p. 16 | Turning to the Truth

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 2, 1904

Turning to the Truth.

An evangelical clergyman of San Francisco recently read a paper on the nature of man, in which he took the Biblical ground that the wicked would finally be destroyed. The five propositions he maintained, as printed in the daily press, are as follows:—

First—I do not believe in the everlasting torment of the wicked; they will be finally destroyed, according to the teachings of the Bible. The doctrine of everlasting punishment is utterly inconsistent with our reason and best judgment.

Second—It appears to be equally inconsistent with the character of God, as revealed in both nature and Sacred Scriptures.

Third—The doctrine is not taught in the Bible in anything like a clear, direct, or prominent manner.

Fourth—It seems to me that the Old Testament, when critically examined, does not even appear to teach the doctrine.

Fifth—Those passages in the New Testament which seem to teach it are capable of other and more satisfactory explanations.