Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1910-07-30
PEOPLES
Sermon by
CHARLES T.
RUSSELL.
Pastor Brooklyn
Tabernacle.

race Wlln ulm on account OF AQam
"Origina 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-
trariwise, that in this very particular,
he did them a kindness--that IL was in
the interest Of humanity IN general.
We are aware that this statement ap-
pears paradoxica 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-
ciation 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 wage of Original Sin which
caused all our difficulty. Indeed, it 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
Withdrawn from them in heart, If not
outwardly. saying to themselves. Evi-
IDENTIFY my reasoning faculties are of
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
pothy with the majority Of fellow
Christians on this basic doctrine.
Where Lies the 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 repudiate 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
that It teaches; what the catechisms say
ii teaches; but they have never made
critical investigations of the Bible
themselves to ascertain its teachings.
II is a part of our endeavor 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 are
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. Glasses
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 "out of darkness into his mar
NNi'N" lbNl "a fttl H. w.
The Scriptures speak OF a famine. |
not for bread nor for water. but for
hearing of the Word OF the Lord"
This famine Is upon US now. Not only
are Christian people hungry and thrs-
ty for the broad of life and the water
Of life, bur many of the worldly are
feeling q longing for something better
fhuu th. bttel.s V.hf.I tt..,. I,,, W..
90 not know that all Church members.
nor all of any one Church member
ship, are thus hungeHng ana thirsting
for Truth. But we do know that every
where IN all the various Churches Of
MI denominations there Is n hungry
class which cannot be satisfied TO dis
honestly misrepresent itself as IN har-
mony with the creeds These bewil-
iered sheep are Of late years finding
he green pastures and still waters of
Divine Truth and grace-near TO them
In the Word Of God-hidden under
he rubbish OF ignorance and superst-
ion. mlstranslation and mislnterpreta-
Ion
But as for the masses qf all denom-
nations Alas, they are failing into
The popular form Of infldel-
~ known as Higher Criticism has al
'eady swallowed up more than one
lnlf Of the ministry and OF the most
intelligent part OF the laity. The only
nope for any OF these is in leaving the
'haff and husks of medieval mlsin-
Of Gods Word and in
hiding its true meaning, in which ls
strength and new life.
"Tho Wages Of Sin ls Death"
However we read our Bibles IN the
lnst we read into them from the creeds
Il a darker time the mischievous error
hat when the Bible declares death
,enalty for sin II really means the re-
'erse Of life-eternal life In eter-
lal torture. who had the right TO
wist the inspired words In such a dew
lish fashlong Who had the right 20
i'd 70 the Word OF God ana 20 make
'oid It's true teaching IN this manner2
Hear the words Of the Apostle, THE
wages OF sin Is death; but the gift OF
iod is eternal life through Jesus /
~~-s sTVPR9Na