Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1890-01-30
DIR. LYMAN ABBoTPs POSITION.
To the Editor of the Eagle. Z

fore country of the church he serve
make utterances from the Plymouth pull
pit potent for good or evil Throughout
this broad land. DIR. Abbott Is made tx
say, when he accepted the pastorate
Endless conscious sin l do not believe
in. | could endure the thought of end
less sufferings, but not of sin growing
deeper, darker and more awful. 1t ha.
grown to me unthinkable. | believe i
is unscriptural.
Let US analyze the belief formulated
in the above statements: Endless con
scious sin do not believe in. ! could
endure the thought of endless suffer
ings." Now the Plymouth preacher be-
lieves in sin and he believes in consciou:
sin. He believes in sin either as ending
or endless. But he tells us plainly the
endless sort of SIN he does not believe in
conscious sin. He further tells us be
''could endure the thought of endless
sufferings." Then he could endure the
thought of endless suffering for ending
| sin; or for unconscious endless sin. This
to the Plymouth preacher is think able. "
| Before human law there is such thing
as unconscious transgression (or
| sin). Is such thing think
able in the divine administration:
VIII God punish me endlessly for an
ended or ending. or so far as have po-
tency an endable sin? viii God permit
| ME to endure endless sutferings for .'un-
conscious sin? The very thought makes
God monstrosity. And yet the Ply
mouth divine can conceive of an endless
| suffering without an endless sinner. The
conception is absurdity incorporate.
The trouble with the Brooklyn preach
er was that imprisoned platform talk
betrayed him into an outrageous theolo-
gical and psychical blunder. Sin is not
In the act, but in what the act involves
| steal ten dollars from my neighbor.
Shame for the disgrace causes me to re-
store it. The act is atoned for. But the
sinner and sin abide the act involved the,
rejection of Christ. / could not do the
act until in my soul l had rejected
Christ. For he had said to me thou
shalt love thy neighbor as (under
divine grace thou shouldst love- myself
| restored the SO, not because I loved
my neighbor, but because I inordinately
loved myself The $40 in Gods sight of
them were no more value than ten
pounds of dirt. But if the soul contin-
ues to hold Christ in the same relation
as IL the theft, then the conscious sin
abides through all time and all the eter-
mites and the sinner as WELL 1t is not
SO much repeated acts that constitute
continuous sinner, as continued rela-
ton to an ended act. | may be punished
endleSsly for ended acts, but not for
ended SINS In the very nature of God
yea In the nature of man it is impossible
for suffering for sin to continue when
sin is ended. If death ends sin then it
ends suffering for sin; and if death ends
sin and suffering it ends the sinner. In
each and every sin rejection Of Christ is
implied-yes rejection of Him is ex-
pressed
Now let US examine into the possibility
Of repentance after death. DIR. Abbott
says, Il refuse to believe that the acct
dent of death transmutes Gods mercy
and makes repentance impossible, and
so closes the door of hope upon che soul
forever" | believe too that Gods mercy
is transmitted [ don't believe that an
attribute OF God is changed by the
passage of a soul into eternity, or by the
passage of all souls into eternity. Per-
haps God is as merciful to soul in hell
as he Is to one on earth. But how is a
sinner brought to repentance on earth?
By hearing his fellow preach the gospel.
That is, saved sinner ON earth carries
the gospel to his unsaved fellow. 1t is
among the probable things that only a
fellow is or can be successful message
bearer of the gospel to sinner.
If, in the wisdom and mercy of God,
earth furnished her own preachers of
tho crocnal II ic unreasonable IN 10
that by the same wisdom and mercy
hell must furnish hers? If soul had
not Decentralization and courage to sepa-
rate itself from sin and its associates in
sin here, where so many helps and
friendships were offered, from what
source can such inclination and courage
spring oven yonder where its universal
is the lost? 1t rejected |
Christ here can it accept him there? 1t |
would not be hold here, will it long to
be holy over there? 1t had the Holy |
Spirit here, can it have more over there? !
What environments can in reason be !
of, or in wild conjecture be |
better adapted to repentance |
in perdition than on earth?
But the Plymouth divine thinks it I'M
that lost should enlarge in !
its lostness. Then its nature must be |
changed by death. The |
law of growth, of expansion seems to be |
the nature of the soul The mind can !
choose the field of development, but |
growth is its order. Every thing that |
Sod has made must enlarge or shrink. |
If lost soul does not expand after death !
then it is probable that saved soul does |
not. And if saved soul does not ex-
pand what monotOny heaven will fur |
nish. Ie are welcome to all the comfort |
such teaching brings But if it is I'M |
-hinkable for lost soul to enlarge, then |
IS 1t not possible, Is it not probable. that |
when it passes death it will enter on a |
career of shrinkage? Age upon age it
will shrink. Annihilation is its doom. |
Extract all the sweets you can from such |
a theory.
But would not the same law that
would annIhilate a sinner annihilate a |
saint: Can new gospel be offered the
ost? If the lost call for another gospel, |
5 it in harmony with the mercy that Of
erS the gospel TO the sinner on earth to |
Ieny the call?
| took the position that Gods mercy is
,ot transmitted at the death of the sim
Ter. But while admit that Gods heart
5 not petritied by the passage of a lost
oul into the eternal state, yet | can not
His love could be enlarged
n his mercy be expanded thereby.
There was a church in Galatia IN the
ime of Paul part of which wanted an
'ther gospel, But God, through the IN
piration Of the apostle, answered the
demand thus: But though we. or
nigel from heaven, preach any other
gospel unto you than that We have re-
eived, let him be accused.
Let us for moment look at the posi-