CHRIST'S CHARACTER, OFFICES AND NATURES. PERMISSION OF EVIL. THE RANSOM. THE BIBLE'S EXCELLENCIES. 

HAVING PROVEN from God's attributes of being and character as given in the Bible, that it is a Divine revelation, we now offer another line of proof for the same proposition—the character, offices and natures of Christ set forth in the Bible prove it to be a Divine revelation; for next to the plan revealed in the Bible and the attributes of God's being and character that it ascribes to God, we can think of no stronger proof of the Divine origin of the Bible than the character, offices and natures that it reveals as those of Jesus. Each of these three points about Christ will be presented in turn; and in each case the reasons for its proving the Scriptures to be a Divine revelation will be stressed after its pertinent facts are presented. For facts as Biblically revealed prove that Christ's character, offices and natures, after God's plan, nature and character, are the greatest and the strongest proof that the Bible is a Divine revelation. Therefore, like the plan of God and the attributes of being and character of God, the character, offices and natures of Christ belong among the internal evidences of the Scriptures as a Divine revelation; for the character, offices and natures of Christ as revealed in the Bible are of such a kind as could have been invented only by a superhuman and super-angelic being, i.e., only by God. If this proposition can be proven, it follows that what the Bible has to say on Christ's character, offices and natures—and a very large part of its contents concern these three points—must be of Divine revelation, which, reinforced by the points made on God's plan and attributes of being and character as proofs of its

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Divine source, adds very much of its contents to those proven to have been originated by God. We will, therefore, first present the facts as to Christ's character, as made known in the Scriptures, and then show how it proves the Bible to be a Divine revelation. 

First, then, let us look at this matter as it respects Christ's character. Even a superficial reading of the prophecies and histories of Christ as given in the Bible impresses the reader with the uniqueness of His character among the sons of men; for there is no good feature of character but He shines out therein as "fairer than the children of men" (Ps. 45:2); for every grace of character is not only exemplified in Him, but is made illustrious by its unique excellence in Him. This is true of all three kinds of graces: the primary, secondary and tertiary, as it is also true of every one of each of the three kinds of graces. Let us briefly note the facts that prove this point, instancing first the higher and lower primary graces. The higher primary graces are faith, hope, self-control, patience, piety, brotherly love and charity (2 Pet. 1:5-7). Jesus' faith in God as to His person, character, plan and works shines out in every act of His ministry; for His undertaking it at all, His prosecuting it amid toward and untoward conditions and His trustfully accepting the Father's will for His own, e.g., in Gethsemane, before the high priest, the Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod and on the way to and at Calvary, whereby He confidently as to God entered the jaws of death in faith, reveal a unique faith. Hope, too, shines out in His course as He for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame. And that hope was a large one, i.e., the desire and the expectation of pleasing the Father, of winning the Church, the Ancient and Youthful Worthies and the Great Company as the four elect classes, of restoring the worthy among the fallen angels and humans to their former condition, as well as of receiving the personal promotion offered Him by God. Jesus' self-control shines out brightly

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in His contacts with His faulters and His enemies, with the sordidness of the people with whom He mingled and with the faults of His disciples. His patience, the Bible word for perseverance, is exemplified in that no obstacle could baffle Him, no opposition could overcome Him, no difficulty could make Him give up and no number and power of opponents could make Him surrender His aims. Even the prospect of His final sufferings could not prevent His going forward on His mission, as we read, "He set His face steadfastly to go up to Jerusalem." 

His piety was of the finest quality. Probably its finest exemplification occurred in Gethsemane, where it so acted as to have procured the answer to His prayer to be saved from the Second Death, which was the thing that He feared in the garden (Heb. 5:7, 8); for evidently He was not saved from the death of the cross; nor could He have died the Adamic death, not having inherited it and its sentence. Accordingly, despite the fear that He had in the garden that He had possibly not hitherto done everything perfectly, or might not be able to meet the ordeal just ahead of Him perfectly, and thus not return from death, i.e., die the Second Death, His piety, duty-love to God, impelled Him to accept the cup that the Father was pouring out for Him, "Thy will, not mine, be done," and therein He gave an example of piety never equaled by any other of God's creatures. His brotherly love, duty-love to His neighbor, showed itself in a thousand deeds of kindness that He lavished upon the poor, the sick and the disconsolate. Where was such kindness shown his fellows by any other son of Adam? And as for charity, disinterested love, in its appreciation, in its heart's unity with the good, in its sympathy and in its sacrifice, His is absolutely unique. His appreciation made Him "love" the rich young ruler for his righteousness; His heart's unity with the God expressed itself in this oneness with God. His sympathy made Him have compassion on the afflicted and scattered

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multitude and His sacrificing spirit made Him devote His all from Jordan to Calvary, even to the death of the cross for God's plan. He could even forget the injustice of His arrest and restore the ear of Malchus, one of his arresters. His charity, disinterested love, toward His disciples is most beautifully stated in the words, "Jesus having loved His own, loved them unto the end." That love looked at the denying Peter and melted him into repentance. That love overlooked all of the disciples' forsaking Him at the time of His arrest. That love sought them out in their distress on His resurrection day. His love was not sentimentality; it was not gush; it was not a wordy one. It was deep, feelingful, thoughtful and eminently practical. The love that moved him to lay down His precious life for the world was the highest expression of love ever made by a human: it was exceeded by only one other expression of love, that of the Father in giving up His only begotten Son unto death for His enemies! Surely the prophet David was right when He said of Christ's character, "Thou art fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured into Thy lips"; and He could as truly have added, "and grace is poured out by Thy life upon others." Where by the children of men were faith, hope, self-control, patience, piety, brotherly love and charity ever so sublimely and beautifully exercised as by Christ? Do Moses, Confucius, Buddha, Zoroaster, Socrates or Mohammed even remotely approximate Him in these graces? They are but stars of smaller magnitudes; He is the noonday sun on a cloudless day. 

He was equally unique in the lower primary graces self-esteem, approbativeness, peace, combativeness, aggressiveness, vitativeness, cautiousness, secretiveness, acquisitiveness and appetitiveness. He had the self-esteem that exercised a proper self-confidence, self-satisfaction and self-respect that could challenge His accusers with the words, "Which of you convinceth [proves me guilty] of sin?" He had the approbativeness toward God that always sought to do and did the 

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things pleasing to His Father, as He also had the approbativeness that could receive as proper the acclamations of the multitudes at His triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. The peace of an unperplexed mind and of a tranquil heart was His at all times (John 15:27). Like a sweet perfume the peace of heart and mind that John 13—17 show were His the evening before His death pervaded His last discourse in the upper room and gave it a never to be lost atmosphere. His combativeness led Him to defend Truth and righteousness against all assaults, as e.g., His talks in John 3—10 prove. And his aggressiveness led Him to attack with the weapons of Truth the false teachings and evil examples of rabbinic traditionalism, as, e.g., Matt. 23 shows. His vitativeness moved Him to protect His life and shield Himself from avoidable dangers, until He knew that it was the Father's will for Him no longer so to do, as can be seen from His escape from His would-be lynchers at Nazareth and Jerusalem. His cautiousness led Him not to cast Himself down from the temple's pinnacle, as it also declined to answer questions whose answers could be capitalized by His enemies against Him. His secretiveness made Him give evasive answers to catch questions like those as to whether it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar and as to whence was His authority to teach and do as He did. His acquisitiveness led Him to have the fragments of the feast all gathered up for future use, as it moved Him to require a proper return from His stewards. He used His appetitiveness to furnish Him occasions of doing good and to strengthen Him for His mission. Thus we see that He made a good use of all the lower primary graces, i.e., used them as servants of truth, righteousness and holiness. And in these respects He excelled in goodness all others among the children of men. 

In the preceding paragraph it was pointed out how Jesus rightly used His lower selfish organs, and that this developed the selfish lower primary graces; but 

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He did the same with His social lower primary graces—sexliness, filiality, fraternity, friendliness, domesticity, neighborliness and patriotism. He denied Himself the exercise of conjugality and fatherliness, so as better to exercise His ministry, which, had He been a husband and father, would have suffered injury. But He had the pertinent qualities manifested by His love for children, who repeatedly thronged Him, and by His devotion to the Church as His future Bride. His pure sexliness showed itself in the special attention that He attracted from the women of Galilee who ministered to Him of their substance and from Mary Magdalene and Mary and Martha of Bethany. There was, however, nothing coarse or unchaste in His sexliness. His filiality showed itself in the proper sonship attitude of trust, respect, obedience and love that He exercised toward Joseph and Mary. His friendship was of the highest order, as facts prove, compared with His statement, "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends; and ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." This statement proves that His was the proper ideal for friendship—that it be based on good character—"ye are My friends, if …". That He had a proper love for home—domesticity—is evident from the contrast that He gave us when He told us that the birds of the air had their nests and that the foxes had their holes, but that the Son of man had no place where to lay His head! The brief hints as to His Nazareth abode suggest the thought of His love for home. His sociability in mingling fraternally as a man among men well demonstrates His neighborliness. His patriotism shines out not only through His confining His ministry to Israel and requiring His disciples until due time to do the same; but it also is seen in His tears shed over Jerusalem and in His lamentation, "How oft would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ye would not"; and the same thing appears in His statement to the weeping 

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Jerusalem women—"Weep not for Me, but for yourselves and your children." In every expression of His social lower primary graces we find a most unselfish and kindly use made of them, a use that exemplifies the servant exercise of them in the interests of truth, righteousness and holiness. Certainly, deserving of praise only is His exercise of the social lower primary graces, as well as that of His selfish lower primary graces. In these respects He is again "fairer than the sons of men." 

In the secondary graces also our Lord Jesus was fairer than the sons of men. As has been pointed out in these columns, the secondary graces result from the higher primary graces suppressing the efforts of the lower primary graces to control us. We have just seen that Jesus made a noble use of His lower primary graces, i.e., used them not for selfish and worldly aggrandizement, but as servants of truth, righteousness and holiness. But if these lower primary graces are allowed to dominate one, they make him selfish and worldly and create the lower primary disgraces. To prevent this their efforts to control must be suppressed by the higher primary graces: faith, hope, self-control, patience, piety, brotherly love and charity. Jesus suppressed by these higher primary graces every effort that His lower primary graces put forth to control Him, which resulted in His exercising the secondary graces in thorough and perfect unselfishness and unworldliness. The secondary graces that are in somewhat contrasted relations with our selfish lower primary graces are: humility, unostentatiousness, industriousness, self-sacrificingness, longsuffering, forbearance, forgiveness, bravery, candor, generosity and abstinence as to food and drink. The secondary graces, it will be noted, are the passive graces, as distinct from the primary graces, which are active, while the tertiary graces are mixed, i.e., combinations of other graces. The secondary graces do not have special organs through which they act; for to have such special organs 

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is the peculiarity of the primary graces. Rather, the secondary graces arise through suppression of the control of the lower primary graces. 

Those secondary graces that are in somewhat of a contrast with the social primary graces, with but one exception, are not given names in the Bible, nor in the English language. That exception is chastity, which results from suppressing the efforts of sexliness to control us. But even if we have no names for them, evidently the suppression of the effort to control us that each one of the other social lower primary graces puts forth, i.e., our being dead to its control, produces a secondary grace. Thus when the efforts of husbandliness, wifeliness; filiality, brotherliness, sisterliness, friendship, domesticity, neighborliness and patriotism seek to control us and we become dead to such efforts, we exercise a related and somewhat contrasted, but not opposite, grace as to each one of them, respectively, i.e., a secondary grace. It is a pity that we do not have names for each one of these, but reasoning over the facts of such control suppressions we recognize that there are actually such secondary graces in existence. In designating them, in lieu of direct words, we will have to resort to descriptive terms. The facts that we will point out in Christ's character and that we observe in the saintly characters of others prove the existence of such nameless graces. We hope that some day applicable names will be invented for such graces. The nearest description that we can give to them now is deadness to their efforts to control us. All said in this and the preceding paragraph is introductory to our presenting our Lord's character from the viewpoint of His secondary graces. 

Most beautifully does His humility appear in His carnation, life as a man among men, in His subjection to His parents and teachers, in His associations with publicans and sinners, in His undergoing the contradiction of sinners and above all in His quietly submitting to arrest, unjust trial by the Sanhedrin, Herod 

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and Pilate, condemnation, torture, mockery and the death of the cross! His unostentatiousness appears in His refusal to allow Himself to be made a king, His disappearing from among the multitude when they sought even by force to make Him such, His seeking the companionship of the meek and lowly instead of that of the great and high, His avoiding all sensational and faker methods of attracting attention to His message and His steadfastly hiding His greatness, office and power from the people, making these known modestly and but partially to His few intimates. The industriousness of His character was always evident; and in but one period did it seem partially obscured—when He feared in Gethsemane that imperfection had or would make Him fail to qualify to save the Church and the world from Satan, sin and death, and thus wreck the whole plan of God, when He faced Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod, the mocking and scourging soldiers, the road to Calvary and the experiences of the cross, all requiring passivity, not activity. His long-suffering amid contradictions of sinners, enmity of the hierarchy, injustice of rulers, ingratitude of the people, envy of leaders, opposition of sects, obtuseness of the commonality, irresponsiveness of disciples, abandonment by friends, triumphs of opponents, trampling down of His rights and His unresentfulness as to His final experiences, culminating in the death of the cross, is unique in all human experience. His forbearance exercised amid the same conditions mentioned in connection with His longsuffering is an altogether unique human phenomenon, especially when we remember His strength of character as displayed in exercise against hypocrisy, shown in Matt. 23. 

Most beautiful was His spirit of forgiveness that was so great as to enable Him to lay down life for His maligners, wrongers and murderers, as well as pray for their forgiveness; amid and through the evils with which they afflicted Him. His was a forgiveness that went out to friends and enemies, to acquaintances

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and unknowns, Jew and Gentile. His whole course, in His activities and passivities, in His self and world denials, in His conveniences and inconveniences, in His joys and sorrows, in His popularities and unpopularities, in His serving and suffering and in His living and dying, was unique in self—sacrificingness. His courage was undaunted by privation and suffering, by necessities and hardships, by dangers and distresses, by opposition and resistance on the part of the few and the many, by the antagonistic powers of church and state and by the sentence and execution of death. His candor, when necessary to use, never minced necessary words, never for policy called sin good, nor compromised with evil to prevent His becoming unpopular, never withheld a needed rebuke or correction and never compromised His message to gain or retain approval. When necessary he hewed to the line, letting the chips fall wherever they might. Yet He was never brutally frank, needlessly unsparing of others' feelings and indiscriminatingly denunciatory, thus holding His candor in strict rein. His generosity was unexemplified, which, among other things, was manifest in His pouring out His vitality in effecting physical cures, which He performed by replacing His patients' depleted vitality by bestowing upon them His own. His generosity made Him give the people His time of needed rest for their blessing, as can be seen in the case of the tired Master forgetting His weariness to minister to the woman at Samaria's well, to Nicodemus at night and in performing cures all night. Yea, His whole ministry of teaching, preaching and curing, as well as His undergoing the suffering of death, were an expression of generosity of the highest order—that of self-giving; for self-giving, as distinct from the giving of things from self apart, is the highest order of giving, and Jesus' abstemiousness as to the good things of life, not in the spirit of a foolish asceticism, which is but a mock piety, though often palmed off as the genuine article, but in the spirit of genuine, loving self-denial 

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in the interests of others, was very marked indeed, as seen in His oft fasting and self-mortification in the interests of studying and spreading God's Word for the blessing of others. Accordingly, we see that Jesus exemplified in the supreme degree all the secondary graces resulting from suppressing the efforts of His selfish lower primary graces to control Him. 

So, too, was He the supreme exemplar of the secondary graces that are related to the suppression of the efforts of His social lower primary graces to control Him. In His contacts with the opposite sex He was the very embodiment of chastity in thought, motive, word and act. Conscious of the fact that the mission which He entered the world to fulfill would not permit Him to do justice to wife or children, if He should have them, He deliberately denied Himself the indulgence of His right to be a husband and father, and thus He suppressed His desire to have a wife and children from controlling Him to the detriment of His mission to be the world's Savior. The same principle moved Him to give up the rights, privileges and blessings of having a home; and in suppressing the indulgence of this privilege He became what in modern parlance is called, "a tramp preacher." Most pathetically did He, who had it in Him to be an ideal husband, father and homebody, describe His pertinent condition, in the words, "The birds of the air have their nests, the foxes have their holes, but the Son of man hath nowhere to lay His head!" His mission did not require for its faithful performance that He have no friends, but it did require of Him that He do not permit His friendships to dominate His course, which should be dominated by the higher primary graces only. Hence, when these required Him to say no to His friends, He did it, as when His disciples sought to dissuade Him from fulfilling the Father's will in His death at Jerusalem. This same spirit made Him refuse to recognize that His mother had any right to direct the course of His ministry, and thus to defer 

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to her wishes, when she sought to direct His course at the wedding at Cana of Galilee, and when on another occasion, she, reinforced by her sons, sought to divert Him from His ministry. Nor did He allow His neighborliness at Nazareth to blunt the edge of His rebukes in the synagogue, even though it led to an attempt to lynch Him. And, finally, He suppressed the efforts of His patriotism to control Him into modifying His message and other features of His ministry for the alleged necessities of His country and countrymen, some of whom thought that His course required in the interests of His people and country His life as a means of appeasing the Romans toward Israel and Israel's country. Accordingly, we see that Jesus had all of the secondary graces, that result from the suppression of the efforts of His social lower primary graces to control Him. 

Finally, His character is a perfect exemplification of the tertiary, or mixed graces, which are: zeal, meekness, joy, gentleness, moderation, goodness [magnanimity], obedience, reverence, resignation, contentment, impartiality and faithfulness. These tertiary graces are a combination, usually of some or all of the higher primary graces on the one hand, and of one or more of the lower primary and secondary graces on the other hand; hence they are mixed graces, not mixed from the standpoint of a mixture of active graces, which all the primary graces are, and of the passive graces, which all of the secondary graces are, but from the standpoint set forth in the first clause of the sentence: a mixture of higher primary graces on the one hand, and of lower primary and secondary graces on the other hand. An analysis of the twelve tertiary graces above mentioned proves them to be mixed as just stated. Jesus had all of these in unique measure and full perfection. His zeal—enthusiastic devotion to God and His cause and people—displayed itself in every active and passive act of His ministry, e.g., in cleansing the temple twice, early and late in His ministry, in

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His constant teaching, preaching, miracle working, in His travels and exposures to all sorts of privations in order to fulfill His ministry, yea, even pressing on until He had finished His course in death. His meekness—mild submissiveness of heart and mind—made Him very teachable and leadable by God, more teachable and leadable by God than any of God's other creatures have been. This quality shines out in His willingness to leave the glories of heaven and come to this bleak earth as the Babe of Bethlehem, and live an exile from heaven and its glories for about 34 years in mild submissiveness to the Father's will. It moved Him to endure all the self and world denials of His ministry, as well as to endure His unexemplified sufferings unto death to carry out the Father's will, which moved Him to submit mildly to the injustices heaped upon Him by His enemies undeservedly. Truly He could say of Himself, "I am meek and lowly in heart." Joy was likewise a grace of His heart. While He is called a Man of Sorrows, this refers particularly to the last day of His life, while He was in the shadow of, and upon the cross. Ordinarily His life was a joyful one, not joyful in earthly pleasures, but joyful in the Lord, for it was in God's person, character, plan and works that He found His joy. He joyed in the generalities of these, as well as in their particularities. His experiences of joy are prophetically set forth in the Psalms and in the Prophets in larger measure than in the Gospels, where, however, there is not wanting mention of these. He must have been a cheerful man, else children would not have thronged Him. 

The Bible makes special mention of His gentleness; exercised in a rude, coarse and cruel age, little inclined to foster gentleness. Hence St. Paul entreated the brethren "by the gentleness of Christ." His gentleness with the weak and erring, with the sick and dying, with the sad and penitent, with the faint and weary, with the perplexed and worried, with the bereaved and mournful, with the troubled and discouraged, 

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with the burdened and oppressed has been a favorite theme with artists, orators and biographers. Truly of Him it is written as to His gentleness, "The bruised reed He will not break; the smoking flax He will not quench." Never do we find Him rough, coarse or rude in look, word or act. Never was the gentlest woman so gentle as He. And, certainly, His gentleness shines out the more brightly as it stands in such marked contrast with the rudeness, coarseness and cruelty of His age and generation. His moderation is as marked as His gentleness. Certainly, His age and generation, like our own age and generation, were marked by the greatest extremes in character, in social customs and castes, in political movements and aspirations, in religious sectarianism and intolerance, in hierarchism and clericalism, in economic differences and wrongs, in extensive intelligence and colossal ignorance and in wide liberty and extreme slavery. Practically everyone was caught in the meshes of one or another of these extremes. But not so Jesus. While He came as the Founder of a new religion, which had in its roots the seeds of great doctrinal, ethical, educational, social, economic and political reforms, destined in due time to grow into a tree whose shadow would protect all, there was not in Him anything of the fanatic, the zealot, the sectarian, the bigot, the hierarch, the clericalist, the tyrant, the oppressor or the sordid. He lived above all of these in the calm heaven of a blending of the ideal and real, of the theoretical and practical, that instinctively, as it were, made Him avoid all extremes and tread the golden middle of true moderation in thought, motive, word and act. Most wonderfully moderate was His character. 

His goodness, i.e., magnanimity, was just as marked as his moderation. There was nothing insular or provincial in His theories and practices. Prejudices and intolerances were as far from Him as the east is from the west. His sympathies were as wide as human need; and the allowances that He made for provincialisms, 

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the excuses that He made for personal peculiarities, the putting of the best construction possible on questionable conduct, His giving the fallen the support of His influence, His making due allowance for weakness and ignorance, His finding excuses for the fallen and sinful and His self-giving for others' benefit, one and all exhibit a heart of true goodness, i.e., magnanimity. All the more brightly is this quality manifested in Him when we remember how His age and generation was so wanting in this grace. The grace of obedience was another of the tertiary graces that made Him an exemplar therein. Obedience takes the will of him who has the right to direct or command as his own and fulfils it. It is a quality variously owed to God, parents, husbands, teachers, civil rulers, employers and military superiors. To such of these as Jesus owed obedience He exercised it unto perfection. As a boy and adolescent we find Him obedient to His parents and teachers. Always He rendered obedience to His rulers, even wherein they unjustly took away His human rights and privileges. He never was in an army, hence was not subject to a military superior as distinct from a civil ruler. And so far as we know, He had no employer; but if He had, we may be sure that he rendered him congruous obedience. The highest expression of His obedience was toward His heavenly Father. Any suggestion of God met His heartiest response, so that with truth He could say, "I always do those things that are pleasing unto My Father." He stood alike alert to fulfill the Father's slightest wish and strongest volition. He never hesitated to do what He knew was the Father's will. While there was at times a hesitation, e.g., in Gethsemane, until He was sure as to the Father's will, once He was sure of it, His response to it was immediate, complete and wholehearted. It was an obedience that was exercised in good and evil days, in pain or pleasure, in easy and hard conditions, in life and unto death. "He became obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross." 

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And though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience in the things that He suffered. Unique obedience! 

Reverence toward God, truth, righteousness and holiness was as characteristic of Him as obedience. In reverence there is a combination of piety, charity, wonder, fear, respect, awe and veneration as to God. While most of these qualities combine to make reverence toward truth, righteousness and holiness, all of them are combined in a proper reverence toward God. We find that all that belonged to reverence toward truth, righteousness and holiness met in Jesus' reverence toward these, as we find that all of the features of reverence mentioned above combined in His reverence toward God. Search the records from beginning to end, never do we find in them any irreverence in Jesus toward God and the principles for which God stands. Highest reverence marks His thoughts, motives, words and deeds as to these. Hence the praise of full, wholehearted reverence toward these may be truly ascribed to Jesus. Adoration, as a part of His reverence toward God, was brilliant in the crown of Jesus' character. In the highest form of adoration most of the graces combine, and in such combination express themselves in this quality. While in the New Testament the quality of adoration is exemplified in Jesus, its highest expressions are ascribed to Him prophetically, especially in the Psalms. This quality in Him arises to the highest heights of worship and veneration, yea, it scales the heaven of heavens, and loses itself into oneness with God. And in such adoration Jesus' feelings lost sight of everyone and everything, and saw and felt God alone as the supremely exalted One. Never did anyone else arise to such heights of adoration. Resignation was marked in His character, manifest in all the contrarieties of His life, especially at Gethsemane, Sanhedrin, Praetorium, Via Dolorosa and Calvary. His contentment was certainly marked, expressing itself as pleased with all of the hardships, necessities, privations, persecutions, injustices that He had to meet as He carried

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out the duties and privations of His gracious ministry. His impartiality appears in His doings with His relatives, friends, enemies, disciples, rulers, common people, poor, needy, sick, etc. Finally, faithfulness marked Jesus as His crowning quality. We call it His crowning quality because it was a quality that permeated and perfected His every other quality; for only then could He be fully faithful, if He were loyal in all His graces. He was given by God a compound mission—a mission as respects God, truth, righteousness, holiness, as to fitting Himself to become in person, character, word and work God's Vicegerent, the Savior of the Church and the world and the Executor of all God's future arrangements throughout the universe. A more responsible mission under God it is impossible to imagine. To accomplish this required the grace of faithfulness in the supreme sense of that word for a creature of God. And He did no less than furnish that degree of faithfulness in His mission, which tested His loyalty to God, truth, righteousness, holiness, the Church and the world at every point of character unto the utmost. And in nothing was He found wanting. Every resource of the devil, the world and the flesh was enlisted against Him to break His faithfulness, but all in vain; for in no point, no matter what pressure was exerted against Him, could He in the least shadow of turning be made to swerve from His faithfulness. Victoriously did His faithfulness emerge from every test; for He was the one who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising [esteeming as inconsequential] the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Yea, He was and forever remains faithful. 

Our brief study of Jesus' character manifests the fact that He had all of the primary, secondary and tertiary graces, and that in unique perfection. Enemies of His are wont to point out two things in Him that they allege were imperfections in His character: (1) His severe denunciation of the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees in Matt. 23 and (2) His fear and anguish

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in Gethsemane. Against the first of these charges we reply that on that occasion He acted as God's direct prophetic mouthpiece announcing God's denunciation of the wickedness of these evil men, whose evils not only affected them, but misled the nation into the greatest of its sins and consequent calamities. Under such circumstances His severity was thoroughly justified. As to the second objection, a proper view of the situation will dissolve it into thin air. The situation was this: the tender-conscienced Jesus under subtle Satanic suggestion feared for an hour that either He had done some imperfect thing, or that amid the crucial experiences of His last 13 hours he would be unable to maintain His perfection. In such a case it would not only mean that He would have to pass out of existence forever, but that He would be a great disappointment to His Father, whose approval He craved above every other thing, that He would wreck the whole plan of God as to the four elect classes, the fallen angels and the non-elect classes, and that as a consequence everything would result in wreck and ruin for the elect, the penitent angels and the non-elect, that instead of God, truth, righteousness and holiness triumphing in His conflict with the powers of evil, the latter would triumph, and God's plan would go by the board. In a word, the crisis of the universe depended upon Him and His overcoming; and this thought for an hour weighed so heavily upon Him as almost to crush Him to death from fear and anguish at the tremendousness of the crisis. Under the influence of this train of thought, no wonder that He prayed for an easing of the coming trials as a means of making it certain that He would overcome. Instead of His fear and anguish being an exhibition of weakness and imperfection, it was an evidence of His great love for God and man, as well as for the triumph of truth, righteousness and holiness and the plan of God; and to have overcome so terrible a conflict in the brief space of an hour is a full proof of His perfection that did overcome the terrible 

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trial in so short a time. Instead of His fear and anguish being an evidence of weakness, they were a proof of His undying and crystallized love to God, man, truth, righteousness and holiness and His great desire to bring truth, righteousness, holiness and God's plan to a full triumph. No! No! NO! Jesus' character was perfect to the last degree in every grace. 

This being true, the question arises, Whence did such a character-portrait originate? The best of heathen philosophers and religious geniuses could not have originated it; for the highest development of character theory that heathenism originated is the brazen rule of Confucius: Do not to others what you do not desire them to do to you—a negative precept that falls far short of the golden rule manward that Jesus gave. Nor could the Jews have originated such a character-portrait as that of Jesus; for though Judaism received from God through Moses and the Prophets the golden rule Godward and manward—supreme love to God and equal love to man, and though on the basis of these the rabbis of Jesus' day evolved some fine precepts of duty love, yet they never conceived the heights and depths, the lengths and breadths of Jesus' character exhibited in the New Testament. The various forms that His disinterested love assumes in itself and in its effects on His other graces were things undreamt of in the philosophy of the rabbis. Hence these could not have invented the character-portrait of Jesus set forth in the New Testament. Nor could the disciples, including Paul, have originated it; for of themselves they could not have arisen to the heights of the ablest of Israel's contemporary rabbis. The origin of Jesus' character-portrait as set forth in the New Testament transcends the power of men and angels; for none of the holy angels, let alone the evil ones, could in their theories and practices attain to such a character-portrait as that of Jesus. So sublimely beautiful and holy a character as that of Jesus—"we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, 

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full of grace and truth"—could have been originated theoretically and practically by none short of God Himself, and is, accordingly, a very impressive proof that at least that part of the Bible that discloses Jesus' character must be a Divine revelation. Hence we set forth Jesus as the wisdom of God and the power of God, i.e., as the product of God's wisdom and power and as the instrument of them, in His uniquely perfect character, embracing every grace perfect in itself, perfect in its blending with every other grace axed in such balance perfectly crystallized in every detail and dominated by the higher primary graces, as a proof that the Bible is a Divine revelation. 

The statement was made above that the character, offices and natures of Christ prove the Bible to be a Divine revelation, but there only the character of Christ was discussed as a proof that the Bible is a Divine revelation; and now the proof for the same fact from part of the Biblically ascribed offices of Christ is to be given. Thereafter the proof from the rest of these and that from Christ's natures will be treated. In brief, the argument is this: The offices that the Bible ascribes to Christ are perfectly adapted to rescue man from his condemnation, from all of his sinfulness and from all of the effects of his condemnation and sinfulness, as these affect his relations to God, his fellows, himself, organized society and animate and inanimate nature. It is unnecessary for us to show here the particulars of man's sinfulness, as we showed this in some detail, in so far as his sinful acts are concerned, in Chapter II, where the need of a Divine revelation was discussed. As all deep thinkers who meditate on man's sins and sinfulness, even apart from Biblical teachings, i.e., in the light of nature, facts and human reason, believe, mankind, in varying degrees in its individuals, is depraved physically, mentally, artistically, morally and religiously. Even the dullest recognize that the race is dying under the load of physical sicknesses, accidents, calamities, tidal waves, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes,

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volcanoes, famines, pestilences, droughts, floods, heat, cold, deserts, marshes, wars, revolutions, wild beasts, reptiles, germs, etc. Nature, animate and inanimate, connected with this earth, is evidently in a disordered condition, hastening the dying process, and evidencing that man's environment is inconducive to prolonging his life indefinitely; and even ordinary observers recognize that man's present condition is not simply due to his imperfect surroundings and training, but roots even more in his heredity. As all must admit, even if man were not under the condemnation of death, he could not be put under conditions that would put him to death more surely, if he were under such condemnation, than the conditions in which he is put are doing. In other words, all the facts are in harmony with the Biblical teachings that man is under a death sentence, and none of them contradict this Biblical teaching. 

In view of this it would be well for us to note the evils that man's condemnation and sinfulness effect in his relations to God, his fellows, organized society, animate and inanimate nature and himself, recognizing that individually there are differences in his relations to these; in some cases the evils are attenuated, in others they are gross. Broadly speaking, these differences are due to the fact that there are naturally two general classes among mankind: (1) the faith class and (2) the unbelief class. All of them, however, are by heredity alike under the death sentence, for God's justice exacts death of all of both classes. This sentence makes sinful man a debtor to God as to all he is and has unto death, i.e., his right to life and its life-rights are forfeited to justice. In man's relation to God, in view of the death sentence resting upon him, the following are the main evils that the curse has effected in God's and man's mutual relations. They are alienated from one another, God being displeased with man because of his sin, and man being displeased with God because of His holiness; apart from the faith

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class God distrusts man and man distrusts God. Besides these two things, under the evils of the curse, in varying degrees, the unbelief class, more or less, hates the true God, sets up counterfeits of Him as gods in false religious service and becomes subject to demons instead of God. All must admit that in these and other respects the curse has wrought very bad effects for man in his relationship to God. 

Sin and the curse have effected many evils for man in his relations to his fellows individually and collectively. They have resulted in all sorts of evils as between parents and children, brethren and brethren, teachers and pupils, rulers and subjects, employers and employees, all kinds of evils as to life, health, sex, property, reputation, liberty, pursuit of happiness, religion, nationality, internationality, peace, business, education, all of which are evidences of the effects of the curse on man in his relation to his fellows individually and collectively. The disorders in nature, animate and inanimate, instances of which were given in the paragraph above, are further effects of the curse, as well as agents that inflict it, all of which show that man's dominion over earth, its forces and animal, reptile, insect and germ life, is in gross disorder. In each individual himself have the evils that he has committed wrought by reflex effect many evils upon him as effects of sin and the curse. These are evident in physical respects, like diseases, pains, deformities, injuries to and loss of the senses, dying and death. These are manifest in mental respects, like ignorance, error, superstition, unsound minds, imbecility and insanity. These are seen in artistic respects in all sorts of artistic extremes, bad taste, unethical portraits, etc. These are manifest in moral respects, like depravity as to rightful authority, natural right to life and life-rights, sex rights, property rights and reputation rights. And, finally, these are visible in religious respects, like false religious beliefs and practices, worship of false gods and perversions of intellect, sensibilities and will as to God. 

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Thus the brief statement of the evils of the curse as given in this and in the preceding paragraph shows that mankind is in a most deplorable condition of wreck in his relations to God, to his fellows, to his dominion over earth and its forces, creatures, etc., and to himself. 

The problem of all problems is: How can man be rescued from the effects of sin and the curse under which he lives and suffers, yea, under which past generations have lived, suffered and died? The universality of death, despite man's efforts to stay it off, demonstrates his complete inability to prevent it. And, of course, the fact, apart from seven cases miraculously recovered from death, that the dead remain dead, is proof of man's inability to bring back the dead. Nor can human power give more than ameliorating and temporary relief to some cases from the effects of the curse physically, and to none lasting relief therefrom. While man's educational activities have set aside much ignorance and superstition and given some natural truths, they have also greatly increased mental, moral and religious errors, and have failed to increase intellectual capacity with their greater mental exercise, and it is, among other things, an increase of mental capacity that is needed to counteract man's decreasing mental capacity. And so far as man's mental, moral and religious depravity is concerned, man can no more lift himself out of it than he can elevate his body by pulling away at his bootstraps. And the reason is very simple: man is not stronger than himself individually. A stream cannot rise higher than its source. Nor can man collectively elevate himself morally and religiously back to the perfection originally had. The failure of man-made religions and moral institutions and the state and the family to achieve these results is sure proof of this fact. We do not deny that the heathen religions, alongside of error, superstition and ignorance, have taught some moral and religious truths; but they have failed to give through these power to 

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their votaries to arise out of their depravities, physical, artistic and mental, and especially moral and religious, into physical, artistic, mental, moral and religious perfection, as all pertinent facts prove. The exercises that they offer cannot of themselves effect this—prayer, fasting, almsdeeds, austerities, vigils, lustrations, rites, ceremonies, sacrifices, self and world renunciation, pilgrimages to special shrines and other holy places. Look at one after another of the religions of the ancient, the mediaeval and modern world, and what do we find on this point? They have all failed, despite some good things in them, to solve this problem of problems, the rescue of man from sin and the curse that is upon him. Even Judaism, though Divinely revealed and the best religion that could be given the natural fallen man along the lines of justice, was unable to effect more than to show man his inability to save himself from his fallen condition revealed to him by it, and to work in him a deep sense of guilt and a deep longing for the coming of a Savior with power to deliver him—a thing that it could not effect for him. Thus the sin and condemnation of the race and the effects in the curse furnish the problem of problems that fallen humans individually or collectively have not been able to solve, and the basal reason for this is their inability to furnish a ransom that would remove the death sentence and its effects in the curse. Only Jesus in His many offices can do this, which we will show in detail. 

The whole plan of redemption revealed in the Bible is pivoted upon two things: man's condemnation to the curse in Adam by Divine justice for Adam's sin, and man's ransom from that curse-condemnation by Christ through His righteousness unto death as Adam's and our ransom in Adam. There is nothing in the facts of the curse but is in harmony with the thought that the curse came upon all through one common ancestor; for it is evident that the curse is by heredity transmitted from generation to generation, and hence must have come from the first generation of mankind as its 

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guilty recipient; otherwise some of the race, the descendants of non-sinning ancestors, would have escaped it. Whether one will dispute this or not, it is evidently the Biblical teaching (Rom. 5:12-19; 1 Cor. 15:21, 22), and certainly is in harmony with the fact that the curse is hereditary, which all observation and experience certainly prove to be a fact. The Bible proposition is that Adam for indulgence in sin had to pay its price, enslavement unto death under the curse, exacted by God, the Creditor, who required the debtor to pay the price for his sin-indulgence, for the reason that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Adam's debt was all that he was and had, which was that of a perfect human being, having a perfect body, a perfect life in that body, the right to life and its accompanying life-rights. Since none of Adam's fallen race is free from this debt, by virtue of inheriting it, none of them could be his and their ransomer (Ps. 49:7, 8). And since life is transmitted by the father and the body by the mother, none of Adam's fallen male descendants could transmit a perfect life, not having it himself, since one cannot give what he does not have. Therefore the Ransomer could not have had a fallen human father; for that would have transmitted to Him the death sentence, with all of Adam's debt therein implied. Hence God transferred His only begotten Son from the spirit plane, using His life-principle and soul qualities instead of those of a human male to germinate the ovum in the Virgin Mary; and thus God made Him a perfect human being without His inheriting the Adamic sentence and dying life, i.e., Jesus had by virtue of his perfect human body, life, right to life and its life-rights. 

Thus Jesus was and became the Possessor of the exact equivalent of what Adam was and had before he sinned, and what he had to forfeit in payment as the price of his indulgence in sin, i.e., Jesus as a perfect human being was the Possessor of a perfect human body, a perfect life in that body, the right to life, with

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its accompanying life-rights, i.e., He was an exact equivalent, a corresponding-price to Adam, as implied in the Greek words translated ransom—lytron anti and antilytron, meaning corresponding-price (Matt. 20:28; 1 Tim. 2:6). As Ransomer He substituted His perfect humanity for Adam's forfeited perfect humanity, His perfect body for Adam's forfeited perfect body, His perfect life for Adam's forfeited perfect life, His right to life for Adam's forfeited right to life, and His life-rights for Adam's forfeited life-rights. And thus by substituting the corresponding-price for Adam and his race condemned in his loins He gained the right to purchase them by the ransom-price from their ownership by Divine Justice unto and in death. And this purchase price, this ransom, when paid over to Divine Justice, exactly meets all its demands on the race for its Adamic debt to that Justice, and thus will purchase release from the debt for the race. The reason that all other religions have completely failed to release man from the death debt and its consequent curse is their inability to provide a ransomer "mighty to save," "able to save unto the uttermost." And the Bible revelation, in this way solving this problem of problems, which no human philosophy of man- or devil-made religion has been able to solve, comes to us with the credentials of a Divine revelation; and the great evil of the curse which the Ransomer office of Christ cures is the debt which brought death to sinful man. The Ransom is the basal doctrine of the Divine revelation, the hub of the wheel of salvation; and out of it flow all the other offices of Christ needed to remedy the effects of sin and the curse, which we will now proceed to show, remarking first that on account of the race consisting of two classes, the faith class and the unbelief class, the ransom-merit of Christ in His various offices reaches mankind so classed, at different times and in different office operations. Certain of Christ's offices are exercised toward the faith class first, then afterward others of His offices are exercised toward the unbelief 

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class, and certain of His offices are exercised on both classes, but at different times and in different ways for practical purposes. 

First we will consider His office functions that are exercised mainly toward the faith class, with whom God deals in this life. The Ransomer imputing His ransom-merit on their behalf, on their exercising repentance, faith and consecration, purchases them imputatively from their debt-sold slavery and death, and thus frees them in this life from that debt-sold slavery, and thus undoes the first evil of sin and the curse. But there is a second evil that sin and the curse have brought to men, including the faith class, i.e., they are for sin law-sentenced convicts. A just law, Divine Justice, has justly sentenced them by the mouth of an infallible judge, God Almighty, for their sin, which has transgressed His just law: This is a fearful feature of the curse! But Christ in His office as Advocate, Attorney (1 John 2:1), appears for the law-condemned convict before the High Court of the Universe; and by His merit, which He imputes for the law-condemned repentant, believing and consecrated convict in full satisfaction of the claims of the Divine Justice against His client, this law-condemned convict, He obtains for him the full cancellation of the just sentence, hitherto held against this law-condemned convict. Thus as Christ in His office of the Ransomer cures that evil of sin and the curse which made the debtor the slave of sin unto death, so Christ in His office of the Advocate cures that evil of sin and the curse which made the sinner a law-condemned convict. But there is a third evil that sin and the curse have brought upon man: They have made him destitute of righteousness (Rom. 1:18-29; 2:13-15; 3:9-19). In the figures of the Bible this lack of righteousness is represented as nakedness (Is. 47:3; Ezek. 16:7, 8, 22, 36, 37, 39; Rev. 3:17, 18; 16:15). This evil is cured for the consecrated believer by Christ in His office of being their righteousness, whereby He imputes His righteousness to them 

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(Rom. 10:4; 1 Cor. 1:30; Phil. 3:9). Where the figure of nakedness is used to show this pertinent lack, Christ as their Righteousness is pictured as clothing the consecrated believer in the robe of righteousness or in the garments of righteousness (Ps. 45:10, 11, 13, 14; Is. 61:10; Rev. 3:18; 16:15). Those that are faithful unto death receive this garment in the resurrection as their own. (Rev. 19:8); but let us beware lest we spot it with sin, error, selfishness or worldliness (Jude 23). Thus does Christ in His office of personally being our Righteousness cure us from the evil of the lack of righteousness brought upon us by sin and the curse. And so He satisfies that demand of God's law that we perfectly obey it, i.e., that we be righteous. Thus this office of Christ keeps us continually in harmony with God's law as reckoned fulfillers of it. While His Advocate office frees us from its sentence for sin, i.e., the latter works forgiveness of sins for us, the former confers Christ's righteousness upon us; combinedly they keep us in full harmony with God's law. There is a fourth evil that sin and the curse have brought upon the faith class, their inability of themselves to live a selfless and unworldly life and their living a selfish and worldly life (Is. 53:6; Rom. 14:15; 2 Cor. 5:15; Phil. 2:4-21; 1 Pet. 2:11; Matt. 24:38; Luke 8:14; 12:19; Tit. 3:3; Jas. 5:5; 1 Pet. 1:14; 4:2-4). This evil is overcome by Christ's office as prospective Bridegroom in making the faith class His espoused, whereby He gives them heavenly prospects, ambitions and hopes through which He enables them to overcome their selfishness and worldliness and to cultivate disinterested love and heavenlimindedness (Ps. 45:10, 11, 13, 14; 2 Cor. 11:2, 3; Rom. 12:2; Col. 3:1-4; Rev. 19:7-9; 21:2, 9, 10). 

But there is a fifth evil that sin and the curse have brought upon man, including the faith class, i.e., they have alienated God from man and man from God. And this evil Christ's office as High Priest cures; for as the function of the Ransomer is to purchase the slave of

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sin and death by paying his debt, as the function of the Advocate is to obtain the cancellation of the Justice-imposed sentence from the justice-condemned repentant, believing and consecrated members of the faith class, as the function of Christ as our righteousness is to impute His righteousness to the consecrated believer, and as the function of Him as prospective Bridegroom is to enable the faith class to overcome selfishness and worldliness and to develop disinterested love and heavenlimindedness, so at the present time the function of the High Priest is to reconcile God and the faith class, i.e., make God pleased with the repentant, believing and consecrated one, and make the justified and consecrated one pleased with God. It is man's sinfulness that makes God displeased with fallen man, and it is God's righteousness and holiness that make fallen man displeased with God. Hence for them to become pleased with one another a reconciliation is needed. This the High Priest effects in exercising His pertinent office. He now pleases God with the repentant, believing and consecrated members of the faith class by imputing His High Priestly merit to God for them (Rom. 3:21-26; 2 Cor. 5:18, 21; Heb. 2:17) and by imputing it to them (Heb. 2:18; 4:14-16; 5:5-10; 7:15-17, 19, 24-28; 10:11-14, 19-21). He now makes the repentant and believing one pleased with God's righteousness, by working in him through the pertinent parts of the Word and providences hatred and avoidance of, and opposition to sin and supreme duty-love to God and equal love to the neighbor; and He now makes the consecrated one pleased with God's holiness, by enabling him, while keeping himself dead selfward and worldward and alive Godward, to lay down unto death his human life and body in sacrificial services on behalf of God's plans and to develop his character into Christlikeness. Thereby the consecrated one becomes pleased with God's holiness, and thus is completed the reconciliation between God and the present justified and consecrated

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ones, i.e., thus both are made pleased—reconciled—with each other. And Jesus in His High Priestly office imputes His merit for them to God unto the Latter's pleasement with them, and works this pleasement with God's righteousness and holiness in the justified and the consecrated, by enabling them through the operation of the Spirit, Word and providences to be faithful in their justification and in their consecration through their sacrifices and character development. And thus His High Priestly office cures the evils that sin and the curse have wrought in alienating God and the faith class from one another. 

Sin and the curse have wrought a sixth evil in mankind, including the faith class, as to God, i.e., they have made them ignorant of God and His Truth, the dupes of error and false religions. And Christ in His office as Teacher cures this ignorance, frees them from this error and these false religions, by teaching them the Truth and refuting error and false religions. He thus becomes their Teacher; and they become His disciples. By ignorance, error and false religions Satan has deceived the whole world (2 Cor. 4:4; John 8:44), including the faith class while yet sinners. Jesus as Teacher (Matt. 23:8; John 8:31, 32) delivers from this ignorance and error and these false religions (1 Pet. 2:9; 2 Cor. 4:6) all who will accept the terms of discipleship—repentance toward God, faith in our Lord Jesus, and consecration to follow Jesus' footsteps (Acts 20:21; Matt. 16:24). In exercising His office as Teacher He has indeed displaced the ignorance of the faith class by knowledge, their errors by the Truth and their adherence to false religions by adherence to true Christianity, and thus has freed them of the evils of ignorance, error and false religions as features of the effects of sin and the curse. 

Sin and the curse have wrought a seventh evil on mankind, including the faith class while yet sinners, as to God, i.e., have made them captives of Satan in his kingdom (John 12:31; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; 

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2 Tim. 2:26; 1 John 5:19 [literally, in the evil one, not in wickedness—see A.R.V.]). Satan is their captor by usurpation and deception, through their ignorance, erroneousness, sinfulness, selfishness and worldliness (2 Cor. 2:11; 11:3, 14; Eph. 6:12; Matt. 13:19; John 8:41, 44). From this bondage, typed by that with which Pharaoh oppressed Israel, Jesus, the antitype of Moses, in His office of Deliverer, now frees all that obey Him (John 8:31, 32, 36; Luke 13:16; Acts 26:18; Col. 1:13; Heb. 2:15; 1 John 5:18). And in the liberty (Gal. 5:1) wherewith Christ as Deliverer frees, these have not only freedom from the dominion of Satan in ignorance, sin, error, selfishness and worldlimindedness, but also freedom in the domination of Christ in knowledge, truth, righteousness, love and heavenlimindedness, and thus Christ cures them of the evil of being Satan's captives and slaves, resulting from sin and the curse. 

Sin and the curse have wrought an eighth evil on the human race, including the faith class, in its relations to God, enmity to His principles and love for sin, error, selfishness and worldliness (Ps. 51:5; Matt. 15:9; Rom. 8:5-8, 12, 13; Eph. 2:2, 3; 4:17-19), with the consequence that to overcome these evils and to practice the Divine principles a constant warfare must be waged against the devil, the world and the flesh (1 Cor. 9:26; 16:13; 2 Cor. 10:3-5; Eph. 6:11-17; 1 Tim. 6:12; 2 Tim. 2:3-5; 4:7; Heb. 10:32). This warfare will be true for the unbelief class in a milder sense in the Millennium, and that limited to the flesh, since the world will then not be allowed to tempt one another, and the devil and the fallen angels will be absent, securely locked up in the bottomless pit; but it is now true in a strict sense for the faith class against all three of our enemies. Indeed, with their best intentions, if left to their own resources, the faith class would be unable to overcome in this warfare, in which they must be victorious to be counted worthy as overcomers. But Christ in His office as the Captain

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of our Salvation (Heb. 2:10), i.e., as the Warrior-Leader who delivers us from our enemies' snares and leads us to victory in this warfare, supplies all we need in a Leader in this fight; for He gives us our orders, our weapons, our drills, our place in the battle line, the plan of our campaign, the encouragement, support, reinforcement and relief that we need; and as we fall into line with His arrangements He gives us the incidental victories in our battles against sin, error, selfishness and worldliness and in our battles for righteousness, truth, love and heavenlimindedness, until at the end of our warfare He brings us off as more than victors over the devil, the world and the flesh. 

Sin and the curse have wrought a ninth evil on the world, including the faith class, i.e., they cannot think God's thoughts, cannot feel God's affections and will God's will; and to cure this evil for the faith class Christ exercises His office as Head of the Church (Eph. 1:22; Matt. 21:42; Eph. 4:12, 15; 5:23; 1 Cor. 11:3; Col. 1:18). As her Head He thinks her thoughts for her, by giving her the Truth (John 8:31, 32; 1 Cor. 1:30; Matt. 23:8), feels her affections for her, by giving her heavenly things upon which to set her affections and the strength to do it (Col. 3:1-3) and wills her volitions for her by enabling her to will God's will as her own will (1 Pet. 4:1-3; Prov. 23:26; Rom. 12:1). By so doing He gives her His Mind and Spirit (1 Cor. 2:16; Rom. 8:9); and thus she responds to His knowledge, His affections and His will as His Body in each individual member of that Body, even as the members of our natural bodies respond to our heads' knowledge, affections and will; and thus in her is cured that effect of sin and the curse whereby she formerly could not think God's thoughts, feel God's affections and will God's will. 

The above are not all the office functions of Christ toward the faith class; nor are all of them exercised exclusively for that class, e.g., He will act also toward the unbelief class, in the Millennium, as Ransomer,

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High Priest, Teacher, Deliverer and Captain. But we have treated these five in connection with the faith class, because of the more arduous nature of these office functions in their exercise toward the faith class than toward the unbelief class. More of Christ's offices toward the faith class will be treated as common for it and for the unbelief class after we have pointed out some exclusive exercises of Christ's offices toward the unbelief class. In the Millennium Christ as the Ransomer will not imputatively, but actually purchase the race from enslavement under sin and the curse unto death (1 Tim. 2:6; Rom. 5:15-19; Eph. 1:14). As High Priest He will then reconcile the world unto God, by the application of His merit for them to God (1 John 2:2) and by blessing them with that merit unto their becoming pleased with God's righteousness (Is. 53:10-12). He will then as Teacher bring all of them into an accurate knowledge of the Truth (1 Tim. 2:4; Is. 29:18, 24; 11:9). As Deliverer He will rescue the world from Satan's rulership, by overthrowing Satan's empire, binding him first and then imprisoning him during the thousand years and placing the race under His own rule (John 12:31, 32; Is. 9:6, 7; 14:12-20; 29:20; 34:1-4; Rev. 16:18-20; 19:11-21; 20:1-3). As Captain, typed by Joshua conquering Canaan, He will lead the world in the Millennium in war against sin, error and the effects of the curse, and give them victory over these, by making them overcome their sinfulness, by giving them the Truth, whereby they will refute all their errors and by restoring them from the physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious evils of the curse into the physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious perfection originally enjoyed by Adam (Is. 2:2-4; 9:5; 11:4, 5, 9, 10; 25:6-8; 29:18, 19, 24; 35:5, 6). Accordingly, we see that Christ's offices as Ransomer, High Priest, Teacher, Deliverer and Captain, though acting somewhat differently from the way in which they act in the present dispensation, will also be exercised for the Millennial world.

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There will be some of the offices of Christ that pertain to His curing certain evils that sin and the curse have inflicted upon the unbelief class alone. The first of these evils is this, that sin and the curse have so injured the unbelief class (Rom. 3:2, 3; 11:32; 2 Thes. 3:2; Heb. 3:12, 19; 4:6, 11; Tit. 1:15) that God has no confidence in this class, and this class has no confidence in God, whereas there is mutual confidence between God and the faith class. To cure the mutual distrust between God and the unbelief class Christ's office as Mediator will be exercised toward God and the unbelief class in the Millennium (1 Tim. 2:4-6; Heb. 8:6; 9:15; 12:24). Most people confound Christ's High Priestly and Mediatorial offices, and therefore claim that as Mediator He reconciles God and man. As High Priest He so does, but not as Mediator. As Mediator He guarantees to one another two parties who distrust one another, but who desire to enter into contractual relations with one another, e.g., as a bonding company does by underwriting the bond that each party of a business contract requires of the other before entering into the contract. The fact that each party requires a bond of the other to guarantee each to the other proves that they do not trust each other enough to enter into the contract, yet do desire to enter it on condition that a bond which would cover the possible loss of each one could be furnished. The bonding company by furnishing the bond that each requires of the other guarantees the contract to each, whereby, when done, each enters into contractual relations with the other. And by giving that guarantee, the bonding company mediates between the two parties—is the mediator of the contract. 

So a contract—a covenant—will be desired by God and man in the Millennium. As the prospective Party of the first part, God desires to give eternal life to the unbelief class, if they will perfectly obey Him, and as the prospective party of the second part, the unbelief class, so ardently desires to receive eternal life as to

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be willing to promise to obey God perfectly, if He will give them eternal life, i.e., each is willing to enter into a conditional contract with the other. But there is a difficulty in the way of their entering into this contract, or covenant: God, knowing that fallen man cannot perfectly obey God's law, distrusts the promise that the unbelief class is willing to make in the covenant; and the unbelief class, because of its unbelief, does not believe that God will keep His proposed covenant promise. Thus an impasse as to their entering into covenant relations sets in. How can this impasse be overcome, and they be brought into contractual relations with one another? By someone guaranteeing man to God and God to man, i.e., by someone acting as a mediator between them. This Christ does: (1) by sealing or making or guaranteeing the covenant Godward. He does this by giving His merit to God, which makes good all the unbelief class's Adamic blemishes, and by His promise to bring the eventually willing of the unbelief class up to perfect obedience and to destroy the eventually unwilling among them. These two things will guarantee the unbelief class to God, i.e., will seal the covenant Godward. (2) He will guarantee God to the unbelief class by giving them gradually during the thousand years perfect humanity, with perfect bodies, perfect life in those bodies, the right to life and the pertinent life-rights, as they obey Him. Thus His giving the willingly obedient restitution to Adamic perfection will guarantee to them that God will keep His conditional-promise; in the meantime He will have destroyed the willfully disobedient. And this guaranteeing each party of the covenant to the other will cure their mutual distrust, one of the evils resulting from sin and the curse upon the unbelief class; but it will do more: it will actually at the end of the Millennium introduce God and man into the New Covenant relations with each other, each side trusting the other to keep the conditional covenant promises.

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Another evil that sin and the curse have brought upon mankind, upon both the faith and the unbelief classes, is to deprive them of perfect life and to give them dying life, resulting in actual death. Such life is reckonedly, not actually given to the faith class through their faith justification, which makes Christ no more than a reckoned Father of their humanity (John 5:21, 24; 6:47-51, 57, 58; 1 John 5:12), a step necessarily precedent to their becoming God's actual children through Spirit-begettal and birth. Accordingly, Jesus does not actually become their Father; but He will become the actual Father to the willing of the unbelief class in the Millennium, and thus cure them of the particular evil of sin and the curse now under study (Is. 9:6; 1 Cor. 15:45, 47). The office of a father is primarily to give life to His children, which he does by the act of begettal (Matt. 1:2-16; Eph. 2:1, 5; Col. 2:13; John 5:21). Accordingly, Christ performs the office of a father when He gives life to others (Is. 9:6; 1 Cor. 15:21-26, 45, 47; John 6:33, 51; 10:10; 11:25, 26; 14:6). Adam and our subsequent paternal ancestors transmitted not full perfect, but imperfect dying life to us, their children. By purchasing in the ransom act Adam and all his rights, Jesus buys Adam's forfeited right to generate a perfect race, a race with perfect life. Thus Christ by purchase acquires the right to become the second Man (Adam means man), the second or last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45-47), and thus the right to father unto perfect life those who by the first Adam were fathered unto an imperfect and dying life. While Jesus becomes in faith-justification the reckoned Father of the humanity of the faith class in this life, in the next Age He will actually give perfect life, with the right to life and its pertinent life-rights, to all who will accept Him as their Father, i.e., to all who through obedience, faith, love and reverence toward Him are willing to become and remain His children. And to such children He will in the regeneration (Matt. 19:28) give what Adam failed to give his children, 

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perfect everlasting life; and because He will give perfect everlasting life to His children, He is called the Everlasting Father (Is. 9:6); and because He will do it through the ransom merit, and thus acquire the office toward them that Adam by sin and the curse forfeited, He in contrast with the first Adam is called the second Adam (Adam means man, 1 Cor. 15:47) and the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45), the last because there are only two Adams, and He is the second of these. Thus by His office of Father in the next Age He will cure the evil of mankind's getting through sin and the curse an imperfect, dying life, eventuating in death. His fathering these includes His recovering from the tomb those of them who are there (John 5:28, 29). Here it may be added that as Eve was associated with Adam in his sin and the curse, and cooperated with him in bringing the race into a dying life, so the Church, which is Scripturally set forth as the antitype of Eve (Eph. 5:22-32; 2 Cor. 11:2, 3) is associated with Christ in righteous sacrifice for the world, and will in the Millennium be associated with Christ as His Bride and as the Mother of His children (Rom. 8:17; 2 Tim. 2:10-12; Rev. 19:7-9; 21:9; Is. 66:10-14), and thus will as Mother cooperate with Him in regenerating the race in righteousness and life. 

Another evil that the unbelief class has received through sin and the curse is that it has gotten in the condition of the curse no perfect law and no perfect law-giver. This evil will be cured by Christ's office as Law-Giver in the Millennium. Adam and Eve had the perfect law written in their hearts and minds (Gen. 1:26, 27); but that law they violated by sin, and thus broke their covenant with God implied in that law written in their hearts and minds (Hos. 6:7, A.R.V.). It is true that Israel was given a perfect law; but we must remember that it was given to them as members of the faith class, and not as members of the unbelief class. Specially gifted members of the unbelief class have in religion, state, family, society, business and 

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labor sought to give laws regulating the conduct of the subjects of these various departments of the order of affairs among men; but none of these have been able to lay down perfect laws; nor were any of them perfect law-givers. In the religious domain Confucius, Buddha, Zoroaster, Mohammed, etc., failed to be perfect law-givers and failed to give perfect laws. In the domain of the state the Lycurguses, Solons, Caesars, Justinians and Napoleons neither gave perfect laws, nor were they perfect law-givers. Neither have there ever been perfect laws given by fallen man, nor have perfect law-givers existed for the domains of the home, society, business and labor. Search the histories of legislation on these subjects, and imperfection is found written all over every such law and every such law-giver. Hence the proposition is true that none of the unbelief class has ever been given perfect laws for the regulation of human conduct, nor has anyone of them ever been a perfect law-giver. And since imperfection is written all over all attempts in this sphere in the efforts of the unbelief class for over 6,000 years, the inference is a fair one that the unbelief class is incapable of producing a perfect law-giver and perfect laws regulating man's conduct in its varied relations. 

But the Millennial Christ is set forth as a perfect Law-Giver, whose perfect laws will be found fully adequate to regulate human conduct perfectly, and that under conditions gradually approaching and finally reaching perfection (Is. 2:3; 33:20-24; 42:4, 21; Mic. 4:2; Mal. 2:6, 7). This perfect Law-Giver will, in harmony with proper principles, temper His laws to human weakness and ability (Is. 42:1-4); and as that ability increases His laws will be made more strict, more detailed and more embracing, always making allowance for human weakness, but always increasing human ability, until that ability is perfect, when the law will be adapted to the full ability of perfect men, no allowance thereafter being made for imperfection. Certainly, a Law-Giver whose laws are made as flexible

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as human weakness and ability require, and by the application of suitable laws is continually increasing human ability until He has made it perfect, is a perfect Law-Giver. And in that perfection no human relation will be overlooked, no human thought, motive, word or act will be incapable of regulation by that Law-Giver's laws, and no human need will be left disregarded or unregulated by that Law-Giver's laws. And in these activities as Law-Giver, Jesus will cure the evil of the unbelief class' having no perfect law-giver. 

We will consider another evil that sin and the curse have brought on the race for which an office of Christ will provide the cure. Sin and the curse have disrupted peace of heart and mind in the unbelief class and have filled it with much worry, and have made much discord between God and man, man and man, class and class and nation and nation. Peace of heart and mind certainly has been taken from the unbelief class; and instead have come perplexity of mind and anxiety of heart (Is. 57:20, 21; 59:8). Sin and the curse have disrupted peace between God and the unbelief class (Ps. 5:5, 6; 7:11; 58:3; Prov. 15:9; Is. 1:4; 59:2, 8; Rom. 9:13; 1 Cor. 10:5). This lack of peace and the presence of discord are very noticeable between man and man in the competitions of the business world, in the members of most families, in partisan politics, in industry, in internationality and in sectarianism (Gen. 45:24; Ps. 120:6, 7; Prov. 17:1, 14; Matt. 10:21, 34-36; Acts 7:26, 27; 17:7, 8). In its worst social form it partakes of the nature of riots, revolutions and wars (Acts 19:28-40; 21:27-31; 1 Kings 12:16-19; Matt. 24:6-8). Thus peace of heart and mind and social peace have been disrupted by sin and the curse. These forms of the lack of peace and the presence of discord Jesus as the Prince of Peace will cure (Is. 9:6, 7; 46:9; Ps. 72:1-3, 7; Is. 2:3, 4; 11:6-10; 32:15; 53:10-12; Zech. 9:10; Jer. 31:34; Mic. 4:4; Luke 2:14). He will, by His merit applied for the unbelief class, make God at peace with them; 

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and by His working repentance, faith, consecration and restitution in them He will make them have peace toward God. Filling the hearts of the people with love to the neighbor as to self, He will put away strife from man to man, and make them dwell in peace with one another. Breaking up all mankind's evil business relations, political parties, social disorders, industrial disputes and national and international strife, He will fill all human relations with peace. His reign will promote an all-sided and universal peace; for He is the Prince of Peace, who will not only produce glory to God in the highest, but also peace on earth, good will toward men, and thus will undo the evil effects of sin and the curse in the form of dispositional unrest and a lack of peace and the presence of discord between God and man, man and man, party and party, sect and sect and nation and nation. 

A final exclusive unbelief-class evil wrought by sin and the curse is man's inability to rule himself in his varied relations, an evil that will be cured by Christ in His office as King. Certainly, man is unable to rule himself in his varied relations. The fact that he sins so much against God, in so many different forms of iniquity, proves that he is unable to rule himself in his relations toward God. The fact that he sins so much against his neighbor in all the varied spheres of social organization, in his life-rights, sex rights, property rights and reputation rights, certainly proves that he is not able to rule himself in his relations to his fellows. The fact that he sins so much, and does so many evils against himself in physical, mental, moral and religious respects in his relations to himself proves that he cannot rule himself. And the fact that he suffers so much from animate and inanimate nature, as well as inflicts much evil upon the animal creation, also proves that he cannot rule his originally-given dominion over earth, its laws, forces and animate creatures. The unbelief class is, from the standpoint of this form of evils brought to him by sin and the curse, in great need of

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an autocratic king who is at once wise, just, loving and powerful as to all things that evilly affect man in his inability to rule himself. Jesus in his Millennial office as absolute King over the earth will cure the obedient of the unbelief class from all forms of this inability; for He will make a perfect diagnosis of all the evils in this particular form, and prescribe the needed remedies; He will employ the Spirit, Word and providences that will be conducive to healing the unbelief class of the pertinent evils. He will institute and enforce as King all Kingdom arrangements curative of these evils. He will with powerful hands put down all rebelliousness against such arrangements. He will encourage all to submit themselves to these arrangements. His almighty power will be used to heal animate and inanimate nature as to this earth of its part of the curse inflicting evils on man, resulting in turning this earth into a perfect condition, the promised Paradise, and thus will gradually during the thousand years set aside the effects of sin and the curse from the standpoint presented in this paragraph by His reign as King, yea, as King of Kings. 

So far we have presented four evil effects of sin and the curse whose cure is effected by the four pertinent offices of Christ for the faith class exclusively. Then we presented five others that affect the faith class as well as the unbelief class, and that five others of Christ's offices will cure, for the faith class in this Age and for the unbelief class in the next Age. And, finally, we presented five evils that sin and death brought upon the unbelief class that five other offices of Christ will set aside in the Millennium exclusively. But there is a series of offices of Christ that are designed to cure the rest of the evils that sin and the curse have brought upon both the faith class and the unbelief class, which still remain to be presented. But the fourteen evils and their cures by the fourteen offices of Christ already exhibited are a powerful proof of His Saviorhood from the pertinent evil effects of sin and the curse

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and, therefore, strongly prove the Bible to be a Divine revelation; for it alone has made in these fourteen forms of evil the only correct diagnosis, and prescribed in the fourteen above-named offices of Christ their full and perfect cure. Hence these fourteen features mightily prove the Divine origin of the Bible, for who but the Supreme Being could perfectly diagnose these fourteen evils, and furnish One clothed with offices capable of effecting their perfect cure? 

Above, 14 evils that sin and the curse have inflicted upon mankind were set forth; and 14 of Christ's offices were presented as their perfect cure, a pertinent office of Christ existing for the cure of each of these evils. There are seven other evils that sin and the curse have brought upon mankind; and for each of these there is a pertinent office of Christ for its cure. These 21 evils include all the bad effects of sin and the curse upon mankind; and the 21 offices of Christ, one for the cure of each of these evil effects of sin and the curse, are a complete proof of His Saviorhood, of His perfect Saviorhood, and therefore constitute an unanswerable proof that the Bible, which perfectly diagnoses these, all of mankind's maladies, and in Christ's offices prescribes their perfect cure, must be a Divine revelation, since it is beyond the ability of any being or set of beings inferior to the Supreme Being truly and perfectly to diagnose humanity's ills and prescribe a perfect cure for them; but since the Bible does these two things, it must have been originated by God and, therefore, must be the Divine revelation. We now proceed to discuss the remaining seven evil effects of sin and the curse and Christ's remaining seven pertinent offices given Him by God for their cure. 

Accordingly, the 15th evil effect of sin and the curse is the natural man's destitution of the true knowledge pertinent to his relations to God, to Christ, to the good and evil angels, to himself, to his fellows, to evil itself, to the present order of affairs and to animate and inanimate nature, and his possession of more or less erroneous 

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and superstitious knowledge as to these relations. It is a fact of experience and observation as well as a conclusion of reason that man by nature is destitute of such true knowledge, and is possessed of such erroneous and superstitious knowledge. The existence of many contradictory religions and contradicting sects in each of these religions is an impressive proof of this statement. The confused and contradictory opinions of multitudes of individuals and the contradictory views first accepted and later rejected by many individuals who do not adhere to one or the other of the religions and their sects are another strong factual proof of our statement. The rejection of all belief as to the abovementioned religious relations is a third strong factual proof of our proposition. The contradictory pertinent views of individual philosophers and scientists and of philosophical and scientific schools of thought are a fourth corroboration of this view of the subject. And what reason, experience and observation tell us on these matters we find clearly set forth in the Bible as to man's pertinent condition as a result of sin and the curse wherever the Divine revelation is not received. The following Scriptures give us the Divine mind on this phase of our subject: Job 8:9; 11:7; 28:12, 13, 20, 21; 37:5, 19, 23; Ps. 139:6; Eccl. 3:11; 6:12; 7:23, 24; 8:17; Acts 3:14-17; 17:23; 1 Cor. 2:7-10; 3:19; Eph. 4:18. Accordingly, reason, experience, observation and Scripture are in agreement on this subject, even as the wise man said as to the natural man: "Who by searching can find out God"—i.e., Who by study with his unaided natural powers can arrive at the Divine Truth on all man's needed knowledge as to God? We will have to answer his question that, apart from a Divine revelation, no one can. Hence this particular effect of sin and the curse is a dreadful evil, since they degrade and pervert all the intellectual powers—the perceptive, reproductive, imagining, reasoning and rational intuitive faculties and their contents.

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To enable the elect and non-elect classes to overcome this effect of sin and the curse, God has clothed our Lord with the office of being for His revelation His Agent, through whom He makes known the contents of Divine plan, the Divine revelation, as the original Transmitter of its thoughts, in addition, as was shown above, to His being as Teacher their authorized and infallible Interpreter. Indeed, He began His activity as Transmitter of the Divine revelation before His carnation; for with the exception of a few things that Gabriel was privileged to make known to Daniel, Zecharias and Mary, the whole Bible was given as an inspired matter by Him, by virtue of His inspiring its writers. Indeed, the revelations given by Gabriel to Daniel, Zecharias and Mary were at their reduction to writing inspired by Jesus. These facts are implied in His titles, the Word (John 1:1, 14) and The Word of God (Rev. 19:13), and are also proven by the following passages: John 1:9, 18; Is. 42:6, 7; 61:1, 2; Matt. 5:17; Luke 1:78, 79; 2:30-32; John 3:19; 4:25; 8:12; 9:39; 11:9; 12:35, 36, 46; 18:37; Acts 3:22, 23; 7:37; 10:36; Rom. 15:8, 9; 1 Cor. 1:30; 1 Pet. 1:11, 12; Rev. 1:1. While during Bible times He exercised His office as the Transmitter of the Divine revelation, the Bible, He has since been (1 Cor. 1:30 [wisdom]; Matt. 23:8; Acts 10:36; Rev. 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14; 5:5-7; 6:1; 19:10; 22:16) and will during the Millennium be the infallible and Divinely authorized Interpreter thereof in His office of Teacher, as was shown above (Acts 3:22, 23; Is. 2:2-4; 71:1-5, 9, 10; 29:18, 23, 24; 35:4, 5, 8; 42:6, 7; Mal. 4:2). Thus by the exercise of His office as the Revealer of God's Word He has during the Gospel Age been curing for the faith class, and later will cure for the unbelief class, the evils of ignorance, error and superstition brought upon all through sin and the curse. 

A sixteenth evil that the curse has brought upon man is making him incapable of thinking out and instituting and making practically operative arrangements for

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man's full physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious well-being. It has incapacitated him from having the physical strength necessary for thinking out, instituting and making practically operative such arrangements. It has incapacitated his perceptive, reproductive, imagining, reasoning and rational intuitive mental powers from inventing the plans necessary for such arrangements, let alone to think out the ways and means of instituting them; and, of course, under such conditions he is incapable of making them practically operative. Even if he had the physical, artistic and mental strength thereto, he lacks the moral and religious strength needed therefore; for his moral and religious depravity has made him wreck his best physical, artistic and mental efforts to work out the limited arrangements for imperfect human welfare that the better of the race has set up in the domain of government, religion, family, education, finance, industry, business and society. The history of every nation, government, religion, family and educational, business, financial, industrial and social system, demonstrates this proposition. This being true, there must be some radical defect at the bottom of such incapacity; and that defect is the result of sin and the curse. To fallen men, therefore, we cannot look for the physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious abilities necessary to think out, institute and make practically operative arrangements for man's full welfare. 

To cure this effect of sin and the curse God has constituted Jesus as His Executive, to take the arrangements that God has invented for man's full welfare and make them work practically. Accordingly, Jesus in His office as the Executive of all God's arrangements cures now for the faith class, and will in the Millennium cure for the unbelief class the pertinent incapacity. He now in this respect for the faith class does it by taking the arrangements that God has thought out, putting them into use, and then making them practically operative to remove the pertinent incapacity. To make them operative 

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He uses as their instruments the Spirit, Word and providence of God. He makes them work through the processes of instruction, repentance, faith, consecration made and carried out, fighting aggressively against sin, error, selfishness and worldliness and for truth, righteousness and holiness, and defensively against all attacks on the holy minds' and hearts' possessions and attainments in His people as to truth, righteousness and holiness. His present arrangements for such cures are not for the physical and mental capacities beyond what is necessary for them to be made servants of truth, righteousness and holiness, i.e., these arrangements are for spiritual well-being, as distinct from natural human well-being, and that because the former is secured and maintained at the sacrifice of the human well-being. But His pertinent arrangements and their application are perfectly adapted to secure the spiritual well-being of the faith class. In the Millennium His arrangements and their application will be to secure the physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious well-being of humans as such, in distinction from the well-being of New Creatures. Instead of Satan's present arrangements making conditions conducive to sin, ignorance, error, superstition, sorrow, sickness, pain, persecution of the righteous, exaltation of the pliably wicked, degrading institutions, customs and practices, oppression, war, dying and death, Jesus will then make and operate arrangements conducive to righteousness, knowledge, truth, faith, joy, healing, health, pleasure, exaltation of the righteous, abasing and striping the unrighteous for their reformation, elevating institutions, customs and practices, freedom, peace, convalescence, restitution and life. And as by the Gospel-Age arrangements He constantly increases the capacity of the faith class to avail themselves of His helps for their spiritual elevation, especially in mental, moral and religious respects, so in the Millennial Age He will with the world of mankind by His pertinent Millennial helps increase their capacity to avail themselves of His arrangements for their physical, 

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mental, artistic, moral and religious well-being. Perfection having thus been wrought, man will have the necessary capacities to think out, institute and operate perfect arrangements for his well-being. The following Scriptures prove this of His Gospel-Age arrangements as God's Executive on behalf of the faith class: Matt. 28:18-20; John 5:19; 1 Cor. 8:6; Eph. 1:22, 23; Col. 1:18, 19; 1 Cor. 1:30; John 14:6; 17:3; Heb. 3:1; Rev. 5:5-7. And the following Scriptures prove this of His Millennial arrangements for the unbelief class: Is. 61:4; Ezek. 36:35; Is. 35:1, 2; Rev. 20:1-3; Ps. 72:8; Is. 25:7; 11:9; 62:12; Rom. 8:21; Is. 35:10; 2:4; 9:7; 25:8; Ps. 72:7; Is. 26:9; Ps. 37:35, 36; Is. 65:15; 60:14, 15; 60:12; Ps. 72:12-14; Is. 65:22; Mic. 4:4; Is. 65:23; 60:17. 

A seventeenth evil that sin and the curse have brought upon mankind, both in its faith and in its unbelief classes, is their being controlled by Satan; and the cure of this evil is Jesus' office of lordship, whereby He now delivers the faith class and in the Millennium will deliver the unbelief class from Satan's control, and now brings the former, and later will bring the latter under His control. God never sanctioned more of Satan's control of mankind than letting him become, as a symbolic sheriff, the executioner of the death-sentenced race; but by lawlessness and usurpation Satan has enlarged his figurative sheriff powers to execute the condemned race into controllership powers to manage the physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious affairs of mankind. In the process he has made them miserable and oppressed slaves, whom by error, ignorance and superstition through their sinfulness, selfishness and worldliness, he uses to carry out his will, and further his order of affairs, rewarding with honor, wealth, power and luxury those who are amenable to his purposes, casting them ruthlessly and feelinglessly off when they cease to be so amenable, oppressing and persecuting those who are in the way of, or who resist his purposes, and in general using his 

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slaves for his selfish gratification, regardless of whether it results in their good or ill. As a result, he has under his control the groaning human creation: for the history of the world, especially in its governmental, aristocratic, religious and labor departments, is almost nothing but a series of ruthless, oppressive, self-aggrandizing, deceiving and wearying acts and events; for the history of the nations is made up largely of the exploitation and oppression of their subjects and of wars of aggression and defense. The history of the aristocracy is largely one of exploitation and oppression of labor, with the latter usually playing the role of slaves, serfs or largely underpaid employees and servants. And the history of religion is largely one in which the deception of its adherents has been practiced for the gain of the clergy, who have often advocated blind and unquestioning acceptance of, and obedience to their teachings and to the behests of state and aristocracy. In the average histories the above-mentioned things largely monopolize the space; and the record of the achievements that make for the real betterment of the race: the progress of true religion and of civilization in the arts, sciences, education, invention, sociology, etc., receives comparatively scant mention. It is only in some of the histories produced in the last 65 years that some of such subjects receive a fair degree of description. Surely Satan's dark control of the race is a record of woe and grief in a night of weeping! Humanity does not have it within itself to free itself from such control; for hitherto every human effort therein has been baffled, neutralized or diverted into other woeful conditions of oppression and grief. The following are some Scriptural proofs of Satan's control of the human race: Job 1:6—2:7; 1 Chro. 21:1; Gen. 3:15; Matt. 13:19; Luke 4:6; 13:16; 22:31; John 8:44; 12:31; 13:2, 27; 14:30; 16:11; Acts 5:3; 13:10; 26:18; 1 Cor. 7:5; 2 Cor. 2:11; 4:4; 11:3, 14, 15; Eph. 2:2; 2 Thes. 2:9; 1 Tim. 3:6, 7; 5:15; 2 Tim. 2:26. 

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But the groans of the human family for release from the shackles of Satanic control, worn in most cases in ignorance of who the real oppressor is, have reached unto the ears of the Lord of hosts, whose compassion has made Him decide to transfer the control of the race from Satan as lord to Christ as Lord. Our Lord during the present Age starts the work of effecting that transfer with the faith class, by becoming their Lord. This He effects, partly by giving them the knowledge and power necessary to work repentance and faith in them unto justification, whereby they renounce Satan's control over them in so far as it is exercised over them through sin and certain forms of error, ignorance and superstition. This makes them accept Jesus' control as respects righteousness and certain forms of truth, knowledge and faith, as distinct from superstition. But this is not yet a full release from Satan's control; nor is it a full acceptance of Jesus as Lord. These two things Jesus effects by bringing the responsive of the faith class to consecration, whereby they accept Him fully in His office as Lord, by surrendering their wills selfward and worldward and by accepting His will in all things as their will. This done, Jesus in the exercise of His office as their Lord manipulates all the affairs of their lives with their free-willed cooperation, so that in all things their performing His will brings them fully into His control, which is a rule, not of sin, error, selfishness and worldliness, but of wisdom, righteousness, love, power and heavenlimindedness, and thus He establishes Himself in their minds and hearts as their Lord, and thus frees them from Satan's control. The following Scriptures prove these things: Zech. 3:1, 2; Luke 13:16; 22:31, 32; Acts 26:18; Rom. 16:20; 2 Cor. 2:11; Eph. 4:27; 6:11-16; Col. 1:13; 2 Tim. 2:26; Heb. 2:14; Jas. 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:8, 9; 1 John 2:13; 5:18; Rev. 2:10, 13; Matt. 11:28-30; 13:45, 46; 16:24; 9:9; Rom. 12:1; Ps. 143:10; Luke 6:46-48; John 10:27; 14:15, 23. 

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Jesus in His office as Lord will in the Millennium deliver the unbelief class from the control of Satan, and bring them into His Own control. In so doing He effects the following: He first binds Satan in four general stages and after each stage makes an attack on a pertinent feature of Satan's empire, first by a worldwide war, secondly by a world-wide revolution, thirdly by a world-wide anarchy and fourthly by the final stage of Jacob's trouble and its aftermath. By these four steps He will annihilate every vestige of Satan's empire. Thereafter He will imprison him in the bottomless pit during the thousand years, i.e., He will banish him far away from this earth, quite likely on some heavenly body in one of the remotest universes of creation, where he will be kept out of touch with and in ignorance of matters going on in the earth during the Millennium, as to which matters he will form all sorts of erroneous opinions. Thereafter Jesus will set aside every condition that Satan has established among men conducive to sin and the curse, and will establish every human condition conducive to righteousness and blessedness. Amid such conditions He will influence all favorably toward consecration to Him, i.e., He will influence them to give up sin, error, ignorance and superstition and to accept His will as to righteousness, truth, knowledge and true faith and obedience. While He will require external obedience to the Kingdom arrangements and stripe every willful disregard of them, He will make the matter of consecration one of free will; and as people consecrate and seek faithfully to carry out their consecration, and thus accept His Lordship in all things, He will free them from every effect of Satan's controllership, and will bring them into His wise, just, loving and powerful controllership, and thus deliver them from all evil into all good, even unto human perfection of body, mind and heart. Thus in His office as Lord He will deliver them from Satan's control and every effect of it into His control with its blessed effects of freedom unto wisdom, justice, love 

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and power. Thus will Jesus as Lord cure the effect of sin and the curse that put mankind into Satan's control. The following Scriptures prove this point: Ps. 22:27-31; 72:5-10, 16, 17, 19; 85:10; 86:9; 89:29; 110:1-6; Is. 2:3, 4; 9:7; 11:6-10; 24:16; 25:6-8; 32:17; 40:5; 42:3; 45:23, 24; 56:7, 8; 66:12, 23; Jer. 3:17; 4:2; 16:19-21; 31:34; 33:22; Joel 2:28; Hab. 2:14; Zeph. 3:9; Hag. 2:7; Zech. 2:10, 11; 8:20-23; Mal. 1:11; 1 Cor. 15:21-28; Phil. 2:10, 11; Rev. 20:1-6. 

An eighteenth evil that sin and the curse have wrought upon mankind is physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious sickness, for whose cure God has arranged by Christ in his office of the Great Physician. That the race is diseased physically, mentally, artistically, morally and religiously is evident from the experience and observation of all. Above we have from another standpoint pointed out details of this evil. Doctors have listed about 2,000 diseases that prey upon men's bodies. The numerous errors along physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious lines, the shrunken mental faculties, the lapses of memory and the very imperfect perceptive, imagining and reasoning powers with their consequent weaknesses manifest on all hands, prove that mankind is diseased mentally. Mankind's many sins against God and neighbor enumerated above prove that it is artistically, morally and religiously diseased. Only the most superficial and ignorant will deny this diseased condition of the race. Nor can mankind of its own powers really cure these diseases; at best some of its better representatives can offer some temporary palliatives, but no real cures. The following Scriptures prove this diseased condition of our poor race: Gen. 6:5, 6, 11-13; 8:21; Job 9:2, 3; 14:4; 15:14-16; 25:4-6; Ps. 5:9; 14:1-3; 51:5; 58:1-5; 94:11; 130:3; 143:2; Prov. 10:20; 20:6, 9; 21:8; Eccl. 7:20, 29; 8:11; 9:3; Is. 1:5, 6; 42:6; 43:8; 48:8; 53:6; 64:6; Jer. 6:7; 13:23; 16:12; 17:9; Mic. 7:2-4; Matt. 12:34; 15:19; Luke 1:79; John 3:19; 14:17; Acts 8:23; Rom. 3:9-19, 23; 7:5, 11, 13-15, 18-21, 23, 25; 8:5-8; 

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1 Cor. 2:14; 3:3; Gal. 3:11, 22; 5:17, 19-21; Eph. 2:1-3, 12; 4:17-19, 22; Col. 1:14; 2:13; 3:5, 7; Tit. 3:3; Jas. 3:2; 4:5; 1 Pet. 1:18; 2:9, 25; 1 John 1:8, 10; 2:16; 5:19. But God gave Christ the office of the Good Physician, with the power to heal these diseases. In justification He reckonedly heals them by imputing His physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious human perfection to the faith class; moreover in justification He begins to heal the contents of their human mental, artistic, moral and religious faculties; but in sanctification He heals these contents unto perfection of the new hearts and minds of the faith class, as experience and observation show, and as the following passages prove: Matt. 9:10-13; Ps. 41:4; 30:2; 103:3; 147:3; Is. 53:5; 57:18, 19; Matt. 13:15; Luke 4:18; Heb. 12:13; Jas. 5:16; 3 John 2. In the Millennium He will actually heal all the physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious faculties and their contents of the unbelief class as from the heart they accept His medicines and other healing helps. The following Scriptures prove this: Jer. 3:22; 30:17; 33:6; Hos. 6:1; 14:4; Ps. 107:20; 67:2; Ezek. 47:1, 8, 9, 12; Rev. 22:1-3; Mal. 4:2. Thus does our Lord as the Good Physician heal the faith class now and will heal the unbelief class in the Millennium from the physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious diseases that sin and the curse have brought upon them. 

A nineteenth evil sin and the curse have brought upon mankind: their incapability of standing successfully the judgment process necessary to be undergone for gaining everlasting life. For the undoing of this evil and for mankind's qualifying for undergoing successfully the judgment process necessary to be undergone for gaining everlasting life God has given Jesus the office of judge (John 5:22), whereby He will preside successfully over the judgment process necessary for fallen man to undergo to gain life. The creeds teach that as judge Jesus will declare unbelievers guilty and sentence them to eternal torment, and declare 

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the faith class not guilty, and thus worthy of eternal life. Such, however, is a very incomplete conception of His office as judge. Rather, as judge typed by the judges of Israel His office will be to deliver the faith class and the unbelief class from their enemies: sin, error, etc., and to grant them a favorable opportunity to gain life, the former in this Age, the latter in the Millennial Age. Man's fallen condition makes him incapable of coming off successfully in a trial, for life, the judgment process, by his own unaided powers. God proved this proposition by Israel's efforts along this line under the Law Covenant. Every fallen Israelite failed under that trial. Here was the best physically, mentally, artistically, morally and religiously endowed nation, given the best law, put under the best surroundings, given the best helps within justice and offered the best rewards; yet under its judgment process every member of it failed to gain life. If every one of them so failed, we may be certain that the Gentiles, less well endowed physically, mentally, morally and religiously, would have failed under the same trial. Hence by this one example God has shown that none of Adam's fallen descendants, if put on favorable trial, with their own unaided powers as their equipment, could successfully endure the judgment process necessary to be undergone to gain everlasting life. In addition to the passages cited above showing man's physical, mental, moral and religious diseased condition as proving such incapacity in man, we will refer to Rom. 1:17—3:19; Rom. 7 as proving it. 

The judgment process for life includes the following things to be done by the judge who presides over this process: (1) that He put them under providential conditions conducive to their standing their judgment process successfully (passages on this point were cited above, proving that the Millennial conditions will be inconducive to sin and conducive to righteousness, while the following passages prove it for the judgment process operating for the faith class: Job. 1:8—2:9; 

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Ps. 9:9, 10; 23:4; 27:5; 34:19; 37:23, 24, 33; 41:3; 46:1; 55:22; 103:13, 14; 66:10-12; 94:17, 18; Matt. 4:1-11; Rom. 8:28, 35-39; 1 Cor. 10:12, 13; 2 Cor. 12:9; 2 Thes. 2:16, 17; 2 Tim. 4:17; Heb. 2:18; 6:18; 13:5, 6; 1 Pet. 5:7, 9; Rev. 3:10); (2) that He give the subjects of this process true teachings pertinent to the trial (Ps. 19:9-11; 25:7, 8; 106:3; Is. 33:5; 56:1, 2; 59:4, 8-10, 13-15; 42:1-4, compare with Matt. 12:18-20; Ezek. 22:2; Matt. 23:23; Col. 2:16); (3) that He give the subjects of the judgment process testings calculated to help the faithful to success (Ps. 26:1-3; 139:23, 24; Jer. 11:20; 20:12; 2 Thes. 1:4, 5; Judg. 2:21, 22); (4) that He give the measurably unfaithful stripes for their reformation as a part of the judgment process (Ps. 119:67, 71; 107:10-16; Is. 4:3, 4; 26:9; Hos. 5:15; John 15:2; 1 Cor. 11:32; 2 Cor. 4:17, 18; 12:7; 2 Thes. 1:4, 5; Heb. 12:5-11; 1 Pet. 1:6, 7; 5:10; Rev. 2:10); and, finally (5), that He declare the faithful worthy of life and the unfaithful worthy of the second death (Ezek. 18:20-28; Matt. 16:27; 25:31-46; Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Tim. 4:8; Heb. 10:27; Rev. 22:12). According to this the judgment process is the salvation process. It is for this reason that the Bible exhorts the world to rejoice at the prospect of the judgment day (Ps. 96:1-13; 98:1-9); for He will judge them in righteousness and truth (Acts 17:31). And by this judgment process He will cure the nineteenth evil that sin and the curse have brought upon mankind—man's incapacity by his own unaided powers successfully to undergo the judgment process necessary for gaining everlasting life. 

The twentieth evil that sin and the curse have brought upon mankind is a mingling of evil with every one of the vestiges of God's image that have survived the ruin of the fall. Man is not unmixed evil, since total depravity is not true of the natural man; for some vestiges of God's image yet remain in all. Man has retained all his brain faculties, as he has retained all his physical faculties. But all of these have become more or 

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less defiled; and in some people there is more defilement than in others; and in some people some of their faculties are more defiled than the corresponding ones are in others, while the latter have other faculties more defiled than the corresponding ones in the former. But all have some defilement in all their faculties. Hence mankind is impure, i.e., there is in him a mixture of good and evil. One of the Scripture figures used to illustrate this fact is that of gold and silver ore (Mal. 3:2-4; 1 Pet. 1:6, 7; Is. 48:10; Zech. 13:9); in other passages the alloy is compared to dross and tin (Ezek. 22:18-22; Is. 1:22, 25-27); and in others the evil is compared to wood, hay and stubble (1 Cor. 3:12-15). From this effect of sin and the curse man is unable to free himself. Therefore God has arranged for its overcoming by giving Jesus a pertinent office, that of a Refiner and Purifier of the symbolic silver and gold ore of human dispositions. This office is ascribed to our Lord as active toward the faith class in this life, in Mal. 3:2-4, where He is represented as ridding error out of the mixture of truth and error from their minds by sitting as a Refiner and Purifier of silver, evil out of the mixture of good and evil from the hearts of the Little Flock as a Refiner of gold, and evil out of the mixture of good and evil from the hearts of the Great Company as a Refiner of silver. This work toward the Little Flock is described in Is. 48:10 and in 1 Pet. 1:6, 7; while Ezek. 22:18-22 refers to it toward the Great Company. Thus Jesus as Refiner and Purifier purges the faith class from its impurities during this Age. In the next Age He will accomplish this for the obedient of the unbelief class, according to the Lord's Word in Is. 1:22, 25-27 and Zech. 13:9. Accordingly, in the figurative crucible, the furnace of affliction, He puts the former class in this Age and the latter class in the next Age and purges them of their impurities and refines them, and thus cures the effects of sin and the curse from this standpoint. 

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The twenty-first and final evil that sin and the curse have brought upon mankind is making them wretchedly and deeply impoverished; and this evil effect of sin and the curse God will overcome by Jesus in His office as the Good Provider. Certainly, the race is like lost sheep pastureless, waterless, shepherdless. Innumerable are the directions, perilous are the ways, distressing are the uncertainties, wearinesses, hardships and sufferings of these poor beings. Thus the lost and impoverished human family is compared to lost and shepherdless sheep (Is. 53:6; Matt. 9:36; 10:6; 18:11-13; Luke 15:4-7; Jer. 50:6; 1 Chro. 21:17). And when Jesus finds and makes them the subjects of His care, He supplies all their needs (Ps. 23:1-4; 74:1; Jer. 13:20; 50:17; Ezek. 34; Matt. 26:31; Mark 14:27; John 10:1-16; 1 Pet. 2:25; 5:2). For such care He is often called the Shepherd of God's Flock; for He was foretold as such (Gen. 49:24; Is. 40:11; Ezek. 34:23). He exercises His good and great office as such during the Gospel Age (1 Pet. 5:4; John 10:1-15; Heb. 13:20) toward the faith class as His own whom He knows (John 10:14, 27), calls (10:3), gathers (10:16; Is. 40:11), guides (Ps. 23:3; John 10:3, 4), feeds (Ps. 23:1, 2; John 10:9), tenderly cares for (Is. 40:11), guards (Jer. 31:10; Ezek. 34:10) and saves (Zech. 9:16; John 10:28), and thus supplies them every need in a Provider: for He laid down His life for them (Zech. 13:7; Matt. 26:31; John 10:11, 15; Acts 20:28). In the next Age He will exercise the same Provider office to the poor ones of the unbelief class (Ezek. 37:24; Mic. 5:4; John 10:16; Matt. 25:32). And thus He will undo the lost and impoverished condition of God's people, and bring them back and keep them safely in His care, and thereby set aside the pertinent evil of sin and the curse. 

Thus we have discussed briefly the 21 evils that sin and the curse have brought upon man, and the 21 pertinent offices, one for each separate evil, whereby God through the ministry of Christ sets them aside

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and ministers the opposite blessing. There is no evil which mankind suffers but is included in one or another of these 21 evils. Thus God has in the Bible made a perfect diagnosis of each of them and has provided for each of them a perfect cure in the pertinent office of the 21 offices of Christ. No other (alleged) revelation has done these two things; hence this perfect diagnosis and cure, which the Bible alone gives, is one of the strongest evidences that it is the Divine revelation; for it is adapted to every human need, which argues that it has come from a supremely wise and knowing Source, God. To help us better to take in the argument we will place these 21 evils with the pertinent office of Christ for the cure of each one of them in a summary, side by side in parallel columns: 

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Hallelujah, what a Savior! Praise God from whom all blessings flow through Christ's offices! 

The three natures that the Bible ascribes to Christ: (1) His prehuman spirit nature as the Word, (2) His postspirit human nature and (3) His posthuman Divine nature, adapted as they are to qualify Him to execute His manifold offices toward the angels, toward the faith classes and toward the unbelief class, is another proof that the Bible is a Divine revelation; for it reveals the Agent of God's plan to have in addition to the character and offices needed for His missions, the natures that would qualify Him successfully to do His work for every nature toward which God's plan operates. On this point many details, as were needed on the other points, need not be discussed. Generalities will be sufficient. Christ's prehuman spirit nature as the Word—a nature one step lower than the Divine, but higher than the natures of cherubim, seraphim, principalities, powers, thrones, dominions and angels, all seven of whom have different natures—was necessary for Him, not only before His carnation in order for Him to act intelligently, sympathetically and fruitfully as Jehovah's Executive toward the seven orders of spirit beings just mentioned in managing their work, but it is necessary in order to give the repentant fallen angels an intelligent, sympathetic and fruitful trial for life, as it gave Him such a knowing, sympathetic and helpful attitude toward them as will forever qualify Him to preside over these spirit beings. Hence without His having had the prehuman spirit nature as the Word He would not be so perfectly equipped to preside as Jehovah's chief Executive over those spirits; for 

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in such a ministry, to obtain practical results, He must be of a higher nature than they. 

Jesus' postspirit human nature was necessary for Him to have, that He might understandingly, sympathetically and fruitfully exercise His 21 offices to remove the 21 effects of sin and the curse from the faith classes and the unbelief class. His human sufferings and temptations (Heb. 2:10, 17, 18; 5:7-9) well fit Him to understand, sympathize with and fruitfully help the faith classes in their similar sufferings and temptations (Heb. 4:14-16; 5:2; 7:25-27), as they will eminently fit Him to understand, sympathize with, and fruitfully help the unbelief class when its day of visitation will come in the next Age (1 Pet. 2:12). Accordingly, properly to deal with humans it was necessary for Him to be a partaker of human nature (Heb. 2:14, 15). Christ's prehuman spirit nature as the Word would have qualified Him to deal understandingly, sympathetically and fruitfully with the Great Company, Ancient Worthies and Youthful Worthies in His work of preparing them for a spiritual nature or spiritual natures and in all His eternal relations to them as spirit beings, since they will not attain to the Divine nature; but it would not have qualified Him to deal understandingly, sympathetically and fruitfully with the Little Flock now during their preparation for the Divine nature; for He would have to have the Divine nature in order to train them in character for fitness for the Divine nature, even as a dog could not train a human being for perfect human life, because by its nature it is disqualified from such a work. Accordingly, Jesus must have His posthuman Divine nature in order properly to function in His offices toward the Little Flock in preparing them for the Divine nature. Moreover, since He will forever act as their Chief and Head after they have attained the Divine nature, directing their eternal work, He of necessity must have that nature itself, and that in higher capacities than any others of that Little Flock; for He could not direct 

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beings higher and greater in nature and capabilities than Himself. Hence for the proper exercise of all His offices toward the Little Flock now and forever it is necessary that He be Divine in nature. Hence God's giving Him His three natures necessary for the purpose of carrying out all God's plans and purposes is a strong proof that the Bible, which reveals Him in these three natures as necessary for carrying out such plans and purposes to a successful conclusion, is a Divine revelation. With this fact so proven we conclude our proofs from Christ's character, offices and natures that the Bible is a Divine revelation, and will from this phase of our subject proceed to other phases of the proof that definitely the Bible is a Divine revelation. 

Having completed the discussion of the 21 offices of Christ as curative of the 21 evils that sin and the curse have brought upon mankind as a proof of the Bible's being a Divine revelation, we have so far presented the following four general arguments from the internal evidence for its Divine origin: (1) the main features of the plan that it presents; (2) the Divine wisdom, justice, love and power permeating every feature of that plan; (3) the attributes of being and character of the God that it reveals as its Author and (4) the character, natures and offices of the Son of God that it reveals as its Executive. We now offer a fifth argument from its internal evidence that the Bible is a Divine revelation, that it alone of all alleged revelations gives a solution of why evil is permitted that is reasonable to the head and satisfying to the heart. The question as to why evil has been permitted is almost as old as the race. It has occupied the attention of heathen, Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan philosophers of all schools and theologians of all sects, not to mention all other thinking people; and, apart from those who understand the plan sketched above as the epitome of the Bible's contents, the many divergent, contradictory and confusing suggestions offered thereon prove that none of them contains a real solution to

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the question, i.e., one clear to the head and satisfying to the heart. But the Bible does offer a solution to this question that is at once reasonable to the head and satisfying to the heart, a solution that no skeptic or sectarian of any religion can refute. 

By evil we understand physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious imperfection, in the forms of lacks, faults and weaknesses, or its effects on the sinner and others, to be meant. Or we may define it as sin and its consequences on the sinner and others. Viewed as physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious imperfection, we include in the term all the untoward things that man experiences, or that are in man's surroundings physically, mentally, artistically, morally and religiously. In Chapter II, we described the details of which such imperfection consists, and will not repeat them here, hence refer our readers to that description. Nor will we here describe the origin of sin, which is what we mean by moral and religious evil, since we have done this, together with the origin of error (mental evil), with sufficient detail in E2, 99-107. It should here be stressed that God is neither the source nor the author of sin (Jas. 1:13; 1 John 1:5). The primary source and author of sin is Satan (John 8:44; 1 John 3:8); and the secondary source and author of sin is Adam (Rom. 5:12-19). Evil in the sense of the untoward experiences-calamities in the wide sense of the word-that result from sin unto death God did originate, in the sense that He sentenced man to death, and exposed him to such untoward experiences, by driving him from his earthly and perfect Paradise and confining him to the imperfect parts of the earth and its surroundings, which work such untoward experiences upon man unto death (Gen. 3:6-19, 23, 24; Is. 45:7; Amos 3:6). In this sense of evil Satan is God's agent to inflict it unto death as the Divinely-appointed executioner of the death-sentenced race (Heb. 2:14). 

This brings us face to face with the question, Why has God permitted evil, both in the sense of sin and in 

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the sense of its untoward results unto death? And it is the Bible's answers to this question, in the reasonableness and satisfactoriness of their simplicity, harmony, beauty and sublimity, which question other religions cannot answer reasonably to the head and satisfactorily to the heart, that we offer as a proof that the Bible is a Divine revelation. Briefly we would give a general answer to this question, then will give several special answers to it. The general answer is this: that by permitting evil God has chosen the best possible way of manifesting to men and angels His glorious character of wisdom, justice, love and power, resplendent in the simplicity, harmony, beauty and sublimity of supreme perfection, so that by such manifestation men and angels may be forever benefited. This answer, as indicated above, is a general one; and the detailed answers will serve to clarify it; for it is by outworking these details that this glorious manifestation of His character of wisdom, justice, love and power is made. To clarify these details we will show why evil has been permitted: (1) to the elect people of God, and (2) to the non-elect men and angels. We will begin with the elect. Why has God been permitting the elect to suffer? The elect, as we have learned, consist of four classes: (1) Jesus and the Church; (2) the Ancient Worthies; (3) the Great Company and (4) the Youthful Worthies. The answer to this question will vary slightly for each of these classes and will vary somewhat as to Jesus and the Church, which is His Body. 

We know that Jesus was sinless; hence none of His sufferings could have come upon Him for sin of His own, which He did not have (Is. 53:9; John 7:18; 8:46; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 1:9; 4:15; 7:26; 9:14; 1 Pet. 1:19; 2:22; 1 John 3:5). According to the Bible Jesus suffered, first, because of the joy set before Him (Heb. 12:2). This joy was: (1) His delight at doing the Father's will in the furthering of His plan (Ps. 40:7, 8; Heb. 10:7); (2) to win the elect: some as His Bride, the Church (Ps. 45:9-11; 2 Cor. 11:2; 

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Rev. 19:7, 8; 21:9, 10), some as the Bridesmaids, the Great Company (Ps. 45:14, 15; Rev. 19:9) and some—the Ancient and Youthful Worthies—as princes for His kingdom (Ps. 45:16; Joel 2:28); (3) to redeem fallen man and restore the obedient to their former estate (John 3:16; 12:32, 33; 2 Tim. 2:4-6); (4) to restore the penitent angels to their former estate (Rom. 14:9; Phil. 2:8-11; 2 Tim. 4:1) and (5) to gain the inheritance that God offered Him-the Divine nature and heirship of, and vicegerency with God throughout the universes eternally (Eph. 2:20-23; Phil. 2:9-11; Col. 1:15-18; Heb. 1:3-6). According to the Bible Jesus suffered, secondly, to develop certain graces that are not sufficiently developed in the faithful apart from suffering: Thus He developed obedience unto crystallization by suffering (Heb. 5:8, 9); and also by suffering He cultivated mercy, sympathy and faithfulness unto crystallization (Heb. 2:17, 18; 4:15), for which suffering was indispensable. Thirdly, He suffered that He might be tried and tested and thus by trial and test be proved worthy of the Divine nature and heirship of, and vicegerency with God (Heb. 2:10; 5:9; Phil. 2:8-11; Rev. 5:12). 

Certainly, when we consider these three reasons for Jesus' sufferings and contemplate the glorious results that God planned through them, that have in part already been achieved, and that will in due time be completely achieved, we must conclude that God was justified in permitting Jesus to undergo His sufferings, and that Jesus of His free will having undergone these sufferings (John 10:17, 18) and having attained their purposes, God resultantly demonstrates to all His marvelous wisdom, justice, love and power in, by and through those sufferings and their present and prospective results. It is very evident that Jesus would not have been qualified for the Divine nature and heirship of, and vicegerency with God, with all the character strength required perfectly to carry out as God's Vicegerent all of Jehovah's plans and purposes unto eternity, 

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unless His character had been developed unto sufficient strength by crucial sufferings, for He must be so loyal to God, God's principles, the brethren, the world and the fallen angels that no amount of pressure to which He could be subjected could make Him unfaithful to God, His principles, the brethren, the world and the fallen angels. Hence God required of Him as a free-willed Agent to demonstrate perfect loyalty to these under the hardest conditions possible for Him to undergo. And only after such demonstration could God safely to the interests of all concerned entrust Him with the high power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory and blessing belonging to the Divine nature and heirship of, and vicegerency with God (Rev. 5:12, 13). For suppose that God had entrusted Him with these without His requiring of Him beforehand to prove under the most crucial tests of suffering that He would use them worthily and faithfully to God's glory and the blessing of all concerned, what would surely have happened? He would have been given a nature, heirship office, etc., which He would have been unable properly to use, which would not only have resulted in God's plans going by the board, but in His having an unproven Being in the Divine nature incapable of annihilation, a thing against which He guarded Himself by not making Satan and the other angels Divine in nature, so that if faithless they could be annihilated and thus be kept from eternal mischief-making in God's universe. Against such possible results from Jesus Divine wisdom, justice, love and power arranged, by requiring Him first, by suffering for loyalty to God, the Truth, the brethren, the world and the fallen angels, to prove Himself worthy of the Divine nature and heirship of, and vicegerency with God. Accordingly, we see God to be vindicated in his permitting Jesus to suffer, in order thereby to educate Him unto fitness for the glories to come (Luke 24:26). 

To attain the Divine nature and become heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, the faithful Church must

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suffer with Jesus (Rom. 6:1-11; Mark 12:35-39; Luke 12:50; John 17:18; 20:21; Matt. 16:24; Rom. 8:10, 17; 12:1; 1 Cor. 15:29-34; 2 Cor. 1:5; 4:8-10; Gal. 2:20; 6:17; Phil. 3:10; Col. 1:24; 2 Tim. 2:10-12; 1 Pet. 2:19-24; 3:17, 18; 4:13, 14; Rev. 2:10). If the faithful Church must suffer with Him to be glorified in nature, office, inheritance, honor, glory, power, strength, riches, knowledge and blessing with Him, she must suffer for the same causes: faithfulness to God and the enmity of those out of harmony with the course that such faithfulness requires them to take, in the same forms: physical exhaustion, mental sorrow and more or less physical violence; in the same spirit, i.e., that of faith, hope, love, obedience, etc., for the same purposes: (1) the five joys set before them, (2) the cultivation of required character amid sufferings and (3) the maintenance of this character amid crucial tests of sufferings, and for the same results, i.e., cooperating with Jesus in realizing the result that He will attain, set forth above as aimed at. There is one form of suffering that Jesus did not undergo that the Church must undergo, i.e., chastisement for faults, and that for the reason that Jesus had no faults, hence could not be chastised for them, while the Church, called out from fallen mankind, has faults and must undergo chastening for them (Heb. 12:5-13; Rev. 3:19). If Jesus in His sufferings left us an example, that we should walk in His steps (1 Pet. 2:21), we can readily see that our sufferings must be for the same causes, in the same forms and spirit, for the same purposes and for the same results, else we could not be partners with Him in suffering (1 Pet. 4:14, 15). And the reason from God's standpoint why we must undergo these sufferings is that we might demonstrate to His satisfaction that as Divine beings, heirs of His and joint-heirs with Christ in all things we may certify to Him that He can depend upon us to do His will under all circumstances, no matter how great the pressure to be endured in order to do it. Thus He must require of 

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us devotion to Him, the Truth, the brethren, the world and the fallen angels similar to that which He required of Jesus, and which Jesus demonstrated; and thus only, as in Jesus' case, could He safely to Himself and all others concerned entrust us with the Divine nature and joint-heirship with Christ; for if He did not require this of us, the same consequences would set in for us as were pointed out above, if Jesus had been entrusted with the Divine nature, heirship of, and vicegerency with God, without previous proof given under crucial sufferings of His dependability always to do God's will. Hence we see the justification of God in permitting the Church to suffer crucially with Jesus; and in this we see another glorious revelation of His character, resplendent in perfect wisdom, justice, love and power. Surely praise belongs to God for privileging the Church to suffer with Christ! Accordingly, we see that Christ and the Church have been permitted to have an experience with evil in the sense of suffering, in order to educate them in heart and mind unto fitness to execute all God's plans and purposes, among which is that of delivering the non-elect men and angels from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God (Rom. 8:21). Thus seen, their sufferings are a part of their education, indispensable to fit them for their future nature, heirship and office (Rom. 2:7) and for the blessing of the non-elect men and angels; and this highly displays the Divine wisdom, justice, love and power in permitting them an experience with evil. 

God's purpose in permitting the subordinate elect classes—the Great Company and the Ancient and Youthful Worthies—to undergo an experience with evil, i.e., an experience of suffering, is very similar to that for which He has permitted Jesus and the Church to undergo it, i.e., to fit them in character and nature to be the assistants of Jesus and the Church in their office work of restoring the non-elect humans and angels to sinless perfection, as well as to be their assistants in their works in the Ages following the Millennium. 

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However, there are some differences as to the degree of the pertinent sufferings, the spirit in which they are borne and certain purposes of these sufferings, e.g., the sufferings of the Ancient and Youthful Worthies are not so crucial as those of Christ and the Church, because of their not yet having their final trial, which will come in the Millennium's Little Season, and because they are not destined to inherit so high a nature as those who gain the Divine nature and, therefore, will not have to develop so fine characters. Moreover, their sufferings are not related to sin atonement in the way the Christ's sufferings are. The Great Company, however, must in this Age undergo their final trial, hence their sufferings in this life are more acute than those of the Ancient and Youthful Worthies; and because they do not bear them joyfully as the Christ class does, they, though intrinsically not so severe, are harder for them to bear than the Christ class has found theirs to bear. There is still another difference between the sufferings of the Great Company and those of the Church: While some of the latter's sufferings are chastisements for faults, much more of the Great Company's sufferings are chastisements for faults than the Church's similar sufferings are, because the former's faults have much more willfulness connected with them than have those of the Church. Finally, the Great Company sufferings in relation to sin-atonement are for the willful sins of the world in sin-atonement and thus differ from those of the Church; and they differ from those of the Ancient and Youthful Worthies, which Worthies do not suffer at all for sin-atonement, which, again, makes their sufferings differ from those of these three classes. But all four of these classes' experiences with evil are intended to fit them by an educational process for fitness for their respective natures, inheritances and offices, which, being not only for their own benefit, but also for the benefit of all the non-elect, vindicates the wisdom, justice, love and power of God in His purpose in letting them have their experiences with suffering, 

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evil. The above discussion on God's permitting the righteous in their four classes to suffer an experience with evil vindicates Him in permitting the good to suffer. Realizing that their suffering for righteousness will be repaid many millionfold, not only in their great personal rewards, but also in their fitness thereby to bless others, we may well triumph with the Apostle in his words of Rom. 8:17, 18: "If children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together; for I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Here the words of the poet are applicable: 

"Ages glad shall more than repay 

Whate'er God's saints have suffered here; 

Christ's Kings shall they be owned of aye, 

T'upraise for God his creatures dear." 

In the manifold wisdom of God for quite a different reason has He permitted the non-elect of mankind and some angels to experience sin and its consequences, sufferings. And the answer that the Bible offers as to why God has allowed these to experience evil satisfies at once the severest exactions of the head and the deepest longings of the heart. His design therewith is a fivefold one, connected with His creative process as to men and angels: (1) to educate these sin-loving men and angels to hate and forsake sin, from an intelligent appreciation of its terrible nature and awful effects in physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious degradation from perfection for men, and not physical, but mental, artistic, moral and religious degradation from perfection for angels, thoroughly taught them by the most effective of all teachers, experience, on the principle expressed in the proverb, "A burnt child dreads the fire"; (2) after the experience with sin and its consequences comes to a climax, to educate them to love and practice righteousness, from an intelligent appreciation of its uplifting nature and blessed effects in physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious elevation to

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perfection for men, and not physical elevation, which angels did not lose by sin, but mental, artistic, moral and religious elevation to perfection for angels, thoroughly taught them by the most effective of all teachers, experience, on the principle that righteousness uplifts its practicers physically, mentally, artistically, morally and religiously unto perfection; (3) to give men and angels, so educated by these two experiences as a teacher to a proper appreciation of sin and righteousness, from an intelligent appreciation of their exact natures and effects, an opportunity to demonstrate under trial and test which of these two principles they will love and practice; (4) to give everlasting life and blessedness to those, who under trial and test, from an intelligent appreciation of their exact natures and effects, will hate and abstain from sin, and will love and practice righteousness; and to destroy those who, under trial and test, after these two educations, which should have taught them an intelligent appreciation of the exact natures and effects of sin and righteousness, will choose and practice sin; and (5) thus through these two experiences, followed by trials and tests as to the way the twofold education has been taken advantage of, to gain human and angelic free moral agents who will forever illustrate the reign of moral law, whom to gain as such is God's ultimate design in permitting evil. 

It would be in place to explain these five designs and certain things therewith related, and then to show that the Bible reveals the program embraced in these five designs as the reason why God has permitted men and some angels to sin and, as a result, to undergo a fearful experience with evil. In the first part of the sentence that briefly set forth these five designs the remark was made that they are connected with God's creative process as to fallen men and angels. On this some explanation should prove helpful. In proposing the creation of men and angels, God, having in physical nature very many illustrations of the reign of physical law, desired,

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additionally, to illustrate the reign of moral law, i.e., free will agents manifesting that the laws of justice or love control all their acts, e.g., contemplating the creation of man, God proposed the question to Himself, How can I create man as a free moral agent, i.e., a creature endowed with intellect, sensibility and will, who will illustrate the reign of moral law, i.e., who will hate and avoid sin and love and practice righteousness from an intelligent appreciation of their natures and effects? An intelligent appreciation of their natures and effects could be had in any one of four ways: (1) information, (2) observation, (3) intuition and (4) experience. Thus God was limited to the use of one or another of these four ways in giving mankind the pertinent mental appreciation. Intuition, in the sense intended above, is used to convey the loose use of this word employed to designate the natural sensing and cognizance of man as to things adapted to human nature and its relations, with which all humans are endowed, but not the strict use of it—the ability to know apart from the use of the reasoning powers, which is an inherent endowment of God only. Accordingly, God could not use intuition in its strict sense as a way of giving man the requisite appreciative knowledge of good and evil; but He could use it for this purpose in its loose sense mentioned above, and also use any one of the other three means of learning to inculcate the pertinent mental appreciation. Which of these did God think the most effective to use? Here His foreknowledge came to His aid. It assured Him that man, informed as to the nature and effects of sin and righteousness and endowed intuitively with a natural aversion to the former and natural love for the latter, both of these, by his creation in God's image, characterizing his disposition, would under stress of trial deliberately of his free will choose the former, and thus illustrate the reign of sin in his disposition, motives, thoughts, words and acts. This foreknowledge did not move God to alter His purpose of creating a free

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moral agent, i.e., man, who as such must be a free moral agent, and make him a machine which could not sin; for what He desired in the creation of man was a free moral agent who from an intelligent appreciation of the exact natures and effects of sin and righteousness would hate and avoid the former and love and practice the latter. Hence, if He desired to create man, i.e., a being endowed with intellect, sensibility and will, He had, in the nature of things, to make him a free moral agent. This is also His purpose in creating angels. 

God also foresaw that man, though informed and sensing with human intuition exactly as to what to do and what to avoid, would sin, which, accordingly, He foresaw proved that man without experience with sin in contrast with righteousness would not by information and intuition alone as teachers hate and avoid sin and love and practice righteousness. Hence He foresaw that information and natural intuition alone would prove insufficient to give Him creatively the kind of man that He desired, i.e., an eternal illustrator of the reign of moral law. His foresight also assured Him that He could not use observation as the method of educating man to the degree of making him an eternal illustration of the reign of moral law, for if man should learn this lesson by observation, some other free moral beings would have to undergo an experience with sin and its results, in order that man by observation could learn the pertinent lesson; and thus sin and its consequences would have to be experienced to give man an opportunity for observing its effects; and thus the problem would still be open to bring that order of beings into harmony with moral law so as to grant it life. Hence God did not choose observation as the means of educating man as to sin and righteousness. Hence God, foreseeing that man of his own free will would choose to sin, determined, not to make him so that he must sin, nor to make him sinless and afterward coerce him to sin, but to permit him in the exercise of 

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free choice to sin, and then by sentencing him to death, to bring upon him through experience the sufferings that a sin-caused death produces, let him learn just what sin is and does to those who choose it. Thus God did not will man to sin, but permitted him to sin, and then sentenced him to experience the death woes that sin brings in a moral order of affairs to its committers. Accordingly, His foresight moved Him to choose experience as man's educator as to sin and righteousness. How in the exercise of free will Adam was brought to sin is described in E2, 105; the fearful effects of sin are described in Chapter II; and in Chapter II is demonstrated the wisdom of God in sentencing all in Adam to the woes of the curse. Hence none of these three things need be discussed further here. Thus of the four ways of conveying an intelligent appreciation of sin and its consequences God through His foreknowledge of man's sin chose to permit him to learn its exact nature and results by experience, the most effective teacher of the four. 

That this was the most effective way to educate man as to the hatefulness of sin in its nature and results is very evident; for most people learn more thoroughly by experience than by any other method of instruction. We often see this illustrated in human affairs. The enforcement of human law by penalties is in part based on this principle. Juvenile reform schools are entirely pivoted on this principle; and parental discipline enforced by various punishments is usually so based. The business and social world furnishes us innumerable examples of the operation of this principle. The proverb quoted above, "The burnt child dreads the fire," is an observation of human wisdom based on experience embodying the principle that God uses in permitting the woes of the curse to torment mankind. While human experience, observation, information and intuition all agree that experience is the most effective teacher, they also agree that it is by no means the gentlest teacher. God's preference to teach mankind by information and 

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intuition to hate and avoid sin and love and practice righteousness, evidenced by the way He taught sinless Adam and Eve, proves that He preferred to use the gentlest teachers to inculcate the needed lesson; but man not responding favorably to these gentlest teachers, and observation, implying sin in others, making it objectional for many reasons, He resorted to the severer teacher as the only available effective method of inculcating the pertinent lesson to mankind. But some object that if this is the Divinely chosen method to inculcate thoroughly the hatefulness of sin and the desirability of avoiding it, He has made a failure with the bulk of mankind; for they argue that, except for a very few individuals scattered here and there, the bulk of mankind has not from their experience with evil learned to hate and forsake sin and to love and practice righteousness; rather the bulk of mankind increasingly are sinking down into deeper physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious degradation and into death unreclaimed from sin. To the facts just stated we assent, but deny that God has made a failure in His design of permitting evil. The objector is taking too narrow a view of the situation. He is leaving out of consideration the fact that man's sufferings have not yet reached their climax and the fact that the other four designs connected with the permission of evil, particularly the second design, the experience with righteousness, have not yet been enacted; for if we, as the objector does, limit the whole matter to the unclimaxed experienced with evil, of course we must conclude from the Bible and secular history that the bulk of the race has not by experience with evil learned to hate and avoid sin and to love and practice righteousness. But, unlike the objector, we must also take into account the climax of evil and the other four designs of God which must operate, in order to see how man is to be developed into hatred and avoidance of sin and love and practice of righteousness; particularly must we look at that climax and the second of these designs.

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But before discussing the second of these designs, the experience with righteousness, it belongs here to mention several particulars, partly as concluding remarks on the experience with evil, particularly on its climax, and partly as remarks connecting it and the experience with righteousness. All observant people recognize that mankind is suffering from constantly multiplying physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious ills. Quite a number recognize these sufferings to be a direct or indirect result of sin. Many others fail to connect them with sin as their direct or indirect cause. Of course, such fail to see the connection between sin and the permission of evil, and, resultantly, are unprepared to see why God permits evil, if, as the Scriptures teach, the Lord is using this experience to impress upon mankind the fearfulness of sin and the curse and the desirability of hating and avoiding the former as a condition of escaping the latter. Upon the generality of mankind the sufferings resulting from sin have not reached a sufficient climax to impress upon them a deep sense of the fearfulness of sin and the desirability of avoiding it. Into the early phase of such a climax of sin's effects the race entered with the Day of Wrath. The Bible teaches that the experience with evil would come to a climax in a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, nor ever would come afterward (Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21, 22). General descriptions of this time of wrath are found, among many others, in the following passages: Is. 63:4; 34:1, 2, 8; Jer. 10:10; 25:26-38; Zeph. 3:8, 9; Ezek. 6:7; Mal. 4:1; Jas. 5:1-6; Joel 2:2; Amos 5:20. The Bible uses many symbols to illustrate this trouble, e.g., a battle (Rev. 16:14; 19:11-21), an earthquake (Rev. 16:18-21), a fire (Zeph. 3:8; 2 Pet. 3:10, 12), a whirlwind and storm (Nah. 1:3, 6, 9; Ps. 107:22-32); a tempest of hail, a destroying storm, a flood of mighty waters (Is. 28:2; Nah. 1:3, 6, 8), a treading of a winepress (Rev. 14:19, 20), a furnace of fire (Matt. 13:42), a lake of fire (Rev. 19:20), etc.

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The Scriptures in particular forecast that this trouble would for all mankind in general consist of three main features: a World War (a symbolic wind), a World Revolution (a symbolic earthquake) and a World Anarchy (a symbolic fire), world-wide famines and pestilences interspersed among these and between them lesser wars, revolutions and anarchies (Rev. 7:1, 14; 1 Kings 19:11, 12; Ezek. 14:13-21; Rev. 16:16-18; 2 Thes. 1:8); and for the Jews in particular regathered in Palestine it would consist of a devastating invasion (Ezek. 38; 39). This Day of Wrath began in 1914 with the World War, Phase I, which was accompanied with great famines and pestilences, e.g., the Spanish flu, following which have been small wars, revolutions and anarchies. The World War, Phase II, began in 1939 and ended in 1945, marked by evils similar to those that marked Phase I. The second stage of the great tribulation, the World Revolution, or Armageddon, is immediately before us, the late fearful war being a precursor of it, world-wide famines and pestilences to accompany it, and wars, revolutions and anarchies to follow it. Its third stage will then come, Universal Anarchy, accompanied by still worse famines and pestilences than those accompanying the other two stages of the Day of Wrath. Its final stage will be its expression against the returned Jews in Palestine and against the plundering remnants of anarchists gathered out of all the destroyed nations, invading Palestine for plunder, devastating the land and its people, and suffering an exemplary punishment after their destroying work is done. The Bible further teaches that, beaten, exhausted, despairing and humbled by the unexampled sufferings of the Day of Wrath, and remembering that these tribulations were forecast to them as coming for sin, they will finally learn the lesson, illustrated by the burnt child dreading the fire, to trace their sufferings to their real cause-sin; and from their suffering experiences they will learn to recognize the hatefulness of sin and the desirability of avoiding it. Thus the race 

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will finally learn the lesson of sin's terrible nature and results, which will help teach it to hate and forsake sin. 

The Bible teaches that sin and death with its train of woes were brought upon the whole race through the sin of Adam and Eve, Adam being the one mainly responsible for it (Gen. 3; Rom. 5:12-19; 1 Cor. 15:21, 22; 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:14). It was not our individual fault that we were born in sin under the death sentence, by which we are exposed to an experience of evil, and for which it is inflicted upon us; for we were never consulted on the matter; and without our knowledge or consent were so born; we were not created perfect individually and individually put on trial for life; hence it was not our fault that we became by heredity sinners, death-sentenced and exposed to the experience with evil. Nevertheless, Adam and Eve, perfect and sinless as they were, are examples of what perfect humans, instructed adequately by information and human intuition, but without observation of the effects of sin, would do under sore trial, and, as such examples, prove that all other perfect and sinless humans equipped and conditioned as they were would do the same as they did under the same or similar crucial trial. Hence no injustice was done the race for their being tested and sentenced by heredity in their first parents; for these represent what all other humans would do, if exactly like them, i.e., perfect, sinless, adequately equipped with knowledge and intuition as to obedience, but without observation of evil, if they were placed in the same condition on trial for life as were Adam and Eve. Hence we are not to blame them, for they did what we would have done in their place, if created and conditioned and tested like them. Hence God was not unjust when by the law of heredity He allowed us to become sinners, death-sentenced and exposed to the experience with evil, because of the disobedience of our first parents. Instead of our blaming Adam and Eve in useless crimination, let us remember that because we were not put on trial individually, we and the rest of

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the race have by the way God has adjusted the matter come to suffer much less than we would have suffered, had we all come under an individual trial while perfect and sinned therein, as we would have sinned therein. Moreover, God's way in this has spared excruciating sufferings to redeem us to as many saviors as there were humans who did not sin individually and thus did not bring upon themselves an individual sentence; for Adam in undergoing the death sentence suffered nearly 930 years in losing his perfect life, hence much more than we suffer in giving up our relatively small amount of life in death in comparatively few years under the experience with evil; and, we sinning in him, only one Savior has had to suffer to redeem the race (Chapter II), while had 20,000,000,000 perfect ones sinned individually, that many saviors would have had to die for them, if they were to have a chance to be saved from their condemnation. 

These considerations proving our having been wisely and justly, we may also add, lovingly, condemned without our individual fault, we could be as wisely, justly and lovingly redeemed without our, but by another's merit; for if our condemnation in Adam was reasonable, our redemption by Christ is at least as reasonable; for in the ransom He substitutes an exact equivalent for every part of Adam's debt to Justice for sin, which is our debt, i.e., He substituted His perfect, unforfeited body, for Adam's perfect, forfeited body, His perfect unforfeited life for Adam's perfect, forfeited life, His perfect, unforfeited right to life for Adam's perfect, forfeited right to life; and His perfect, unforfeited life-rights for Adam's perfect, forfeited liferights (Rom. 5:15-19; 1 Cor. 15:21, 22; Heb. 2:6-9; 1 Tim. 2:4-6; Matt. 20:28). Why this? It was (leaving the elect now out of view) that by freeing the race from the condemnation in Adam to give that very race that had suffered the experience with evil under that condemnation the second experience, the one with righteousness, which, as God's second pertinent design

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as to the permission of evil to the world, is to come when Christ and the Church reign over the earth in the Millennium; for if it was just (and wise and loving too) that the race was condemned to the experience with evil, it is at least as just (and wise and loving too) that by a redemption the same race be freed from the condemnation, to the end that it may be blessed with an experience with righteousness, that thereby they may learn by experience the opposite lesson, that righteousness is a good and desirable thing because of its good nature and blessed effects. Therefore we oppose as a cure to the experience with evil, brought upon the race through Adam's condemning demerit, the experience with righteousness, to be brought by Christ's atoning merit, upon the same race. This proposition, we believe, will withstand every assault of devils and opposing men, regardless of the learning, subtlety and severity of such assault, since it is the acme of Scriptural, reasonable and factual verity. 

The Bible teaches that this experience with righteousness will come upon the human race during the reign of Jesus and the Church over the earth, i.e., in the Millennium. From the many Scriptures that treat of the Millennium we will cite a comparatively few; for Peter tells us that the Millennial days have been foretold by the mouth of all God's holy prophets since the beginning of the present evil world, i.e., since the days of Noah (Acts 3:21). No wonder that it was foretold by all the holy prophets, since as a large feature of God's plan its coming was confirmed by Jehovah's oath (Gen. 22:16, 18; Gal. 3:16, 29; Heb. 6:13-18). The following are some of the main Old and New Testament Scriptures treating of the Millennium, the reign of Jesus and His faithful followers over the earth for a thousand years following the Gospel Age, which ends with the end of the experience with evil: Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; Ps. 2:8; 22:27-29; 72; Dan. 2:44, 45; 7:13, 14, 18, 22, 27; Is. 2:1-4; 9:6, 7; 11:6-11; 32:1; 35:8-11; Jer. 23:5, 6; 33:14-16; 

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Ezek. 36:24-38; 37:22-28; Joel 2:28, 29; Amos 9:14, 15; Ob. 21; Zeph. 3:8, 9; Hag. 2:7-9; Zech. 8:20-23; Mal. 4:1-3; Matt. 6:10; 19:28; 25:32; Luke 2:31, 32; 12:32; 22:29, 30; John 18:36; Acts. 1:6, 7; 3:19-21; 15:16, 17; Rom. 8:17; 14:9; 1 Cor. 15:21-28; Phil. 2:9-11; 2 Tim. 2:10-12; 4:1; Jas. 2:5; Rev. 1:5, 6; 2:26, 27; 3:21; 5:9, 10; 11:15; 20:4-6, 7-9. An exposition of these passages would furnish materials for a large dissertation; but without an attempt at interpretation we commend them to the reader's attention. All that will be here said of them is that they describe a time of blessing coming upon the human family, the very reverse of the time of the curse and sin now upon the human family taught by the Bible, reason and fact as an actual experience. 

It will be in place here to describe the blessed conditions then prevailing, by way of contrast with the evil conditions now prevailing, from which it will be seen that an experience with righteousness will follow the experience with evil, and will teach the race the exact opposite lesson from that taught the race by the experience with evil, which shows that sin is a bad thing, bad in its nature and bad in its effects, depraving, as it does, physically, mentally, artistically, morally and religiously in imperfection even unto death, whereas the experience with righteousness will prove that righteousness is a good thing, good in its nature and good in its effects, elevating, as it will, physically, mentally, artistically, morally and religiously in perfection even unto life. The reader is asked to note the contrasted things that will now be brought out between the present experience with evil and the future experience with righteousness: (1) Whereas now the earth is full of imperfections and wastes (Is. 61:4), these will then be repaired; and the earth will be turned into a Paradise (Ezek. 36:35; Is. 35:1, 2). (2) Now Satan as a cruel tyrant is in control (2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2); then he will be bound and imprisoned (Rev. 20:1-3); and Christ will be in control as a benevolent King

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(Ps. 72:4, 8). (3) Now error abounds on all hands (Matt. 24:11, 24; 2 Thes. 2:9, 10); then error will be destroyed (Is. 25:7 [the vail, preventing clear mental sight]); and the Truth shall then prevail sea-deep and world-wide (Is. 29:18, 24; 11:9; John 1:9; 1 Tim. 2:4). (4) Now sin is rampant (Matt. 24:12; 2 Tim. 3:13); then it will be destroyed (Is. 25:7 [the face of the covering, sin makes God avert His face from the race]) and righteousness will abound (Ps. 72:2, 3; Is. 1:27; 32:16, 17). (5) Now the human family is under the curse, the bondage of corruption (Rom. 5:12; 8:19, 22); then it will be freed from the curse (Rom. 5:15, 16, 18, 19, second clause in each case), in order to gain the freedom of perfection ministered to them as sons of God (Rom. 8:21). 

(6) Now sorrow and tears are the order of the day (Ps. 30:5; Rom. 8:22); then sorrow and tears will be set aside, and joy will take their place (Is. 35:10; Rev. 21:4). (7) Now wars and revolutions prevail among the children of men (Ps. 46:2, 3; Matt. 24:6, 7); then nations will cease making war preparations, cease from war, and live in peace with one another under the reign of the Prince of Peace (Ps. 46:9; Is. 2:4; 9:6, 7). (8) Now calamities of all kinds are injuring the race in disordered nature (Matt. 24:7); then nature will be ordered unto perfection, which means an end of calamities (Rev. 21:4, 5; Is. 35:1, 2). (9) Now droughts are widespread in this earth (Jer. 14:1-6; Hos. 13:5); then these will be no more; instead the earth will yield her increase bountifully everywhere (Ps. 67:6; compare with vs. 1, 2. 4, 7). (10) Now the righteous are despised and persecuted (Matt. 5:10-12; 2 Tim. 3:12); then their reproach will be removed (Is. 25:8); and they will be exalted and respected (Ps. 72:7; 92:12; 112:6). (11) Now the wicked are exalted, because Satan, the present ruler, exalts them to further his purposes (Ps. 37:35; Mal. 3:15); then they will be abased and striped for their reformation (Ps. 37:13, 17, 36; 72:4, 9; Is. 26:9). 

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(12) Wicked institutions now flourish (Rev. 13:1-8, 12-17); then they will be destroyed and good institutions will take their place (Is. 65:15; 60:14, 15). (13) Now the wicked nations and people oppose the Lord's cause and hate one another (Ps. 2:1-3; Rev. 17:14); then these wicked nations will be broken in pieces (Ps. 2:4-9; Is. 60:13; Rev. 2:26, 27), while the repentant nations and men will be shown mercy, will love one another and be delivered (Ps. 2:10-12; 72:12-14; Luke 2:14). (14) Now people labor in vain and bring forth for trouble, build homes and others sometimes defraud them of their homes (Is. 65:22, 23); then they will prosper greatly in their undertakings and enjoy undisturbed and undefrauded the fruit of their work (Is. 60:17; 65:21; Mic. 4:4). According to these fourteen points, whereas there are now evil experiences and conditions common to mankind, then, in Christ's Millennial reign, there will be good experiences and conditions common to mankind, with the evils all suppressed. 

The Bible teaches that whereas Adam by his sin brought these evil experiences upon mankind (Rom. 5:12-14, the first clauses of vs. 15-19, 21 and of 1 Cor. 15:21, 22), Jesus by His righteousness will bring these good experiences unto mankind (the second clauses of Rom. 5:15-19, 21 and of 1 Cor. 15:21, 22 and all of vs. 23-28). Please note how both experiences are indicated in Rom. 8:19-22, where St. Paul in v. 19 shows that man's longing for deliverance from present evils must wait for satisfaction for Christ and the Church as God's Sons to be manifested in Millennial glory, while according to v. 22 the whole race is now suffering the experience with evil. Please note how v. 20 shows that without our wills having been consulted we were subjected to the curse, but not hopelessly so, since v. 21 promises deliverance to the whole human family from the death sentence, which, as the bondage of corruption, binds them to the experience of evil unto death, to the end that all may attain to freedom 

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from the curse into the liberty that God's sons, Christ and the Church, will minister to them through the experience of righteousness, which v. 19 assures us must await the manifestation of Christ and the Church in Millennial glory. Please note, too, how St. Paul in Rom. 11:25-32 treats of Israel's two experiences as samples of the rest of mankind undergoing these two experiences. He shows us in v. 25 that Israel must undergo the blindness and hard-heartedness that the experience with evil brings upon sinners, until the full number of the Elect are gathered from among all nations. Then he shows in v. 26 that Christ and the Church will deliver them from this blindness and hard-heartedness unto righteousness, which, of course, comes by experience with it, and that as a covenant promise of God, according to v. 27. He then goes on to show in vs. 28, 29, that so far as the gospel offer of joint-heirship with Christ on condition of repentance toward God, faith in Christ and entire consecration is concerned, unresponsive Israelites became enemies, which resulted in the favor of the offer of such joint-heirship on such conditions going to responsive Gentiles; but he also points out that on account of the elective promises made to their fathers they are still beloved by God, whose love will give them Millennial blessings, i.e., the experience with righteousness; for he reasons to this fact by the principle that God's covenant gifts and His call to the Jews to receive their special Millennial blessing is an unchangeable thing, since it was promised as such by an oath from God (Gen. 22:16, 18). Reasoning on the facts of the situation, St. Paul says, in vs. 30, 31, that as it was appropriate that since by the Jews' unbelief a chance went out to Gentiles, who in the Jewish Age were unbelievers, to receive the mercy of justification and the favor of consecration, to the end that they might attain to joint-heirship with Christ (Rom. 8:17), so, too, it is fitting that the Jews, who during the Gospel Age have become unbelievers, might in the Millennium obtain the mercy of the experience of righteousness 

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which as mercy the elect Church will give to them. Hence St. Paul concludes, in v. 32, that God through their willfulness and misuse of His favors locked them up in their unbelief, so that to them and the rest of the non-elect world ("all") the mercy of the experience of righteousness may come; for the covenant promise to Israel is that under Christ and the Church Israel will be the Millennial-Age missionaries to preach the gospel of the experience of righteousness to the rest of mankind and help them to enjoy that experience. Thus these Scriptures prove the two-fold experience: the one with evil in this life, the other with righteousness in the next life. 

While we have so far proven from the Bible these two experiences, we have not yet from the Bible proven that the design of the two experiences, especially as they are contrasted with each other, is that the experience with evil is to teach the race the fearfulness of sin and the desirability of avoiding it, through the help of the contrasted experience with righteousness teaching it the lovableness of righteousness and the desirableness of practicing it in contrast with the experience of evil. It is necessary that the contrasted view of the nature and effects of the two principles' operation be impressed by experience upon mankind; for certainly the experience of evil by itself alone has not taught the race to hate and forsake sin, as the experience of mankind in general proves, since the bulk of the race, i.e., the non-elect, do not in this life from the experience with evil alone learn to hate and forsake evil, but sink into death as sin lovers and committers. The two experiences contrasted with each other must be had before either of the lessons will properly be learned by the non-elect. This being so, before we examine the Biblical testimony which shows that the experience with evil is designed, when contrasted with the experience with righteousness, to help by the contrast the non-elect to hate and forsake sin from an intelligent appreciation of its bad nature and horrible effects, and which shows 

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that naturally the effect of the experience with righteousness, in its uplifting of the physically, mentally, artistically, morally and religiously depraved non-elect into physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious perfection, will teach the race deeply to appreciate righteousness, we desire, and that briefly, to point out what an experience with righteousness implies, in contrast with the experience with evil, in order to set aside the latter's evil effects and work the former's good effects upon the non-elect. Above we pointed out fourteen contrasts as between these two experiences. These fourteen contrasts are by no means exhaustive as between these two experiences, though they are the most important of them. 

We will be better prepared to see the implications of the experience with righteousness, if we keep in mind the contrasted implications of the experience with evil. The latter set of implications is mainly as follows: God's disapproval of, and withdrawal from the sin-condemned race results in man's physical environment being inconducive to health and life, due to the unfinished condition of the earth undergoing as yet the creative process, in that intense heat, cold, more or less bad air, too much or too little rain, natural calamities, disease germs and other pests, desert and bad land, etc., prevail. These evils are magnified by man's physical inability to face such natural imperfect conditions in a way to preserve his health, prosperity and life. Added to these evils are man's mental handicaps in the way of ignorance, superstition and error. His social surroundings, domestic, occupational, national, caste or class, institutional and communal, are often conducive to his moral depravity, and are accompanied with the violation of the laws of home and state, of life and of sexual, property and reputation rights, often developing themselves into individual and national hatred and warfare, in whose train often follow tyrannous governments, predatory aristocracies, and hostile class, race and religious parties. His artistic surroundings 

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and doings with their many perversions conduce often to his artistic and other depravity. His religious surroundings, with false religions prevailing, and Satan and the other fallen angels inciting man to religious perversion, in superstition, delusive hopes, impiety and hatred and persecution, are also depraving, and that religiously and otherwise. Moreover, these six forms of depravity—physical, social, mental, artistic, moral and religious—react upon one another, multiplying the prevalent tendency to evil unto further depravity. All of these conditions, of course, magnify the evils of the experience with evil. 

By way of contrast, let us consider the implications of the experience with righteousness as described in the Bible. Its physical surroundings will gradually be brought to perfection, i.e., the entire earth will be turned into the same condition as characterized the Garden of Eden—Paradise. This means that perfect climatic conditions will displace the frigid and torrid climates of the present, as well as will other perfect conditions do away with our present imperfect air, moisture, disease germs and other pests, desert and bad land, tornadoes, tidal waves, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, droughts, diseases, pestilences and famines, and will introduce their opposite good and perfect conditions. All this will undo those features of the curse incidental to the imperfection of the earth, its atmosphere and climate, and introduce their opposites. Then, too, the perfect fruits and water of the earth will give man a perfect diet and drink, replacing their depleted cells with new, healthful and germ-free cells derived from perfect food and water, which, of course, spells health and well-being for the body. Exact and true knowledge on man's physical, social, mental, artistic, moral and religious needs will dispel the present ignorance, superstition and error, bringing man into an all-round degree of intelligence and education by far surpassing those of the ablest present intellectual geniuses. Indeed, all of man's physical, social, mental

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and artistic powers and their products will be magnified unto perfection beyond the dreams of Bellamy in his Looking Backward. Such magnifying of man's physical, social, mental and artistic faculties and their products unto perfection will be in direct relation with, and as rewards for obedience to the Kingdom arrangements. But also man's moral and religious faculties and their moral and religious products will likewise be magnified unto perfection in direct relation with, and as rewards for obedience to the Kingdom arrangements. In other words, every act of righteousness and every act of resistance to one's evil propensities will immediately be rewarded with physical, social, mental, artistic, moral and religious uplift out of the degradation of the experience with evil, until the perfection of all of one's physical, social, mental, artistic, moral and religious faculties will be attained, as he perseveringly practices righteousness until the end of the Millennium. This will be true even in the case of those who merely externally conform to the Kingdom arrangements without in their hearts cultivating righteousness Godward and manward, which course on their part, however, will not result in their developing overcoming characters. But those who refuse even externally to obey the Kingdom arrangements will after 100 years' trial be destroyed as utterly irresponsive and hopeless cases (Is. 65:20), while those who internally as well as externally practice righteousness will attain not only perfection of all their faculties but also perfection of character as Millennial overcomers on the human plane. 

The reason that such results will be attained is that Jesus and the four elect classes, especially His Bride, will have charge of all human affairs, and will establish and enforce an autocratic government based upon the principles of wisdom, justice, love and power, seeking not personal aggrandizement, but the welfare of their subjects. Such a government will be the ideal for human uplift, indeed, the first and only perfectly wise, just, loving and powerful autocracy ever to rule over

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the race. All its arrangements will be calculated to reverse the experience with evil and all its woeful effects into the experience with righteousness and all its blissful effects. One can readily see that since the average human will do what is to his advantage, which accounts for most people now choosing evil, because they think it to be to their advantage, all the advantages then being placed on the side of righteousness, and all the disadvantages being then placed on the side of unrighteousness, the bulk of the race will reform and gain restoration to the original perfection enjoyed by Adam and Eve in Paradise before they sinned. The fact that every attempt to do wrong will meet with immediate and condign punishment, and the fact that every act of resistance to the cravings of one's fallen nature and every act of obedience to righteousness, even if it is not performed from good motives, will meet with an instantaneous reward along the lines of an uplift in the physical, mental, social, artistic, moral and religious faculties, will be powerful stimulants to reformation, especially at first, while later on the consideration of the bad nature of sin and the good nature of righteousness will as motives add their weight to those of rewards and punishments. Thus, apart from wrong-doers or attempting wrong-doers, very pleasantly, happily, prosperously and helpfully will mankind be led on in their experiences with righteousness unto the attainment of the original perfection first enjoyed and then lost by Father Adam and Mother Eve during the trial in Eden. 

It would here be in place to point out how the Kingdom's representatives, especially Jesus and His Bride, in their various offices will be perfectly adapted to human needs for man's restoration to God's image. Man's enslavement under debt unto death Jesus will undo by His power as Ransomer; their law-condemned condition He and His Bride will overcome by their death for them; their destitution of righteousness He and His Bride will set aside by becoming their righteousness before God and by gradually working in them 

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righteousness through furnishing them with the experience with righteousness; their lack of a life-giving father and a life-developing and sustaining mother, Jesus and His Bride will supply by His becoming their life-giving Father and by Her becoming their life-developing and sustaining Mother; God's and their being alienated from each other Jesus and His Faithful will make good as their High Priest working in them reconciliation with each other; their ignorance, error and superstitions Jesus and the Church will abolish by teaching them the full Truth of God for man, as well as educate them thoroughly along all lines of secular knowledge; their captivity at Satan's hands Jesus and the Church will break up by binding Satan and imprisoning him so far from earth that he will be unaware of what is going on here; their enmity to truth, righteousness and holiness Jesus and the Church will help them overcome by leading them victoriously in a spiritual war against such enmity; their mental, moral and religious inabilities the Christ will cure by becoming their Thinker, Feeler and Willer; their distrust of God the Christ as Mediator will set aside. 

Their lack of a perfect law and law-giver, The Christ will perfectly supply, by Himself becoming their perfect Law-giver and by giving them perfect laws; their love of sin, The Christ will displace by helping them to love righteousness; their worrying and strifeful dispositions the Christ will enable them to blot out by becoming and acting as their Prince of Peace; their unruliness the Christ will as King subdue into obedience; their lack of a Divine revelation the Christ will supply by becoming to them the Revealer of the Divine plans and purposes; their inefficiency as to setting into operation saving arrangements the Christ will make up by acting as God's Executive for them in supplying and operating such arrangements; their physical, mental, social, artistic, moral and religious sickness the Christ will cure as the Good Physician; their being evilly held and controlled by Satan the Christ will annul

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by becoming their Lord; their inability of themselves successfully to undergo the judgment process the Christ will supplement by becoming their merciful and helpful judge; their impurities the Christ will overcome by acting as the Purifier and Refiner of their symbolic gold and silver ore from its dross; and their propensity to wander off into sin and error the Christ will cure by becoming their tender and good Shepherd. Thus the arrangement of such a Christ as their Helper will be very assistful to them, to profit from their experience with good. 

Moreover, the Christ will be ably assisted by the Great Company and the Ancient and Youthful Worthies in administering this experience with righteousness. Particularly will the Ancient and Youthful Worthies be helpful to them in their fallen condition as the faithful assistants of the Christ; for the Christ and the Great Company as spirit beings will be invisible Rulers in the Kingdom, even as Satan and his fallen angels are now invisible rulers in the present kingdom of darkness; and as the latter are represented by visible rulers among men in oppressive governments, predatory aristocracies and false religions, so will the Ancient and Youthful Worthies be the visible and helpful representatives to mankind of the invisible heavenly phase of the Kingdom. And as mankind see in these Worthies the examples of physical, mental, social, artistic, moral and religious perfection, to which they by obedience to the Kingdom arrangements may attain, and as they see their devotion to the principles of truth, righteousness and holiness, they will themselves be greatly stimulated thereto. Moreover, the Great Company will be assistful to the Christ, as well as to the Ancient and Youthful Worthies, in leading men onward and upward in that experience with righteousness; for these will doubtless exercise a providential watchcare over the race in a manner similar to that which the good angels now exercise over God's people. Then, too, doubtless more or less of the summary punishments of the Kingdom will 

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be by them administered to the unruly as deterrents from wrong-doing (Is. 26:9). Thus the four ruling powers—the faithful elect of this life—of the Kingdom will be admirably adapted to supervise the experience with righteousness, even as Satan and his associate fallen angels have been well adapted to preside over the race in its experience with evil; for these have certainly depraved the race. 

Now we are in an advantageous position to show Scripturally that the Bible not only, as shown above, teaches these two experiences, but that it also teaches that the experience with evil was designed to inculcate the lesson of the hatefulness of sin, both in its nature and effects, and that the experience with righteousness will later be given the race to inculcate the lesson of the lovableness and desirableness of righteousness, both in its nature and effects, and that both of them by their contrasts are Divinely designed to give the race an intelligent appreciation of sin in its nature and effects very helpful toward arousing hatred and avoidance of, and opposition to it, and an intelligent appreciation of righteousness in its nature and effects very helpful toward arousing love for, and practice of it. Rom. 7:13: "But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good [the Law]; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful," is to the point; for here St. Paul shows that by the experience with sin, which the one experiencing it finds brings suffering upon him even unto death, through the light of the violated Law one learns the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Thus this verse proves that the purpose of experience with evil is to enable the sinner to recognize the wicked nature and frightful effects of sin. 

In the words of Ps. 76:10: "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain," we find a very informing passage on our present point. By the expression in this verse, "the wrath of man," we understand man's sinfulness and angry rebellion against God's Law to be meant. Accordingly, 

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the passage teaches that man's sinfulness and rebellion will reflect credit upon God. How can this be, since sin reflects discredit, dishonor, upon God? We answer that it could only then reflect credit upon God, if it will serve as a preacher of repentance, a reformer, and thus enable man to turn to righteousness. But how can sin become a reformer of man, turning him unto righteousness? This can be so under the following circumstances only: if it so mistreats and punishes him as to sicken him of it, and thus makes him give it up, even as many a case of delirium tremens has turned men to give up drink, as many a case of venereal disease has made its victims give up unchastity, as many a gormandizer has by his resultant dyspepsia given up gluttony and as many a case of nervous prostration has made its victim give up worrying, hurrying, over sorrowing, etc. In other words, the burnt child dreads the fire. And the nature of sin is of such a kind as to bring ill consequences upon the sinner in a moral order of affairs. As shown above, sin is now in the Day of Wrath rapidly coming to a climax in the woes that it effects, and will, when it comes to an end, persuade its victims to reform in order to escape its woes. It is God's wisdom that knows how so to manipulate conditions as to make sin a reformer of the first order through the miseries with which it afflicts those that tamper with it. Thus the wrath of man shall praise God in the Millennium, when the contrasted two experiences will be considered by man. But this passage in the clause, "the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain," proves that some will, despite the two experiences, tamper with sin. By destroying such in the Second Death God will restrain whatever sin remains after the Millennium; for Rev. 20:7-9 shows that at the end of the Millennium some—those who merely externally but not from the heart will reform—will again fall into sin, and as a consequence will be destroyed, and the destruction of the sinner guarantees the restraint, the destruction, of sin. The most extended passage of the Bible treating of 

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the two experiences and of their designs is Ps. 90. It will be noted that it is entitled, A Prayer, A Psalm, i.e., Song, of Moses. Whereas the Song of the Lamb is the message of the elective salvation as epitomized in the Oath-bound Covenant (Gen. 22:16-18), the Song of Moses is the message of the non-elective salvation (Rev. 15:3), the former being the main, but not exclusive theme of the New Testament, and the latter being the main, but not exclusive theme of the Old Testament. The main features of the Song of Moses, i.e., the message of the non-elective salvation, as the main content of the Old Testament, are man's creation in, and fall from perfection, his experience in the curse, i.e., the permission of evil, his redemption from the curse and his restitution to the original perfection through an experience with righteousness. More detailedly than in any other connected passage these features are set forth in Ps. 90, which will now be briefly presented, without quoting it entirely, but indicating in each case the verse on which the comments are being made: V. 1 should be translated as follows: "O Lord, a dwelling wast Thou to us in a generation, even in the generation." Here reference is made to man's original estate of sinlessness in Eden, i.e., before sin entered; for at no time did the non-elect dwell in God except as they were in Adam's loins before he sinned, when God was Adam's abiding place. In v. 2 God in His past and future eternity is described, and that because He is the Author of salvation. Briefly in v. 3 the twofold subject of the Psalm is set forth: (1) God's turning man for his sin into death under an experience of evil and (2) God's declaring a return for mankind from death unto the full restitution of the original estate of sinlessness; while v. 4 indicates that the time of this restoration to the original state of sinlessness will be during a thousand-year period, since a day of God's time is a thousand years of our time (2 Pet. 3:8). The rest of the Psalm then gives some particulars, first, on the turning to destruction (vs. 5-10), with vs. 11, 12 asking 

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why the experience of evil has been permitted, and giving the prayer to profit from its permission, and, second, on the return unto restitution (vs. 13-17). It will be seen that various evils of the experience of evil are described in vs. 5-10, whose description is so plain as to call for no explanation here. 

The explanation of why evil is permitted is asked for in the first, and is given in the second clause of v. 11. Remembering that one of the significations of the word power is meaning, the question of the first clause with this sense given to the word power is in effect as follows: Who can explain why the curse as the expression of God's displeasure at sin is resting upon the race? Thus the question is the very one that we are discussing: Why has God permitted evil? Then very tersely in the second clause of v. 11 the answer is given. By its expression, Thy fear, certainly no fear that Jehovah feels can be meant; for He fears no one and no thing. Accordingly, a fear that is due Him by mankind is evidently here meant. Therefore, the answer means that the curse—the experience with evil—is in harmony with effecting reverence for God in mankind, i.e., to teach man such a reverence, which, of course, implies hating sin and avoiding it. Thus v. 11 shows that God has permitted evil to teach the race so to reverence God as to hate and avoid sin. This, it will be seen, is the thought (on why evil has by God been permitted) that this discussion has from the outstart inculcated. Please note that v. 12 asks God to teach the petitioners—mankind as a whole—so to study all their days, which vs. 9, 10 say are spent under the curse until death comes, as to gain from the study hearts of true wisdom, which the Bible tells us finds its source in fear, or reverence, of God, even as v. 11 shows the purpose of permitting evil is to work in man such a reverence (Ps. 111:10; Prov. 1:7). Evidently this prayer of v. 12 is not offered in this life; for the non-elect do not in this life seek reverence of God as their lives' first purpose. This prayer is to be offered 

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by them when they come to their second set of all days and years, of which vs. 14, 15 treat in contrast with the all days and years of vs. 9, 10. 

Please note further the prayer in v. 13 for the return, that very thing referred to in v. 3 as the restitution process, discussed as the second theme of the Psalm. When the prayer for God to repent is made, we are not to understand it to mean that God has done wrong, and is asked to reform therefrom. Rather the word primarily means to change, to face about. God, knowing the end from the beginning, never changes His mind; but He often changes His method of procedure, e.g., whenever one feature of His plan is fulfilled, He changes His procedure to work out another of its features, as, e.g., when at Jacob's death He ceased dealing with one patriarch and his family and with them alone, and began to deal with fleshly Israel as a nation, and as, e.g., at the time of the Jewish Harvest He ceased dealing with fleshly in order to deal with spiritual Israel. So here in v. 13 the prayer is that God may cease to let the experience with evil operate and change the procedure into operating an experience with righteousness. Now please note the two sets of all days and years respectively set forth in vs. 9, 10 and in vs. 14, 15. The first set, that of vs. 9, 10, is described as being a life-long set of days and years spent in God's wrath—the curse—and in labor and sorrow ending in a speedy death, though lasting even 80 years; but the second set of days and years are described from their beginning onward as satisfied with mercy and full of joy and gladness. Evidently the fact that all of the days and years of the first set are spent under God's wrath and in labor and sorrow proves that they are the days and years of another life than that all of whose days and years are satisfied with God's mercy (therefore not filled with His wrath) and are full of joy and gladness. Here, then, are the two sets of experience for the non-elect: the first one, that with evil, lasting throughout this life, and culminating in death, and the second one, 

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that with righteousness, beginning early in the next life, and lasting all the days of the second life! V. 15 proves that the very design that God had in permitting the days in which He afflicted the petitioners and the years in which they saw, experienced, evil, which were the all days and years of this life for the non-elect, was to let them after these all days and years have the joys that will come in the experience with righteousness, through which they might learn the joys that an experience with righteousness gives, and therefrom its desirability. In v. 16 they pray that the Christ as God's Servants might undertake the work of restitution in the experience of righteousness, so that the glory of God, which means Divine wisdom, justice, love and power, might work for them by the Christ the blessing of restitution through the experience with righteousness. Finally, in v. 17, they pray that the beauty of holiness, a character like God's and Christ's might be developed in them through the experience with righteousness; and that, as a result, to them might be restored the rulership over the earth and all its creatures lower than man; and by repetition they make the prayer all the more emphatic. In other words, the prayer of v. 17 asks that they be recreated in the image (character conformity) of God and in the likeness (rulership over the earth, as God is the Ruler over the universe) of God. Thus this Psalm solves the problem that we have been discussing; and thus we have completed the study of the second of God's five designs above stated on the problem of creating a race of free moral agents who from an intelligent appreciation of the nature and effects of sin and righteousness will hate, oppose and avoid the former and love and practice the latter. 

But there are three other Divine designs involved in the problem which we will now in turn briefly discuss. The third design, it will be recalled, is to give the non-elect and the repentant angels so educated by these two experiences as teachers an opportunity under trial and test to demonstrate which of the two principles 

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they will love and practice; for we must remember that God will not give everlasting life and its associated privileges to any one until first he demonstrates under crucial trial and test that he is unbreakably loyal to truth, righteousness and holiness and unbreakably hostile to sin, unholiness and error. Accordingly, at the end of the Millennium, during its Little Season, Satan and his impenitent associate fallen angels will be permitted to bring subtle tests upon the non-elect and repentant angels (Rev. 20:7-9), Satan's design therein being, through inducing them to sin, again to secure them as his subjects, but God's design therein being to give them under crucial tests of character the opportunity to demonstrate completely and finally whether they will love and practice sin or righteousness. 

This brings us to God's fourth pertinent design in this matter: To give everlasting life and blessedness to the non-elect men and repentant fallen angels who will prove obedient and faithful under this final trial and test, and to destroy—annihilate—eternally all the non-elect men and repentant fallen angels who prove disobedient under this final trial and test. In the September 15, 1940 issue of The Herald of the Epiphany, the first article treated of the world's judgment day as an interpretation of Matt. 25:31-46, wherein it was shown that some, we believe the large majority, mindful of their experience with evil in this life, faithfully using the experience with righteousness in the next life, will cultivate a character fitted to have everlasting life and blessedness in the earth turned into one great and grand Paradise; and therein was also shown that some, a small minority, we trust, forgetful of the experience with evil, selfishly using the blessings that the experience even with external righteousness will bring them, will fail to develop a character worthy of everlasting life and blessedness and, therefore, will be cut off in the Second Death-everlasting destruction. But be it noted that in that final trial the race, having been educated by the two experiences will be in a much more

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favorable position to stand trial successfully than Adam, lacking these two contrasted educations, was; and the result will likely be that the vast majority, mindful of the woes of the experience with evil, and connecting them with sin as their cause, and mindful of the joys of the experience with righteousness, and connecting them with righteousness as their cause, will turn a deaf ear to Satan's temptations in their hatred of sin and love for righteousness, and thus prove themselves worthy of everlasting life and bliss. 

And now the final, the fifth, Divine design as to this problem, i.e., the securing of men and angels who from an intelligent appreciation of sin in its nature and effects and from an intelligent appreciation of righteousness in its nature and effects will hate, avoid and oppose the former and love and practice the latter, and thus as free moral agents illustrate the reign of moral law forever, to God's glory and the profit of others and of themselves. And how will God have secured these free moral agents forever to illustrate the reign of moral law, and thus bring to a completion these as a part of His creative work, without destroying them as what He desired them to be, i.e., free moral agents forever to illustrate the reign of moral law? By using the two experiences, the one with evil and the one with good, as the most effective possible teachers to train them unto such characters! How beautifully sublime is our God! How wise, how just, how loving, how powerful He is in His person, character, plans and works! How completely is His character vindicated in His permitting evil! "O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!" For He is supremely worthy of worship, prayer, praise, thanksgiving, reverence, devotion and adoration! All glory to God be given for His Truth! 

No other religion, science or philosophy than those of the Bible has been able to explain in harmony with wisdom, justice, love and power, to the satisfaction of the most exacting reason and of the innermost cravings 

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of the heart, why God has permitted evil. Therefore, the Bible, that does this, must be of Divine origin; for therein is given the sole solution of this mystery; and hence it must be the Divine revelation; for none other than God can originally, satisfactorily to head and heart, explain this question, since He, the Creator, only, could know originally what use He would make of evil in operating the creative process as to men and angels. Hence the Bible that alone has given a satisfying explanation of this mystery must have been originated by God, i.e., it must be a Divine revelation. 

We now come to the sixth internal proof that the Bible is the Divine revelation. This proof is the following: The ransom, as the concentration of God's wisdom and power as to salvation, being the central and all-conditioning doctrine of God's plan, demonstrates that God is the Bible's Author; for only God could have invented it and given it its dominating place in His plan. This will appear as it is unfolded as such. The noun ransom as used in the Bible means corresponding-price (Matt. 20:28; 1 Tim. 2:6). It is set forth in the Bible under the terms of a commercial transaction, anent which there was a captive held for his debt by Divine justice in slavery unto death for his sin. This sin made him forfeit his all—his perfect body and life, his right to life and his life-rights—given to him as a present by God, with the privilege of his retaining them as long as he was obedient to God, i.e., as long as he used them as God directed that they be used—in righteousness. His sin moved God's justice to take away from him his conditional grant of a perfect body and life and of his right to life and his liferights, because by his sin he refused to use this conditional grant in harmony with the condition on which it was bestowed (Gen. 2:17; 3:19; Rom. 5:12-21). Justice, therefore, sentenced him to death under the slavery of the curse, as the debt of all he was and had as a perfect man, in which he became involved to justice for his sin. The debt, therefore, was his perfect

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body and life and his right to human life with the liferights belonging to such a right of life. These liferights consisted of a perfect home (paradise), perfect air, food, shelter, weather, health, prosperity, fellowship with God and his fellows, dominion over the earth and its laws and animals and the privilege of propagating a perfect race with perfect bodies, perfect life in those bodies, and the right to life and its life-rights. These things constituted the debt into which sin plunged him; and their forfeiture was made through the dying process, eventuating in the death state. To pay this debt on the captive's behalf was the thing for which the ransom was to be laid down as a corresponding-price. 

As the corresponding-price the ransom had to consist of things of the exact value as the debt, i.e., Jesus as the ransom had to have an unforfeited perfect human body and life, with the right to human life and that right's life-rights, and had to give up these for Divine justice as the price of the debt of Adam, which debt involved his race, as well as himself; and as the corresponding-price for the unborn race in Adam's loins condemned in him, Jesus had to give up an unborn race in His loins. Thus there was in the ransom an exact equivalent of the debt. The Bible uses the word ransom in the New Testament as the translation of two Greek words: lytron [price] anti [instead] (Matt. 20:28) and as the translation of these two words compounded into one: antilytron [instead-price], i.e., corresponding-price (1 Tim. 2:6), and thereby indicates that Jesus and the unborn race in His loins are the exact equivalent in value to Adam and the unborn race in His loins. It is this exact equivalency that is indicated in the words lytron anti and the word antilytron. Hence the Bible sets forth the ransoming of Adam and his race by Christ in very decidedly commercial terms—the terms of a business transaction. In six passages it uses the word agorazo [to buy] to set forth this transaction. Thus we are told that we are bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23). We are told that new creaturely 

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ransom-repudiators deny the Lord, who bought them (2 Pet. 2:1). Using in the Greek the same word as was translated bought in the foregoing three citations, and which in the following three citations is translated redeemed in the A. V., the Revelator says, "Thou hast redeemed [bought] them to God by thy blood" (Rev. 5:9): "they … were redeemed [bought] from the earth" (Rev. 14:3); "These were redeemed [bought] from among men" (Rev. 14:4). 

The Bible in other passages uses the word exagorazo, compounded from the words agorazo and ex, to designate this transaction: "Christ redeemed [bought out of] us from under the curse of the Law, being made [literally, after becoming] a curse for us" (Gal. 3:13). Again, "God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem [buy out of] them that were under the Law" (Gal. 4:4, 5). A third Greek word, lytroo, is used in the Bible to designate this work. It is from this word that the word lytron [price] comes and appears in the compound word antilytron. Lytroo is derived from the Greek word lyo [to deliver], and it means to deliver by a price paid over, or to buy deliveringly. It occurs three times in the Greek New Testament: "We had trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed [bought deliveringly] Israel" (Luke 24:21), i.e., the disciples had believed that Jesus at the price of a great war would deliver Israel from the Roman yoke. Paul uses the same word in Tit. 2:14, to indicate that for the ransom-price God delivers His people from all sin: "Jesus … gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity." Peter likewise uses this word, showing that, not for gold and silver, but for the ransom-price God delivers purchasingly His people: "Ye were redeemed, not with gold or silver, … but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Pet. 1:18, 19). There is still another Greek word which describes the act of purchasing involved in Christ's work: peripoieomai, which means,

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I acquire on the basis of a price paid, i.e., to buy: "Feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own [Son's] blood" (Acts 20:28). In Eph. 1:13 Paul uses this Greek word in noun form, peripoiesis, to show Christ's act of buying the Church: "Ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of [the] promise, which is the earnest [hand payment] of our inheritance until the redemption [deliverance] of the purchased possession." Thus these passages put the matter in the regular terms of a business deal; for there is one from whom something is bought, the Father (Heb. 9:14); there is something bought, Adam and his race (Matt. 20:28; 1 Tim. 2:6); and there is a purchaser who pays the price, Jesus (Rev. 5:9; 1 Pet. 1:18, 19). 

Additional to these proofs we submit twelve considerations, the main features of the Bible, that prove such a purchase: (1) Equal things are paid for the debt: a perfect man for a forfeited perfect man, a perfect soul for a forfeited perfect soul, the right to life and its life-rights for a forfeited right to life with its life-rights (1 Cor. 15:21, 22; Heb. 2:6-9; Ps. 8:4-8; Is. 53:10, 12). (2) Equal parts were given for the debt of the equal parts. A perfect body was given for the forfeited perfect body, a perfect life for the forfeited perfect life (Gen. 1:26, 27, 31; 2:7; Luke 22:19; Matt. 26:26-28; Heb. 9:14; 10:5). (3) The same thing was endured in laying down the price as was endured in giving up the debt (Gen. 2:17; 3:19; Rom. 6:23; Is. 53:12; 1 Cor. 15:3). (4) Justice is satisfied by the ransom-price to the same degree that it was by Adam's sin dissatisfied to let him retain his life (Ex. 21:23-25; Rom. 3:25, 26; 1 John 2:2; 4:10; Heb. 2:17). (5) The ransom-price makes available for communion with God the whole race, which by Adam's sin was made unavailable for communion with God (Eph. 2:3; 2 Cor. 5:19). (6) The ransom-price now effects by faith as to the elect justification for sinners who were under condemnation for Adam's sin (Rom. 3:19-26; 5:12-17; 4:2-8; 10:4; 

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1 Cor. 1:30; Phil. 3:9). (7) The ransom-price in the Millennium will effect the cancellation of the sentence and forgiveness of sins for all the non-elect (Rom. 5:15, 16, 18, 19). (8) Through the ransom-effected faith-justification we now actually get peace with God, instead of our former ruptured peace with God (Rom. 5:1, 9-11; Eph. 2:3, 12-17). (9) Jesus' ransom-price, justifying us from the Adamic condemnation, makes our humanity acceptable as sacrifices (Rom. 12:1). (10) All the sacrifices that we cause our humanity to undergo are by Jesus' ransom made acceptable to God as sacrificial acts, whereas Adam's sin made them unacceptable as such (Prov. 15:8; 21:27; 1 Pet. 2:5; Heb. 10:14; 13:15, 16). (11) The ransom-price guarantees that there will be gradually given to the whole world what it lost in Adam, if and as it obeys in the next Age (Luke 19:10; 1 Cor. 15:21-26; 1 John 3:8; Heb. 1:8; 10:12, 13; Rev. 20:4-9; Heb. 9:23). And (12) through the ransom-price Jesus and the Church as the tree of life will actually give to the obedient of the world all that Adam lost for it—perfect humanity and life, the right to life and its liferights (Rev. 21:3-5; 22:1-3; Acts 3:19-21). 

We have in the preceding three paragraphs proved that the ransom—Jesus' perfect humanity and life and His right to life and its life-rights—is the corresponding-price for Adam's forfeited perfect humanity and life and his forfeited right to life and its life-rights. We have given this proof because it establishes the thought that there is a corresponding-price, which is offered as our sixth proof that the Bible, giving it as its central and dominating thought, and making it the hub out of which all the spokes of the wheel of the Divine plan emanate, about which they revolve and in which they are stabilized, as God's character is the axle about which the whole wheel of revelation revolves; hence the ransom is the foundation upon which the whole building of God's counsel stands; hence it proves that the Bible is a Divine revelation. That it

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holds such a relation to the plan, counsel or revelation of the Bible, we now proceed to set forth. The plan of God was formed to solve the problem of how to work deliverance from the ruin that Adam's sin had brought upon the human family. That ruin seemed to have frustrated God's purpose in bringing a sinless human race into existence, i.e., to create a human race that, intelligently appreciating sin and righteousness in their natures and effects, would hate and avoid the former and love and practice the latter, and thus exhibit the reign of moral law, which God desires to be exhibited by a sinless race; for this ruin involved the whole race in sin, with its consequent physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious degradation unto death. This ruin was brought upon the entire race through (not its, but) Adam's fault, and was transmitted to it by heredity, and not through direct action by the race (Rom. 5:12-19). Thus the death sentence came upon all indirectly, i.e., by heredity, and not by personal participation in Adam's sin. But though the sentence came upon all indirectly, yet it none the less actually came upon all of it; for, condemned and dying Adam could not transmit a perfect and uncondemned life, since he did not have it to transmit. He could transmit only what he had—a condemned, a dying life. 

Christ crucified, i.e., the ransom, is the expression of God's wisdom and power (1 Cor. 1:23, 24), i.e., it is the means that God's wisdom devised to undo the ruin that Adam brought upon the race; and at the same time it is the power that will effect that undoing. If this can be proved, it will prove that as the central and dominating doctrine of the Bible it proves to be a Divine revelation. This is Paul's thought in 1 Cor. 1:23, 24, when he calls Christ crucified … the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Let us see, first, how it is the wisdom of God to undo the ruin of the race, effected by Adam's sin; then we will see how it is the power of God to effect that undoing. That it is the wisdom of God to plan the undoing of that ruin is seen 

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when we consider its antecedents: Justice rightly condemned Adam and the race in his loins to death when Adam refused to fulfill the condition upon which he might continue having the right to life and its liferights; for those rights were conditionally bestowed, and he, refusing to fulfill the condition, forfeited the right to have them. Thus justice rightly demanded his death—the forfeiture of all he was and had—his perfect humanity and life and the right to human life and its life-rights. This forfeiture meant their taking away by the dying process until it brought the condemned race into the death state. And God's justice demanded their remaining in the death state eternally—their eternal annihilation. But God's love, desiring to give the race the opportunity of being freed from this calamity and the chance eternally to exhibit the reign of moral law in perfection, sought some way whereby this could be accomplished satisfactorily to God's justice. Hence God's love asked His wisdom to devise a way whereby this might be done. Wisdom suggested to Divine love that it give the ransom as the way whereby the sentence of Divine justice might satisfactorily to justice be removed from Adam and his race; for the ransom, being an exact corresponding-price to the debt, by paying that debt could by right of purchase free the race from the death sentence and thus from the death state. God's love agreed to provide such a ransom. But none of the condemned race could provide that ransom, because, being under that sentence and its effects, it had nothing to give as a corresponding-price (Ps. 49:7, 8). 

Hence some one had to become a human being without having obtained his life from Adam's condemned life; and, therefore, God's wisdom suggested that the prehuman Word, the Logos, become a human being, by exchanging his spirit nature for human nature. To this God's love assented, so loving the world as to give up His only begotten Son to become a human being by the process of carnation, His life-principle

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being used instead of the life-principle of a human male, and his perfect disposition being used instead of the human brain qualities needed to give soul qualities to that carnated being, the body, and thus the human nature, being provided by the Virgin Mary (Phil. 2:6-8; Heb. 2:14, 16, 17; John 1:14; 2 Cor. 8:9; Luke 1:26-35; 2:4-14). In this Divine power cooperated to effect the carnation. Thus Jesus came into existence as a perfect, sinless human being, free from the Adamic sentence and curse, and thus was an exact equivalent of Adam in his unfallen condition. And after Jesus had by death laid down His perfect humanity and life and His right to human life with its life-rights, He, not taking back His human body, life, right to human life and its life-rights, but being raised from the dead a spirit being of the Divine nature, had as assets that He did not need for His personal existence exactly what Adam and the race in his loins had to forfeit for his sin. Thus God's wisdom planned the ransom, God's love provided it, God's power actualized it and His Son in love gave it up in death. God's wisdom, seeing that the race consisted of two classes: a faith class and an unbelief class, and seeing that the faith class could be trained in character through its faith for a higher nature and office than the unbelief class, suggested a twofold use of the ransom merit: first an imputative use of it for the faith class and later an applicatory use of it for the unbelief class. The imputative use was suggested so that, after all the imputations were cancelled by the completed sacrifice of the elect, the whole merit necessary for the ransom of the race would be available actually to purchase the race in the second use of the ransom merit. 

The suggestion of the imputative use of the ransom merit was made also that by its use a Second Eve might be provided as the Bride of Jesus as the Second Adam, to become the mother of the race that He would father by regeneration through the Second Eve as mother. Divine love acceded to this suggestion. To win 

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this Second Eve God's wisdom suggested, first, that repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus be preached, to draw the faith class to justification through faith in God's promise to forgive the repentant and believing sinner, for the merit of the ransom. Divine love agreed to and made the sacrifices needed to this end; and it and Divine power cooperated thus to bring the faith class to repentance and faith. Then Divine wisdom suggested that the privilege of sacrificing their justified human all be offered to the justified, in order for them as consecrated believers to gain the privilege of becoming of the Second Eve, each member of whom is to help others of them to become of that Second Eve. This, too, involved sacrifices on the part of Divine love, to which it assented; and with the cooperation of Divine power it has during the Gospel Age been by these sacrifices winning this Eve. When the Second Eve will have completed her qualification to become the Second Adam's Bride, then the Bridegroom and the Bride will be united in the heavenly marriage. Through justification by faith and consecration certain ones of the Old Testament were made available to be servants and friends of God; but because the ransom had not yet been laid down, much less actually imputed, they could not be of the Bride, because the Bridegroom had first to come into existence as such before the Bride could be such; for as out of sleeping Adam Eve was formed, so out of Jesus' death (the ransom) the Second Eve is developed. Those servants and friends of God will be made servants in the household of the Second Adam and Eve. During the Gospel Age certain ones, given the opportunity to be of the Bride, the Second Eve, failed to qualify therefore, yet, repenting, and then proving faithful, they will become the Bridesmaids and guests at the heavenly marriage feast, and later members of the household of the Second Adam and Eve. Then at the end of the Gospel Age, after the full number of the Second Eve has come in, there are still members

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of the faith class in the world, but too late to become of the Bride. These by faith justification and consecration will be made friends and servants, like those who were too early to be of the Bride, and after the marriage and its feast will, like those who were too early to be of the Bride, be made members of the Second Adam's and Eve's household. 

These four classes constitute the four-faith classes, who as the elect will be ready to help the unbelief class gain the benefits of the ransom. It will be seen that God's wisdom planned every step in the salvation of the four elect classes, that God's love provided all the sacrifices, including the ransom sacrifice, for their winning, and that Divine power executed every step of it, on the basis of an imputative use of the ransom. Note how wisely Divine wisdom planned for an imputative, a reckoned, and not an actual purchase by the ransom on behalf of the elect classes. Had the merit of the ransom been actually given for and to them, there would not have been any of it left for a second use, i.e., its use for the non-elect, the unbelief class. Hence God's wisdom planned for an imputative use of it for the elect, so that when the imputations would all be cancelled by the sacrificial death of the elect, it would in its entirety be available for the use of the actual, not reckoned, purchase of the world, of the non-elect. Not only the Bible teaches the imputative use of the merit for the elect, but facts prove it; for if the ransom had been actually given justice for, and then had actually been given to the elect, they would have been made actually perfect in body and in life, with the actual right to life and its life-rights, things that all experience of the elect prove were not given them. Most wise, just, loving and powerful, therefore, has been the elective use of the ransom; and the same will be true of its non-elective use when it is due to be made. 

After the three elect classes of the present will have left this world, and thus will no longer need the imputation of Christ's ransom-merit, then it will be free

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to be used for the actual purchase of Adam and his race of the unbelief class. Divine wisdom arranged for that use of the ransom, which, by way of distinction from its use in an imputative or reckoned purchase, we call its application or actual purchase; but since it is to be applied for the purchase of the race by the Second Adam and Eve, in order to regenerate the race in righteousness and life as their children, they will be taken away from the court of God's justice as the Second Adam's and Eve's personal possession by right of purchase, and by them will be shielded from another condemnation of Divine justice for their sinfulness, while they are raising them up to perfection as their imperfect children, who as such may be spoken of as then not yet having attained the years of discretion before God's justice, and who will attain such when they are made perfect at the Millennium's end, by their full appropriation of the ransom merit. Thus with the consent of justice wisdom will devise an arrangement whereby the ransom merit will gradually be given to the non-elect as they obey and to the degree that they obey, love and power operating this regenerative process in them as they obey and to the degree of their obedience. Wisdom at the demand of justice arranged that those who determinedly would not act as children, i.e., obey the second Father Adam and Mother Eve, would be destroyed in the second death; and love and power, knowing that they would be irreformable, will cooperate in that destruction, to prevent their and others' eternal unhappiness and evil-doing. But by obedience the others will gradually during the Millennium be given more and more of the ransom merit-perfect human bodies and life and the right to life with its life-rights, until by the end of the Millennium they will be perfect in all their faculties, have perfect life and the right to life and its life-rights, all brought about by the ransom merit received in obedience; for be it remembered that after justice accepts the ransom merit for the debt that merit is by God imputed to the Church now and given the world later.

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Thus viewed the ransom will bring the obedient back to what Adam was before he sinned. Thus we see that the ransom will cancel the Adamic condemnation from the race, bring it back from death free of that sentence, give all of the non-elect the opportunity to regain all that they lost by Adam, and actually give the obedient all that Adam forfeited for them by sin. It will really do more than this: By giving them the experience with righteousness, whereby they will be delivered from all the effects of the curse and be given all that Adam lost for them, they will be in a better position to stand successfully the final trial than Adam's position was to stand successfully his trial; for the experience of the terrible nature and effects of sin will move the faithful to hate and avoid it, and the experience of the blessed nature and effects of righteousness will move them to love and practice it; and only those who externally, but not internally reform will fail under that trial at the end of the Millennium, and thus perish in eternal annihilation; while those who will have reformed from the heart during the Millennium, educated by the experience with evil in this life to hate and have nothing to do with sin, and by the experience with righteousness in the Millennium to love and practice righteousness, will obtain eternal life in the restored Paradise, all as a result of the ransom merit received in good and honest hearts. And thus through the ransom so used God will get a perfect human race of free moral agents in righteousness glorifying Him and Christ forever, by illustrating the reign of moral law in their lives (Rev. 5:13). The ransom working the effects described above in God's plan is certainly a proof that the Bible is a Divine revelation; for nothing less than a God of perfect wisdom, power, justice and love could have made and outworked such a ransom plan with such results. 

But from another standpoint the ransom proves that the Bible is a Divine revelation, i.e., from the standpoint that it is that out of which all other Bible teachings 

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flow, on which they are built and in harmony with which they are. This is what was meant above when it was said that it is the hub of the wheel of revelation, out of which hub as spokes all other Bible teachings come, by which they are held in place, and about which they revolve. Let us look at this thought somewhat more closely. This we saw also above in the 12 facts that were given in proof that the ransom is a corresponding-price (in fact, 14 proofs were given for it, the 12 facts and the proofs from the meaning of antilytron and the meanings of the four words proving that it purchases). It will now be shown from the hub character of the ransom in the wheel of revelation 

The above 12 facts are the main things in God's plan, and are all built upon, are in harmony with, and flow out of this precious doctrine. But, more than this, the ransom conditions all other Biblical doctrines. It proves the unity of God, since the Ransomer cannot be a part of Him whose justice must be satisfied. It proves human mortality; for it requires the death of both soul and body. It proves death to be the penalty of sin, since Christ laid the ransom-price down by death. It proves Christ's resurrection as a spirit, since had He taken back His humanity, He would not have the ransom-price available to purchase us. It proves the Second Advent, the judgment day, the resuscitation of the dead and future probation to be the objects of the Kingdom for the blessing of the non-elect, since the ransom has in this life been used for the benefit of the elect alone. It proves eternal life on earth in human nature to be the reward of the righteous in the next Age, and death eternal—annihilation—to be the punishment of all who make shipwreck of their opportunity for life, whether given in this or the next Age; for "Christ dieth no more"; "There remaineth no more sacrifice for sin." Reversely, it overthrows the doctrine of the creedal as distinct from the Bible trinity, human immortality, eternal torment, probation limited to this life or to the elect, absolute predestination, universalism, 

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evolution and every other doctrinal error: It is a touchstone of truth and error. It is, as we have said, the hub from which radiate, as spokes in a wheel, all Bible doctrines. Hence its denier denies God's plan. 

For our present purpose—proving the Bible to be a Divine revelation—we have discussed such features alone of the ransom as furnish a ground work for that proof. As said above, it is, next to God's character of perfect wisdom, power, justice and love, the greatest touchstone of truth and error, demonstrating the former as truth and the latter as error. It conditions, as just shown, every doctrine of the Bible, and gives it its proper setting in relation to God's plan. It is the key that unlocks the storehouse of the Bible, opening all therein to view. It dominates and assigns their proper bearings to all Bible teachings that logically precede, accompany and follow it. It unites them in a perfect blending into one harmonious, logical, practical and errorless whole. It satisfies the exactions of the severest logic, and gives unspeakable comfort to the bruised and contrite heart, as it is the inspiration of the Church now and the hope of the world for the Age to come. Misteach it, and disharmony sets in between it and all other Bible doctrines; or misteach any other Bible doctrine, and immediately contradiction and confusion set in between that mistaught doctrine and the ransom, just as confusion sets in with an intricate puzzle, if its main feature is distorted, or any of its parts is misshapen. In the marvelously logical, beautiful, harmonious and practical arrangement called God's plan, consisting of many interdependent and interlocking parts all harmonious with one another, the ransom is made the center, conditioner and activator of all, just like the main spring of a watch in relation to the watch's many interdependent and interlocking parts. To have made such an arrangement for satisfying Divine justice completely, unto providing deliverance from the curse, all pivoted upon, and activated by the ransom, considered in connection with the vast ramifications, agents 

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and subjects of the plan, displays omniscient wisdom; and to operate it displays an omnipotent power; while to provide such a ransom manifests an all-surpassing love. No wonder, therefore, that Christ crucified, the ransom, is the concentration of the wisdom and power of God (1 Cor. 1:24). And because it is such, we present it as our sixth general proof that the Bible is a Divine revelation; for only God could have planned, effected and applied the ransom with all its implications; for as the highest product of Divine wisdom as the only satisfier of Divine justice for sin, as the sublimest expression of Divine love, as the greatest instrument of Divine power, as the key of the problem of evil's permission, as the cure of the curse, as the concentrated essence of the Bible, as the radiator, dominator and grounder of every Bible doctrine, as the conditioner of its very teaching, as the touchstone of every truth, as the exposer and refuter of every error, as the meritorious cause and the efficient means of election and free grace, as the most practical and effective of all theories, as the glorifier of God in the highest, as the pacifier of earth and as the creator of good will to men, it cannot be otherwise than one of the finest of the internal evidences of the Bible as a Divine revelation. 

So far we have studied six general reasons from the Bible's internal evidence that it is a Divine revelation; and now we come to the study of our seventh and final general reason from the Bible's internal evidence therefore: the Bible's unique excellences evidence its Divine origin; for it has such excellences as only a Divine revelation could and should have. These are so numerous and varied that our space can allow but a brief description of them. Some that will be mentioned will not logically force the conclusion that they prove the Bible to be a Divine revelation, but do prove that they are what we should expect to find in a Divine revelation, while others of them do prove it to be a 

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Divine revelation; and all combined prove to the reasonable mind that the Bible is such. 

The first of the Bible's excellences that are in harmony with the thought that it is a Divine revelation is that the agents through whom it was written were sober, intelligent and good men. This is true of its New Testament writers, as well as of its Old Testament writers. Its New Testament writers were men of most exemplary characters and sober minds. That Jesus of Nazareth lived, performed a unique ministry and died as a malefactor at the demand of the leaders and led of His people through Pontius Pilate is established by the historical testimony of friends, enemies and indifferents more firmly than any other contemporary event. Some of those who wrote the record of His life and transmitted His teachings were followers of Him during His ministry, and looked upon Him to establish an earthly kingdom in which they would become His chief lieutenants. Their hopes were dashed to pieces by His death as a rebel and blasphemer. We can assign ready reasons for their being His followers with such expectations while He was alive; but after His public crucifixion as a rebel and blasphemer for them to continue to be His followers under the circumstances cannot be explained on any other understandable grounds than their honest and intelligent conviction of the truth of their testimony as to His life, death, resurrection, ascension and outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon them, some of these things as the fulfillments of prior promises made to them by Jesus. If they had been selfish men they would have had selfish motives, like the desire for worldly honor, power, wealth, ease, luxury, a following, etc., which motives doubtless did have some place in their hearts up to Calvary. But the kind of death of their leader, the whole nation, headed by its leaders, accusing Him and demanding and securing His sentence to death, the sentence of the governor and its execution negatived and destroyed as useless and unrealizable such aspirations, so that such

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motives no longer after Calvary could have prompted their advocacy of His cause. 

Under the untoward circumstances produced by Jesus' death wicked and designing men simply would not have advocated a so seemingly doomed cause. Such advocacy can be explained reasonably only from the standpoint that the Apostles were good, honest and sober-minded men, unselfishly and intelligently convinced of the truthfulness of their message: for be it recognized that their unselfish acts, the logicalness of their reasoning and the sobriety of their lives prove them not to have been fanatics, but to have been sober thinkers and upright men. Hence other motives than selfish, wicked and designing ones must be sought to explain their advocacy of Jesus under the circumstances amid which they did it. The circumstances were these: Their nation, under the direction of its leaders, believed Jesus to have been a fraud, blasphemer and rebel, and persecuted with ever-increasing rigor their advocacy of Jesus and the heralds and converts of this faith. These lost their human rights and privileges selfward and othersward; and in almost every case their lives were taken from them by violence for their message. It brought upon them every human hardship, loss, disappointment, suffering, privation, persecution, unpopularity, unease. Yet with holy hearts and clear minds they continued in the teeth of these circumstances kindly, unselfishly, self-and-world-denyingly and self-sacrificingly to give forth the message as true, and that even unto death. Take the case of Paul. His high position in Judaism was given up; and he exhausted the resources of loss, privation, suffering, labor, tortures and martyrdom, using one of the keenest intellects and most loving hearts ever to grace a human being as channels of advocating the message. Yet in the teeth of all these untoward conditions neither he nor any of the others ever gave up their mission, none of them ever renounced his testimony, none of them could by any kind of a bribe be induced to turn

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his back on his course since Pentecost. Their writings are of the most sublime, logical, ennobling and unsullied character ever produced; and their holy, unselfish and unworldly characters, their self-and-world-denying and uplifting ministries and unblemished teachings, all maintained under crucial trials unto death, are a sure proof of their being good, intelligent, reasonable, sober and practical men, just such agents and only such agents as God would use in ministering a revelation; for they, being what they were and doing what they did, were neither frauds or deceivelings. 

In principle the same remarks apply to the writers of the Old Testament. By the testimony of the Old Testament prophets and of Jesus and the Apostles, Moses was the writer of the Pentateuch, some prophet supplying the account of his death, though in express words the Pentateuch does not make this claim for him, Moses, the meekest of men, having a real passion for anonymity, concealing his authorship of it. But Israel's acceptance of the Law at his hands during his life and ever afterward can be explained on no other ground than that of his having written the Pentateuch. Certainly his character made him a worthy agent to transmit part of the Divine revelation. He could have easily and, humanly speaking, successfully used his position for his own aggrandizement in power, wealth, honor, luxury and ease and for those of his family, yet not only did he refrain therefrom, but willingly made himself the overworked servant of the whole people, and reduced his direct descendants to a lower position than Aaron's descendants—Levites, not priests. In the fine elements of good character Moses was one of the noblest of men. And when we look at the prophets, beginning with Samuel, the writer of Joshua, Judges, Ruth and parts of 1 Samuel, and ending with Malachi, we find them men of most exemplary characters, holy lives and self-denying service, suffering great rigors for their office, and in some cases suffering martyr deaths. All these things considered, they were certainly of such

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characters and only of such characters as God would use to transmit a revelation, as their characters are a guarantee against fraud on their part and their sober intellects a guarantee against their having been deceived as to their message. Hence we conclude that the characters and intellects of the Bible writers are an excellence of it that we should expect to Mark a Divine revelation. 

A brief review of certain things in the Pentateuch brings to light certain excellences that we should reasonably expect as characterizing a Divine revelation, most of them proving it to be a Divine revelation. One of these things is the Genesis account of the creation, as we have shown in our discussion of Creation in E2. Its readers will recall that we showed that each of the six days of ordering the earth was 7,000 years, and that the prior work of creation could have lasted millions of years, the Bible being silent on its duration. We further saw that man's creation came at the very end of the sixth 7,000-year day. Hence no human eye witnessed the work of the six 7,000-year days of ordering the earth, let alone the creation of the earth from gases into its chaotic condition before the first 7,000-year days of ordering the earth. Science, particularly astronomy and geology, after millennia of studying, has reached conclusions that are highly corroborative of the Genesis record of creation, fitting the, facts, not speculations, harmoniously to the period before the first 7,000-year day began and to the seven periods of 7,000 years each following. Since no human being was a witness of these creative periods, how came it that the Mosaic account of these periods predated by 3,500 years the latest assured findings of science on the creative periods? The only reasonable answer to this question is: It came by Divine revelation. Geology has corroborated the fact of the flood by its findings on the glacial periods, and philology has proved that all our languages are derived from three languages, which, because of the elements common to the three, prove that

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these came from one language, which facts corroborate the Bible account of the unity of language before and after the flood, until at the Tower of Babel the then language was divided into three, corresponding to the three families of Noah's sons; and later these three were divided into others, corresponding to the descendants of these three families, even as archeology is furnishing more and more corroborations to the table of nations given in Gen. 10. 

Passing by the many corroborations of later Genesis and earlier Exodus accounts furnished by archeology, we desire to point out certain excellences of the laws given by Moses, as a direct proof that the Bible is the Divine revelation. His ethical laws, on which much might be said, will on this head first occupy our brief attention. The ten commandments are by Moses, according to Jesus' testimony (Mark 12:30-33; Luke 10:27), summed up in the words, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deut. 6:5); and "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Lev. 19:18). The Mosaic ten commandments so summarized give us the law of justice, duty love, not the law of charity, disinterested love, as the Jews were put under the law of duty, not of disinterested, love, which is the law of Christ, and which sacrifices one's rights and privileges in God's interests. The law of justice so summarized teaches one's whole duty toward God and man. There is not a relation of justice toward God, as to a thought, motive, word or act on the part of man, but is covered by this law Godward. We cannot think of any human relation of justice toward God as to man's thoughts, motives, words and Acts that could be enacted without obligation of fulfilling this law. It is all-permeative and all-penetrative as to such things from the standpoint of justice. Men have sought to set up regulations covering man's duty relations to God, but none of them are all-inclusive. Man lacks the wisdom necessary to form such a law. Only God, who knows all actual 

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and possible human relations Godward so far as justice is concerned, could make such a law; and to have put it in its all-embracing applications as to man's duty toward God in so few words as Deut. 6:5 and Mark 12:30 do is a most powerful proof of its being a part of the Divine revelation; and this remark includes all the ramified applications of this law as given in the Bible. Of equal probative power is the second statement of the Divine law of justice as between man and man: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," which Jesus explains as meaning that "all things whatsoever ye would that men should do [in thought, motive, word and act] to you, do ye even so to them" (Matt. 7:12). We cannot think of a human relation or situation as to justice that cannot be governed by this law. To think out a law that is all-embracing in its application to thought, motive, word and act so far as justice, duty love, is concerned in the actual or possible relations and situations of man to man, requires a super-human yea even a super-angelic wisdom, i.e., Divine wisdom. Hence the giving of such a law with all its ramifications in the Bible is an irrefutable argument that at least that much of it and its ramified Biblical applications are a Divine revelation. 

Moses' political laws, in so far as these laws and their varied Biblical applications are concerned, are likewise a proof that the Bible is a Divine revelation. From one standpoint Israel's political organization and laws are features of a Divine autocracy, a theocracy; for they were the political constitution of that nation which admitted of no revision on the part of the people. And this, of course, would not be in line with their being a part of the Divine revelation. But from another standpoint Israel's government was a democracy in which the tribally chosen leaders, called elders and judges, were interpreters and administrators of a government for the people and by the people. For Moses at God's command charged the people to select their elders and judges and to make them leaders of tens,

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fifties, hundreds and thousands, so that they might act as the civil rulers, as representatives of the people, to try their cases and to render Divinely pleasing decisions (Ex. 18:13-26; Num. 11:16, 17, 24-30; Deut. 1:9, 12-18). Moses was to act as a court of appeals in the cases that these judges considered too hard for them; but they, not Moses, were to decide which cases were to be referred to him; and after his death such cases were brought to the high priest for a direct decision by God through the Urim and Thummim. This democratic form of government remained in Israel for about 490 years, until at the people's and elders' insistence, against God's expressed preference, it was set aside for a monarchy. Thus God, a thousand years before man, established a democracy on earth; and this shows that God's preference of the form of government for the people who are fit for it is a democracy, and not a monarchy, especially not an absolute monarchy. Thus the political laws of Moses prove for their part that the Bible is a Divine revelation. In line with this thought is the fact that this democracy existed a thousand years before the first beginnings of democracy appeared in any other nation. 

Next the dietary laws of the Bible are a proof of their being a part of the Divine revelation. It is recalled that Moses forbade the people's eating certain meats, insects, fowl, fish and other aqueous animals as unclean; and certain ones as clean he sanctioned as their food. Such foods are enumerated in Lev. 11:230; Deut. 14:3-20. The general rule governing land animal food as clean was that it should both part the hoof and chew the cud; otherwise it was unclean; and the general rule governing aqueous food as clean was that it should have both scales and fins; otherwise it was unclean. Some of these unclean foods, e.g., swine, oyster, rabbit, are quite savory. Why did God sanction Israel's eating the clean foods and forbid their eating the unclean, without giving them a reason therefore, except that it was His will? We answer that, first of

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all, since they were a house of servants whom He had selected to enact types, without their understanding that such uses were made of them, in the interests of His prospective house of sons, there was a typical significance in these sanctions and dissanctions; for the unclean foods were used by Him to type erroneous teachings and practices that the house of sons should not accept; and the clean foods were by Him used to type the pure teachings and practices that the house of sons were to accept; thus they are a part of a Divine revelation. 

But why did God designate certain foods as clean and others as unclean? E.g., why did He not designate unclean what He had called clean and vice versa? Our answer is: He designed a dietetic blessing to come upon those who observed His pertinent charges and a dietetic evil to come upon those who disobeyed His pertinent charges; for those that He called clean are wholesome for humans and those that He called unclean are unwholesome for humans. God, the greatest of all chemists, of course, knew the chemical elements in each one of such foods; and He knew that those which contained chemical elements foreign to the 16 main ones that are in human bodies would poison such bodies if assimilated; hence He forbade as unclean such animal food. In Moses' day no human understood chemistry; but God did. Hence no human gave those laws so exact chemically as good or harmful for the human body. Only of late was it discovered by chemical analysis that the Mosaically designated unclean foods contain elements harmful to human bodies and that the clean foods contain no such elements. Hence those dietetic laws, in the absence of chemical knowledge in contemporaneous man, must have come from God, which proves that they are a Divine revelation. The Israelites were forbidden to eat young animal food as long as such young were yet suckled (Ex. 23:19). The expression, "seethe a kid in his [its] mother's milk," does not forbid milk to be the liquid used in 

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boiling the kid, but it means that during the time that it is yet suckled it should not be boiled and eaten. Why this? Chemical analysis shows that its flesh is yet poisonous, if taken as food. Again, the Israelites were forbidden to eat of meat that died of itself or was strangled, as they were forbidden to eat blood (Lev. 22:8; 19:26). In all these cases the stress was laid on the blood which was not drained out of the carcasses or drunk after it was taken therefrom. Blood embrutens the brain and debases character; hence before man knew this as a chemical fact, God, knowing it, gave the prohibition, to bless the obeyers of the prohibition. All these dietetic facts, and others could be enumerated, unknown to man until lately, prove by their presence in the Mosaic laws 3,500 years ahead of time that these dietetic laws were of Divine origin. 

The Mosaic law contains not a few hygienic hints, as distinct from dietetic hints. It implies the necessity of keeping the air pure by the speedy removal of excreta, garbage and carcasses, the early burial of the dead, and the removal of lepers from contact with the healthy. Mosaic charges as to work imply the usefulness of exercise as a matter of hygiene. The garments that the law prescribed for the priests are along the line of dissipating unhealthy odors from the body; and in certain particulars such garments were implied as worn by the people. Sandals certainly were more healthful for the feet than shoes, which frequently generate corns, bunions and calluses. Sex hygiene as set forth in Moses' laws was certainly hindersome to generating venereal diseases and for the procreation of healthful children well endowed. Certainly, the Sabbath arrangement was a great shield against the diseases coming from overwork, such as nervousness, prostration, low vitality, anemia, ruptures, strokes and heart failures. The Mosaic regulations as to cleanness certainly were good hygienically, like washing the hands before eating, the body after being in the presence of the dead or coming in contact with refuse, offal, carrion or any 

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other ceremonially unclean thing (Lev. 12:1-8). They were to be clean in their clothes, as their frequent washing was charged (Ex. 19:10-14; Lev. 16:26, 28). Lev. 15 contains many regulations on purity of person, bedding, clothing and sex. Num. 31:14-24 shows many measures taken to preserve cleanliness. The hygienic laws of camp life were also intended for the cities (Deut. 28:3-16); and the arrangements for the health of their camps also show that public as well as private hygiene was inculcated by the Mosaic laws, as worthy examples of public hygiene in our days. Their sewage system was very hygienic, e.g., as shown in Deut. 23:12-14; Lev. 8:17; 16:26, 27. The law's commands as to leprosy (Lev. 13; 14) show that disinfection, destruction of contagious materials and quarantines, modern devices to prevent contagion, were in vogue by God's command in Moses' day, 3400 years ahead of time. All these principles then given have only of late been discovered by science as scientific. Thus hygiene was inculcated by God through Moses long before germs as disease-bearers were known. This proves again the Bible to be a Divine revelation. 

The social laws of the Mosaic Covenant are far superior to any of the most developed of modern states, let alone those of contemporaneous states. They carefully guarded the people, that none should become permanently poor, by causing a restitution of an alienated patrimony, the freedom of all reduced to servitude less than six years before and the cancellation of all debts every fifty years, at the jubilee (Lev. 25:9, 13-23, 27-30). They required that Israelites do not take interest on loans from one another (Ex. 22:25), that they should relieve the impoverished Israelite, as well as strangers and sojourners (Lev. 25:35), that in the division of the land impartiality be observed (Num. 26:53-56). They provided that the rights of foreigners among the Israelites be guarded by the same laws as guarded their own rights, thus the same social laws governing natives as well as foreigners (Ex. 12:49), 

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that they be not illy treated (Lev. 19:33, 34). They required that they help their enemies in their difficulties (Ex. 23:4, 5). They required mercy to be extended to the brute creation as to food (Deut. 25:4), as to inequality of strength, forbidding equal burdens to be put upon unequal strength (Deut. 22:10), and as to rest (Ex. 20:10; 23:12). They cautioned them against oppressing the stranger, the widow and the orphan (Ex. 22:21-24), God threatening that if they did He would cast them off and cause their widows and orphans to undergo similar oppression. They were forbidden by Moses to oppress their servants and were charged to pay their wages promptly (Deut. 24:14, 15), not delaying to pay him after the end of the day (Lev. 19:13) and to do him no bodily violence (Ex. 21:26, 27), which if done, would free him; nor could an Israelite be held as a servant against his will more than six years (Ex. 21:1-6). 

These laws properly regulated the marriage relation, requiring parental consent (Ex. 22:17), exempted the bridegroom a year from military service (Deut. 24:5), made its obligation inferior to those owed to God (Deut. 13:6-10), required that it be not within forbidden degrees of blood relationship (Lev. 18:6-18), required tribal marriages of inheriting daughters, so as not to mar the tribal inheritance (Num. 36:8), allowed divorce only on justifiable grounds of natural right (Deut. 24:1) and permitted those divorced not to remarry one another, if the divorced wife married and was again divorced (Deut. 24:3, 4). Parents were to train their children religiously (Deut. 4:9, 10; 6:7, 21-24; 11:18-21; 32:46). Children were to honor, reverence and obey their parents (Ex. 20:12; Lev. 19:3). Utterly incorrigible children were to be put to death, after trial and condemnation by the judges and unimpeachable evidence, as a curse to themselves and to prevent their begetting similar characters in children (Ex. 21:15, 17; Deut. 21:18-21; 27:16). The Mosaic law prescribed respect for the aged (Lev. 19:14, 32) 

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and rulers, forbidding to revile them (Ex. 22:28; see margin), while these were required to be just and impartial (Ex. 23:3, 6; Lev. 19:15; Deut. 1:16, 17; 16:18-20; 25:1). Certainly, the Mosaic social laws were thousands of years ahead of time and thus prove the Bible's Divine origin as to them. 

The agricultural laws of Moses were likewise far ahead of the latest findings of science and thus exhibit a super-human wisdom for those times. The resting of the land every seventh year and every fiftieth year was most beneficial for the soil, as it prevented the soil from becoming impoverished, and enabled it to receive larger reinforcements of nitrogen, to the land's greater enrichment, two things that only recently science learned as to preserving a rich chemistry of the soil (Ex. 23:10, 11; Lev. 25:2-11). The prohibition of sowing two kinds of seed together was wise (Lev. 19:19; Deut. 22:9); for it has only lately been found out to be detrimental to the soil, as it disturbs the equilibrium of the chemical elements of the soil and does not give the proper proportion of chemical elements to the products, thus injuring them as food, as well as injuring the soil, as it also interferes with the proper rotation of crops, all three things only of late learned to be good by scientific agriculture. The production of hybrids was forbidden, because injurious in every way (Lev. 19:19), as also the mixture of linen and wool in clothing is now known to be injurious to the goods and to the health of the wearer. God's giving Israel a land of such varying climate, due to its varying altitudes, was a most beneficial thing for them agriculturally; and even yet chemical analyses of its soil, particularly of its soft rocks, prove it to be the richest chemically of all the earth. Beneficial was the law that allowed the wayfarer to eat to satisfying hunger of the fruits of others' fields, but not to take any away nor wantonly to injure the trees (Deut. 23:24, 25). Certainly, benevolence is seen in allowing some of the agricultural products not to be gathered by the 

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owner, who has also to leave in the field forgotten sheaves, so that the poor and stranger might glean the former and pick up the latter (Lev. 19:9, 10; Deut. 24:19-21). So were the laws good that protected one's fields from spoliation (Ex. 22:5, 6). The laws on harvest feasts were certainly beneficial, physically and religiously (Ex. 34:22). The prohibition to eat of fruit trees before the fourth and fifth years after planting was very wise (Lev. 19:23-25); for such early fruits are more or less unwholesome—a thing also but lately learned by chemical research. The agricultural laws of Moses display a then super-human and super-angelic knowledge, and thus prove their Divine origin. 

The penal laws of Moses were based on the strictest justice; hence they are in harmony with Divine justice—a life for a life, an eye for an eye, etc. (Ex. 21:23-25). Capital punishment was for many offenses, and that because Israel being on trial for life, with the alternatives of life for obedience and death for disobedience, God prescribed death for the greater sins of covenant violators, especially sins against the ten commandments, which is reasonable; and at the same time this proves Israel's laws to be based on different principles from the laws of all other nations, i.e., on the principle that Israel was on trial for life or death under its laws. The following were capital offenses: murder (Lev. 24:17; Num. 35:16-24), adultery (Deut. 22:24), beastiality (Ex. 22:19), sodomy (Lev. 18:22), rape (Deut. 22:25), kidnapping (Ex. 21:16), whoredom of a priest's daughter (Lev. 21:9), witchcraft (Ex. 22:18), offering human sacrifice (Lev. 20:2-5), striking or cursing of parents (Ex. 21:15, 17), utter incorrigibility to parents (Deut. 21:18-21), blasphemy (Lev. 24:11-14, 16, 23), Sabbath desecration (Num. 15:32-36), prophesying falsely, spreading false-religions (Deut. 13:1-10), sacrificing to false gods (Ex. 22:20) and rejecting a court's decision (Deut. 17:12). Usually stoning was the method of inflicting capital punishment (Lev. 20:2, 27; Deut. 13:10),

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the extreme penalty being hanging (Deut. 21:22, 23), both being easier forms of execution; but only in the case of a priest's daughter becoming a harlot and of a witch was burning prescribed as the way of executing the death sentence (Lev. 21:9). No torturing of the doomed was permitted. Less grievous sins, like injury of another's reputation, were punished by scourging, but not more than 40 blows were permitted in the worst cases, and that in a prone position, which eased the blows (Deut. 22:18; 25:2, 3; 2 Cor. 11:24). Considering the covenant of life and death that bound the Jews, the above-mentioned punishments are another evidence of the Bible's being a Divine revelation. 

The festival laws were certainly calculated to increase the joys and religiosity of Israel, which made them worthy accompaniments of a Divine revelation; and the sacrificial laws, in addition to being a direct blessing to Israel, helping them in their covenant relations to God, and typing the better sacrifices of the future, whereby a real reconciliation between God and man occurs, make them a worthy and necessary part of a Divine revelation. Thus the varied Mosaic laws are certainly a powerful proof of the Divine origin of the last four of the five books of the Pentateuch. 

Some have claimed that the Mosaic arrangement was a priestly concoction to tyrannize over and exploit the people. This certainly is not true to the facts; for the priests and Levites were given neither wealth in, nor power over Israel. They had no inheritance in the land like the other twelve tribes. They were kept strictly out of politics; their work was to teach and sacrifice in the interests of the people; and the tithe allotted to them by no means recompensed them for their lack of an inheritance in the land; for, though often withheld, especially in times of apostasy, it covered merely the gains of farm life, not merchandise. Thus from the standpoint of acquisitions, they were at a great disadvantage, as compared with the others; and the tithe was certainly due them, since they got no share

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in the land apart from certain cities where they lived. Their position was indeed a dependent one—dependent on the willingness of the people to give them tithes, which often they were not willing to do. Indeed, the Bible nowhere favors clericalism and autocracy in the religious leaders, who are everywhere in the Bible set forth as servants of the people (1 Pet. 5:1-3). The same is true of the prophets, whose writings are of a very high ethical character, as well as very useful for promoting a proper relation between God and man and man and man. The histories of the Bible are a part of the Divine revelation, connecting as they do various features of God's plan of salvation with one another historically, particularly in relation to Jesus, the Center of God's plan. And these histories throughout have of late years been found to be prophecies, in form of types, of the development of various features and unfoldings of God's plan and thus are revelatory, as well as historical. Especially are the events, institutions and arrangements of the Pentateuch proven to be typical of the great features of God's plan. In the preceding six general proofs given for the Divine origin of the Bible we have given evidences proving that its salient features are evidently from God. The excellences of the Bible now being given strongly prove the Divine origin of the Bible. More of its excellences remain to be brought out. 

Among other excellences of the Bible that we might expect it as a Divine revelation to have, is its literosity, a subject that has been sufficiently treated in The Herald of the Epiphany Nos. 108 and 109. Considering Biblical Numerics as belonging to its literosity, the latter is an unanswerable proof of its verbal inspiration, as well as of its being a Divine revelation. Some pertinent details will be given on Biblical Numerics when we come to discuss the Bible's inspiration. We here merely mention it as an excellence of the Bible proving its being a Divine revelation. Here we desire to abridge some of the arguments that Henry Rogers in his book on the Supernatural Origin 

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of the Bible gives, in proof that it has such characteristics as we should expect to find in a Divine revelation. His book is a classic on the subject and well deserves an abridgement of parts of it such as will here be given. We know no better expression of our esteem of his pertinent fine work than to give our readers in our own language an abridgement of some of his arguments, with which we will intermingle, and to which we will add some of our own. 

He stresses a number of traits of the Bible that seem to be at variance with certain principles and tendencies of human nature and that, therefore, are in line with the Bible's not having a human, but a supernatural origin, i.e., it is a Divine revelation. The first of these traits of the Bible is its doctrine of but one God, monotheism, whereas polytheism, the doctrine of many gods, is the natural belief of depraved man, who, therefore, apart from a Divine revelation, has always claimed polytheism to be true and has almost without exception cultivated it. A second trait of the Bible is its subordination of everything to the idea of God, whereas, if fallen man had invented the Bible, he would have stressed the things of humanity as superordinate to all else. A third characteristic of the Bible is its subordination of ethics to religion, whereas all human religious systems reverse this condition, subordinating religion to ethics. A fourth peculiarity of the Bible, particularly of the New Testament, is its law of disinterested love, which runs violently counter to human nature; for it requires the sacrifice of all of one's own human rights, even unto death under most crucial trials, in the interests of God and man, a thing that no mere human would make the law of his religion. A fifth Mark of the Bible is the character that it ascribes to Christ—a character that no human being could or would have originated. A sixth feature of the Bible is the tenacity to, and veneration for it that it arouses in its adherents, things that apart from a direct or indirect (as in the case of Mohammedans) relation to a Divine revelation is foreign to human nature. 

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A seventh trait of the Bible is that, so far as the New Testament is concerned, it could not have originated from Jews as such, since it is in great variance with Jewish nature, ideals and theories. An eighth quality of the New Testament is that it seeks by moral suasion alone, through a religion running counter to many features of human nature, to select the faith class from among mankind as separate and distinct from it, while reproving for sin, righteousness and judgment to come in connection with giving a testimony of the coming Kingdom to all nations. A ninth characteristic of the Bible in its New Testament part is its emphasis on toleration and liberty of conscience, principles that are contrary to human partisanship in all majorities. A tenth trait of the Bible in its New Testament part is its insistence on the separation of state and church—a thing almost universally rejected by the practice of fallen man. An eleventh characteristic of the Bible in its New Testament feature is its doctrine of self-denial even unto death in the interests of God and man, another thing abhorrent to the natural man. A twelfth quality of the Bible in its New Testament portion is its doctrine of world-denial, which is also repulsive to human nature. A thirteenth feature of the Bible in its New Testament part is its insistence in following Christ, even blindly if necessary, another thing contrary to human nature. A fourteenth feature of the Bible is its doctrine of election, which human nature rejects as partiality and unjust. 

A fifteenth trait of the Bible is its almost complete silence on the conditions of the spiritual-world to which the New Testament invites its elect. A sixteenth quality of the Bible is its almost complete silence on the social conditions of the Millennial Age, while holding it out as the hope of the world, a thing that the natural man faults. A seventeenth peculiarity of the Bible is its requirement for its elect to walk by faith and not by sight, a thing quite unwelcome to human nature. An eighteenth point in the Bible is its doctrine of the race's 

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condemnation to the dying process and death state for Adam's sin—a thing against which the natural man revolts. A nineteenth trait of the Bible is its description of human depravity and of fallen man's inability to save himself therefrom—a thing also repugnant to the natural man. A twentieth feature of the Bible is that its plan as a whole is something that no man could invent. And, finally, as a twenty-first trait of the Bible; The character that it attributes to God: wisdom, justice, love and power, each perfect in itself, each perfectly blended with one another and all in that blending dominating all His other characteristics, and in all of these matters unbreakable and boundless in their exercise: no human could have thought out this of himself. All twenty-one of these Biblical traits strongly attest the Bible not to be of human but to be of Divine origination, and consequently prove it to be a Divine revelation. 

Additionally there are certain other considerations that as excellences, especially of the New Testament, are in line with the thought that the Bible is a Divine revelation. The first of these is that obedience to past enlightenment is the pathway to further enlightenment. The second of these is that disobedience to knowledge not only blinds the mind to past enlightenment and shuts the door to further light, but also hardens the heart, weakens the conscience and cuts off from Divine grace. A third of these is that religious knowledge unless put to practice is useless, dangerous and condemning. A fourth of these is that religious knowledge is not an end in itself, but is a means to the end of making its possessors Godlike and Christlike. A fifth point is the absence of minute casuistry, with which human works on ethics and "moral theology" abound, particularly the works of Jesuits on "moral theology," the New Testament relying on the spirit of a sound mind that it inculcates to guide one into right decisions as to his conduct. A sixth point hereon is the supreme place that the New Testament assigns to charity in the sense of disinterested love, which, as "the Law of Christ," 

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raises the responsive character to the heights of delight in good principles, of delight in, and hearty oneness with those in harmony with good principles, of sympathy with, or of pity for those in disharmony with good principles, and with or for those treated contrary to good principles, and of delight to lay down life to advance good principles in the blessing of others. A seventh point is the remarkable tact with which the New Testament steers clear of the social and political rocks on which its purposes might have been wrecked. Without verbally attacking such evils, it lays down principles that shield its faithful from all collisions with such questions. These seven points surely do lend strong confirmation to the Bible as a Divine revelation. 

Certain artistic traits of the Bible, as other characteristics of it, are also excellences that we should expect in a Divine revelation. Among these is its unity. For the Bible exhibits a plan, which with all its diverse parts is one united whole. It is indeed a Drama enacting the greatest play conceivable. Its Author is Jehovah; its Hero is Jesus; its Heroine is His Espoused, who, after many harrowing experiences, becomes His Bride; her companions are the Great Company, who become the Bridesmaids; the select servants of their warfare are the Ancient and Youthful Worthies, who in their exaltation become the princes of their Kingdom; and the fallen race are the trophies that they seek to liberate and gain by their warfare. The villain of this drama is Satan, who makes the race his subjects and the objects of his tyranny and oppression. His associates are fallen angels who share in his villainy, tyranny and oppression; and the visible representatives of his kingdom ruling over the fallen race are the oppressive rulers, predatory aristocrats and deceiving clergy, all claiming Divine right. And the outcome of this unparalleled warfare will be the eternal overthrow of error, sin and unholiness, with all their willful supporters, and the eternal triumph of truth, righteousness and holiness, with all their willing supporters. All of the teachings and arrangements of the Bible unite in a perfect whole 

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to clarify and forward this drama from beginning to end successfully. 

The diversity of the Bible, accompanying this unity, is another of its artistic traits in line with its being a Divine revelation. Here we see sin, error and unholiness on the one hand, and on the other truth, righteousness and holiness exemplified in their sharpest contrasts, both by precept and example, in their diverse natures, courses and effects. Here weak and willful sinners are presented in their diversity; here penitent and believing sinners appear in their contrasts; here justified and consecrated believers are described antithetically, and all of these by precept and example. Here are set forth the elect and the non-elect; here go forth in contrast the four classes of the finally elect and two other classes of the temporarily elect, and that, too, by precept and example. The contrasted experiences of saints and sinners are here seen, as also the contrast between the world's experience with sin and evil and with righteousness and good. Here are contrasted spirit and natural beings, the visible and invisible kingdoms connected with God's plan, the final triumph of the good and goodness, and the final defeat of the evil and evil. Everywhere there appear pertinent teachings as to these contrasts which, despite these contrasts, go to make up the unity of the Bible. 

The harmony of the Bible is another of its artistic qualities that we should expect in a Divine revelation. It is true that there are seeming contradictions in the Bible, like the perfection of the Divine character as to sin, error and sinners and errorists, with accompanying evil, as to election and free grace, as to the present triumph of evil and the evil and the oppression of good and the good, as to the death of billions without even hearing of salvation and as to numerous other things. But when each of these is put into its proper dispensation, age or plane of being, they will be found to dovetail into one another in utmost harmony; and in this harmony the unity and diversity of the Bible blend most admirably. 

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The practicability of the Bible is another of its artistic characteristics that we should expect to find in a Divine revelation. No matter whether we consider the Bible from the standpoint of its teachings or from the standpoint of its arrangements, we find every one of them finely adapted to realize the purposes that God has in mind in the outworking of His plan. Thus the twofold experience laid out in that plan for the world—the contrasted experiences with evil and good—is most admirably adapted to God's creatively securing a race of free moral agents, hating and avoiding evil and loving and practicing good, His purpose in the twofold experience. Thus the elects' experience with evil by their faith is most ably adapted to fit them in character to qualify for their present and future life, office and work. The Bible's containing all they need for all the believing, refuting, cleansing, developing and comforting helps and arrangements of the elects' experiences is seen to be a matter of utmost practicability to mould them in harmony with the Divine purpose as to them. Its containing helps adapted to every condition, experience, position and attainment of its subjects is another of its evidences of practicability for realizing its purposes as to the elective process. 

In Chapter I, while discussing the Bible's literosity, we pointed out in sufficient detail the Bible's beauty and sublimity as artistic traits of it which we should expect to find in a Divine revelation, hence will give here no further details thereon. As the last artistic quality of the Bible as marking it as Divine revelation we will mention its elevation of subjects. Its themes are the highest of thoughts, as a brief mention of them will show. Among its doctrinal thoughts are those of God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, Creation, the Divine Covenants, the Curse, Ransom, High Calling, Restitution and Eternal Life and Death. Among its ethical thoughts are the graces, primary, secondary and tertiary, the chief of which are justice and charity. Among its promises are those associated with the Abrahamic and Oath-bound Covenants. Its exhortations are 

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as numerous and noble as man's varied relations should require. And what shall we say of its prophecies, histories and types, which embraces the greatest and noblest events of all times? Certainly elevation of thought characterizes the Bible in the degree that we should expect to see in a Divine revelation. Accordingly, the main artistic qualities—unity, diversity, harmony, practicability, beauty, sublimity and nobility—mark the Bible, and thus attest it as a Divine revelation. 

Here it would be in place to mention certain peculiarities of style in the Biblical writings which were not mentioned in our discussion of the Bible's literosity, and which are in line with its being a Divine revelation. The first of these that we would mention is the dramatic character of its histories, which is one of the higher points in the literary style of historical composition. The world's great historians elaborately describe the characters of their narratives. But dramatically, i.e., without such descriptions, the Bible unfolds its histories without comment on its characters, letting their characters shine out from the Acts themselves, without description. And who will deny that it thus sets forth character more clearly and dramatically than the greatest of earth's historians by their elaborate delineation of character? And should not this, the highest form of historical composition, be expected in a Divine revelation? Another peculiarity of style in Biblical writings is the self-oblivion of its penmen. So self-oblivious are Moses, the Prophets and the Apostles in their historical writings that when not narrating events in which they were actors we would scarcely know of their existence, e.g., Moses as to writing the Pentateuch, Samuel as to writing Joshua, Judges, Ruth and part of 1 Samuel, the four evangelists in writing the four Gospels and the Acts. How unlike merely human historians! Of necessity the case is different in autobiographies, like Ezra and Nehemiah, and in personal epistles, like those of Paul. How unlike the treatment given Gentile national heroes by merely human authors, who praise extravagantly their virtues, greatly minimize or entirely conceal 

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their faults and hold them up to unstinted admiration, is that given the heroes of the Bible, whose virtues are unadornedly told and whose faults are clearly pointed out! Again, the Bible's great plainness of speech in describing unchaste acts—never, however, to the exciting of lust—in marked contrast with the custom of our so-called refined society and literature, is another Bible trait in harmony with a Divine revelation, one of whose purposes is to discourage unchastity, not, ostrichlike, by ignoring in speech its existence, but by baring its hideousness to the abhorrence of its readers. Then the ease of translating the Bible into any language without marring the strength, beauty, sublimity, emotionativeness, reverence and the pathos of its literary style is a unique trait of the Bible. The only evidence that Mohammed claimed for the Divine origin of his Koran was the claimed beauty and sublimity of its literary style. Be this as it may as to the Arabic Koran, in translation its claimed beauty and sublimity are lost, as even Mohammedans admit. Not so the Bible, as, e.g., the Septuagint and the Latin (Vulgate), German, English, French, etc., translations prove. Thus the Bible's peculiarities of literary style are such as we should expect in a Divine revelation. 

The exceptional position that the Bible holds in the world is what we should expect of a Divine revelation. A few details tersely stated will clarify this point: (1) The Old Testament is the only connected national literature that has survived the wrecks that time has wrought upon the literature of all contemporaneous nations. While fragments of Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Indian, Hittite, Aramaic and Arabic writings have been excavated from their mound and linguistical graveyards, none of them are a full and connected account of their national history, literature, philosophy, religion, law, etc. Thus the Bible's fullness and permanence are in line with its being a Divine revelation. (2) Another unique trait of the Bible is its power to stimulate the best that is in man, physically, mentally, artistically, morally and religiously, a thing that the

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alleged revelations of other religions are unable to do—facts of history attesting this. (3) It is the most widespread of any book in the world. The combined circulation of the 25 most widely circulated books, except itself, is less than that of the Bible, which has in whole or part been translated into approximately 1,000 languages and dialects, and is being annually so translated into an average of seven new languages and dialects. Every year it continues to be the world's "best seller." (4) It has produced a most prodigious literature, larger by far than that produced by 100 other of the pertinently productive books. (5) It has left a deeper impression on the world's literature than any other 25 books, as appears in the numberless quotations of, allusions and references to it. (6) It has influenced the fine arts—poetry, music, painting, sculpture and architecture—immeasurably more than any other book. Take, e.g., the Koran. How utterly insignificant is its influence on the fine arts in comparison with that of the Bible thereon! Yea, the Koran positively forbids the cultivation of painting and sculpture! (7) Its influence on civilization in all its good phases is without a rival, as the nations of Christendom contrasted with all other nations prove. Certainly this set of excellences we might expect in a Divine revelation. 

Henry Rogers in the above-mentioned book sets forth a series of analogies between the Bible and "The Constitution And The Course Of Nature," as a proof of its being a Divine revelation. Bishop Butler's book on this subject is a classic never answered by the deniers of a Divine revelation. We will here abbreviate the main analogies that Henry Rogers gives: (1) The gradualness of the Divine revelation is a principle that we witness operating in nature and in human history. (2) The Divine plan works itself out in human history, just like any other matter of human interest. (3) Its giving was along the line of God's operation in human history, by select, fitting and outstanding individuals as its agents. (4) Its unfolding was progressive, even as all knowledge has been progressive— 

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storing up past knowledge for the future. (5) Its knowledge and understanding like practically all human knowledge and understanding come from teachers. (6) Its knowledge and understanding come like practically all human knowledge and understanding—by study. (7) As the great variety and compass of nature and history require great ramification of study, so the great variety and compass of the Bible in linguistical, interpretational, historical and systematic branches, all of which are ramified in many sub-and sub-sub-departments, etc., require great ramification of study. (8) As the contents of nature and history present themselves to our view unsystematized, so do the Bible's contents present themselves to our view unsystematized. (9) As by study and reasoning we systematize the contents of nature and history, so do we systematize the contents of the Bible by study and reasoning. 

(10) As in nature and history the commonplace, on the one hand, and the beautiful, the sublime, the pathetic and the noble, on the other hand, mingle, so in the Bible do the commonplace, on the one hand, and the beautiful, the sublime, the pathetic and the noble, on the other hand, mingle. (11) As in nature the important, like air, water, food, etc., is easy of access, and the less important is difficult of access, so in the Bible the more important, like its teachings on repentance, faith, justification and righteousness, is easy of access, while the less important, like future events, times and spirit existence, is difficult of access. (12) As great perplexity pervades nature, e.g., the nature of light, sound and electricity, so great perplexity pervades the Bible, e.g., the nature of eternity, God's past eternity, His spiritual existence, as well as other spirits' existence. As nature abounds in secrets that hitherto have baffled explanation until due, so the Bible abounds in secrets that until due have baffled explanation. (13) As in nature there are many things that call for the miraculous and the superhuman, e.g., the origin of spirit and animal life and material substances, so man's religious nature as unfolded in the Bible calls for the 

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miraculous and the superhuman. (14) As nature and history contain many omissions and variants, so does the Bible contain such; for there are missing links [not in the sense of evolution] and variants from ordinary procedures in both. Hence in the general course of matters we see a close analogy between the Bible and nature. Many more of such analogies can be found in Bishop Butler's Analogy, Bishop Hamden's Philosophical Evidence Of Christianity and Prof. Drummond's Natural Law In The Spiritual World, which is in line with the Bible's being a Divine revelation. 

We have now come to the end of our discussion of the Bible's internal evidence proving that it is a Divine revelation. Not that there are not other lines of thought coming under this head do we close its pertinent study now; for there are such, e.g., the harmony, reasonableness and factuality of the Scriptures, its teachings establishing good and suppressing evil, the practicability of the means that it sets forth to realize its ends, etc.; but because we believe a sufficiency of evidence has been presented on this phase of our subject. We, therefore, herewith sum up our present discussion: That the Bible is a Divine revelation is proven from its internal evidence by the plan of salvation that it reveals, by the fact that such a plan could have been devised by nothing short of Divine Wisdom, required in its sin and sin-atonement features by nothing short of Divine justice, motivated by nothing short of Divine Love and executed by nothing short of Divine Power, by the nature of the qualities of being and character that it attributes to God, by the character, offices and natures that it reveals as Christ's, by the facts as to the permission of evil to the righteous and unrighteous, by the nature and effects of the Ransom and by the Bible's various excellences. On these points only general but sufficient details were given in our discussion; and having shown its internal evidence, we are now ready to take up the proof of its being a Divine revelation contained in its internalo-external and external evidence.