p. 186 | State of the Dead by J. F. Hammond

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 15, 1866

State of the Dead.

By J. F. Hammond

BRO. SMITH: While reading the discussion between Eld. Hull and Eld. Cottrell, on the Nature and Destiny of Man, it brings to mind the expression of a Methodist minister at the camp-meeting at Willimantic, Ct., last fall. I spent one evening in hearing a sermon on the destiny of the wicked. He said, "When a wicked man dies, his soul goes right to hell, and suffers in hell fire till the general judgment; then his body is resurrected, and his soul comes out of hell, and is united to the body, and then both soul and body are sent back to hell to suffer to all eternity!" In proof of this he quoted Rev. xx, 10. What awful work has tradition made with the word of God. I am surprised to find that a Seventh-day Baptist, who claims to take the Bible for his "rule of faith and practice," should adhere so closely to the traditions of the man of sin. I will here give a few extracts from the Most Reverend Dr. James Butler's Catechism, published in New York, 1850:

"Q. Where did Christ's soul go to after his death?"

"A. It descended into hell. Ap. Cr."

"Q. Did Christ's soul descend into the hell of the damned?"

"A. No; but to a place of rest called Limbo. Acts ii, 24, 27; Ps. xv, 10."

"Q. Who were in Limbo?"

"A. The souls of the saints, who died before Christ."

"Q. Why did Christ descend into Limbo?"

"A. St. Peter says, to preach to those spirits that were in prison; that is, to announce to them in person the joyful tidings of their redemption. 1 Pet. iii, 19."

"Q. Why did not the souls of the saints, who died before Christ, go to Heaven immediately after their death?"

"A. Because Heaven was shut against them by the sin of our first parents; and could not be opened to any one, but by the death of Christ."

"Q. When did the souls of the saints, who died before Christ, go to Heaven?"

"A. When Christ ascended into Heaven."

On page 19, of purgatory it says:

"Q. What is purgatory?"

"A. A place of punishment in the other life, where some souls suffer for a time, before they can go to Heaven. Matt. xii, 32"

Truly, what a great difference there is between the teachings of the Catholic church and the Bible. When men are willing to throw away all selfishness, and the commandments of men, how clear the light of God's holy word shines forth. The following passages show the state of the dead in the Bible:

Ps. cxlvi, 4. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish."

Eccl. ix, 5. "For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten."

Eccl. iii, 19. "For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath."

Verse 21. "Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward."

Oh, how astonished I am that the Seventh-day Baptists should cleave to such folly, that the soul goes right to Heaven or hell at death, when no more proof is found in the Bible for it than for Sunday-keeping. The teaching of both is the work of the Man of sin. Thanks be to God for the glorious light that is now shining upon all the willing and obedient, relative to the dogmas of the old Catholic church. May God help us all to walk in the clear light of truth.

J. F. HAMMOND.

Providence, R. I.