1881 Watch Tower - A2Z.org
1881 Watch Tower - A2Z.org 1881 Watch Tower - A2Z.org
favorable circumstances, as a perfect man, should not all hisposterity have a similarly favorable trial? We all know that weare born with both mental and physical ailments andimperfections. Why did not God give us all as good a chance asAdam?A.--If you or I had been in Adam's place, we would have donejust as he did. Remember, he had known God only a little while.He found himself alive--perhaps God told him he was hisCreator, had a right to command his obedience, and to threatenand inflict punishment for disobedience. But what did Adamknow about the matter? Here was another creature at his sidewho contradicted God, telling him that he would not die fromeating the fruit; that God was jealous, because eating of this fruitwould make him a God also. Then the tempter exemplified histeaching by eating of it himself, and man saw that he was thewisest of creatures. Can you wonder that they ate? No; as areasoning being he could scarcely have done otherwise.C.--But he should have remembered the penalty--what a terribleprice he must pay for his disobedience--the wretchednessR250 : page 4and death which would follow. If I were so placed, I think Ishould make more effort to withstand the tempter.A.--Wait, Brother C.; you forget that Adam, up to this time, wastotally unacquainted with wretchedness and death. He could notknow what wretchedness meant; he never had been wretched.He did not know what dying meant; and, if you or I had beenthere, controlled by an unbiased judgment, we would have donejust as Adam did. The reason you think you could withstandbetter is, that you have had experience with evil, and havelearned, in a measure, what Adam up to that time had notlearned in the smallest degree,--viz., to know good from evil.C.--O, I see. Then it is because we would have done just asAdam did; that God is justified in counting us all sinners, that"by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners," and"by the offence of one, all were condemned" (Rom. 5:18,19),and so "the wages of sin (death) passed upon all," and throughor "in Adam all die."B.--Do I understand you to say that God does evil that good maycome?A.--By no means. God did no evil, and he permitted it onlybecause it was necessary that his creatures should know goodfrom evil; that by being made acquainted with sin and itsconsequences --sickness, misery, and death--they might learn"the exceeding sinfulness of sin," and having tasted that thebitter "wages of sin is death," they might be prepared to chooselife and to understand the wisdom and love of God incommanding obedience to his righteous laws.
B.--But did not God implant in his creature that very thirst forknowledge which led him to an act of disobedience in order togratify it? Does it not seem, too, that he wanted him to becomeacquainted with evil, and, if so, why should he attach a penaltyto the sinful act, knowing that a knowledge of evil could beobtained in no other way?A.--We can see readily that a knowledge of evil could beR250 : page 5obtained in no way except by its introduction; and, remember,Adam could not have disobeyed if God had given nocommandment, and every command must have a penaltyattached to give it force. Therefore, I claim that God not onlyforesaw man's fall into sin but designed it: it was a part of hisplan. God permitted, nay, designed man's fall; and why?Because, having the remedy provided for his release from itsconsequences, he saw that the result would be to lead man to aknowledge, through experience, which would enable him to seethe bitterness and blackness of sin--"the exceeding sinfulness ofsin," and the matchless brilliancy of virtue in contrast with it;thus teaching him the more to love and honor his Creator, who isthe fountain and source of all goodness, and to forever shun thatwhich brought so much woe and misery. So the final result isgreaterR251 : page 5love for God, and greater hatred of all that is opposed to him.The best armament against temptation is knowledge.C.--Your reasoning is clear, forcible, and, would seem to me,plausible, were it not that this experience and knowledge cametoo late to benefit the human family. Adam failed from want ofknowledge and experience to maintain uprightness of character --his posterity, though possessing that knowledge and experience,fail to attain uprightness from lack of ability occasioned by hissin.B.--I can see no objection to your view, that evil was permittedbecause necessary to man's development and designed for hisultimate good, were it not as Brother C. suggests--mankind willnever have an opportunity to make use of the experience andknowledge thus obtained. But, Brother A., what did you mean afew minutes since when you said God had a remedy providedfor man's release from the effects of the fall before he fell?A.--God foresaw that having given man freedom of choice, hewould, through lack of knowledge, accept evil when disguisedas an "angel of light;" and, also, that becoming acquainted withit, he would still choose it, because that acquaintance wouldR251 : page 6
- Page 231 and 232: (Gal. 4:19) "the hope of glory;" (C
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- Page 241 and 242: expenses--not to mention the additi
- Page 243 and 244: As we have seen, Jesus understood t
- Page 245 and 246: R241 : page 2the graves shall hear
- Page 247 and 248: now preached. We were not called, n
- Page 249 and 250: How blessed then, to lay the cross
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- Page 253 and 254: flower: so in the six branches that
- Page 255 and 256: "And he made the lampstand of pure
- Page 257 and 258: y human wisdom or knowledge, "not b
- Page 259 and 260: mercy endureth forever") but now du
- Page 261 and 262: and, like the paschal lamb, affecte
- Page 263 and 264: lifetime subject to bondage" --Let
- Page 265 and 266: and praying be the reason of the ke
- Page 267 and 268: "Well, are you redeemed?""Yes, I am
- Page 269 and 270: R247 : page 7WHAT WE EXPECT.The hop
- Page 271 and 272: heads, "standards" and "authorities
- Page 273 and 274: THE NEW VERSION.The revised version
- Page 275 and 276: the destruction of our globe, and t
- Page 277 and 278: occur in 1880 and 1881. But though
- Page 279 and 280: page iFOODFORTHINKING CHRISTIANS.--
- Page 281: among the good? Could he not have p
- Page 285 and 286: should disobey God, death would hav
- Page 287 and 288: in the forfeit of the sinner's life
- Page 289 and 290: The character and exclusive applica
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- Page 293 and 294: C.--Now, another point: Are all our
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- Page 301 and 302: These evidently overlook the fact t
- Page 303 and 304: he were dealing by a rule of chance
- Page 305 and 306: SEPARATE AGES.The Patriarchal, last
- Page 307 and 308: complete, then the plan of God for
- Page 309 and 310: Again he says, Acts 4:12, "There is
- Page 311 and 312: Another is: "There is one God, and
- Page 313 and 314: accomplished.--Vs. 28 to 33. The pr
- Page 315 and 316: THEIR FORMER ESTATE,"--restitution.
- Page 317 and 318: ighteousness to such a degree that
- Page 319 and 320: for the same reasons. But when God'
- Page 321 and 322: now they die for their own willful
- Page 323 and 324: Millennial reign. The glory of the
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- Page 327 and 328: the disciples did not see Christ's
- Page 329 and 330: the glory that shall be revealed (1
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favorable circumstances, as a perfect man, should not all hisposterity have a similarly favorable trial? We all know that weare born with both mental and physical ailments andimperfections. Why did not God give us all as good a chance asAdam?A.--If you or I had been in Adam's place, we would have donejust as he did. Remember, he had known God only a little while.He found himself alive--perhaps God told him he was hisCreator, had a right to command his obedience, and to threatenand inflict punishment for disobedience. But what did Adamknow about the matter? Here was another creature at his sidewho contradicted God, telling him that he would not die fromeating the fruit; that God was jealous, because eating of this fruitwould make him a God also. Then the tempter exemplified histeaching by eating of it himself, and man saw that he was thewisest of creatures. Can you wonder that they ate? No; as areasoning being he could scarcely have done otherwise.C.--But he should have remembered the penalty--what a terribleprice he must pay for his disobedience--the wretchednessR250 : page 4and death which would follow. If I were so placed, I think Ishould make more effort to withstand the tempter.A.--Wait, Brother C.; you f<strong>org</strong>et that Adam, up to this time, wastotally unacquainted with wretchedness and death. He could notknow what wretchedness meant; he never had been wretched.He did not know what dying meant; and, if you or I had beenthere, controlled by an unbiased judgment, we would have donejust as Adam did. The reason you think you could withstandbetter is, that you have had experience with evil, and havelearned, in a measure, what Adam up to that time had notlearned in the smallest degree,--viz., to know good from evil.C.--O, I see. Then it is because we would have done just asAdam did; that God is justified in counting us all sinners, that"by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners," and"by the offence of one, all were condemned" (Rom. 5:18,19),and so "the wages of sin (death) passed upon all," and throughor "in Adam all die."B.--Do I understand you to say that God does evil that good maycome?A.--By no means. God did no evil, and he permitted it onlybecause it was necessary that his creatures should know goodfrom evil; that by being made acquainted with sin and itsconsequences --sickness, misery, and death--they might learn"the exceeding sinfulness of sin," and having tasted that thebitter "wages of sin is death," they might be prepared to chooselife and to understand the wisdom and love of God incommanding obedience to his righteous laws.
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