1907_Man's Salvation from a Lawyer's Piont of View - Rutherford.pdf

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GOD'S PLAN OF SALVATION FROM A LAWYER'S POINT OF VIEW
MAN’S
SALVATION
FROM A LAWYER'S POINT OF VIEW
J.F. RUTHERFORD (1907)
PREFATORY NOTE
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A friend has requested me to write something concerning God’s plan of salvation from a lawyer’s point of
view. The result appears on the pages following. If poorly written, an apology is due the Lord, and Him
only. It is His word with which we are dealing.
Aside from the order in which these points are arranged and treated, there is nothing new considered herein.
No theories are advanced. We have tried to examine the subject from an unbiased standpoint, and to briefly
point out some of the great truths contained in the Bible. We are entitled to no credit, and claim none, for
the effort or the result. Our sole object has been to stimulate individual study of the Scriptures, and, if
possible, to assist some in locating these truths.
A casual or hurried reading of these pages will not prove beneficial. To intelligently understand what is
herein contained the reader should have before him his Bible, and by it prove or disprove each statement
made; and, by the aid of a good concordance, examine each question thoroughly. Those who will lay aside
preconceived, man made theories and opinions, and earnestly and honestly seek the truth in the Lord's
Word, will find it there. In no other way is it possible to find it. The Lord, by His prophet, has pointed out a
time in which the truth can be understood (Dan. 12:4, 9-10). Whether this is the time each must decide for
himself. We think it is.
If the reader obtains one half the satisfaction in reading as we have received in writing this booklet, our
efforts in preparing and publish it will be greatly repaid.
HAS GOD PROVIDED A PLAN OF SALVATION FOR
ALL MEN?
Discussed front a Lawyers stand point.
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Definition: Salvation, as used herein, means saved froth eternal death, given eternal life in a state of
happiness.
POINTS AND AUTHORITIES
I: MAN'S NEED OF SALVATION.
If the evidence available to man satisfactorily answers the foregoing question in the affirmative, that
answer should bring gladness to all who accept it as trite.
If, on the other hand, the proof establishes a negative answer thereto, then man is the most miserable and
hopeless of all creatures on the earth.
It is not my purpose, in discussing this question, to advance I any new theory. Neither is it my purpose to
criticize the various theories note held by others. My sole purpose here is to collect and point out some
competent evidence touching this question hoping thereby to induce others to further investigate this
subject.
That mankind is in sore need of such salvation none can gainsay. The profane history of the world is
written in blood and tears. It has been truly said, that the tears of bitterness I and blood of man, wrongfully
shed, if collected in one body, would float the navies of the earth.
The masses of humanity, from the cradle to the grave, are creatures of sorrow. Injustice, cringe and hunger
for many hundred years have stalked hand in hand through the land.
In the courts of the several countries there are daily enacted I heartrending scenes, when the strong arm of
the law, acting in the interest of society, to he sure, is compelled to tear the criminal from the bosom of his
family and incarcerate him in a
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felon's cell. No man can often come in contact with these scenes without a feeling of sorrow for the
unfortunates, and hoping for letter conditions.
A large per cent of the population of this world is confined behind prison bars. Many Jill the institutions for
the insane. All the result of the weakness and depravity of human nature.
It must he conceded by all, that there is no human government now administered in righteousness. To be
sure the existing governments are far better than none, and it is the duty of every plan to obey the laws of
the government under which he lives, but the great and good men of the present day, as a general rule, are
striving to better the civic and moral conditions. All such hope for better and wiser administration of human
affairs.
All men have more or less sorrow. If, perchance, one man is more fortunate than another, is blessed with a
happy home, a good wife and obedient children, surrounded with plenty of the necessary comforts for the
body, his happiness is but brief. Death enters his home and snatches from him his loved ones; his earthly
accumulations perish, and with sorrow he goes down to the grave. No matter how bright we may paint the
picture from a worldly stand point, in the background stands the grim reaper whose silent summons comes
to every man.
Is this death everlasting; is it followed with eternal torment, or is there redemption therefrom? Has God
provided a means by which all men may be saved?
Preliminary to the discussion of this subject we must first determine two questions, viz.:
(1) Does there exist a God, supreme and above all?
(2) If so, has God given man tangible evidence, a record, for his instruction and guidance?
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II: GOD EXISTS.
As human beings we reach a conclusion by a process of reasoning. Human tribunals, to establish the truth
of any subject at issue, have adopted fixed rules of evidence. These are divided primarily into direct and
circumstantial evidence; the
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latter often being recognized as a safer medium of proof than human testimony. The reasonable mind,
therefore, demands that the truth of all things he established by either direct or circumstantial evidence.
Keeping these rules in mind, let us to the first proposition.
The subject here considered assumes the existence of God. That there is an omnipotent being, God, most
persons concede, but some do not, and for the benefit of the latter the call attention to some of the evidence.
Behold the sun, around which this earth regularly makes its circuit; whose light is so powerful the eye
cannot look thereon. Whose rays give color to the plant and beauty to the flower. Did it have a creator?
Gaze into the sky at nightfall and there behold the numerous planets that encircle the earth, shedding upon
it their soft and mellow light. Mark the order in which the moon makes its regular appearance, giving light
to man by night, influencing the seasons and controlling the tides of the seas. Had it a creator who still
guides its course?
Behold the earth with its lofty mountains, broad plains, mighty and trackless waters. Look at man, the
highest order of creation that inhabits the earth, yet insignificant when compared with the universe. These
objects ever before us, giving direct evidence of a creator, are they not sufficient proof to satisfy the most
skeptical mind that there exists one above all, whose wisdom and power is far beyond the description of
man, whom we call God. Evolution does not explain the existence of these, for the manifest reason that the
history of the world fails to disclose a single new creation since the creation of the first man.
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III: GOD'S RECORD
As to the second proposition: Man has been given a book, commonly called the Bible, which claims to be
God's word, given to man for his instruction in righteousness. What proof have we of the truthfulness of
this claim?
If upon the trial of a cause in the courts of the land, this
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book should be offered in evidence as the Bible. God's record, it would he admitted without further proof of
its genuineness, under the established rule of evidence, viz: that it is an ancient document coming from the
proper source. The original of this book came from the proper source, to-twit: from the Israelites, God's
chosen people. It is the oldest book in existence. Nothing short of miraculous power could have preserved it
from the storms that have beaten against it for thousands of years. Time was, when the laws of the land
made it a crime punishable by death to have this book in possession. Many men suffered torture and death
for possessing and teaching it; every available copy was gathered together and the torch applied, yet it has
beens preserved in the original tongue. Every effort of man to efface it front the earth has failed. That the
Israelites clung to it as the word of God, is well known to every student of history.
It would be admissible as the genuine record of God under another rule of evidence, viz: That the
subscribing witnesses thereto have certified that it is God's word, written by men at the dictation of God.
That these witnesses lived in the earth the have abundant proof aside from the Bible itself. Let us examine
the testimony of a few of the subscribing witnesses:
David, one of the Jewish kings, said:
"The spirit of the Lord spake by me and his word was in my tongue" (2 Sam. 23:2).
Luke, another subscribing witness, certifies that Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, being filled with
the holy spirit, testified, saying:
"God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets which have been since the world began"
(Luke 1:70).
Another testifies:
"That no scripture is of private interpretation; that prophecy came not by the will of man, but holy
men of God spake as they were moved by the holy spirit" (2 Peter 1:20-21).
Paul, another subscribing witness, recognized by historians as a great lawyer and one of the great men of
his day, says:
"All scripture Is given by inspiration of God; and Is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for Instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly
furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16-17),
Let its now examine some circumstantial evidence of the genuineness of this book.
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The opening chapter gives an account of creation, which no man could have known without being told by
the Creator. Scientific research fully corroborates this account of creation.

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