against the west, the north against the south, the "Haves" against the
"Have-nots"; but the evil against the good,--that is the real conflict
of life.

The attempt to deny or ignore this conflict has been the stock in trade
of every false doctrine that has befogged and bewildered the world since
the days of Eden. The fairy tale that the old serpent told to Eve is a
poetic symbol of the lie fundamental,--the theory that sin does not mean
death, because it has no real existence and makes no real difference.
This ancient falsehood has an infinite wardrobe of disguises.

You will find it pranked out in philosophic garb in the doctrines of
those who teach that all things are linked together by necessity of
nature or Divine will, and that nothing could ever have happened
otherwise than just as it has come to pass. Such a theory of the
universe blots out all difference between good and evil except in name.
It leaves the fence-posts standing, but it takes away the rails, and
throws everything into one field of the inevitable.

You will find the same falsehood in a more crude form in the popular
teachings of what men call "the spirit of the age," the secular spirit.
According to these doctrines the problem of civilization is merely a
problem of ways and means. If society were better organized, if wealth
were more equally distributed, if laws were changed, or perhaps
abolished, all would be well. If everybody had a full dinner-pail,
nobody need care about an empty heart. Human misery the secular spirit
recognizes, but it absolutely ignores the fact that nine-tenths of human
misery comes from human sin.

You will find the same falsehood disguised in sentimental costume in the