burn and water to drown; there could have been no hunger, no thirst; all things would have been equally healthy. _Question_. Do you mean to say that there would have been no death in the world, either of animals, insects, or persons? _Answer_. Of course. _Question_. Do you also think that all briers and thorns sprang from the same source, and that had the apple not been eaten, no bush in the world would have had a thorn, and brambles and thistles would have been unknown? _Answer_. Certainly. _Question_. Would there have been no poisonous plants, no poisonous reptiles? _Answer_. No, sir; there would have been none; there would have been no evil in the world if Adam and Eve had not partaken of the forbidden fruit. _Question_. Was the snake who tempted them to eat, evil? _Answer_. Certainly. ' _Question_. Was he in the world before the for- bidden fruit was eaten? _Answer_. Of course he was; he tempted them to eat it 369 _Question_. How, then, do you account for the fact that, before the forbidden fruit was eaten, an evil serpent was in the world? _Answer_. Perhaps apples had been eaten in other worlds. _Question_. Is it not wonderful that such awful con- sequences flowed from so small an act? _Answer_. It is not for you to reason about it; you should simply remember that God is omnipotent. There is but one way to answer these things, and that is to admit their truth. Nothing so puts the Infinite out of temper as to see a human being impudent enough to rely upon his reason. The moment we rely upon our reason, we abandon God, and try to take care of ourselves. Whoever relies entirely upon God, has no need of reason, and reason has no need of him. _Question_. Were our first parents under the im- mediate protection of an infinite God? _Answer_. They were. _Question_. Why did he not protect them? Why did he not warn them of this snake? Why did he not put them on their guard? Why did he not make them so sharp, intellectually, that they could not be deceived? Why did he not destroy that 370 snake; or how did he come to make him; what did he make him for? _Answer_. You must remember that, although God made Adam and Eve perfectly good, still he was very anxious to test them. He also gave them the power of choice, knowing at the same time exactly what they would choose, and knowing that he had made them so that they must choose in a certain way. A being of infinite wisdom tries experiments. Knowing ex- actly what will happen, he wishes to see if it will. _Question_. What punishment did God inflict upon Adam and Eve for the sin of having eaten the for- bidden fruit?