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came quickly and a doctor was immediately called.
Dr. Rea had suffered a serious stroke. He had lapsed into a coma.
He could not talk.
He was carried on a stretcher to a first floor room which was
immediately converted into a temporary hospital room. But at 2:40
the next morning he died.
This tragedy is a great loss to the Work of God. Dr. Rea was
greatly beloved. Thousands grieve his loss. In the conviction
that he was talking to a persecutor who would distort, or twist
anything he might say against him and the College, Dr. Rea probably
refused to talk to him or to be interviewed.
We do not accuse this "feature writer" of knowingly causing
Dr. Rea's death. As stated above, he undoubtedly knew nothing of
Dr. Rea's condition. He had been living with that condition for
some years. He felt he was improved. But even
though we place no blame in any way for this tragic death on the
man who -- even if coincidentally -- triggered it, nevertheless
this was the regrettable incident that did trigger it.
We proclaim to the whole world the very Gospel Jesus Christ
taught. Men hated His message. They persecuted Him, did all in
their power to discredit Him, to cause people to think He was a
deceiver and a false prophet. They conspired against Him, and
finally put Him to death -- BECAUSE OF HIS MESSAGE!
We proclaim that same message. Jesus said that if they had
persecuted Him, they would persecute us also. As Christ said,
through Paul: "Yea, and ALL that will live godly in Christ Jesus
SHALL SUFFER PERSECUTION!" How true! We try to live godly, and so
teach others, in uprightness and sincerity, and then this is made
to look as if it is just the opposite with sinister motives,
preying on innocent people!
. . . . .
Now I shall return to the answer of how this Work started.
I was saying, it all started more than a hundred years ago.
But my personal participation began after I, like the woman who
complained to the "feature writer," became angry because my wife
had accepted the same Biblical teachings this woman's husband had.
That was more than thirty-eight years ago.
However there was this difference: I did not break up our
marriage by leaving my wife, as this woman did by leaving her
husband. I felt, just as I'm sure this woman feels, that these
were NOT Biblical beliefs and practices. But I did accept the
challenge to look into the Bible for myself. Of course I expected
to prove my wife wrong.
This turned into a bigger study than I had expected. It took
me into a study of CREATION in the first chapter of the Bible.
That led directly to a thorough study of evolution. It provoked
the question "DOES GOD EXIST?" Was there a CREATION? Or did the