Paralysis—See [Salvability].
PARADOX
Nature is full of paradoxes. The water which drowns us as a fluent stream can be walked upon as ice. The bullet which, when fired from a musket, carries death, will be harmless if ground to dust before being fired. The crystallized part of the oil of roses, so graceful in its fragrance—a solid at ordinary temperatures, tho readily volatile—is a compound substance, containing exactly the same elements and exactly the same proportions as the gas with which we light the streets. The tea which we daily drink with benefit and pleasure produces palpitation, nervous tremblings, and even paralysis if taken in excess; yet the peculiar organic agent called “thein,” to which tea owes its quality, may be taken by itself (as thein, not as tea) without any appreciable effect—Vyrnwy Morgan, “The Cambro-American Pulpit.”
(2297)
Joseph Hart, the hymnist, wrote “The Paradox,” as follows:
How strange is the course that a Christian must steer!
How perplexed is the path he must tread!
The hope of his happiness rises from fear,
And his life he receives from the dead.