CHAPTER III.

THE NATURE AND CHARACTER OF MAN, AND THE ORIGIN OF EVIL.

"The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.”—GEN. III, 13.

HAVING, in the preceding chapter, taken the first step toward preparing the mind for a proper examination and understanding of the Sacred Scriptures, by seeking a true view of the qualities of the Divine Author; and having thereby, from His own Word, and the use of the reason with which He has endowed us for this purpose, found a rational premise in the admission that all His principles and qualities, in their divine harmony, must be contained in the Infinite Love, Wisdom, and Power of one Almighty, Substantial, and Unchangeable Being, who declares Himself to be Goodness and Truth, Spirit and Life; and yet, as there are many things contained in the Bible which seem to be of a different character, making the Word appear inconsistent, mysterious, and contradictory, and therefore, as though these parts of it must have sprung from some other source; representing even God Himself as sometimes angry, wrathful, and revengeful, and as unstable or repentant; it therefore becomes necessary, in order to be well prepared to examine understand

ingly into the true character and teachings of this Divine Book, that we next obtain a rational view of what those opposite principles and characters are, and whence they originated. And this investigation will lead to a true understanding of what man is, and what part he plays in the drama of life; what his depravity is, and how he received it. For, until these questions are rationally settled, there must, after all that has been said of the Lord, either be a cloud of darkness still overshadowing the beauty and loveliness of the Divine Character, or else a spirit of skepticism will be excited against the Truth and Divine Authenticity of the Scriptures.

Now, in keeping the Great Divine Essentials or First Principles always before us, as the Starting Point and Grand Test, by which the character and quality of everything else are to be tried, and its origin known; and in looking up to those Principles for Light, and resting upon them as the "Rock of Ages," God Himself becomes, in our mind, the Teacher and Judge: and thus, not by our own wisdom, but in the Lord's, we may, in our present investigation, obtain true ideas of the nature and origin of evil, and of the elements and powers of man; and thence of the reason why the Bible, in many places, appears so wonderfully strange and hard to be understood. And having once obtained this desirable knowledge, the way will be fairly opened for a successful investigation into the Spirit and Life of the Word, and for coming thereby to a true understanding of the Sacred Scriptures, and of the cause of their apparent Mysteries, Contradictions, and Discrepancies.

Beginning then with the view we have taken of our Heavenly Father, as the Great First Cause, the Creator of all things, Infinitely Merciful and True, the question

which has so much perplexed the religious world comes up at once fully before us, asking boldly and peremptorily, What and Whence are Evils and Falsities, Discords and Contentions? And falling back upon the true qualities of God for answer, the decision is made at once and decisively that, whatever may have been their origin, such things cannot be the expressions of Goodness and Truth-that God does not give forth evils and falsities. But here an interrogator meets us with the Words of God, saying, "Shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?" (Amos iii, 6.) "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things." (Isa. xlv, 7.) To this we might answer that "A good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit." (Luke vi, 43.) But to all such questions or objections to what we are saying in this chapter, as may arise in the mind of the reader, coming from the letter of the Word, we here simply remark that we are not now explaining the Word, but are trying, by the True Light of God's own Qualities, which Light is the Word, in its Spirit, to prepare our minds to understand the nature and character of the Divine language, so as to see the true meaning of all such expressions of the Word, and of all its apparent contradictions. And we would further remark, that the letter of the Bible seems to give a great variety of characters to God, and some of them quite contradictory, though His true character beams out conspicuously through the whole, and that there is a good reason why the Word was so written, and that when we clearly understand the object of this chapter-the origin of evilwe shall be better prepared to enter upon the investigation of the Word in these peculiarities. Therefore, all inquiries after truth, in this chapter, will be answered by

reasoning in the light of First Principles; and to such answers, properly made, no rational objection can be raised. Now, what we want clearly to understand is the difference between good and evil, truth and falsity, and their origin. Some have attributed all evil to a great diabolical power or being, standing up in opposition to the Lord. But whence has any creature power, but from God? He has all power in heaven and on earth. But is God then changeable; sometimes kind and sometimes unkind? He is Unchangeable Love, and His mercy endureth for ever. How, then, shall we solve the dark problem? Is there no such thing as evil or wrong? Some have falsely said so; but who can look around our world, and behold the murders, thefts, deceits, and crimes of every hue, and come to any such conclusions ?

Yet many at this day, for the want of a true knowledge of the origin and nature of evil, are coolly declaring that evil is only a state of imperfection; that, God alone being perfect, all other things are necessarily imperfect, because finite, and that from this imperfection is all evil; but that God is constantly improving the creation, and will eventually do away with all evil and misery. But what are the grounds of this conclusion? Is Infinite Wisdom becoming wiser by experience? Is the sun more bright, the rainbow more beautiful, the diamond more brilliant now than formerly? Does the bee make sweeter honey or more perfect cells; or do the birds sing more sweetly? Now, if the lower orders of things do not improve by age or generations, we cannot from thence conclude that man does. Let us then examine man himself, and see if he is constantly making progress in good. We know that we are progressing in certain kinds of science and knowledge. But are we naturally, from

ness.

infancy to age, growing wiser, better, more honest, pure, and lovely? All experience teaches to the contrary. If we look into our hearts we know better. And if our natural propensities do not incline us upward, but downward, what becomes of the law of progress in moral excellence? Strange progress upward that, of the man who commences life an innocent, confiding infant, passes through a less artless but sportive childhood, becomes a licentious and deceitful youth, an adulterous and revengeful man, and ends his career on a murderer's gallows. But, say the advocates of moral progress, this is all the fault of society, not of the man. He was all well enough, and would have come out all right under other circumstances. But what compose society but individuals? And if they are all right, why is not society right also? This taking the blame off from individuals and putting it on to society is strange reasoning. Besides, if individual members of society may go downward, so may society.

There is no philosophy, however ingenious, that can rationally do away with the fall of man. The fact of man's degeneracy from the laws of order stands enstamped upon the whole face and conduct of the race. Besides, Infinite Goodness and Truth cannot be chargeable with the evils, falsities, and miseries of mankind. For God would have all men to be saved; "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." He would have them saved now, saved always, saved everywhere, from all sin and suffering. And He and His laws are in effort to do this always, to everybody. Evil, therefore, springs not from God nor from His laws.

Whence, then, is evil? It is from man. What is evil? It is a disposition to violate the laws of life, and it