Editorial note — LESSON X.[A]

[Footnote B: On such a proposition Dr. Jacob Cooper, of Rutgers College, at the head of an article on "Theodicy," the justification of the divine providence by the attempt to reconcile the existence of evil with the goodness and sovereignty of God, says (August, 1903), "There must be an alternative to any line of conduct, in order to give it a moral quality. We have to deal with, not an imaginary, but a real world; not with a state of things wholly different from those by which character is developed. If there are to be such qualities as righteousnesss, virtue, merit, as the result of good action, there must be a condition by which these things are possible. And this can only be where there is an alternative which may be embraced by a free choice. If the work of man on earth is to build up character, if his experience is disciplinary, by which he constantly becomes better fitted for greater good and a wider sphere of action, then he must have the responsibility of choosing for himself a course different from one which appeals to the lower qualities in his nature."]