The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1879-01-13
CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOUR.

REPENTANCE AFTER DEArH-sERMoN BY THE
REV. JAMES NJ. PULLMAN.
The Rev. James NJ Pullman, pastor OF the Church
of Our Saviour. replied to recent lecture by Mr.
Joseph Cook in his evening sermon. The lee
ture was entitled Repentance After Death The
preacher said Eternal hope or eternal despair is
The of the question shall review tonight.
Mr.. Cook replied to Canon Farrar's eternal Hope"
and l had photographic report made.
Mr. Cook seemed to say that he could get along with
out the Bible but prefer to open it. My moral pur-
pose is to urge you discard sin and adopt the law
of God the law of your life. Your will cannot be
coerced. but it may be persuaded by prospects OF re-
ward or punishment Gods will is superior to yours
and favorable to you Iure you not tn postpone your
obedience. for you only do so under the sharpest
penalties. An analysis of Mr.. Cooks argument
shows the centre of il to be. EVIL exists here. 1t
WILL therefore. exist forever" He says God is as
good and wise and powerful as He ever will be.
Evil is consistent with His existence now.
you fairly? According to Mr.. Cook there
is no repentance after death. linen
salvation. There 10000 900 persons the
earth and by the most liberal seven-tenths
do not fill the conditions of repentance. Then. If
there be repentance after DEATH it had been better
if the human race had never been created.
WHAT IT ALL MEANS
If Joseph Cook is right it costs the eternal ruin Of
seven souls to the happiness of three Either
God has done His best or he has not say 1t rever-
entity But if this be true there is either defect in
His power in His character. The audience APP
plauded Mr.. Cook. The applause meant this, and
only this 'Some souls are doomed to eternal ruin.
Unrrshi,' Now If only one soul had been doomed
ruin. might have looked for some tears from the
audience But it was partisan audience gathered
to hear defence of dogma which the world is cast
ing away. Now this. doctrine needs commanding
evidence if it is to be maintained. Mr.. Cook
purpose and goes into the unseen uni
verse and builds an adamantine wall to
shut out souls from happiness. According to
his view God il pitifu up to the moment when the
bandaged criminal is placed on the lscahold; but
when the sherfs foot presses the fatal spring God
hides His face Man is apt to turn away from
sin when he receives more light. and it would
consistent that with the light which he will
receive after death he will turn from sim No matter
how poor your chance may have been here, accord
ing to Mr.. Cook, you shall never have another. IN
der the laws laid down by Mr.. Cook the next world
fixes all the evils of this world endlessly.
The preacher then quoted passages of the lecture,
and said that all they proved. if they proved any
thing was that some haruehed sinners might forever
remain unrepentant. He claimed that Mr.. Cook was
disingenuous and had not even reached Canon
Farrars argument. Mr.. Cooks argument was the
old of the materialistic pessimists. There
no God no Christ, love it. and it open
to many logical criticisms, which the preacher APP
piled one by one. The law of tendency to perma-
ncncy in evil, on which Mr. Cook relied mainly, he
claimed counteracted by the law of retrbuton,
which Mr.. Cook did not mention. Burr and Tweed
were quoted by Mr.. Cook, but both had been broken
by the law of retribution Good Will grow greater
and evil less forever.
pESrRUCrIvELY IMMORAL.
Mr.. Cooks argument is destructively immoral. It
means that conscience is finally deadened Then the
sinner is lost; but it doesn't hurt him. The worm
does die and the fire is quenched This is immoral.
II the freedom of the will is taken away the sinner is
10 longer sinner. If it is not he is beyond
repentance. Mr.. Cook has the shrewdness of
Tombs lawyer and the subtilty of the middle-age
school man. Mr.. Cook terms Milton psychologist;
but when Millions Satan announced in hell his plan
for the ruin of humanity the devils did not applaud
Devils they were, they were silent They not
brought up in Association Hall. Mr.. Cook says evil
is hopeless. so does Robert Ingersoll Mr.. Inger
soil says evil is hopeless. therefore there is God
Mr. Cook dogrades his God to tit his premises.