To proceed, now, with our general subject. It may next be said, perhaps, that the difficulties which Scripture presents, in regard to the divine wisdom and goodness, are not confined to certain phrases and expressions, but that they embrace also the records of institutions established, and of actions performed or enjoined, by Jehovah. Deeds, it may be said, speak louder than words; and are not many of the strange ordinances enjoined upon the Israelites, for instance, and the cruel acts imposed upon them as duties, of a character revolting to our ideas of mercy and goodness? Look, for example, at the sacrificial worship, instituted amongst the Israelitish people, in which great numbers of innocent animals were continually slaughtered as offerings to Jehovah; and again, at the seemingly cruel command to destroy their enemies, the Canaanites, men, women, and children, and to leave nothing alive: how can such instructions be reconciled with the character of a Being of essential love and goodness? We will briefly consider these two points.
good man extends his hand in charity. In each case, the life is from God, but the bad man perverts that life from its true purpose into an instrument of evil. Thus, evil is not a mere negative, but a positive, quality,—inasmuch as the perversion of a thing is very different from the absence of that thing: a blow is something more than the absence of a kiss. If it be argued, that, if evil be a positive thing, that would make man a creator, since man is declared to be the author of evil,—we answer, No! man is simply gifted with power to modify, or as it were bend a substance already created. Evil is good perverted—that is, love or mental life perverted. The substance of the thing is created by God; but the perverted form, which that substance has been made to assume, is caused by man.
