Article May 30, 1914 Issue

A most remarkable statement by the dean of St. Paul's...

W. C. William—Pocomoke City, Md.

Ledger-Enterprise

A most remarkable statement by the dean of St. Paul's, London, England, was quoted in a recent issue. One quotation states that "it is quite clear that God does not consider death to be an evil or an injustice, and it is equally clear that He intended His creatures to suffer pain." It seems inconceivable that a conception could obtain which would place God on a lower level than His offspring—man. One is usually characterized as a human brute who wilfully inflicts pain on others, and is considered as far removed from God as it is possible for a human being to be; and yet this English divine, who teaches the exampel of the loving, merciful Jesus whose very presence banished pain, declares that "pain is a condition that is most precious in this world." Jesus plainly taught that sin, not God, is the chief cause of suffering, and he also taught that death is an enemy.

The Bible teaches that God is Love, but such an interpretation of Love as given by the reverend doctor above quoted is not an inducement to human beings to know Him better. The "revolt against pain" is an enlightened revolt, as it appeals to common sense that suffering and disease are not the law of divine Love, and that the image and likeness of God would not suffer any more than the Father suffers, if man did not allow himself to be the image and likeness of evil instead. If pain is God-ordained, we have no right to try to evade it; but the world-wide and continuous effort to overcome it, proves that there is little faith in such a theory, even if this defender of pain welcomes it.

If pity and charity depend upon a painful world, it would certainly be a blessing to eliminate them; but on the contrary, true charitableness would find a larger field in the uplifting of thought and endeavor to the higher plane of moral and intellectual rectitude. Fear and pain have never been proved to be preventives of crime and other immorality, and no real reform has ever been accomplished through their instrumentality. Love is the only reformer, and it was through Love that Jesus achieved his hold on mankind.

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