SUFFERING NOT THE ESSENCE OF PUNISHMENT.
By E. Petavel, D.D.
BUT how are we to answer those sage objectors who, believing themselves wiser than the word of God, are scandalized at the leniency of punishment which does not consist in eternal tortures? Perhaps we may suggest that they are misled by the traditional notion of punishment. It is a mistake to think that punishment necessarily involves pain. Let a slight fine be inflicted upon a delinquent millionaire, and he will have been punished, although, instead of suffering, he may smile at the trifling loss. Pain may, or may not, accompany punishment, and in itself is often a blessing. Like a vigilant sentinel, it guards both the child in its cradle and the soldier on the battle-field. It rouses them, prompts a cry for help, and thus indirectly procures necessary aid. It is, at the same time, the rod of the Divine Shepherd and the providential tocsin which warns the sinner of impending danger. If any rash individual attempted to gaze at the sun, he would first experience intense pain in his eyeballs. Should he disregard the admonitory voice of suffering, and persevere, the pain would cease; but he would have become blind. The loss of sight would be his punishment, and not the temporary anguish that forewarned him of the consequences of his folly. The utter destruction of the human being will doubtless be preceded by pain, which, in length and intensity, will be proportionate to his individual vitality. Greater and more protracted suffering must accompany the dissolution of a soul which is more richly endowed and possesses more vital strength than another. In this sense, "unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required." But what we dispute is that suffering forms the main part of the punishment threatened in the Bible. We must remember that Paul, the most dogmatic of the apostles, who affirms that he had not "shunned to declare all the counsel of God," never, in his most solemn warnings, uses any expression that might seem to imply the eternal torments of the lost. He appears carefully to avoid any simile that could afford the slightest ground for any such doctrine. He never speaks of hell but he has tears for the perishing ones, "whose end is destruction." 2 Cor. 4: 3, Greek; Phil. 3: 18, 19.—E. Petavel, D.D.