"Original Sin" And Eternal Punishment

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< > CONCLUSION The character of God is immutable and perfect and beyond the reach of men: but His reputation rests wholly within the power of His Creatures. In the wisdom of God the greatest of all His creatures, the anointed Cherub, has been allowed throughout the Ages to carry on a campaign of unceasing and unscrupulous slander against that reputation. Lucifer became Diabolos, the Slanderer, whose one aim is to besmirch the character of God in the eyes of His Creatures, Angelic and human. It is against this Enemy and in this conflict that the Sons of God are engaged in ceaseless warfare, countering lie with truth, and hatred with love. There is nothing so valuable as a true estimate of the character of God, for this alone can set us free from fear, now and in eternity. It is with a single-minded desire to expose some of the wiles of the Devil wherewith he has deceived the children of God for centuries that this Booklet has been written. God has since the days of the Reformation been drawing the attention of His family to truth after truth; and now would free us from the age-long errors connected with Original Sin and Eternal Punishment, which have caused tremendous suffering and perplexity to us; and explain to us that actually He is burning with personal Love for all His Creatures, and wholly reasonable in all His dealings, being in fact far more long-suffering than any of His People! How slow have the Reformed Churches been to free themselves from the errors of the Middle Ages, how reluctant to give up their ways of thought! Let us then in conclusion contrast that which Satan has made us believe about Our God, and that which His Word teaches. The Great Slanderer of God has told us:— 1. That God has condemned the whole human race for Adam's sin. 2. That in consequence of Adam's sin all are "born dead in trespasses and sins", and unable to avoid sin even — end of page 58 — if they had such a desire, since they are by natural birth the children of wrath. 3. That God therefore not only is angry with us for breaking His Law, which it is impossible for us to keep, but also is justified in sending us to eternal torment because we are obliged to follow this sinful nature, which He has given us. 4. That God is also justified in making this eternal torment as painful as possible because He hates sin. 5. That although He has loved us sufficiently to give His Son to die for our sins, yet He has not arranged that more than a tiny proportion of the world's inhabitants should hear about that Salvation; and that in consequence the vast majority of His Creatures will spend eternity in Hell without having had any possibility offered them of avoiding this frightful fate. 6. That if, through no fault of their own, men do not hear of this salvation during this earthly life, God will be debarred from making it known to them at the last Judgement. The Word of God on the other hand has told us:— 1. That no man dies for his father's sin, and that consequently Cain and Abel did not die for Adam's sin. 2. That men die spiritually because of their own sin. 3. That children are born by the grace of God spiritually alive to Him and of such a nature that He can say 'of such is the Kingdom of Heaven': and that each child is also provided with its attendant angel with instant access to The Father. From this it follows that when each person sins, he sins because he wants to, and not because he has to. In other words Adam fell "by voluntary transgression", and his posterity, like a flock of sheep, have followed his example. 4. That God will send men to Hell, not in order to torment them, but in order to safeguard their victims: and that the torment will be wholly mental, since their second — end of page 59 — body will be consumed in the Lake of Fire, just as their first body rotted in the grave. This torment will be utterly real and unspeakably awful; but that will be unavoidable, because to leave the unrepentant their bodies a second time would only lead to a perpetuation of the age-long "groaning and travailing in pain together" of the Universe, since they are finally determined to continue their evil way of life, and have rejected all offers of mercy. God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, nor any satisfaction in their suffering. Indeed in Hell they will no longer be able to hurt one another, as they did upon the earth! 5. That God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should have an opportunity of salvation; and that He has said that He will take into account, not only whether a man has accepted salvation, but also whether he would have accepted it, if he had heard. 6. That to the wickedest men that ever lived, God the Son has already in person preached the Gospel after their death, in order that they might live to God the Father. We have divine warrant for realising that it is difficult for old bottles to hold new wine, or drinkers of old wine to turn to new. But this "old wine" of Roman Catholic tradition is not wine at all but poison. Judaism did contain the truth of God, and was hard to surrender: but these particular doctrines of Original Sin and Eternal Punishment, which we have been considering, have never held the truth of God, but been from the beginning Satanic. Let us cast them aside as we have jettisoned the Mass and Baptismal Regeneration of Infants and Indulgences and Mariolatry, and let us go once more to the Bible with open minds and ask ourselves whether these things be so or not. We shall find it impossible to reconcile the Doctrine of the Dark Ages either with the Love of God or the Freedom of Man's Will: but the word of God will satisfy us upon both scores. We shall find that the truth makes man exceedingly sinful upon his own account, not Adam's, and the Lord God exceedingly loving and solicitous of His Creatures' welfare, as indeed He is. The fact that God is Love is the greatest truth in the Universe. In it lies the explanation of all that has happened. From it will flow for all who believe it Ages of Ages of infinite Joy and Peace. — end of page 60 — < >
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

CONCLUSION

The character of God is immutable and perfect and beyond the reach of men: but His reputation rests wholly within the power of His Creatures. In the wisdom of God the greatest of all His creatures, the anointed Cherub, has been allowed throughout the Ages to carry on a campaign of unceasing and unscrupulous slander against that reputation. Lucifer became Diabolos, the Slanderer, whose one aim is to besmirch the character of God in the eyes of His Creatures, Angelic and human. It is against this Enemy and in this conflict that the Sons of God are engaged in ceaseless warfare, countering lie with truth, and hatred with love. There is nothing so valuable as a true estimate of the character of God, for this alone can set us free from fear, now and in eternity. It is with a single-minded desire to expose some of the wiles of the Devil wherewith he has deceived the children of God for centuries that this Booklet has been written. God has since the days of the Reformation been drawing the attention of His family to truth after truth; and now would free us from the age-long errors connected with Original Sin and Eternal Punishment, which have caused tremendous suffering and perplexity to us; and explain to us that actually He is burning with personal Love for all His Creatures, and wholly reasonable in all His dealings, being in fact far more long-suffering than any of His People! How slow have the Reformed Churches been to free themselves from the errors of the Middle Ages, how reluctant to give up their ways of thought!

Let us then in conclusion contrast that which Satan has made us believe about Our God, and that which His Word teaches. The Great Slanderer of God has told us:—

1. That God has condemned the whole human race for Adam's sin.

2. That in consequence of Adam's sin all are "born dead in trespasses and sins", and unable to avoid sin even

— end of page 58 —

if they had such a desire, since they are by natural birth the children of wrath.

3. That God therefore not only is angry with us for breaking His Law, which it is impossible for us to keep, but also is justified in sending us to eternal torment because we are obliged to follow this sinful nature, which He has given us.

4. That God is also justified in making this eternal torment as painful as possible because He hates sin.

5. That although He has loved us sufficiently to give His Son to die for our sins, yet He has not arranged that more than a tiny proportion of the world's inhabitants should hear about that Salvation; and that in consequence the vast majority of His Creatures will spend eternity in Hell without having had any possibility offered them of avoiding this frightful fate.

6. That if, through no fault of their own, men do not hear of this salvation during this earthly life, God will be debarred from making it known to them at the last Judgement.

The Word of God on the other hand has told us:—

1. That no man dies for his father's sin, and that consequently Cain and Abel did not die for Adam's sin.

2. That men die spiritually because of their own sin.

3. That children are born by the grace of God spiritually alive to Him and of such a nature that He can say 'of such is the Kingdom of Heaven': and that each child is also provided with its attendant angel with instant access to The Father. From this it follows that when each person sins, he sins because he wants to, and not because he has to. In other words Adam fell "by voluntary transgression", and his posterity, like a flock of sheep, have followed his example.

4. That God will send men to Hell, not in order to torment them, but in order to safeguard their victims: and that the torment will be wholly mental, since their second

— end of page 59 —

body will be consumed in the Lake of Fire, just as their first body rotted in the grave. This torment will be utterly real and unspeakably awful; but that will be unavoidable, because to leave the unrepentant their bodies a second time would only lead to a perpetuation of the age-long "groaning and travailing in pain together" of the Universe, since they are finally determined to continue their evil way of life, and have rejected all offers of mercy. God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, nor any satisfaction in their suffering. Indeed in Hell they will no longer be able to hurt one another, as they did upon the earth!

5. That God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should have an opportunity of salvation; and that He has said that He will take into account, not only whether a man has accepted salvation, but also whether he would have accepted it, if he had heard.

6. That to the wickedest men that ever lived, God the Son has already in person preached the Gospel after their death, in order that they might live to God the Father.

We have divine warrant for realising that it is difficult for old bottles to hold new wine, or drinkers of old wine to turn to new. But this "old wine" of Roman Catholic tradition is not wine at all but poison. Judaism did contain the truth of God, and was hard to surrender: but these particular doctrines of Original Sin and Eternal Punishment, which we have been considering, have never held the truth of God, but been from the beginning Satanic. Let us cast them aside as we have jettisoned the Mass and Baptismal Regeneration of Infants and Indulgences and Mariolatry, and let us go once more to the Bible with open minds and ask ourselves whether these things be so or not. We shall find it impossible to reconcile the Doctrine of the Dark Ages either with the Love of God or the Freedom of Man's Will: but the word of God will satisfy us upon both scores. We shall find that the truth makes man exceedingly sinful upon his own account, not Adam's, and the Lord God exceedingly loving and solicitous of His Creatures' welfare, as indeed He is. The fact that God is Love is the greatest truth in the Universe. In it lies the explanation of all that has happened. From it will flow for all who believe it Ages of Ages of infinite Joy and Peace.

— end of page 60 —

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