Especially
is there a natural hesitation to speak about the matter publicly. The
main question is, Is it true? If it is, it is good news indeed for our
poor, suffering world.
I may state here that there is another possibility which, if it had been
adopted, would have avoided all necessity for punishment. I refer to the
fact that when Adam and Eve sinned, God might have cut them off, and so
avoided the hideous tale of suffering that has resulted since. Or He
might have rendered them childless, and have thus anticipated and
avoided all difficulty. Either of these measures would certainly have
been fraught with far less suffering than the consignment of so many
uncounted millions, or even one individual, to eternal torment. The fact
that any better measure was available, is a strong argument for the
ultimate restoration of the race.
We believe that God has made a provision for all mankind, ten thousand
times better than the cutting off or rendering childless of the first
pair. When we realize that the whole race is yet to be restored, we
begin to see something of the unbounded love and wisdom that rule
through all time and all eternity. Even the suffering of the present may
be made conducive to our ultimate happiness and glory. A little farther
on we may see that sin and suffering have been permitted for a time as
an object lesson for all eternity.
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