PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED.
By William Penniman
"Whatever Is Conditional May Be Lost."
THEREFORE Mr. Lee takes the position that the loss of salvation, in view of the immortality of the soul, involves endless punishment in endless suffering. This is true so far as loss is concerned, but the question depends upon what the loss is. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Eze. 18 : 20. Therefore the soul is lost. Does not the soul lose its life, or existence, according to definitions and Bible proof already given in preceding articles? And, further, this loss, in view of the immortality of the soul, can not be established unless it is first proved that the soul is immortal. God "only hath immortality" (1 Tim. 6 : 16), therefore man does not possess it apart from God. Man is called mortal in the Bible, not merely his flesh, but all it takes to make man. We read (Job 4 : 17), "Shall mortal man be more just than God?" The words "immortal soul" are not found in the Word of God. We are commanded to seek for glory, honor, immortality, eternal life. Rom. 2 : 7. Why seek for a thing we already possess? It does not follow that, as the immortality of the soul is conditional, it is therefore liable to endless loss or suffering. All the texts which we have quoted to prove the end of the wicked will also prove that the soul is not immortal. Mr. Lee quotes the following texts to prove endless suffering: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Eze. 18 : 20. "The wages of sin is death." Rom. 6 : 23. "To be carnally minded is death." Rom. 8 : 6. "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1 : 15. He then uses the following language ("Lee's Theology," p. 325): "If death is made to consist of the dissolution of the body, it is the negation of those vital energies which constitute natural or animal life. Now, when a person is dead, on this principle self-resuscitation is utterly impossible; life has become extinct, and nothing but death reigns and pervades the whole system." He, therefore, thinks it must follow that spiritual or moral death must be looked upon in the same light, that death means death. He says, "Death is the absence of life." In this definition he proves too much. This is just as true as that darkness is the absence of light. Therefore, how can there be an absence of life when life is prolonged? But, of course, what he means by life is existence in happiness, and by death existence in misery. This construction of language will not harmonize with God's Word. The very texts which he has quoted to prove eternal, conscious suffering, prove the very opposite, according to the definition that the word "death" is "extinction of life." Of course one may be punished by confiscation or loss of property, or his friends or relatives may be put to death before his eyes, or he may experience the punishment on his own person. This is a conscious punishment. But is not one equally conscious when he knows what he is doomed to suffer, when not actually suffering, even in this life? The same principle is true of the sinner in the resurrected state, as he will be conscious that he has lost heaven and happiness, which he has rejected, and which he might have enjoyed forever. If this is not a consciousness of guilt and of punishment, then we fail to know what it is. There is no consciousness after one is dead. Therefore this objection amounts to nothing. "Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. 22 : 14. How important it is that we have a right to the tree of life, for we read (Rev. 20 : 15), "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." WM. PENNIMAN.