Sin death and beyond
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SIN, DEATH AND BEYOND: M.M.NINAN<br />
They assume, furthermore, that the soul itself is capable of transforming the essence of a<br />
human body to the point of endowing it with the traits of the beasts, even though its form be<br />
that of men. It was not sufficient for them, then, that they attributed to the soul a variable nature<br />
by not assigning to it an intrinsic essence, but they contradicted themselves when they<br />
declared the soul capable of transforming <strong>and</strong> changing the body, <strong>and</strong> the body capable of<br />
transforming <strong>and</strong> changing the soul. But such reasoning is a deviation from logic.<br />
The third [argument they present] is in the form of a logical argument. They say, namely:<br />
“Inasmuch as the Creator is just, it is inconceivable that he should occasion suffering to little<br />
children, unless it be for sins committed by their souls during the time that they were lodged in<br />
their former bodies.” This view is, however, subject to numerous refutations.<br />
The first is that they have forgotten what we have mentioned on the subject of compensation in<br />
the hereafter for misfortunes experienced in this world. Furthermore we should like to ask them<br />
what they conceive the original status of the soul to be – we mean its status when it is first<br />
created. Is it charged by its Master with any obligation to obey Him or not? If they allege that it<br />
is not so charged, then there can be no punishments for it either, since it was not charged with<br />
any obligations to begin with. If, on the other h<strong>and</strong>, they acknowledge the imposition of such a<br />
charge, in which case obedience <strong>and</strong> disobedience did not apply before, they thereby admit<br />
that God charges His servants with obligations on account of the future <strong>and</strong> not at all on<br />
account of the past. But then they return to our theory <strong>and</strong> are forced to give up their insistence<br />
on the view that man’s suffering in this world is due solely to his conduct in a previous<br />
existence."<br />
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