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at the world today! V}/ar,
ine, pestilence! Pov'erty, in–
ality, hunger, want! Sick–
ness, disease, suffering,
death! Crime, graft, dis–
honesty, corruption! Insanity, de–
generation, decay! Unhappiness,
fear, wretchedness and woe!
How, so many are asking, can a
supreme, all-powerful God of Iove
permit such human woe? Why is He
permitting civilization itself to
crumble?
ls God Fair?
Listen! Some menare saying, "God
isn't fair!"-or "Is there a God, after
all?" But what do you suppose men
would say if God took away their
right to think and do as they please?
For God could never stop this awful
carnage without
forcing
men to act
according to His will-denying them
a free will of their own!
It is men's ways, so contrary to
God's ways, that have brought on
2
•
by
Herbert W. Armstrong
this unhappy state. And they have
brought on all the world's sorrows
and anguish in spite of the plead–
ings of God. He says, "Your ways
are not my ways" (Isa. 55:8).
God's ways, had they been fol–
lowed, would have led inevitably to
peace, happiness, prosperity and
joy. God always has revealed to
men His ways. Always He has
pleaded with the human family.
Suppose God had taken the only
alternative. Suppose He had forced
men, against their wills, to have
lived according to His laws?
Can't you almost hear the defiant,
rebellious, stiff-necked human race
indignantly screaming at the Al–
mighty: "You can't eram your reli–
gion down my throat!" For it
is
a
matter of religion. Can't we see that
had God followed that course, more
than ever men would have shouted;
"God isn't fair!"
For six thousand years men have
lived in defiance ofGod's laws. Had
God denied them this right to be
wrong, meo would have accused
God of injustice, demanding free–
dom to follow their own ways.
God's plan has for its purpose the
creating of perfect
CHARACTER
in
beings that are separate entities
from God, yet members of the very
farnily of God. Character cannot be
created automatically by fiat-it
must be developed through
experi–
ence!
Nor could character be instilled
without free moral agency. To
achieve this great purpose-that of
producing the supreme pinnacle of
all God's.creation, sons of God hav–
ing perfect character-man has to be
convinced, of bis own free will, that
God's laws are just, and that His
ways are the only right ways for
man! Man must turn to them, vol–
untarily! This lesson could be
learned only by
EXPERIENCE!
Jn the beginning, Satan appeared
to contest the wisdom of God's law.
The
PLAIN TRUTH
January
1978