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lust, strife, competition, racism, hatred
and total self-seeking.
Prevent Accidents?
The atheist said there would be NO
more accidental deaths. Then the same,
strange, invis ible force would have to
immediateJy JNTERFERE to PREVENT
accidents.
Imagine the scene at the neighbor–
hood bar.
John, the harried businessman, has
procrastinated about going home to
Martha, his constant nag.
He needs bolsteriog. In this case -
booze.
But he's already had one, and his
reflexes are
already
being affected
somewhat.
Ttvo
martinis, and he could be very
slow in an emergency on the highway.
Three, and he could be dangerous.
Four, and he could be
deadly.
Headed toward the neighborhood
where John sulkily sips his drink
is
Mary and her three Jittle children. Mary
doesn't observe too many rules. Her seat
belt is not fastened. Two of her smaller
children play in the back of the station
wagon - and her oldest daughter sits
in the f ront seat. She, too, has left her
belt unfastened.
The seemingly fateful enactment of
human tragedy - the moment when
John lurches from the bar, starts his
eogine, and careens into the street, races
down the block and runs the stop sigo
- the moment when Mary and her
family drive confidently through the
intersection - continues to approach.
But wait.
John is just about to drink that third
martini.
Suddenly, a strange, irresistible force
stays bis hand. It boggles his mind. He
simply CAN'T drink that martini, no
matter how hard he tries.
And so, the same wrestling match
with an invisible, spiritual straight–
jacket
OCCUIS.
Mary, too, has found that a powerful,
challenging voice has COMMANDED her
to fasten her safety belt. She RESENTS
it. How could such a voice speak out of
nowhere?
And WHO DOES HE THINK HE
JS?
Of course, the Na.tional Safety Coun–
cil, the slippery streets, her own lack of
The
PLAIN TRUTH
good driving habits, and her love and
concern for her children SliOULD be
voice sufficiently audible for her to
OBEY. But not Mary. She's a free moral
agent, a free spirit. She'll do as she
chooses. And besides, it's been a long
day, shopping, and she's in a hurry.
Do you see?
Only if God were to step in and LTVE
PEOPLE'S UVES
FOR
THEM would acci–
dents be prevented.
The atheist didn't know what he was
asking for. He was requesting a world
with a zombie-like populace, shuffling
about in mindless obedience to myriad
laws that would govern all human
.behavior.
But if God
u •ere
to impose such
restraints on humans, what then )
Very likely, He would be faced with
a CONTtNUAL battle -
a constant
stream of hatred, invective, curses and
screams of anger. He would be faced
with a decision: whether to DESTROY
His creatioll, and begin again, or
whether to
beat
human kind into sub–
mission - with the end product a
mindless, dutifully obedient organism
without thought, without reason, with–
out intellect, and TOTALLY DEVOID OF
CHARACTER.
W hat
IS
MAN ?
The Bible narrative reveals that
God created Adam - man - in the
very image and similitude of God. He
imparted to Adam MIND power, limited
ability to think, plan, reason, and to
CREATE.
The Genesis account further quotes
God as saying, "Let us make man in our
image, after our likeness: and let
them
[meaning all
mankind,
and not just
Aclaro] have dominioo over the fish of
the sea, and over the fowl of the air,
and over the cattle, and over all the
earth, and over every creeping thing
that creepeth upon the earth."
Later, it is revealed that God MADE
roan
a
"LIVING souL." The Hebrew
word ís
nephesh
and is used
five times
in the first chapter of Genesis for
LOWER LIFE FORMS before ever being
used
to
connote
man.
In Numbers
19:11,
the same word appears in the
words, "DEAD BODY." Yet the English is
rendered SOUL. Millions have mistak–
enly embraced tbe
pagan
doctrine of the
January
1971
"immortality of the soul" without ever
researching sorne of the simplest truths
of the Scriptures. God reveals that
" ... the Eterna! God formed man of
the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostríls the
breath
of life; and
man BECAME
A
LIVING SOUL" (Gen.
2:7).
Notice, man is not said to
possess
a
"soul"
within
himself, but to BE a soul.
Man IS a "soul." And "soul" means
earthy, temporal, transitory, fleshly, AND
SUBJECT TO pEATH.
(lf
yom mind Ís
open on this subject, please write for a
free article about the "Soul.")
l;Ierein is one of the most vital
points
of the entire question of "Christian"
philosophy.
The major religions can be said to be
divided on each side of the concept of
WHAT IS MAN.
Many believe
man
is possessed of
some "inner goodness'' WITHJN HIM–
S.ELF. That is, that there is sorne ionate
"godJike" qualities WITHIN MANKIND.
Most of the Oriental religions assume
inner goodness in man.
The basic "Christian" approach is an
inner EVIL in man, hence the need for a
Saviour, a Redeemer, to expiate the evil
acts of mankind, and to return him to
his former state of "goodness."
And, shocking as it sounds, BOTH
CONCEPTS ARE IN ERROR.
Professing Christians assume ADAM
FELL.
But Adam didn't r:ALL from any PER–
r·EcT
state, he merely exercised his God–
given right of FREE CHOICE and MADE
THE WRONG CHOICE!
Adam was created HUMAN. He was
NOT immortal, but flesh - "DUST THOU
ART, and unto OUST shalt thou return"
(Gen. 3:19). He had HUMAN NATURE.
Prior to being influenced to DISOBEY
his Maker, Adam was "neutral"
toward God. He did not RESENT
God as yet. There was no
hostility
eví–
dent in the conversations in the garden
( Genesis 2nd and 3rd chapters).
But once
Satan
had influenced Adam
- once Adam had exercised hís own
free moral agency to MAKE
A
WRONG
DECISION -
hostility
toward God
entered.
Adam could have argued, "God, you
(Conthwed
011
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