WHY WE DIE. 



97 



confusion between the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of 

 good and evil) and live for ever," etc. (Gen. iii, 22). What, then, was 

 this "life for ever " ? not a renewal of spiritual life, for the leaves 

 of a tree could not atone for transgression, but a continued physical 

 existence in a condition of sin. May not the fruit of that tree have 

 contained the elements, in the form of some essential tonic, neces- 

 sary to the preservation of man's physical being in ideal health ? 

 in other words, to hold the perfect balance between waste and 

 renewal of tissue, the katabolism and anabolism of which our 

 Chairman spoke. (See Rev. xxii, 2.) Spiritual and physical death 

 in man, then, are both the results of sin, but while the )ormer is the 

 direct result, the latter is the indirect. 



Lecturer's Reply. 



In the course of his reply to the remarks made upon his Paper, 

 Major Eccles said he thought no one's faith in God and the Bible 

 could be stronger than his ; and yet he held, on grounds that satisfied 

 his own judgment, that man's transgression had nothing to do with 

 physical death. Many questions had been raised with which it 

 was not possible to deal in a brief statement. When, however, 

 we consider the problem of food, as Mr. Rouse had done, we must 

 remember that food comes from matter that was once living and had, 

 died. 



The meeting adjourned at 6.10 p.m. 



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