Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-08-05

49,
anger, as the Bible portrays him 10 be,
/ yet 1t is his graciousness, his mercy that is
the theme of the psalmist and prophet.
''He delighteth in mercy" "Hs is slow to
anger, and of great mercy" she is mer-
ciful and gracious" "All the paths of the
lord are mercy and truth"
The doctrine of hell torment is a relic
of the dark ages, a remnant of the old
spirit that punished difference of opin-
ion with all the anguish that human malice
and ingenuity could devise. The voices of
nature, as we'll as the instincts of humani-
ty, all protest against such monstrous
doctrine. The gentle dew, the refreshing
rain, the golden harvest fields, and fruity Or
chards, even winters snowy covering, all
speak of care and love. The storm blasts,
and the upheaval of the earthquake may
shake the earth, but behind the clouds is
the sunshine.
The savage may believe that the Great
mics, but how can Christian, who be-
Iieves that ''God so loved the world that
he gave his only Son" to die for it, enter
tain for one moment, the belief in the
eternal torment of the wicked.
The Bible is the only direct revelation
of Gods purpose, and there all must learn
the truth. What any man thinks is of lit
tie consequence to any one but himself,
but to him it is matter of vital impor-
lance. To believe a lie because
some good man, like Calvin,
Knox or Wesley believed it, is
to stultify ones self. To every intelligent
man and woman God points to his word
and commands them to SEARCH the
scriptures, for they testify of Me-" When
man comes up for judgment what good
will the plea do him that he believed as his
minister or priest taught. 'Every
man shall give account of himself"
The doctrine of eternal torment is impos-
sible because the bible plainly teaches that
the wicked shall never inherit Immortality.
"God only hath Immortality" said Paul,
and Immortality is promised only as the
reward of well doing. Life and death are
placed before men. Christ never said,
offer you heaven or hell, but life or
death" The wages of sin is death, the
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord" If men must live for
ever, why did Christ and his apostles urge
their hearers to seek for life? Why did
Paul say, ''He that soweth to the flesh shall
Of the flesh reap corruption; he that SOW
eth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap
life everlasting?" Natural death can not
be meant, for of that corruption just and
unjust alike partake. The Bible declares
that sit is the second DEATH" an eternal
corruption, death without a resurrection.
she that believeth not the Son shall not
see life" The doctrine of the final ex-
tinction of the wicked, of humiliation, is
the plain teaching of the Bible.
''The wicked shall not be-" ''The wicked
shall be silent in darkness" ''The wicked
will he destroy" "For behold the day
cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all
the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly,
shall be as stubble; and the day that COM
eth shall burn them up, saith the Lord of
hosts, that it shall leave them neither root
nor branch"
But it is objected that belief in hell
torment is necessary to drive sinners to
Christ. $40 shake them over hell" as a
preacher once remarked. AS children are
sometimes made to mind through fear of
''the bad man, or ghosts. The child may
obey and the sinner try to pray in terror,
but the motive in both cases is lie.
God offers to men life or death; life
through faith in his son, and in no other
way; death, eternal death to all who do not
believe in him. He will save unto the at
termost all who come to him through
Christ; he will utterly destroy all who re-
ject the Savior. Of the blessedness of the
life eternal, Or the pains of the second
death, Christ said nothing, but referred
them to the time when he should come in
n4s glory.