I find it interesting that Mr. Merrick has once again decided to enlighten the masses about what the Bible says and what it means and yet makes claims that he can’t back up even with the Bible. He claims that as God is perfect he created man and woman who were thus perfect, but because of the snake they fell from grace and perfection. Unfortunately none of this actually follows. If something is perfect, it cannot change itself from being perfect as by definition all things done will also be perfect, so Adam and Eve’s action of eating the fruit was perfect in decision. Mr. Merrick would counter that the devil tricked man, however, the serpent was one of God’s beast and never called Satan. Furthermore, God didn’t give the Angels freewill, and the one referred to as Satan was actually an angel of God’s, the angel of temptation, much like the angel of death, whom also isn’t evil. Merrick contends that by eating the fruit, evil entered the world, however, this is also untrue. The fruit only showed both Adam and Eve what evil was and acted to not be evil, by clothing themselves. (Genesis 3:7) As for the subject at hand though, torture takes many forms. The most basic being that of death, as God not only slays many people, but also tells men to slay women and children in his name. (1 Samuel 2:2-3) If that wasn’t enough, God also tortures women in the form of making them slaves to men, in the story of Adam and Eve, and then reinforces it several times over in the Bible that women are to obey men in all things they are told to do. (Ephesians 5:22-24, Colossians 3:18, 1Timothy 2:11-15) Merrick tells us that the only way to salvation is through belief in Jesus. Yet the Bible makes it clear salvation comes to all people, the reason for which Jesus died, not belief in him. If he were right and the only way to salvation was belief in Jesus, not only would every person who died before Christ be condemned to eternal damnation, but also those who never had the opportunity to hear of Jesus and believe, and if that isn’t torture, I don’t know what is. Blaine Moyle

Junior

English