OR, AN INQUIRY INTO THE PRESENT CONSTITUTION AND FUTURE CONDITION OF MAN.
BY THE EDITOR.
(Continued.)
Resurrection Continued.
And well might prophets and apostles look forward with joyful anticipation to this glorious event; for it is when this takes place, and not before, that they are to receive their reward. The reader is requested to notice particularly the time which the Bible designates as the time of reward to the righteous and of punishment to the wicked. He will find it to be not at death, but at the resurrection. Thus the Saviour teaches: "But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind; and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed"—now the Saviour is going to tell us when we shall be recompensed for the good deeds we perform here—"thou shalt be recompensed," not at death, but, "at the resurrection of the just." Luke xiv, 13, 14.
Mark also the language by which the Lord would restrain that voice of weeping which was heard in Ramah. When Herod sent forth and slew all the children in Bethlehem from two years old and under, in hopes thereby to put to death the infant Saviour, then was fulfilled, says Matthew, what was spoken by the prophet, "In Ramah there was a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they were not." But what said the Lord to Rachel? See the original prophecy, Jer. xxxi, 15–17: "Thus saith the Lord, refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border." Not thus would the mourning Rachels of the 19th century be comforted by the professed shepherds of the flock of Christ. They would tell them, Refrain thy voice from weeping; for thy sons are now angel cherubs chanting glad anthems round the throne of the Eternal. But the Lord points the mourners in Ramah forward to the resurrection for their hope; and though till that time their children "were not," or were out of existence, in the land of death, the great enemy of our race, yet, says the Lord, they shall come again from the land of the enemy, they shall return again to their own border, and thy work shall be rewarded; and he bids them refrain their voices from weeping, their eyes from tears, and their hearts from sorrow, in view of that glorious event.
The apostles represent the day of Christ's coming and the resurrection as the time when the saints will receive their crowns of glory. Says Peter, "And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." 1 Pet. v, 4. And Paul says that there is laid up for him a crown of righteousness, and not for him only, but for all those that love his appearing, and which shall be given him in that day [the day of Christ's appearing]. These holy apostles were not expecting their crowns of reward sooner than this.
This is more directly stated in 1 Thess. iv, 13–18. "For I would not have you to be ignorant,146brethren," says Paul, "concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope." In what respect would he not have us ignorant concerning them? Of their present condition, of course, and their future destiny. As to their present condition, the text bears upon the very face of it, the declaration that they are asleep; and as to their future destiny, he tells us that they shall not always remain asleep; but "the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first." Ah, there is the grand fulcrum of their hope—the coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead. And Paul continues, "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Whoever believes this testimony, must dissent from the commonly received opinion; for the apostle plainly declares that it is by this means, viz., a resurrection and being caught up, that we go to be with the Lord, and not by going to heaven, as a conscious spirit or soul at death. Mark it! The Lord shall come, the dead shall be raised, we shall all be caught up, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. And Paul continues, "Wherefore, comfort one another with these words." Here the apostle gives us plain instruction in view of death and those who have fallen therein. He points out our true hope in such cases, and tells us by what words we should comfort one another. But how many think you, reader, would strive at the present day to comfort their mourning friends with such words as these? How many out of any one hundred popular ministers which you might select in the land, would make the least allusion to such a train of argument, if called to officiate in the last service of respect which we here pay to the departed? Not many, we think. Would not the voice of their consolation consist rather of such language as the following—language used by the "Rev." Mr. Cowan, Presbyterian minister, at the funeral occasion of the Hon. Mr. Benton, of St. Louis:
"Dear friends, your loss is his infinite gain. He is now perfectly and forever free from sorrow, toil and pain. His sun has risen to set no more. His day has dawned never to be succeeded by another night. The last storm has spent its fury upon him. The sea of life he has crossed, and is now safely moored in the haven of eternal rest. His bliss is complete. His coronation day is passed. A crown of glory is his. He has been attired from heaven's wardrobe. He is clothed in peerless, spotless white. He has joined the choir of the redeemed. He has attuned his voice to the sweet music of the skies.
> ''Hark! the thrilling symphonies
> Seem, methinks, to seize us.'"
The reader can but mark, at least, the contrast which exists between the language of the Bible and that of popular theology, when speaking respectively upon this subject.
But further: Future existence itself is made to depend on the resurrection. The teaching of the Bible everywhere is, no resurrection, no future life. "This is the Father's will which sent me," says Jesus, "that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day." Jno. vi, 39. The import of147this scripture unquestionably is, that if he did not raise it up at the last day, it was lost.
But the reader is requested to notice particularly the reasoning of Paul in 1 Cor. xv. So pointed is his testimony that we can do no better than to transcribe a few verses entire. Verses 12–23. "Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming."
Several points are clearly set forth in this testimony of Paul's. He declares that if there is no resurrection of the dead, Christ is not risen; and if Christ is not risen, then they which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished! Could he speak thus of those whose vigorous, conscious, and immortal spirits were living right on despite the hour of death, and all the more vital and conscious on account of that event? Are such perished unless the scattered particles of the inanimate body be gathered up again? Far from it. Then we must conclude that such is not the condition of man; that there is no part of him which survives in a conscious state when he goes into the grave; for the apostle declares that unless he comes forth again from the grave, he is perished, that is the end of him, he is irrecoverably and forever gone.
The apostle carries out the same idea further along, when he declares that all his efforts, self-denial, labors and sufferings, are all in vain, if the dead rise not. "What advantageth it me," says he, "if the dead rise not?" And in this case he intimates that we may as well make the best of an unfortunate condition, and eat and drink, for to-morrow we die! How, as with a thunder-bolt from heaven, is the popular theory scathed and shivered by this reasoning of the great apostle!
But he does not leave us to this alternative; for Christ has arisen, he declares. Glorious fact! and glorious pledge of the resurrection of the saints! There is then a resurrection to come. The race shall again be made alive. "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming."
By this view the coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead are allowed to hold that place of pre-eminent importance and glory which the Scriptures everywhere ascribe to them. And whatever theory would make it otherwise, thereby gives prima facie evidence of being radically defective.
We come now to the third and last division of our subject, which is,
MAN BEYOND THE GRAVE.
Thus far in our investigation we have found no intimation that man in his present state is in possession of an inherent, immortal principle. We have found no testimony relative to him in the grave which shows him to be a compound being, only separated, not killed, by death. We have found that the resurrection is the only avenue to a future life. And now we approach the most momentous and solemn division of our inquiry; for beyond the resurrection no less than the long lines of eternity stretch away before us; and whatever sentence is then pronounced upon the guilty of our race, it is forever.
We have here an inquiry to answer concerning the two classes of mankind: Of one it is, What profit is it that they have kept the ordinances of the Lord? and of the other, "What shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" Let the points already settled in this investigation be here kept distinctly in view. Those who contend for the eternal misery of the wicked are too apt to reason in a circle. Thus, when the immortality of the soul is the point to be proved, they will say the wicked are to be tormented eternally, therefore the soul is immortal; and when endless misery is the point in dispute, they will invert their former proposition, and tell us that the soul is immortal, and therefore the wicked will live for ever in misery; thus playing from one declaration to the other, and traveling complacently around within the limits of a complete circle. But nothing can here be presumed from the immortality of the soul in favor of the unending torment of the wicked; for we have not found any immortality yet predicated of the soul. If then it be a fact that the wicked will exist forever in devouring fire, it must rest upon express declarations of scripture to that effect, and upon them alone. We will then examine those texts which are supposed to prove this point.
EXAMINATION OF TEXTS SUPPOSED TO PROVE ETERNAL MISERY.
a. Dan. xii, 2. "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." The shame is here made to stand in connection with the contempt, and so like that to be everlasting. But we reply, it is not so connected; and even if it was, neither the shame nor the contempt are emotions to be exercised by those who are thus raised in this condition. This consideration at once removes this text entirely from the field of controversy. The Syriac reads, "Some to death and the eternal contempt of their companions."
b. Matt. xxv, 41. "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels." Provided the term everlasting here means endless duration, we might inquire how the fact that the fire was to be eternal could prove the indestructibility of the beings or substances cast into it. We venture to say that in any other book but the Bible it would be considered as proof of just the reverse. The expression is similarly used in Matt. xviii, 8.
c. Matt. xxv, 46. "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." We raise no issue on the duration of the punishment brought to view in this text, but only on its nature. The difficulty we apprehend arises from confounding punishment with conscious suffering, whereas it is not necessarily such. Mark where the antithesis occurs: it is between life and punishment. Do not change these terms, as is too often done, to happiness and misery. We enter our solemn protest against such treatment of the word of God. We believe that Inspiration knew what ideas it wished to convey, and in what language to convey them. We therefore plead for the plain and literal import of its terms. Life then means life; and life here is just the opposite of the punishment brought to view. But is eternal life in misery the opposite of eternal life as such? This will hardly be claimed by any one. It is rather an eternal "cutting off" from life; an idea which enters largely into the definition of the word here translated punishment. That an eternal deprivation of life would be eternal punishment we think must be evident to all, besides being directly declared to be such by an inspired apostle. See 2 Thess. i, 9, where we are told what the punishment is, and the same term is used to denote its duration; "Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from [or by, see chap. ii, 8; Acts iii, 19] the presence of the Lord."
d. Mark iii, 29. "But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation." And what is this damnation? a continual and neverending148infliction of torment? Nothing of the kind; but a judgment or condemnation, the effects of which will be eternal. Just as we read of eternal salvation, [Heb. v, 9,] eternal judgment, [Heb. vi, 2,] and eternal redemption, [Heb. ix, 12,] not that these are perpetually going on, but only are in their effects eternal.
e. Mark ix, 44. "Where their worm dieth not and their fire is not quenched." This declaration is repeated in verses 46, 48. We are told that if a hand or a foot offend us it is better to cut it off, or an eye, to pluck it out; for it is better to go into LIFE maimed, than having two hands, two feet, &c., to go into hell [gehenna], into the fire that never shall be quenched. If this language were for the first time met with in the N. T. it might strike some perhaps as the most expressive imagery of eternal torment; but even in this case others might reply, and we think upon as good ground, No: fire is the very symbol of complete destruction, and the expression can denote nothing less than the complete consumption of those who are cast into it. But as the expression was familiar to those whom Christ was addressing, let us turn to instances of its use, and thus learn the idea it would convey to their minds. If we can ascertain this, we have, of course, the true sense of the passage.
Turn then to Jer. xvii, 27. "But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the Sabbath-day, and not to bear a burden, even entering at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath-day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched." Here it is expressly declared that a fire kindled in the gates of Jerusalem should not be quenched; but no one can suppose that a fire thus kindled could burn eternally. And thus we learn the meaning of one expression, which is that fire which is not by any extraneous means extinguished, but is suffered to burn on till it has entirely consumed whatever it preys upon, is said to be unquenchable, or never to be quenched. To the same purpose see Eze. xx, 47, 48: "Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein. And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it: it shall not be quenched." Again: Isa. lxvi, 24. "And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched: and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh." Here the same phraseology is used as in Mark ix, and from this no doubt, the latter was taken; but here it is said to be carcasses upon which the worm riots and the flame feeds. Notice also the place of punishment to which Mark alludes: it is Gehenna. And what was Gehenna? Ans. "The valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, once celebrated for the horrid worship of Moloch and afterwards polluted with every species of filth, as well as the carcasses of animals, and dead bodies of malefactors; to consume which, in order to avert the pestilence which such a mass of corruption would occasion, constant fires were kept burning." Greenfield. Such is the scene to which our Lord alludes; and from this allusion, men eighteen hundred years this side of that time, would fain derive the idea of eternal suffering to suit the genius of their own age. But this is nothing less than an effort to derive the idea of indestructibility from figures of the most utter and complete destruction.
To this we may only add a remark more: The unquenchable fire of verse 43 [used also in Matt. iii, 12; Luke iii, 17], is πῦρ ἄσβεστον, pur asbestos; and this very term, Eusebius, who was a learned Greek, and doubtless understood his native tongue sufficiently to write it accurately, employs in two instances in recounting the martyrdom of Christians. Cronion and Julian, after being tortured in various ways, were consumed in an "unquenchable fire," πυρὶ ἀσβέστῳ. The same is also said of Epimachus and Alexander. "The πῦρ ἄσβεστον, says Wetstein, denotes such a fire as cannot be extinguished before it has consumed and destroyed all. And Bloomfield, speaking of the oriental custom of burning straw and stubble, adds, 'The πῦρ ἄσβεστον completes the awful image of total destruction.'"
f. Rom. ii, 6–9. "Who will render to every man according to his deeds, . . . unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish." We notice this portion of scripture only because it is sometimes urged as an objection to the doctrine of the destruction of the wicked. But the objector should not thus ignore the fact that we have never denied, but believe as firmly as any can, that indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish will be recompensed upon every soul of man that doeth evil. The question between us is concerning the duration of this tribulation and anguish, and on this, the text is entirely silent.
g. Jude 7. "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah . . . are set forth for an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Let it be noticed here, that it is the example and not the suffering which is in the present tense, and all difficulty vanishes at once. To be set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire, and to be eternally suffering in fire, are two very different conditions. Sodom suffered the vengeance of eternal fire; and what was the effect of that vengeance? Was it a never-ceasing preservation in the devouring element? By no means. The vengeance of that fire turned those cities into ashes. "Turning," says Peter, "the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that should after live ungodly." 2 Epis. ii, 6. But those fires are not now burning. Seek out the site of those ancient and abandoned cities, and you will find the brackish waters of the Dead sea rolling their sluggish waves over the spot where they once stood. To the example here set forth, the ungodly would do well to take heed; for just such an overthrow, just such a destruction awaits them, unless they speedily turn from their wicked ways that they may live.
h. Rev. xiv, 11. "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." In the preceding verse we are told that they drink of the unmingled wrath of God, and are tormented in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. This scripture is taken to prove the unending torment of all the unregenerate of our race. But a moment's consideration is sufficient to convince any one that it cannot have so broad an application. It is a definite and limited class that is here referred to. It is only against the worshipers of the beast and his image that this threatening is directed; and this appellation can include but comparatively a small portion of all the sinners who have ever lived. And hence even if this scripture proves eternal torture for some it does not for the whole. But the phrase upon which eternity of suffering is here especially suspended is, that the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever. Does this convey such an idea? We will see; for the expression was not new in John's day. It is borrowed from the Old Testament. See Isa. xxxiv, 9, 10. The prophet here speaking of the land of Idumea, says: "And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day: the smoke thereof shall go up forever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever."
Whether this language refers to the literal land of Edom south and east of Judea, or to the general destruction of the ungodly at the end of this age, is altogether immaterial to the argument. If the literal land of Idumea is meant, and the language has reference to the desolations which have fallen upon it, then certainly no eternity of duration is implied in the smoke's going up forever.
And if reference is had to the overflowing desolation of this earth which shall wrap the sinner in its fiery folds, at that time when the Man of Sin shall be consumed with the Spirit of Christ's mouth, and destroyed by the brightness of his coming, no eternity is even then found in the expression; for this earth is destined eventually to be purified from its stains of sin, and become the abode of the righteous. The phrase therefore, the smoke of their torment shall go up forever and ever, must be limited in its duration; and being so, another proof for the eternity of conscious misery ceases to exist. Αἰών, the word here translated forever, is thus defined by Schrevelius in his Greek Lexicon: "An age; a long period of time; indefinite duration; time whether longer or shorter."
i. Rev. xx, 10. "And the Devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever." The same explanation may be offered here as on the former objection. It only speaks of the Devil, the beast and the false prophet. But the ancient world and the present heathen world are alike ignorant of either the beast or the false prophet. It does not therefore refer to the whole race. The means of torture, the lake of fire, is again mentioned in verse 14; and there it is the symbol of complete and utter destruction. Death and Hades (personified), it says, were cast into the lake of fire. But of death we read that the "last enemy that shall be destroyed is death;" and "there shall be no more death." Being cast into the lake of fire denotes their utter extinction. In verse 15 we read further: "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire." And why may not the lake of fire in this instance denote as utter an extinction of the persons who are cast into it, as it did in the verse before of death which was cast into it? Yes, why? since the definition of the original word forever cannot prove its torment to be unlimited in duration.
But it may be asked if the same term is not employed to express the existence of the righteous, and if the torture of the wicked will not be equally long. We answer that the term forever, according to a rule laid down by Dr. Clarke, "signifies only, as long as a thing considering the surrounding circumstances can exist." Cruden says, "The words, eternal, everlasting, and forever, are sometimes taken for a long time, and are not always to be understood strictly. Thus, 'Thou shalt be our guide from this time forth even forever,' that is, during our whole life. And in many other places of scripture, and in particular when the word forever is applied to the Jewish rites and privileges, it commonly signifies no more than during the standing of that commonwealth, or until the coming of the Messiah." Now the people of God are declared to be clothed at last with incorruptibility and immortality: their 'life-time,' will consequently be absolutely without end. But the 'surrounding circumstances' in which the wicked are placed, utterly preclude a long extenuation of their existence.
We have now noticed all the more prominent passages which are supposed to teach eternal misery. If we have not noticed every text which is urged to this end, we may safely take the position that if these do not prove it, there are none which can. If the reader has never before examined this subject, he will perhaps be surprised to learn how few texts there are which have even a semblance of proving the immortality of the lost. Whether or not it is proved by the texts examined he can now judge. Should he however still be inclined to think it is, we would request him to suspend his judgment for a while till we have briefly glanced at another class of scriptures.
THE QUESTION ANSWERED.
The question still recurs, "What shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" We have seen that the arguments used to show that they will forever exist in conscious and intolerable torture, are not valid. What then is to be their doom? Answer. "The soul that sinneth it shall die." Eze. xviii, 4. "The wages of sin is death." Rom. vi, 23. But it may be necessary to inquire into the meaning of this term, so completely has modern theology loaded with mysticism the word of God. What is the death with which the Bible threatens the sinner? To facilitate our inquiry here, let us look at
The death threatened Adam. "In the day that thou eatest thereof" [of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil], said God to Adam, "thou shalt surely die." What was meant by this sentence? Death spiritual, death temporal and death eternal, is the glib answer of thousands of religious teachers. But what is death spiritual? It is a state of sin and alienation from God. But this was the result of Adam's act of disobedience, and not its penalty. To make this a part of the threatening is to make God say to Adam, "In the day thou sinnest thou shalt surely be a sinner!" This is making too sad nonsense of the words of Jehovah to be for a moment tolerated. And could it be death eternal? By no means; for were it such, Adam could have no release from it; but the bands of that death will be broken, and Adam brought to life again; for in Christ shall all be made alive. Death temporal is alone left to fulfill the penalty. But it is objected that such a death cannot be meant, as Adam did not die upon that very day. Nothing is gained by such an objection; for there is probably no one who will not admit that literal death is embraced in the penalty, and takes place as the result of Adam's transgression; and then the objection lies equally against themselves; for Adam did not die literally till he had reached the age of nine hundred and thirty years. But the sentence of death passed upon Adam in that very day. He had no sooner broken that command, the penalty of which was declared to be death, than he was as good as a dead man. He then entered upon a dying state. Dying thou shalt die, reads the margin; but it is more fully explained by the Lord himself when, pronouncing upon Adam the sentence of his guilt, he said, In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return." Gen. iii, 19. The gradual process by which he should return again to his native element, is here fully implied. The threatened punishment was inflicted. Adam has suffered the penalty of his first transgression, death. Death temporal, or rather we should say, death temporary, is entailed in consequence upon all our race. And had not the plan of salvation immediately supervened upon the fall, this would have been the end of Adam and his posterity; for we have already seen that death is a state of non-existence, and the only avenue there is from that land of dark unconsciousness back to life is through the resurrection, which is effected by Christ. We now know what death means in one instance, at least, when pronounced as the penalty of sin. We see to what state Adam has been reduced as the result of this transgression, as the wages of his sin.
We are now prepared to carry our investigation a step further. The temporary death which men suffer in this state, entailed on them through a fallen nature, happens to all alike irrespective of character. But we are all to answer for our personal acts and transgressions. "Every one of us shall give account of himself to God." Rom. xiv, 12. For this purpose we are all to have a future life. And if then there are found remaining against us, sins unrepented of and unforgiven, what will be our sentence? Answer, The same fearful sentence which has everywhere from first to last been pronounced against sin, "The soul that sinneth it shall die!" Sentence was pronounced upon Adam for his sin; it is pronounced upon us for our sin. It was told Adam he should die; it is told us that we shall die. We have seen the effect that death had upon Adam; and who shall affirm that it will have a different effect upon us? The death we die in this state is called the first because there is another lying beyond it149for the transgressor to experience; and that is called the second in relation to the temporal, which is the first. Now do these deaths differ in their nature? We have no reason so to infer. Every consideration which can be brought to bear upon the subject leads us inevitably to the conclusion that they do not differ, and holds us immovably there. Let this point be carefully considered. We are confident it will be found a grand nucleus around which nothing but truth can cluster.
(To be Continued.)