The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-03-07
BYrEs B. MURRAY & co. AN

BYE ,. MURRAY, &
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;ffILS WhiIeI regard the extitself as set
Ting forever.this question, yet there are
other arguments Which may he noticed
as cOfroboratiye.
(al We may derive an argument from
the traditional belief of, men of all ages,
savage and civilized. ~. ...,...-,
In alrsystems Of religion che doctrine
of future punishment has,bad q place.
The ancient Greeks had their TartGrus,
the: Letins, their .hyernas, the North
American Indian consigned his foes to
adreary waste. where no cooling streams q q ?
and pleasant hunting grounds = were
known. Our word Hell is an Anglo
Saxon and Danish word, meaning the
abode of evil spirits after, death. Ask a
Chinaman, "Where will you go when
YOU die p" He answers, Hi shall go to
hell to receive tho punishment for my
sins" This on the authority OF. DR.. J..
B. E[artwell, our Missionary to. China.
This belief is universal; 1t is worthy OF
consideration in the argument.
{5) We have what vain call presump.
the evidence in favor of my position, :.
All denominations of. Christians, in all
the ages. since Peter and Paul to tie pres
ent time, have held the doctrine that the
future, punishment of the wicked would
be endless, and men who have rejected
this dogma have been regarded as up:.
sound, and have been expelled from the
Churches. To thin rule / know ofno
.exceptioli. This belief, coming down
from the days Of Christ, accepted y.the
Christian world as the teachings Scrip
turre, long chain, all connected, with no
link wanting, the conaensls of. the Chris
tian Churches and Of . large majority of
Biblical critics is very strong evidence. in
favor Of the common interpretation OF
theteSt.+ - sss.s
y IN Coming tolthe Scripture, offer
yon what Twill call incidental testimony.
~ OF Judas 1scariot, our Lord said !:
aIt had been good for that man If, he had
not been born. Matthew 26:M AL
who believe in future punishment believe
that Jrdasl was lost. This take for
granted But if from that lostpesta.e the
Betrayer. could escape and go to Heaven,
then a;s blessedness would be complete; /;
his life Eould be holy and happy, and if
in the far distant future he shall ascend
to Heaven, then the words of Jesus can
not be understood, for no life Of sufferings
can be 80 extreme in, duration or degree
a, to, outweigh an eternity Of bliss which
he shall ultimately enjoy.
e {2) Again, Jesus said: "Whosoeyer
sl,eaketh word against the Son Of Man
'iG shall be forgiven him; bu. whosoeyer
sloeaEeth against the Holy Ghost it shall
not be forgive,, him, neither in this tcortd,
.neitherin tie acorld TO con,c."-Math. 1882.
4AIayswe not.inferthat men had commit
ted this dreadful sin, that they were then
in danger of committingit3 or why these
warnings of Jesus? We have one sin,
/ a.; against the Holy Ghost, Tor which
there is no forgiveness, not in the future
world. We have one man, Judas, whose
niissry is SO extreme that his Master said
sof him 1T werc better for him that he
had not been bori." The case Is made
out. One spple growing and ripening on
a tree is proof conclusive that the tree
that bears 1t is an apple tree. Here are
two proofs to the same effect. These are
hut aside-light" proofs, however. Who
can say that these are exceptional cases3
Does an exceptional apple grow and
ripen on zig tree?
-(d) Let Us consider the direct teach
iil,gs of Gods Word. 1t plainly declares
that the conditions of men are forever
fixed atdeath.
z In the te1tthe words Everlasting" as
applied to the punishment of the wicked,
and eternal" as applied to the happi-
ness of the righteous, mean the very
same thing. In the Greek, i'll which our
lord. spake, the same word is used to
describe punishment and the, happiness.
1t is aionios and means endless, in dura-
itiun. If "eyerlastingn here has q limit,
then does not eternal" have the same
limit? If this, text does not teach the
endless punishment of the wicked, then
il does not teach the endless happiness Of
the righteous. When one state Ceases,
the other will cease, too. If happiness
to good men beyond the grave liz cease
less, then misery to bad men must be
forever, too. This text, if it proves any
thing for the Universalist, proves too
rnuch i.c., that Heaven and hell will
10th have an end in the future ages.
Greek scholars tell US that this word
t!iionios is the most expressive word for
endless duration in the Greek language.
They further tell us that if this word
does not mean endless duration in the
most absolute sense, then there is no word
in that language to express the idea OF
endless duration. DR.. g. w. Clarke, in
his, notes ON Matthew :46 says: "The
misery Of the wicked will be as enduring
and endless as the blessedness OF tho
righteous" Hs goes on to say the word
tiG;on;os,n translated everlasting here, is
used in, the New Testament seventy-one
times. as follows: Three times it is ap-
plied to the long, indefinite past, twiceto
completed eternity without beginning or
and. fifty.one times to the future happi-
hess of the righteous, seven times to the
future misery of the wicked, and IN the
eight remaining instances it involves the
idea of an urending future.
In scripture language the abode OF the
lost is called "a place Of torment," ""hell,
fire" "where their worm ,dieth not, and
their fire is not quenched"-Mark 9:44;
.sThe. lake that burpeth with fire and
brimstoue."- Rev. 2l:S. "The bottom
less pit" Rev. 9:2. "a place Of outer
darkness, where there is weeping and
gnashing of teeth."- S:12. "a
furnace of .".-Math. 1892. THE
wrath OF God," "the secondsdeath," "un-
ouenchsble fre."-Luke 23:17. "Black-
ness Of darkness."-Jude ls. "Tormen-
ted in fire and birthstone. Rev. 1910.
sT am tormented in this fame."-Luke
1924. "The smoke Of their torment
ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they
have no rest, day nor night" Rev. l4:ll.
Consider ali these descriptive terms. do
thew not prove-if words can prove any.
thing-thatthe punishment of the wicked
will last forever?
Jesus and his Apostles knew the sig
nihcance of these words; they knew,
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