[75]The doctrine of eternal torture is _un_just, because God is _just_.
Justice is the foundation of his throne. God plainly told man that if he
sinned he would die. If thereafter he put him into eternal torment, then
he increased the penalty after man had violated the law, and this is
contrary to every principle of justice. All of Adam's children were born
imperfect. "There is none that doeth good, no, not one," (Psalm 14:3)
Every child is born imperfect. It would be very unjust for Jehovah to
permit such a one to be born under conditions over which he had no
control and then, because he could not obey perfectly, to put him into
eternal torture. Man's sense of justice is shocked at the thought of
torture of any creature. The justice that man possesses is a God-given
quality. The more Godlike a man is the more just he is. We must know,
then, that God deals justly with all of his creatures.
[76]The doctrine of eternal torment is devoid of the attribute of love.
Every good father loves his children and children love their father. The
mother loves the children and the children love the mother. When the
children are disobedient, it becomes necessary for the father or the
mother to discipline them; and sometimes by using the rod. But no loving
parent would for a moment think of torturing his or her child. Just
punishment is always for the purpose of doing ultimate good, and where
the parents are compelled to punish or discipline their children they do
it because they love them.
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