The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1878-02-08
A Word About He'll.
louisville Courier-Journal.l J

louisville Courier-Journal.l
The discussion of theological dog
mas used to be confined entirely to the
religious press, the secular journals
considering that it was none of theil
business, and that it would be unpop-
ular to enter upon even the threshold
of the theological arena. Latterly
however, the doctrines of the church
es have received very thorough ven
tilation in the organs nsofsecular thought,
the current battle over the doctrine OF
hell furnishing good illustration OF
the tendency of the times.
There are several classes of dispu-
tants in this controversy, and the only
apparent benefit accTues from the
| widespread logamachy seems to be
the discovery OF what these classes be-
lieve. They may be divided into
| those who profess to believe that there
is no future punishment of any kind;
those who believe in a GartaFJls of
raging, material flame, into which
men, women and children are hurled
and left to roast slowly forever; those
who believe in an internal misery
| based on separation from God and re-
morse of conscience; those who believe
in the LjBLbts of the scholastic divincs
| "a temporary arrangement for the
publication of souls. These are the
leading doctrines concerning hell.
The idea of material suffering re-
ceived its greatest estdevelopment in the
Middle ages, and the primitive pro-
cess was frequently brought out in the
religious dramas, so popular at that
period 1t is evident that every one
looks upon this subject according to
his sense of individual responsibility
to the laws of God. The Calvinistic
system of theology, being the most
emphatic in its declarations of materi-
al punishment. The Westminster
Catechism, in response to the ques-
ton: "What are the punishments of
sin in the world to come ?' says:
''The punishments of sin in the world
to come are everlasting separation
from the comfortable presence of God,
and most grievous tormentS in soul
and body without inter mission in hell
fire forever" 1t is noticeable, howev-
er tnat the adherents of the Churches,
into whose dOctrinal system Calvin
ism largely emera, are rarely found to
endorse the declaration which we
have quoted, and, i'll accordance with
the universal desire to do away with
the idea of positive suffering hereafter,
various theories have been framed, |
which are not so startling to the aver
age mind. 1t is very safe to cay that |
no living human being knows any |
thing whatever about the nature of
future punishment. The word ''hell," |
itself is derived from hetdH, II Saxon |
word which means the "iuCiSiGic" or |
"cOrcreC" place. 1t is not necessary |
for any one to cndeavOr to prove that |
men are punished for their crimes |
hereafter, for human intelligence rec |
ogniZes the fact that there are higher
laws of conduct, on which human |
laws are based by an intuition of duty, |
and that those higher laws take cog
niZance, not only of external but in
ternal wrong doing, and must punish
the violaters or their requirements.
There has been great deal of vul-
gar Ievity in the newspapers on the
subject of hell, which notes a dispOsi-
ton to trifie with all serious subjects.
1t seems very certain, in spite of all |
this raiIleFy, thatsince men have been
delivering themselves from the bur-
dens imposed on them by the old doc
trine of positive punishmeHtheTeaf
human laws have been prOpOrtiOnate-
ly trampled upon, and every species
of crime has increased enormously. |
We defy any one to prove the contra
ry, and it is for that reason that we
deem it proper for secular journal to
uphold the clergymen VINO teacn that
however human courts and human
sentiment may cOndOne crime, it Is
ut the hands of Il more au-
gust tribunal; HOD, we know not, but
certainly in proportion to the grave
men of the Offense, If this is not true,
men and women might as well give
up trying to be virtuous and abandon
themselves to whatever irregularities
their inclination lead them.