The Harp of God: Proof Conclusive That Millions Now Living Will Never Die — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
The Harp of God: Proof Conclusive That Millions Now Living Will Never Die
John Stuart Mill · en
[46]After they had violated Jehovah's law, Adam and Eve hid amongst the
trees in Eden. Jehovah spoke to Adam and asked: "Hast thou eaten of the
tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?" Adam
responded that Eve had given him the fruit to eat; and Eve said that the
serpent had deceived her. They both stood before Jehovah and confessed
their guilt. The majesty of the law of Jehovah must be upheld. His law
being unchangeable (Hebrews 6:18), there remained nothing to do but to
enforce that law. Then Jehovah pronounced his judgment against them, the
record of which reads: "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply
thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth
children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over
thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice
of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee,
saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in
sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and
thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of
the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou
return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou
art, and unto dust shalt thou return,"--Genesis 3:16-19.
[47]Thus the perfect man forfeited his life. He had been endowed with
perfection of home, liberty, peace, happiness, and life everlasting on
earth. Now he must die and return to the dust from whence he was taken.
God did not put him to death immediately, but permitted him to have 930
years of experience that he might learn the baneful effects of sin. Eden
contained perfect food that would have sustained the perfect man and he
would not have died had he remained in Eden, unless Jehovah had put him
to death in some direct manner. But God drove him out of Eden, took him
away from the perfect food, caused him to gather his food from among the
thorns and thistles and from other imperfect elements of the earth that
were found outside of Eden; and in this condition he continued to sicken
and to die until at the end of the period of 930 years he was dead.
[48]A kind and loving parent sometimes inflicts punishment upon a child
because the child has violated a rule. The parent punishes the child not
because he loves to see the child suffer, but for the good of the child,
in order that it might be disciplined and might learn the proper
lessons. If the child always did good and never did evil it would not
merit nor receive any punishment from a loving parent. One of the chief
purposes of Jehovah in dealing with mankind in the manner he does deal
with them is that humankind might be disciplined and learn the lessons
of good and the effect of doing wrong, and thus learn to appreciate the
love of the heavenly Father.