The Detroit times., 1910-07-29
ALL IN ADAM-ALL IN CHRIST.

Once we considered most unlSind.
unjust, the Bible declaration that our
Creator condemned all of Adam 9
race with him on account of Adam s
Original Sim" But now, in the lighr
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. contrariwise, that in this very
particular he did them a kindness
that 1t was In the interest of human
ity In general. We are aware that
this statement appears paradoxical to
those who have-not yet gotten the
proper focus upon the Divine plan.
The key which unlocks the difficulty
Is the proper appreciation OF the PEN
atty 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. II is this unscriptural and
irrational view OF the wage-of Orig
inal Sin which caused all our diff
ficulty. Indeed II is safe to say that
no other false doctrine held by Gods
people ever drove away from God,
from the Bible and from the fellow
ship of the Church SO many intelli-
gent minds. Thousands OF bright,
honest minds. after seeing this teach
ing Of the Christian creeds formulated
In the dark ages, have quietly with
drawn from them in heart, II not out
wardly, saying to themselves, Evident
~ my reasoning faculties are OF a
different kind from those OF many
others prominent in the Church: With
out disputing the point, | simply con-
clude that | must think for myself
and that, in SO doing. am forced out
of sympathy with the majority of fel.
low-C 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 repudiate this doctrine
would be to repudiate the Bible and
to become open inhdels. And just
here Is their mistake. The majority
Vi tuGUl nOt biOlC bluoCheo L<fCh
AMONGST ministers OF the Gospel COM
paratively few have any degree OF
knowledge of Gods Word. They
know what they think about the
Bible what they believe that il
teaches; what they have been told
that II teaches; what the catechisms
say II teaches but they have never
made critical Investigations OF the
Bible themselves to ascertain its
teachings II Is 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. bit who are anxious to know, to
rightly understand, the Word of God.
Glasses in Bible study are sprlnging
up all over the world. These have re-
Gently adopted the name OF "Interna-
tional Bible Students association"
God is blessing them, not only with
the opening OF their own eyes more
and more widely, but also in using
them to bring others "out OF darkness
into His marvellous light" Ct Peter
ii. 81.
The Scriptures speak Of famine.
not for bread nor for water, but for
hearing Of the Word of the Lord" This
famine II upon US now. Not only are
Christian people hungry and thirsty
for the bread of life and the water OF
life. but many OF the worldly are feel
ing a longing for something better
than tho husks which they have. We
do not know that all Church members.
nor all OF any one Church membership.
are thus hungering and thirsting for
Truth. But we do know that every
where IN all the various Churches OF
all denominations there is n hungry
class which cannot be satisfied to dis
honestly misrepresent itself as In har-
mony with the creeds. These bewil-
dcred sheep arc, OF late years. hnding
the green pastures and still waters OF
Divine Truth and grace--near to them
in the Word OF God--hidden under
the rubbish OF ignorance and super
stition, naturalization and misinter-
probation.
But as for the masses OF all denom-
nations: Alas, they are falling into
unbeliefl The popular form OF infidel-