Morning journal and courier., 1881-01-17

I do not believe that the majority of mem l bers in orthodox churches believe in the doc
 Urine of ssendlessn punishment. As Uni
 versalist minister I declare to you that be. lieve in the future punishment of the wicked; believe that
 every person will receive punishment in the | future world for the deeds done here in the | body, but do not believe that the punish
 ment will be 'end1ess.' believe that such punishment will be disciplinary in it's charae- ter. think the.interpretation put upon the Universalist doctrine is unfair. It has been put forth by one denomination that there is a future punishment for the wicked, but we be- heve that mereiful God will not make 1t
 endless. I believe, further, that the preach
 ing of an endless hell has made more sinners
 and more infidels than any other doc
 Urine taught from the Holy Scriptures. The
 human mind is shocked at such doctrine
 and rebels at such terrible thought. Would
 not your heart rebel if you should see your
 darling in it's coffin, and dying unconverted,
 should be told that it had gone to an endless
 hell? respect Dr. Stifler for preaching the
 creed of his church. In doing so he. does
 what not one in fifty will do, and honor him
 for being consistent. The orthodox clergy
 tell as that this whole doctrine of endless
 punishment is established by the Scrip
 lures. Dr. Sti1er says there is no
 hope for the wicked in the future life. I
 propose in this course of lectures to take up
 every passage n the DlD1o IeiatiNS Go uo1I,
 and shall try to prove that none of them re-
 late to an endless hell or endless punishment. I may not be able to do this, yet if fail I
 will cheerfuIly acknowledge my error, and
 should be pleased to have Rev. Dr. Stider or
 any other clergyman show me wherein have
 erred. I shall in the course of my lectures take up and discuss every passage that in any
 way relates to hell. I am aware that the subject will be rather dry one to discuss, yet hope you will give me your undivided attention.
 The speaker then referred to the terms Sheol, Hades, Gehenna and other terms used in the Bible in connection with the word hell. He said there were numerous mistranslations in the Bible and there was not Biblical scholar in the world but that would admit it. The Hebrew words Sheol and Hades signi- fled one and the same thing. That they do not signify place of endless misery is plain from the fact that In no case do the terms refer to an endless existence. The speaker then quoted extensively from the old testa- ment to show that 'sSheol D and hell were synonymous terms and that hell literally meant the grave. Continuing he said: We learn from the scriptures that it is not necessary to go into the future world to find the lowest hell. In many places hell signifies the state of the dead. If Sheol sig nifes place of endless misery, then the good old Jacob certainly expected to go there.
 In closing the speaker said that after con- sidering the twenty-three declarations in the Old Testament, he would on next Sunday evening further consider the subject of SheoE He said he had made these quotations to
 show that none of these referred to future state. When he reached the New Testament
 he would take up the passages in order as re-
 ferred to by Rev. Dr. Stifier and answer him
 in detail. He believed the day had gone by
 when any considerable portion of the com munity could be led to believe in endless should be sent to hell he would go to work and dig down through the bottom and set to work to transfer birthstone to make lucifer matches. He urged his audience to consider
 the passages that he had quoted and preserve