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INTRODUCTION

THIS particular booklet has been called forth because of the deep fog which surrounds the doctrines of "Original Sin" and "Eternal Punishment". It is not too much to say that much of the contempt which honest men have poured upon Christianity has arisen from a wholesome refusal to believe some of the things which are put forward as unquestioned matters of Christian Faith. Just as the Roman Catholic Church has repelled many by its obvious errors—as instanced by the latest doctrine, necessary to saving faith, of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary—so also has Protestantism asked men to believe the incredible, and even the wicked. Some in revolt have thrown away the baby with the bathwater: others have subsided into an uneasy silence on the matters, and, when challenged by the unbeliever, have had to refuse battle, or else attempt to defend the indefensible with the sword of Ecclesiastical Authority.

The malady is deep-rooted and inveterate. For hundreds of years the influence of St. Augustine and others has swayed the minds of Christians, and through the Roman Church laid down a track, by this time worn hard by the unreflecting feet of thousands, which has led into confusion and error. Particularly is this so in regard to the character of God, which has been besmirched and twisted out of all recognition: until, instead of a God of Love who is the soul of generosity and long-suffering and mercy, we have a Despot who is a bundle of contradictions: loving enough to send His Son to die for sinners but too careless to make sure that they heard about it: not willing that any should perish but knowing that the vast majority would: the essence of unselfishness and yet creating this groaning world for His own glory and pleasure.

No effort can be too great to rescue the reputation of our Lord from these aspersions and to enable every man to worship

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Him with a satisfied mind as well as a loving heart, and to drive the antagonist into the confusion of folly.1

There is no conflict between faith and reason: indeed the Christian faith is the only reasonable way of thinking, and men will go to Hell if, having seen and understood it, they reject it for their own selfish ends. God in all things appeals to our reason;2 there is no higher court of appeal: if a thing is irrational or self-contradictory no man can be justified in accepting it as true however great the pressure. God's one weapon in the fight against error is The Truth, the Arm of the Lord, "to whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed?" (Isa. 53,1). There is such a thing as the full assurance of understanding which is the goal of the healthy believer,3 and God's words are all plain to him that understandeth.4 The surrender of the intellect to authority, whether it be to that of some powerful church, or of some modern ideology, is the final abdication of humanity. The Holy Ghost came for the express purpose of leading the Church into all truth. He is never happier than when bringing the infant child of God to the stature of the fullness of Christ in faith and knowledge.

The Bible was written, not for great intellects, but for simple babes.5 Its truths are so obvious that to deny them is the greatest crime, worthy of death, and impatient of any defence, "he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark 16,16), "that they all might be damned who believed not the truth" (2 Thess. 2,11-12). It is the things that worldly men believe, such as Mohammedanism or Evolution or Christian Science, that have to be believed against the evidence and the plain dictates of common sense, in which clever but wicked men have to think up every conceivable kind of argument that can serve to bolster up a bad case.

On the contrary the wisdom of God is so plain that John was able to write it in words of one syllable; while the wisdom of men invariably requires a particular sort of jargon that only the initiated can understand, correct thinking dresses itself in homespun; it is foolishness and muddle-headedness that requires verbal frills and furbelows if it is to be acceptable. God is angry with men not just for evil living, but also for devious thinking wherewith to defend it, so that in the end their minds are permanently damaged and unable to think straight at all. "And even as they did not like to retain

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God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind".6 The murder of the intelligence is as grave a crime as the searing of the conscience, and truth is the seed plot of morality.

The appeal of this Booklet then is to the logic of The Truth and the very plain overwhelming statements of the Scriptures, in which the most important doctrines are stated and restated in such a variety of ways that they cannot be misunderstood by a candid mind.

The aim of the Booklet is that the Reader may end up by being completely satisfied with his understanding of the Love and Wisdom of God, perfectly willing to engage any opponent in argument with no awkward reserves at the back of his mind, and devoid of the strife and bitterness which always go with the championship of error.

1 Titus 1,9-11.
2 Isa. 1,18.

3 Col. 2,2.
4 Prov. 8,9.

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5 Matt. 11,25. Isa. 28,9.
6 Rom. 1,18-32.

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The Disastrous Effects Of The Doctrine Of Original Sin | By His Stripes We Are Healed | The Book Of Revelation | The Second Coming Of Christ | The Baptism And Gifts Of The Holy Spirit | The Comforter Is Come