In such dc
ilish fashion, Who had the right
a -