Evening star., 1929-11-30
Religious Questions
DISCUSSED BY
DR.. S. Parkes Cadmarr.

turn to Jerusalem and again worship
there the God of their deliverance. Con-
suit also II Kings from xviii, l3, to Xxx,
19, the substance of which, according
| to Prof. Peake, Is repeated in the twen-
ty-Sixth to the twenty-ninth chapters
of Isaiah.
The calling Of the elect by trumpet
blast is an idiom very frequently en-
ployed by the apocalyptic books, "a
great voice as Of a trumpet" being one
of the reSounding phrases of this litera-
ture. The reference in the text before
us to ASSyria Is not to be applied to the
the ASSyria Of Isaiah'S time, Of which
Ninevah was the capital, since the
chapter was written after the fall Of
that city. 1t is rather a general refer
ence to the regions occupied by Israel's
hereditary foes.
@. The Scriptures speak of death as
sleep and also as a transition to q
place of great happiness. Yet Hezekiah
did not want to die and Jesus wept
when he heard of the death of Lazarus.
Moreover, Lazarus, after his restoration,
never gave any information concerning
his experiences while dead
Would it not, therefore, seem as If
there were no such thing as activity Of
the soul when the body lies still in
death?
A. Your illustration fro Hezekiah is
hardly in point and does not establish
the conclusion your question suggests.
No sane person interested in a great
enterprise as HeZekiah was desires
death. All of us, whether so engaged
or not, have a natural shrinking from
the pain and mystery of bodily disSo-
luton. This statement holds true of
those who are firmly convinced of more
fJtll ifA ~
those who do not share that convic-
ton.
There is always the thought of the
unfinished work of loved ones to be
left behind, of opportunities forfeited
reflections which give deep poignancy
to death.
The case Of Lazarus does not sus-
tain your argument, because we have
no record Of what, If anything, he re-
hereafter, and, further, it is possible
that he had nothing to tell. Lazarus,
like the rest of us, could only remem-
ber what his brain recorded. While
his body lay dead his brain must have
been inactive. and the fortunes of his
discarnate spirit were not registered in
that inactive center. His memory re-
sumed its functions when he was re-
stored to bodily existence, and possibly
he was at first unaware that he had
been dead except as he inferred it from
the circumstances or from the conyersa-
ton of others.
OF course, this raises the issue as to
life'S conditions and processes beyond
the grave. These are not fully in our
present possession. Jesus who Wept for
his own sorrow and for that Of others
at the grave of Lazarus, is the Chris
tlan'S authority concerning the future
life. And He commands US to believe
IN God as its giver. Our knowledge Of
| that life is dim. But it is enough to
know that the souls of the righteous
shall be with Him. This day" said
Christ to the dying thief. "thou shalt
be with Me in Paradise" This is not
the place of coma, but of thu blessed
ness promised to those by faithful con-
tlnuance in well doing, "lay hold on
eternal life"
! @. Why did Christ have to die for
| mans sin If God is omnipotent? I am
at complete loss to understand the
doctrine of the atonement.
A; You are probably thinking Of
Christs death either as a precipitation
offered to an angry God or as a means
! OF removing an obstacle to the further
carrying out Of His will The first idea
has no warrant in the New Testament.
1t Is essentially pagan view and quite
loses sight of the fact that in the New
Testament Christ Is always set forth as
Gods gift to us and as the supreme
expression of His love.
! The second idea may also be seriously
misunderstood. 1t can be taken to
mean that there was some obstacle in
God which the death of Christ removes.
believe 1t is correct to say that the
obstacle was in man.
What could such an obstacle be-?
Only one thing-sin. God desires the
destruction Of sin, but sin Is something
| which mere omnipotence can never
abolish. Sin is an attitude of the
human will and God cannot change that
unless we allow Him to do so. The
sufferings Of Christ are the means
whereby God seeks to win our will to
Himself. They are an expression at
one and the same time of His great and
abiding love for men and of His aver
sion to sin. He would forgive, but He
can forgive only as we repent, and He
manifestS Himself in Christ to produce
in us the spirit of repentance and
thereby make W forgivable.