The Value of a Human Soul by J. E. CALDWELL, M. D.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Feb 25, 1915

The Value of a Human Soul

By J. E. CALDWELL, M. D.

J. E. CALDWELL, M. D.

“ONE soul is of more value to Heaven than a whole world of property, houses, lands, money. For the conversion of one soul we should tax our resources to the utmost. One soul won to Christ will flash heaven’s light all around him, penetrating the moral darkness, and saving other souls.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, pages 21, 22.

The worth of a thing is generally expressed in terms of a unit of value. In most civilized countries the unit is a piece of money of some convenient and well-understood denomination, as the dollar in this country and the pound sterling in Great Britain. Fractions of these units express all small values, while multiples of them express greater values. Every kind of material wealth is generally reduced to its money equivalent, to have its value expressed.

Some immaterial values have also been reduced to money equivalents, and we hear of decisions in court by which a money value is placed upon sorrow, disappointment, or bereavement, in a suit for breach of promise or for the alienation of affections of a loved one by another. Another curious form of expressing men’s estimate of worth in dollars, or the money value put upon human suffering, is met when outlaws kidnap a person and hold him for the purpose of demanding a redemption price.

An eminent jurist once objected to the plan of salvation on the ground that, as he stated, it would be unjust to allow the innocent to suffer for the guilty, allowing the latter to go free. He did not believe the Creator would be a party to an unjust act. In answering his objection the following allegory was given: A young daughter of fond parents, who were well-to-do, was kidnapped and carried away into the mountains and hidden in a cave. After a few weeks spent by the distracted parents in a vain search for the child, word came to them from the bandit that their daughter was well and strong, and was being well cared for and tenderly treated; but, with this news, there came a demand for forty thousand dollars as the price of her redemption, backed up with the announcement that if the demand was not met the child would be subjected to cruel treatment, and perhaps to a life of suffering and shame.

One who heard of it said: “O, that is too much! I would not pay such a price. If it were ten thousand dollars I might, perhaps, pay it.” But what said the loving father and mother, whose hearts were benumbed with indescribable dread at thought of what might happen to their loved child? They could ill afford the sacrifice; but when they were convinced that that was the only way of ever seeing their little one again, they promptly made arrangements, and when the amount was turned over and their daughter was again restored to their fond embrace in the quiet home, they felt well repaid for their sacrifice.

Now suppose the price fixed had been one hundred thousand dollars or half a million or five million. Would the larger price named have caused the parents to refuse the ransom, provided they had the means? You doubtless reply, No. You would gladly pay the price and recover the child.

The only conclusion tenable in considering this story is that if the one making the sacrifice sees in what he receives that which is, to his mind, a full equivalent to the price he pays, he is not a party to an unjust act. He alone must be the judge. One cannot pass judgment on the value of a voluntary sacrifice intelligently made by another. In this connection it may be remembered that the Scriptures declare, “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.” He shall see in the thing gained a full equivalent for his sufferings. Who, then, can declare the sacrifice an injustice?

This same illustration may serve to suggest to us at what an immense price the All-father holds the souls whom he has created. Since he is the Creator and Judge, it must be conceded that he alone can show the value of a soul. This is indicated in the sacrifice he has made for the redemption of souls lost in sin, who are subject to destruction. But we are taught that his sacrifice grew out of his character of love. “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us.” The one who thus sacrificed himself was the “Majesty of heaven, the King of glory.” He was the express image of his Father, “upholding all things by the word of his power.” It was said of him that “all things have been created through him, and unto him; and he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Col. 1: 16, 17, R. V., margin.

We are assured that if it had been seen that only a single soul would have accepted the offered salvation, God’s heart of love would have impelled him nevertheless to make the sacrifice, just the same, for that one soul. How great must be the worth of a single soul in the sight of Heaven! It is too vast for even the strongest imagination. This must have been in the heart of the great Shepherd when he left the “ninety and nine” and came to seek and to save the one sheep that was “gone astray.”

In contemplating the great fact that we have been made the beneficiaries of his sacrifice, can we count any sacrifice

or any self-denial for the other objects of his love, too great for us to make? John said, “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” 1 John 3: 16.