The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1910-07-29
Sermon by
CHARLES T.
RUSSELL.
Pastor Brooklyn
Tabernacle.

kind, unjust the Bible declaration that
our Creator condemned all of Adams
race with him on account Of Adams
Original SIM" But now, in the light OF
tbeclearer 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-
trartwise, that in this very particular,
he did them kindness-that It 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 I'M
locks the difficulty is the proper appre-
citation of the penalty imposed upon
Adam and his race,
The erroneous, unscr1ptural 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 unscrptural 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
rine held by Gods people ever drove
away from God. from the Bible and
from the fellowship of the Church 50
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withdrawn from them In heart, II not
outwardly, saying to themselves, Evil
IDENTIFY my reasoning faculties are of a
different kind from those Of many 9TH
ers prominent IN the Church: Without
disputtng the point | simply conclude
that must think for myself and that,
In so doing, am forced out Of sym
patty 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 repudiate 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
it teaches; but they have never made |
critical investigations of the Bible |
themselves to ascertain its teachings. |
1t 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 springing 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
widely. but also in using them to bring
others "out of darkness into his mar
velous hight" q Peter Il, 81.
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 thtrs-
Nxv 60 Haa - nd hn VIC |
OF life, but many Of the worldly are
feeling a 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 thirsting
for Truth But we do know that every
where In all the various Churches Of
an denominations there Is a hungry
class which cannot be satisfied TO dis
honestly misrepresent itself as in bar
mony with the creeds. These bewil-
dered sheep are, of late years. finding
the green pastures and stin waters Of
Divine Truth and grace-near to them
tn the Word Of God-hidden under
the rubbish Of ignorance and supersti-
ton, mistranslation and misinterpreta-
ton
But as for the masses OF all denom-
nations: Alas they are falling into
unbeliefl The popular form Of infldel-
fty 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 misfn-
Of Gods Word and In
finding its true meaning. In which is
strength and new life
The Wages Of Sin ls Desth.-
However we read our Bibles IN the
past we read into them from the creeds
u a darker time the mischievous error
hat when the Bible declares a dedfA
penalty for sin Il really means the re-
rerse Of this-life-eternal life In eter-
aal torture. who had the right TO
.wist the inspired words IN such a dew
1ish fashion, Who had the right 70
i'd to the Word Of God and 10 make
roid its true teaching In this mannerl !
Hear the words Of the Apostle. The
rares Of SIN r. death; but the gift Of