"Original Sin" And Eternal Punishment

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< > CHAPTER ONE THE PILLARS OF ALL THEOLOGY THERE are two fundamental Truths of Christianity which will be laid down as the pillars of all theology. The first is that God is Love: the second that the will, though not the actions, of men is free. God is Love The statement is not that God is loving, i.e. capable of love, but that He is Love, i.e. incapable of not loving. The Love of others is His Nature and dominates all His thoughts and actions. All other emotions of the Almighty, His anger, His jealousy, His compassion, His vengeance, are but the varied reactions of His Love under different circumstances. When He is most angry it is still the Anger of Love: when He scourges every son whom He receives it is only a manifestation of His Love, arising from a longing that in this way His son may come to honour. Not only is God passively unselfish, He is also actively benevolent. It is not enough that He should not seek His own happiness: He must also be ceaselessly engaged in seeking that of others. The most dangerous and devastating of all lies is the thought that God created the Universe for His own glory or pleasure. The mistranslation of Rev. 4,11 "For thy pleasure they are and were created" corrected in the R.V. to "Because of thy will they were, and were created" is a reflection of the bad old theory of the divine right of kings, and has led to the absurd contradiction that a God who is Love yet created the Universe for His own pleasure, and so was selfish. The truth of course is that The Almighty needed nothing to give Him pleasure, but was already completely happy in — end of page 14 — the love of His Son and Spirit; but that out of sheer unselfishness He jeopardised that perfect happiness and entered upon a course which was bound to bring Him sorrow, solely in order that there might arise an Eternal Kingdom in which countless myriads might share His own happiness for ever. While it is true that God does seek His own glory, it is quite untrue that He created the Universe for His own glory. God seeks His own glory solely for our sakes, and not at all for His. As an illustration, The Judge at The Old Bailey is most punctilious in seeking his own glory, and will commit you to prison for contempt of court, if you refuse to obey his ruling. He does this however for the sake of the ordinary citizen, who will not be able to obtain justice if the Judge is despised. It is very far from the truth to say that the Judge invented the legal system in order that he might be honoured! On the contrary the legal system was invented for the well-being of the citizens, and for their sakes the Judge is to be treated with respect! So The Almighty insists upon being treated with the honour due to Him, because only so can those He has created live in peace and tranquillity and freedom from fear of aggression. Where law is despised and its custodians are weak the wicked prey upon the righteous, and happiness is impossible. Let us therefore settle once and for all in our hearts that at the centre of the Universe are three Persons, who unitedly have given up all thought of their own happiness, if by any means they may secure that of their creatures, and are willing to make any sacrifice of their own interests if only this may be achieved. The Godhead is, in one word, wholly unselfish and devoted to its Creation. Love is at the Centre of the Universe. Man is Free The one overwhelming fact about man—and angels too!—is that his will is free, although not of course his actions. Had this not been so there could have been no sin. For sin is the selfish desire of a free will which has it in its power to will otherwise. — end of page 15 — In this one enormous fact lies the explanation of the Universe as we know it, "travailing in pain together until now", and as we are one day going to know it, divided into Heaven, Earth, and Hell. God has put it into the power of man to will in opposition to His own will and so bring His whole creation to ruin and misery, as we see it before our eyes. Yet, though God will be unable throughout eternity to change the wills of the finally unrepentant, He is able at any moment to prevent them putting that will into effect, and Hell will be the abode of those who, desiring to do evil, find no way of putting their desires into action, but are held "silent in darkness", malignant but powerless. It is therefore the will of man that is the battleground. That will may find itself in the battle of life so imprisoned by the lusts of the flesh and mind that it knows itself to be a helpless captive led into actions which it loathes: but no power of sin can prevent the will desiring its liberty! And where that will exists, however feebly, God is able to deliver in a moment and send it on its way rejoicing in its new found freedom.1 In this battle of the will there must come a moment when the final choice either for good or evil is taken. After that the soul either plunges down into the foul depths of selfishness and cruelty, or else soars upwards into the delights of love and fellowship. The cruel man seeks and finds ever new ways of grinding others under his heel: the loving man finds his heart increasingly occupied with the happiness of others, who are also concerned with his happiness, and procure it more successfully than he could ever hope to do unaided! It follows therefore that in our consideration of the Doctrines under discussion we shall rule out at once any solution which suggests that God is not perfect in Love, or that man can be the final victim of forces beyond his control. Any answers to be acceptable must posit the complete unselfishness and unlimited benevolence of God, and the equal ability of man to be the master of his own fate for weel or woe, and to accept or reject the Love of God. When God gave man a free will, He made him free even to hate Himself.
1 Rom. 7,1-25. — end of page 16 — < >
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

CHAPTER ONE

THE PILLARS OF ALL THEOLOGY

THERE are two fundamental Truths of Christianity which will be laid down as the pillars of all theology. The first is that God is Love: the second that the will, though not the actions, of men is free.

God is Love

The statement is not that God is loving, i.e. capable of love, but that He is Love, i.e. incapable of not loving. The Love of others is His Nature and dominates all His thoughts and actions. All other emotions of the Almighty, His anger, His jealousy, His compassion, His vengeance, are but the varied reactions of His Love under different circumstances. When He is most angry it is still the Anger of Love: when He scourges every son whom He receives it is only a manifestation of His Love, arising from a longing that in this way His son may come to honour.

Not only is God passively unselfish, He is also actively benevolent. It is not enough that He should not seek His own happiness: He must also be ceaselessly engaged in seeking that of others.

The most dangerous and devastating of all lies is the thought that God created the Universe for His own glory or pleasure. The mistranslation of Rev. 4,11 "For thy pleasure they are and were created" corrected in the R.V. to "Because of thy will they were, and were created" is a reflection of the bad old theory of the divine right of kings, and has led to the absurd contradiction that a God who is Love yet created the Universe for His own pleasure, and so was selfish.

The truth of course is that The Almighty needed nothing to give Him pleasure, but was already completely happy in

— end of page 14 —

the love of His Son and Spirit; but that out of sheer unselfishness He jeopardised that perfect happiness and entered upon a course which was bound to bring Him sorrow, solely in order that there might arise an Eternal Kingdom in which countless myriads might share His own happiness for ever.

While it is true that God does seek His own glory, it is quite untrue that He created the Universe for His own glory. God seeks His own glory solely for our sakes, and not at all for His.

As an illustration, The Judge at The Old Bailey is most punctilious in seeking his own glory, and will commit you to prison for contempt of court, if you refuse to obey his ruling. He does this however for the sake of the ordinary citizen, who will not be able to obtain justice if the Judge is despised. It is very far from the truth to say that the Judge invented the legal system in order that he might be honoured! On the contrary the legal system was invented for the well-being of the citizens, and for their sakes the Judge is to be treated with respect!

So The Almighty insists upon being treated with the honour due to Him, because only so can those He has created live in peace and tranquillity and freedom from fear of aggression. Where law is despised and its custodians are weak the wicked prey upon the righteous, and happiness is impossible.

Let us therefore settle once and for all in our hearts that at the centre of the Universe are three Persons, who unitedly have given up all thought of their own happiness, if by any means they may secure that of their creatures, and are willing to make any sacrifice of their own interests if only this may be achieved. The Godhead is, in one word, wholly unselfish and devoted to its Creation. Love is at the Centre of the Universe.

Man is Free

The one overwhelming fact about man—and angels too!—is that his will is free, although not of course his actions. Had this not been so there could have been no sin. For sin is the selfish desire of a free will which has it in its power to will otherwise.

— end of page 15 —

In this one enormous fact lies the explanation of the Universe as we know it, "travailing in pain together until now", and as we are one day going to know it, divided into Heaven, Earth, and Hell. God has put it into the power of man to will in opposition to His own will and so bring His whole creation to ruin and misery, as we see it before our eyes. Yet, though God will be unable throughout eternity to change the wills of the finally unrepentant, He is able at any moment to prevent them putting that will into effect, and Hell will be the abode of those who, desiring to do evil, find no way of putting their desires into action, but are held "silent in darkness", malignant but powerless.

It is therefore the will of man that is the battleground. That will may find itself in the battle of life so imprisoned by the lusts of the flesh and mind that it knows itself to be a helpless captive led into actions which it loathes: but no power of sin can prevent the will desiring its liberty! And where that will exists, however feebly, God is able to deliver in a moment and send it on its way rejoicing in its new found freedom.1

In this battle of the will there must come a moment when the final choice either for good or evil is taken. After that the soul either plunges down into the foul depths of selfishness and cruelty, or else soars upwards into the delights of love and fellowship. The cruel man seeks and finds ever new ways of grinding others under his heel: the loving man finds his heart increasingly occupied with the happiness of others, who are also concerned with his happiness, and procure it more successfully than he could ever hope to do unaided!

It follows therefore that in our consideration of the Doctrines under discussion we shall rule out at once any solution which suggests that God is not perfect in Love, or that man can be the final victim of forces beyond his control. Any answers to be acceptable must posit the complete unselfishness and unlimited benevolence of God, and the equal ability of man to be the master of his own fate for weel or woe, and to accept or reject the Love of God. When God gave man a free will, He made him free even to hate Himself.

1 Rom. 7,1-25.

— end of page 16 —

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