Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 210, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 September 1913 — THE CHIEF CAUSE OF CRIMINALITY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE CHIEF CAUSE OF CRIMINALITY

Bom With Criminal Instincts, Ufa Is a Hard Battla. There Is None Righteous, No, Not One. Where Lie* -the Blame?—The Value of a Correct Diegnoeio—We Can Oppose Sin Best When We Know Its Origin—Aide and Disadvantages In Fighting 8in —Divine Help Neoessary. How the Needful Is Provided.

Cum ber 1 and, Md., September 14. —Pastor x Russell gave two discourses here today. We report one of them, from the text, “I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Psalm 5105.) He said: Diagnosis is valuable In the at-

tempted cure of any malady. This Is as true of sin-sickness as of any other ailment. The better we understand the origin of sin and the methods of Its operation, the more successful we shall be In combating it. Our forefathers erred, evidently, in their declaration of total depravity. None of os ever met a human being entirely depraved—dead to all good influences. Experience, however, corroborates the Bible statement that “There is none righteous, no, not one.” AU are sinners, bom In a state of sin, with Inclination toward sin. The Pastor declared that we are not to conclude that God made us sinners. All God’s work is perfect The Bible tells us that our -first parents sinned and came under the Divine sentence of death. St.' Paul says, “By one man’s disobedience sin entered the world, and death as a result of sin.” Then the Pastor qhowed that sinful tendencies j-are evidences of man’s fall, and all under such influences are to be pitied. But true pity must sympathize with the sinner, not with the sin. Parental Sympathy fAeeded. Pastor Russell next declared that increase of knowledge of facts will bless both parents and children. Parents should learn that their mental states birth-mark their children—either favorably or unfavorably. It requires much training to work out of the child’s disposition what was inbred at birth. A weighty responsibility “'rests ttpon parents respecting prenatal Influences. With what loyalty to God and righteousness should the procreative powers be exercisddj what care should the father use to surround the mother with every good mental Influence during gestation! What a different world we would live in, if parents lived up to these principles! “Brethren, What Shall Wa Dos" Then the Phstor demonstrated from Scriptures that life Is God’s gift!, designed for the sinless. Adam was condemned, or damned, as soon as he became a transgressor; and all his race ware born in the same condemned condition. The question is, How shall we get free from that condition? The Bible answer Is, that God had compassion on onr race, and provided the Savior. The Redeemer will have the right to restore to perfection Adam and all his posterity desirous of returning to God. The Message respecting this merciful arrangement is called the Gospel. “Times of Restitution,* All desirous of returning to God’s flavor must be restored to that physical perfection in which Adam was before be sinned. When recovered, those who stand the tests of loyalty and obedience shall receive everlasting Use through Jesus Christ, whose sacrificial death opened up the way. The Pastor then stated that only recently have Bible students discerned how confused our forefathers were respecting the Divine Plan—through their neglect of the Bible for fourteen hundred years. They see now that Jesus, the Apostles and the Prophets taught that God’s time for dealing with the world is future—under Messiah’s Kingdom. The thousand-year period'- in which that Kingdom will rale the world, restraining sin, chastising sinners and helping the willing andT obedient back to perfection, is called by 8t Peter “[Years or] Hums of Restitution.”—Acts 3:19-21. During those Times of Restitution, or resurrection, Satan will be bound, that he may no longer deceive humanity, putting darkness for light and light for darkness, 'sin-blinded eyes shall be opened, and aln-deaf ears unstopped. The Message of God’s Love ahall be made known world-wide. j God's Dealing With ths Churoh. The Pastor then showed the differ* once between God’s plan of salvation for the Church and that for the world. God desires that the Church shall consist of a very special class, sealous for righteousness and everything pleasing in His sight He has Issued a special rsll, therefore, and has prescribed apeda] terms for the Church. All these must have the spirit, disposition, that Jesus had. They must walk In His steps, the way of the cross, a narrow way, with few liberties to the flesh. In some respects their battle Is the same that the world will have In the next Age. Then will be the world’s time for escaping tha condemnation, imperfection damna-tion-resulting from Adam’s sin.