The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-02-17
ETERNAL PUNISHMENT.
A sermon Preached at st. AnBa's chapel
ny the Wev. John Francis GiraUst,
sunday, January ~. RHys. "@

am to speak TO you to-day upon the doc
lrne Of eternal punishment. Tho subject has
recently been made to claim good share o.
The public attention through the instrument
iaty Of our newspapers which have under.
taken to give the opinions of some Of those
who are supposed 20 represent among us tht
various schools Of thought II, theology.
have taken for Il text this passage from ~
Matthew. because II has been subjected IN q
rather dogmatical style % very. bold, verbal
Of attack upon The Bible with the opponents
of any Of It's doctrines. and tbe safest way to
meet tho attack Is to oonfront " boldly. u
II nan be made TO appear that these verbal
criticisms have no real value and That they
are themselves erroneous, tho tattaeh upon the
doctrine will fall 10 have any effect.
In order 10 put the issue fairly and blelrly
before you. ! shall begin with this plain doc
trinal statement,
The distinguishing features Of the gospel
ls that u u founded upon tho Two grent facts
atonernont made by Jesus Christ tho Son Of
God, for i'a redemption. The revelation Of
the Divine purpose of the regeneration aud
restoration Of man ~ the incarnation and
Of moral Ignorance and corruption. and
hence Of alienation from God, into which the
whole race had fallen. Gods proclamation of
mercy presupposes mans actual need OF
reenneiliatios.' stands over against "ths
law Of SIP and condemnation" The
severe danunciatlons q tho Inv
attest Gods aversion TO Sin, and tho
y Offer Of restoration To The Inheritance Of ntet-
nal life II both n solicitation and warning to
man to renuuhro and forsaks that other in
heritance Of spiritual and eternal death, And
while the divine coudeseension Ia revealed In
characters Of light upon the sacred page
God so loyed the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whosoever beeveth in
Him should not perish, but have everlasting
lile"-sin and ito consequences arc spoken Of
in tho very strongest terms Of dsnunGation4
"Iln that beleveth not tho Son shall not 500
lfe but tho wrath Of God abideth on him
Tho conclusion from tbs and from thn teSi Il
one and the same; for ~ III tho text 1t IL said
Tho wicked shall go away into everlasting
@ punishment" IN this i Is said, 'The wrath Of
II Ia to this conclusion that objection Ia
made, and the words of the text that arc
cited 10 sustain the objection arc two, The one
translated everlasting. and the other punish
lnent .-.-,
Now II is no pleasant duty for the minister
Of tho GOSPEL 70 be obliged at times to pro-
claim. without qualification. the abiding
Ing much rather would he speak Of Gods
love, and invite sinners to His fatborly en-
srace But these are times when he Is peeu-
liary constrained to declare the whole coun-
sci God, - fearlessIy and faithfully whether
men will hear or whether they will forbear
And at this day especially Il would be
spiritually heolthful II mon could have some
what. of godly fear mingled with their
Let me, then, ask your attention, while en-
deavor to set before you the result Of patient
and searching examination into tho meaning
Of the words u the text, whose translation ID
our English Bible ia objeGted to- One ~ |
tonion feverlaHting tho other kotast,, (pun-
ahment. we will look at tle latter first, be-
Of IL, 1t is claimed that the word should not
have boon translated punishment" that 1t |
means "a pruning" and hence hl.s The sense
of correction or chastisement. 1t Is incon-
IL h.,,, an, !..i..
genee can, entertain such. an objection.
and seriously state It,. ChaftiHemant Is pun
ishment. Punishment may be administered
IN wrath and vengeance; but when admins
tered IN Kindness, II IL chastisenent for our
correction. In this latter sense God runishh.
His children. IN tho other, He Furnishes His
enemies III" real question thon, IL not as to
othe various meanings Of this word. but as to
the nature Of tho punishment, and that must
be decided by the meaning Of tho adjective
nionion But to meet the objection fully. we
will take tho verb itself, koiaso, and IT. deriv-
ativess, aud examine their meaning. Tho or
iginal Greek of the text Is, els kotasn, aionio,.
and ia translated, into everlasting punish
ment." Now. koinsis Is the substantive of
the verb koidso We have. then:
T. kolaso which means to cut off Or take
from. and hence, 70 prune." But its flrthor
and fuller Specification ID. TO restrain, to
punish. to keep down. etc.
or pruning. signifies generally restriction, re-
straint, and both metaphorlcaly and liter-
ally means punishment
3. hoidsHa, u punishment,
1. koluatik0a. pertaining 10, on qualified for
punishment.
8. koldstes. ono who punishes. and
g. hotdsttrion. a place for ntlioting punish
mnnt or torture. prison.
From these several definitions IL seems
clear that tho objection ia unfounded, and that
the word II tho text y gorrvtly translated
we progress ia the investigation, that 1T does
mean in the connection In which III stands In
this passage. that very kind of punishment
which the Lord shall inniet at the final j,ilg-
ment upon III III enemies, the wicked and tiIi-
believing. aE8# ia &@-o@ "a
We may now direct our attention to the
other word of tho text. dto,aton. II occurs
twice in the, passage, Tho Greek is els kotasin
translated, into everlasting punishment"
and in the other, into life eternal" Tho same
word, YOU perceive, ~ used to represent tho |
duration Of punishment, and thu duration Of
life, hereafter. And whatever may be con
cludcd as 10 it's true meaning, 1t certainly ex- /
presses this ono fact, that the conformation
Of the wicked. and the blessednsss of the (
righteous will bee equal duration; and, there
FORE If the wicked be- not eternally separated I
from God and happiness, there Is nothing In
this passage to assure us that the righteous
will be eternally blessed with His preaenceand
favor. 4" lie
But II is objected that the word does not I
mean everlasting on eternal, but signifies only
~ indefinite limited period Of ,timc. No one, !
imagine, ~ disposed to dispute the fact that
certain Greek poets employed this word to ex- I
press various periods, OF time from tho ordi-
nary length Of mans life to eternity. Aud I
they did use II in the latter sense frequently. 1
But we are not now to inquire into the poeti- ,
cal use and value OF the word. but what h the q
sense IN which ii is used In the passage before {
us I The Word must be understood and inter- a
preted eonformahly with its ordinary Use and a
Specification IN the New Testament. What i
meaning did the sacred writer's, inspired by g
the Holy Ghost, intend the word to convey to eec
our minds We are looking now right upon 4
tile pages OF Gods own Book into Tho very Il
language of Holy Writ itself. and there IL d 9
terrible reality in its meaning "a we find II Il
there: And propose to show you that the q
literal Specification of the words aion and Il
aionios, Is not simply "of long DURATION 7" but =
+ ee spas sSt;ng per naa On j., This l. l.