Page:A Defence of Revealed Religion.pdf/30

30 in these words—"I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked should turn from his way and live." The Lord also teaches the same great truth: "It is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish."

Such being the divine purpose, and He being a God of infinite love, "in Whom there is neither variableness nor shadow of turning," it is unreasonable to suppose that because one man sinned, He would neutralize His grand design by condemning all human posterity to an eternity of suffering, and decree that they should come into the world inheriting wrath rather than grace.

Putting aside as dishonouring to the infinite perfectness of God the idea of man being in danger of endless suffering, consequent upon the passing of an arbitrary sentence by Him, let us proceed to examine from whence comes the suffering that follows sin, what is its nature, and what is its duration?

Before doing so, however, let us establish the fact that suffering does follow sin. Sin is the breaking of law, in the theologic sense, the breaking of God's spiritual law, and through the prophet Ezekiel we have the announcement—"the soul that sinneth it shall surely die." This was the sentence that we read of in the early chapters of Genesis as the warning of God to Adam. "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die;" and the reiteration of