The Holy War — Page 211
Proceedings—Debate 1 June 1893 211 We have explained why the heart of Pharaoh was made hard. We have already explained this, that he was not stopped from com- mitting evil, and God lifted His hand of grace from him; thus, his heart was made hard. Thereafter, God did nothing in this, but did not permit to stop it. We call this ‘permission’. And this is the met- aphorical expression that they were not given eyes to see or ears to hear, which means that while having eyes and ears, they could not see or hear, but God Almighty did not stop them. Similarly, met- aphorical language is used when a father says to his child angrily, ‘May you die!’ This does not mean that he desires that he should die, but in fact, he is upset with his actions. 5) I saw that the question was short and there was enough time for two, so I asked two questions. You can answer whenever you wish; we will not hold it against you that you did not answer the question immediately. And then when you will desire an answer, we will repeat it also. 6) You ask where is the mention of atonement in the prom- ises that Christ has mentioned in Matthew 5; I am very much sur- prised by this. Am I to understand that all subjects must be gath- ered together in one and the same place? If it is not mentioned here, then it is mentioned in many other places, and we have given these references many times. It was your responsibility to prove that atonement is refuted in them. Why are you placing your burden of providing proof on others? 7) It is good if you have refuted the issue of mercy without rec- ompense from the law of nature, Quranic verses, and Holy Books because when these matters are published, everybody will be able to see it for himself and judge it. Repeating the arguments that we have given regarding this would be like churning water. 8) Until this issue of the Trinity that we have presented with arguments is refuted with sound arguments, we will not give it any attention. You have made it your habit of repeating an issue, but failing to give any attention to its evidence.