This means that in God’s due time all will be awakened from the sleep of death. There is to be “a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.” (Acts 24:15) Yes, throughout the ages, while sin and selfishness have predominated, there have been noble men and women who, for their faith and obedience, are spoken of by Paul as “just.” These have been allowed to suffer, just as Job did—not to punish them, but to test and prepare them for exalted positions which the Creator has designed for them.

There have also been millions of noble, unselfish people who have had no faith in God. One reason for their unbelief has been their observation that the innocent suffer as well as the guilty. They could not understand why an infant is allowed to die. They could not reconcile the idea of a loving, powerful God with the fact that so many have suffered sickness, blindness, insanity or other cruel maladies. But had these unbelievers known the full plan of God, they would have understood these situations.

Moreover, God has been flagrantly misrepresented throughout the ages. Many of the professed believers in Christianity who bemoan the suffering they see around them, try to believe that all who die in unbelief will be tortured eternally in a burning hell of fire and brimstone. This blasphemous teaching has helped to create many unbelievers, for a properly reasoning mind cannot believe that a God of love would thus torture his creatures. Such cruelty is even contrary to the laws of civilized men.