, 1877-08-12

body is to be ouickened by the indwening spirit
VI oou, pow can II be quickened, or raised IN.
eorruptible from the grave, II the spirit Of God
does not dwell in usf
]. Corinthians, xv., 50: "Now say, brethren,
that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom
ruptton."
soweth to his flesh, shall Of the flesh also reap
corruption. But he that soweth to the spirit
OF the spirit shall also reap life everlasting"
Jon, XIV, Il, II: $50 man leth down and
13scth not till the heavens be no more; they
shall not awake, nor be raised out OF their
sleep.'r
These and many more passages MI indicate
plainly the resurrection and future life OF only
q certain portion and class Of tho human racc.
these passages would have no meaning at all
Eternal life is the gilt Of God, death is an OUT
growth Of sin; eternal life can be obtained only
on certain conditions; but If all alike be par
takers Of 1t, then revelation, the preaching OF
the Gospel, the exhortation to live not only in
view Of this but Of an eternal existence, are all
alike vain aud foolish. Let us cat and drink
and be merry, for though We may all die to-
morrow, yet We shall nevertheless all live again
hereafter.
In the article for the affirmative several ques-
tions were asked, which seems to demand an
answer The first is implied in these words:
aAs lar as we know and understand Gods laws,
there is no sign In them that badness in this
sense leads to extinction Of personality more
than goodness ITSELF" To answer this it is
necessary to inquire what law is for. The an
swer no doubt would be almost univcrsally-to
preserve order; or, in other words, to promote
The happiness and Wcll-heing OF every one under
the laws. What do human governments with
HI incorrieiblc breaker OF the lawsa They either
take away his free agency or liberty, because he
does not know how to use 1t properly: or else
they take his life, and 30 remove entirely the
cause Of disturbance and destroyer Of order and
happiness. Here we can plainly see that the
lie, but rather for the preservation Of life; yet
nevertheless tue life which Is the cause OF dam
ger to other lives must be extingllishcd by the
law: il the law shall be the prescrver Of the
that the bad, through their disregard OF the laws
OF order and government: place themselves in
antagonism to the laws, and SO make the Laws
to become their enemies and destroyers
while they should be their bencfactors and pre-
servers. Thus the wrath Of the laws or govern
ment is prccipitated upon the evil-doer. Is it,
then, to be supposed that the laws Of God shall
act less efficiently than those OF mens Shall the
bad place himself iu antagouism to the laws OF
God, and therefore to God, and carelessly and
their vengeance to overtake them at lasta God
does not desire the death of tue wicked, in proof
Of which listen to the tender and pathetic plead
lngs OF God in revelation. II by any lcans lie
maT induce them to 1orsake evil: iurn yc!
turn ye!'' He saith, ''fron Your evil way, o
house Of Israel, for why will ye die!" Does
this sound as il God took pleasure in the death
Of the sinners But what can God do to prevent
it, without destroying good government and His
own laws and suffer I'LL to 60 to wreck and ruin.
or what can He do that He has not done, except
deny and resign His own nature aud claractera
The other question is this: II aln not arguing,
Of course, that God may not il He please de-
stroy the evil soul, but the whole question IS
whether there be any sort Of reason, natural,
analogical. revealed, for thinking that lie does
so please.' This question is already contained
and answered in the former.
II. F. STQNRCQRNER.