NATURE AND DESTINY OF MAN.
By N. V. Hull
DISCUSSION BETWEEN ELD. N. V. HULL, SEVENTH-DAY BAPTIST, AND ELD. R. F. COTTRELL, SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST. Eld. Hull's First Article.
ELD. R. F. COTTRELL:
Dear Brother,—On the 5th of February, in a letter directed to you, I proposed to discuss with you, in the columns of the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, the question stated below; to which I understand you to agree, upon the condition that the discussion shall also be published in the Sabbath Recorder, and that we keep ourselves entirely to the question at issue, avoiding all irrelevant matter; and also that our language be courteous toward each other and toward the question in debate. To this I cheerfully agree. The discussion will proceed to the following order. It will devolve on me having the affirmative, to lead, and on you to respond; and I will each time await your reply, and the publication of both articles in the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, and so on until the discussion is closed. Question.—What is the nature and destiny of man, according to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures? I then said, "In discussing this question, I shall maintain—
1st. That man is composed of matter and spirit.
2d. That the body is mortal, but the spirit is incapable of physical corruption.
3d. That in the resurrection, man's body becomes immortal.
4th. That in the future state, the happiness of the righteous and the misery of the wicked will be co-extensive.
5th. That both the happiness of the righteous and the misery of the wicked will in degree correspond to the merits of the one and the demerits of the other." I now proceed to the discussion in the following order: "Man is composed of matter and spirit." Matthew x, 28. "And fear not those who will kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; but rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." This text proves at least the duality of man's nature. He has a body and a soul. The life of one, man can take; the life of the other he cannot. 1 Thess. v, 23. "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and may your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ." I have not introduced this text, in this place, with reference to the doctrine of trichotomy, but only to show further, that there is both a physical and spiritual nature in man. 2 Cor. iv, 16. "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." This text, too, I think, is unmistakable in its import. John iii, 6. "That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit." The assertion here is that that which is born of the Spirit, in regeneration, is not flesh, but spirit. 1 Cor. ii, 11. "For what man knoweth the things190of a man, except the spirit of man which is in him?" Here intelligence is affirmed of the "spirit" of man. "That the body is mortal, but the spirit is incapable of physical corruption." The above is a double proposition, containing an affirmative and a negative, and must be dealt with accordingly. 1. That the body is mortal, see Rom. vi, 12. "Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in its desires." Rom. viii, 11. "But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." 2 Cor. iv, 11. "For we while we live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifest in our mortal flesh." These texts are so direct and unequivocal, and besides seeing there is not, as I am aware, any other sentiment claimed or taught, I leave this also for the present. As to the second member of the proposition, "that the spirit of man is incapable of physical corruption," I take it that it is a simple truism, and therefore incapable of proof. In order to be capable of physical corruption, the spirit must partake of physical properties. Seeing, then, it is an absurdity to assert physical properties of a spiritual essence, it is equally an absurdity to assert of it a capability of physical corruption. "That in the resurrection, man's body becomes immortal." The 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians is devoted to the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, and according to the writer, it is the bodies of the dead which are to rise. The 35th verse settles this beyond all dispute or question. "But some one will say, How are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come?" Again, verse 37, "Thou sowest not that body that will be," etc., etc. In the 53d verse, we have this statement, "For this corruption must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality," etc. I take it, then, that in the resurrection, immortal bodies are given. "That in the future state, the happiness of the righteous and the misery of the wicked will be co-extensive." Matthew xxv, 46. "And these (the wicked) shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Here the terms describing the duration of the punishment of the wicked and the happiness of the righteous are the same. John v, 28, 29. "Wonder not at this, for the hour is coming, in which all who are in their graves will hear his voice, and will come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of damnation." Here you have "life" and "damnation" so contrasted as to necessitate the idea of equal duration. 2 Thess. i, 7-10. "And to you who are afflicted, rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who know not God, and who obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all those who believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day." In this instance, the punishment is to be an everlasting destruction, which, I take it, is equal to eternal destruction. "That both the happiness of the righteous and the misery of the wicked will in degree correspond to the merits of the one and the demerits of the other." Luke xii, 47, 48. "And that servant who knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, nor did according to his will, will receive many stripes; but he that knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, will receive few stripes. For to whomsoever much is given, of him much will be required; and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more." James iv, 17. "Therefore, to him who knoweth to do good, and doth it not, to him it is sin." I take it that these passages fairly establish the idea of degrees in guilt and in rewards and punishments.