sin.

According to the orthodox doctrine, altho sin is defined in the New
Testament as the "transgression of the law," it is something _more_
than this;--a direct personal offence against God; and that therefore
its penalties are punitive and vindictive, designed to vindicate the
person of God against insult and injury by disobedience to his law.
Punishment was therefore believed to be administered judicially,
according to the extent of the offense, that the sinner might be made
to suffer _purely for suffering's sake_, measure for measure. I long
ago abandoned this doctrine. I accept fully the New Testament teaching
that "sin is the transgression of the law,"--not the law of Moses or
any other penal code,--but the great universal, immutable law of Nature
in the moral world. That God is the author of this law does not make
its violation any more a personal offense against God than the
violation of a State statute is a personal offense against the
Governor, or legislature, or the judge that administers it. God cannot
be personally sinned against. If so He is neither infinite nor
immutable. To constitute a personal offense the person offended must
take cognizance of it, which necessarily involves _a change of mind_
toward the offender,--otherwise it is not an offense. The same
condition would be involved in a second change of mind toward the
offender, upon his repentance and forgiveness. Neither is consistent
with any idea of infinity or immutability. Neither does God ever
punish sin. Sin is its own punishment, and it operates automatically.
No sin was ever committed that the sinner did not pay the penalty in
full. From this there is no more escape than there is from the law of
gravitation. If I put my hand into the fire I cannot avoid being
burned. If I take poison I cannot avoid the consequences. The fact
that there may be an antidote for the poison in no way destroys the
truth of this fundamental law.

"The moving finger writes, and having writ
Moves on; Nor all your piety nor wit
Can lure it back to cancel half a line,
Nor all your tears wash out a word of it."

Jesus illustrated this law fully and beautifully in the parable of the
Prodigal Son, and I can do no better than quote its substance here.
This young man left his father's house. This was not a personal
offence against his father, altho the father may well have conjectured
what would be the result. He was of age and had a right to