St. Landry democrat., 1878-04-13
THE DYING DOGMA,
Some Pointed Remarks on Everlasting Punish
nent

rent
AS q bit of personal experience by a
lady Of large brains and large heart, the
following extract from letter to the
New York Tribune by Miss Catherine E.
Beecher deserves careful and thoughtful
reading:
In Baxter's "Saint's Rest" given to
me when I was vainly trying to love
God, it is written that the torments of
sinners will be universal. The liquid
fire will prey on every part-the eyes
will be tortured with sights OF horror, the
ears with howls and curses Of companions
| in torment, their smell with fumes of
birthstone, and no drop of water shall
cool their tongue, no respite relieve
their agonies. President Edwards, in a
work given me to lead me to love God,
says the saints in glory will see the
sufe1ings of the damned with no
grief, but rather with rejoicing. They
will not be sorry for them, but will be
excited by joyful praise. DR.. Emmons,
whose preaching I heard when sorrowing
for friend supposed to have died unre-
generate, taught the happiness of the
elect" in heaven will in part consist in
watching the terments of the damned,
| and among them will be their own chill
dren and dearest friends; and yet they
will sing ballelujah, praise the Lord.
| My fathers friend, DIR. Gardiner Spring,
| of New York, said that when an angry
God undertakes to punish, he will con.
vince the universe that he does not grid
himself in vain. It will be glorious
when He who hung on Calvary shall
cast those who have trodden his blood
under their feet into furnace of fire,
where shall be weeping and wailing and
gnashing of teeth. Ny fathers friend,
DR.. Nehemiah Adams, of Boston, says it
is to be feared that the forty-two chill
dren who Knocked Elisha are now in
hell. President Edwards, in his
sermon "Sinners in the hands of an
angry God" says "you cannot stand
an instant before an infuriated tiger
what then, will you do when God rushes
against you in all His wrath ?" Spurgeon
of England says "at the day of iudg.
ment thou wilt have twin hells; thv
soul sweating drops of blood and thy
body suffused with agony" DR.. Talmage
OF Brooklyn, paints the lnise,ies of hell
in similar language. The Methodist
Christian Advocate represents that this
denomination, on yearly average, gives
only 81 cents for each person to save
7O0,0O0,O00 brothers and sisters from
wading chin deep through the torments
of eternal death. The biographer OF
president Edwards says that when
preaching on the dangers of hell, at
times, the whole congregation arose
shifting their breasts, weeping and grcan,
ing. My father rejected the idea of
literal fire and birthstone torments, but
| once heard him in Cincinnati describe
the miseries of the wicked shut up
together with all their horrid passions,
and [ should have been affected
as were the hearers of president
Edwards, had not escaped by leaving
the church, as did my sister, Mrs Stowe.
For the benefit of those who claim
that the doctrine of materialistic hell
is no longer taught, we present the fol-
lowing passages from book written by
Rev. J. S. Furnis, and published in
England g. few years ago by ecclesiastical
authority "for the instruction of the
young" s-=.. --...
We know how far it is to the middle
Of the earth, it is just two thousand
miles; 80 if hell is in the middle of the
earth it is four thousand miles to the
horrible prison OF hell. Down in this
place is a terrible noise, Listen to the |
tremendous, the horrible uproar of |
millions of tormented creatures, mad
With the fury of hell! Oh the screams
# fear, the groans of horror. the
7ells of rage, the cries of pain.
,he shouts of agony, the shrieks of
despair, from millions on millions
There you hear them roaring like
ions, kissing like serpents, bowling like
logs, and wailing like dragons. There
7ou hear the gnashing Of teeth and the
earful blasphelnies of the devils. Above
ii you hear the roar OF the thunders of |
iod's anger, (which shakes hell to it's foun.
lations. But there is another sound
There is in hell a sound like that of manv
vaters. 1t is as If all the rivers and oceans
+ the world were pouring themselves with
great splash down on the floors of hell
8 it then really the sound of waters ? n
;. Are the rivers and the oceans of the
arth pouring themselves into helI2 No
What Is it, then? It is tile sound If
eeans of tears running down from mil.
ionsef eyes. They cry forever and ever
shey cry because the snlphnr>
us smoke torments their ewes !,
hey cry because they are in darkness
hey cry because they have left the
eautlful heaven. They cry because the
harp fire burns The roof is red. hot.
he walls are red-hot; the floor is like .