when as a result of his sin man is condemned. Death is not so much God’s direct reaction against man’s sin; it is rather God’s abandoning of the men who have abandoned Him. Think of the Book of Judges; as soon as Israel turns to strange gods, it is immediately abandoned to the hostile power of alien peoples. With God’s rule there goes also God’s protection, and when Israel cast off that protection, its danger and helplessness are immediately made clear. That is what it means in practice for man’s