for the Bible says God made everything that was made and pronounced
it all very good. It might be possible to stretch the imagination so
as to say that sickness, or even death, might be good under certain
conditions; but no Christian would agree with you that sin was good.
And if we would agree that sickness and death were made by God and
were good, then Jesus Christ destroyed the works of God, and at the
same time destroyed something that was good."

"Oh, James, the more I think of Walter's explanation, the more
reasonable it seems, and I cannot get the idea out of my mind that our
boy was inspired when he made that explanation."

"Lillian, I will admit that never in my whole life have I been so
confused on anything as I am in regard to these two narratives of
creation. If we admit that the first is the real and was all that was
made, whence came all this evil, sin, and sickness into the world, and
how did I acquire this material body, and where did all these other
material things come from? If we admit that the second creation is of
God, then God, in a sense, would be responsible for all the trials and
tribulations of man, for God is all-powerful and could have made us
better, even to perfection. Now that I think of it, I don't believe
the Bible mentions anywhere that God made evil. It speaks of the Lord
God cursing the ground, but it does not accuse Him of making evil; and
yet God should have made all. Can evil only be a lie, a dream, a
delusion, a mistake or misapprehension, as Walter called it? What a
state for a minister to be in; why, I believe I am questioning the
truth of the Bible."

"No, James, I don't think you could properly call that questioning the
Bible, you are simply seeking the truth, and I know that when you get