BOTH SIDES by S. B. Whitney

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 4, 1862

BOTH SIDES.

By S. B. Whitney

REPLY TO THE FOREGOING LETTER.

(Concluded)

THE Dr. next considers the doctrine of the Trinity, and frankly admits it to be a "doctrine of faith" [credulity], "not of comprehension." The Dr. is very positive that we are wrong and he right, but does not bring forward his proof. I will not stop to make assertions, but will inquire what God does say of the "manner of his own existence."

In Ex. xxxiii, 21–23, we read that God told Moses that he would cover him with his hand while he passed by, but that he should see his back parts. Will the Dr. charge God with deception, or admit that he has a form? Will he receive Christ's testimony when he speaks of his Father's "shape?" Luke v, 37. Will he admit that Christ went to heaven bodily? Acts i, 9. Will he believe Paul when he says that Christ was in the "form of God" [Phil. ii, 6], and the "express image" of his Father's "person?" Heb. i, 3. We leave the reader to judge who is most "reckless" on this point.

The doctrine of annihilation next comes under consideration, and here we feel constrained to repeat, "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures."

In answer to the Sadducees, as recorded in Luke xx, 37, 38, Christ does not quote God's language to Moses to prove that the patriarchs had a conscious existence after death, but to prove what the Sadducees denied, namely, the resurrection, as is clearly shown by his application in verse 37: "Now that the dead are raised, Moses shewed at the bush," &c. Verse 38. "For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living." Why? "For all live unto him," and he will raise them up at the last day.

With regard to the mount of transfiguration, I believe Moses was there; not the immortal soul of Moses, but Moses himself, and that consequently he had had a resurrection. The contention between Michael and the Devil was not about his resting-place, but whether he should be raised out of it; and at the Lord's rebuke the Devil was silenced, and Moses was brought forth, and did appear on the mount.

The language in Isa. liv, 1, 2, I think is greatly misapprehended. They are "taken away," but how? It is by "perishing." "He shall go in peace," margin; but where does he go? "They shall rest in their beds." This agrees with Job iii, 17. "There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest." The "walking in uprightness" takes place in this life preparatory for this peaceful sleep, to await the first resurrection.

Luke xxiii, 43. The Dr. is very positive that Christ and the thief were in Paradise that very day; but our Lord told Mary three days after, that he had not been there. John xx, 17. Which shall we believe? The passage reads, "To-day," &c.; but the original "semeron" may be rendered "This day," as the Dr. has it. Notice the thief's request. "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." Christ answers him, "This day," (the day that I come into my kingdom,) "shalt thou be with me in Paradise." Christ has not yet come into his kingdom, so that the promise is not yet fulfilled.

Luke xvi, 19–31. The case of the rich man and Lazarus the Dr. considers so clear and decisive that he does not stop to make even a single point, but we conclude he would have us consider it a literal history. How it proves the conscious existence of either soul or spirit we fail to perceive, for neither word occurs in the text. It is said that Lazarus died and was carried into Abraham's bosom. Is this literally true? Was dead Lazarus conveyed to the bosom of Abraham? O, no! but his soul was. Hold! It is literal, and the word soul is not there. The very person that died, was carried, and if so, he must have been taken while dead, or been previously raised from the dead. Now when are the saints raised and taken to Abraham's bosom? It is when the "Lord himself shall descend with a shout," &c. 1 Thess. iv, 16, 17. This of course is yet future. The rich man dies, and lifts up his eyes, being in torments. Nothing is said about the lapse of time between his death and his being in torments; but when he looks up he sees Lazarus in Abraham's bosom. But as Lazarus was not carried there till after his resurrection; and as that, as we have shown, is yet future, this part of the scene must also be in the future. And again this is proved by the fact that "when once the master of the house is risen up and shut to the door," or probation is past, the wicked shall see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God. See Luke xiii, 24, 28. We see then that as a literal narration it has no bearing upon the question of man's state in death; and if it is a parable, we need more positive testimony to prove so important a point as the immortality of the soul.

Mark iii, 29; Matt. xxv, 46. The "eternal damnation," and the "everlasting punishment" here spoken of we firmly believe; but let us have Paul's explanation of them in 2 Thess. i, 9. "Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power." Where are they then?

Jude 7. Will the Dr. contend that the cities of the plain are still burning under the Dead sea? But, say you, it means the inhabitants. Admit it. Now let us turn to 2 Pet. ii, 6, and learn what the example was. "And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes... making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly." What is the conclusion? That those who live ungodly will be turned to ashes also. This agrees with the testimony in Mal. iv, 3, which the Dr. is so anxious to wrest from us, that the wicked shall be ashes under the saints' feet. And Macknight's rendering, "having undergone," &c., makes it clear.

Rev. xx, 10–15. The language used in verse 10 is applied to the Devil, and he is to be tormented only while day and night lasts. The term forever signifies only as long as a thing, considering the surrounding circumstances, can exist. So says Dr. Clarke. Now the "surrounding circumstances" of the wicked, as mentioned in verse 15, are such as will soon terminate their existence, and in consequence they will, in harmony with this passage, experience the second death. Aion, the word rendered forever, is defined by Schrevelius as follows: "An age; a long period of time; indefinite duration; time, whether longer or shorter."

Isa. lxvi, 24, certainly implies an entire destruction; for if their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched, they will certainly be consumed. Our Lord conveys the same idea in Mark ix, 44, 46, 48, and the figure is taken from Gehenna, which, according to Greenfield, is the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where constant fires were kept burning to consume the filth and dead carcasses taken from the city. The same term is used in Jer. xvii, 27, where it is said that a fire should be kindled in the gates of Jerusalem, and should not be quenched. No one would contend that it is still burning. Pur obeston, the original of the unquenchable fire in verse 43, is also used by Eusebius, a learned Greek, in giving an account of the martyrdom of both Cronion and Julian, who were finally consumed in an unquenchable fire. "Bloomfield speaks of the pur obeston as completing the awful image of total destruction." Debt and Grace, p. 197.

Matt. x, 15; xi, 24; Mark vi, 11; Luke x, 12, 14. We believe every word of these passages, and we believe, too, that it will be more "tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment" than for those who, in this enlightened age, with the Bible in their hands, vainly worship God by "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Mark vii, 7.

We have already referred to Mal. iv, but a word or two more. By examining chap. iii, 17, we shall find that this scripture applies when the Lord makes up his jewels. When is this? When he shall "send forth his angels to gather his elect from the four winds." Matt. xxiv, 31. And when the Sun of righteousness arises the people of God are to go forth and grow up as calves of the stall, instead of fleeing to the mountains, and being hunted and chased down like panting deers, as they have been under the awful persecutions of Pagans and Papists. But if all the proud, and all that do wickedly, were burnt up at the destruction of Jerusalem, why does the Dr. try so hard to establish the fact that there is an endless hell awaiting some of us now? It seems to me that this is the Dr.'s "other day of retribution" when all the wicked shall meet their overthrow.

The doctrine of the immortality of the soul, I do not hesitate to say, is not a Bible doctrine. In the 1106 times the words soul, and spirit, occur in the Bible, the terms immortal, or deathless, are never applied to them. There is but one passage that would even intimate that man was naturally immortal, and that is a quotation from the "father of lies." Gen. iii, 4. The

term immortal occurs but once, and is then applied to God. 1 Tim. i, 17. "Now unto the King, eternal, immortal, invisible," &c. The word immortality occurs but five times. Christ brought it to light through the gospel [2 Tim. i, 10], and the gospel says that God only hath it [1 Tim. vi, 16], that we are to seek for it [Rom. ii, 7], and that we shall put it on at the resurrection. 1 Cor. xv, 53, 54. The Bible plainly states that the "dead know not anything," but that "their love, hatred, and envy, is perished" [Eccl. ix, 5, 6]; that the very day that their breath goeth forth, their thoughts perish [Ps. cxlvi, 4]; that they praise not the Lord [Ps. cv, 17]; that those who have died in the Lord are asleep, and are perished, without a resurrection. 1 Cor. xv, 18.

What we have already said is sufficient to prove the end of the wicked; but let us hear David, who professes to have understood their end. Ps. xxxvii, 20. "But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall consume, into smoke shall they consume away." Eze. xviii, 20. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Rom. ii, 23. "For the wages of sin is death." What death is this? Let John answer. Rev. xxi, 8. "But the fearful... shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Paul says [Rom. ii, 12], "For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law." What becomes of them? Obadiah says, "They shall be as though they had not been." Verse 16.

With regard to the Dr.'s description of this doctrine we have only to say that we think he ought to be careful to know whereof he affirms.

Who, or what, Uriah Smith was, we know not; but we presume there have been as bad men who have believed the immortality of the soul and the eternal misery of the wicked.

Satan has succeeded admirably in making the great majority of mankind believe that they shall not surely die; but we thank God that the light is so clear on this point that all who will may be shielded from the seductions of modern Spiritualism, which is the legitimate child of the immortal-soul theory.

Respecting baptism, we agree with the Dr. that it is the answer of a good conscience; but a good conscience is one instructed by the word of God, which says we are buried, and planted, with Christ by baptism; not sprinkled with a few drops of water. Rom. vi, 4, 5.

Also, concerning falling from grace, I do not consider it a "Christian privilege," neither would I charge God with folly in warning us so faithfully against the danger of it.

And now, dear brethren, I have thus carefully, though briefly, reviewed the objections brought against my views in your first Letter of Admonition. My motive, I trust, has not been a love of controversy, but an honest desire to shed what light I am able to upon these truths that I consider so interesting and important. It is not without some regret that I thus separate myself from you; but our Saviour condemned the scribes and Pharisees for transgressing the commandment of God by their tradition, and plainly stated that it was in vain to worship God, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men [Matt. xv, 1–9], and as God's truth is immutable, if you still hold on to your traditions, in order to maintain my integrity I must leave you. But as I do so, let me exhort you to follow the example of the more noble Bereans, who "searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so." Acts xvii, 11.

The signs of the times are ominous, and indicate that the "day of the Lord hasteth greatly" [Zeph. i, 14], and it will soon be proclaimed, "The great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?" Rev. vi, 17. The answer will be, "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." Chap. xxii, 14.

A second Letter of Admonition by your pastor has also been received. Its courteousness and kindness are indeed touching, but the admonitions of the word of the Lord are of far greater authority than those of any man, and those I must heed. I love and respect you still, and I would you might see the clear light that is shining from God's word in these last days, which would prepare you to abide the storm that is soon to burst upon a guilty world.

Respectfully yours,

S. B. WHITNEY.

Malone, N. Y.