The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-12-04

able 30 stir q limb. and would die incon-
tinsntly Of fright. JEROME and TERruI-
LIAM never tire OF proving that tho fire
OF hell Is terrible reality. and that
It's, constituents arc probably sulphur
and fluid pitch. Every body OF tho
damned, says JEREMY TAYLOR, is moro
ioathsome and unsavory than million
frogs. Any human idea OF hell. says st.
BoNAvESTuRA. is heaven compared with
what Is really hell. Tho damned are 30
closely packed in hell. according to another
ecclesiastical writer. that 100 000. 100000 Of
them could bc contained In German mile.
Long before JONATHAN EDWARDS. st.
THOMAS AoUINAs declared that the re-
deemed In heaven will have no compassion
for the damned In hell, though they sec
their tortures.
As to the exact situation Of hell in space
there has been much divergence OF opinion
among theologians In all ages. II has been
located Mt the poles. at the aptipodes, In the
centre Of the earth. in Mars. in the moon.
and In the sun. TERTULL1AN. and DANTE
afterward. placed 1t in the centre OF tho
earth. thus representing the preponderancc
Of theological opinion; but the absence Of
air and the insuflciency Of the room are
urged against that view. Hence the theory
OF It's existence In the sun has sprung up
among Christians. As to the shape OF hell.
the prevailing opinion has been that 1t Is
circular. and 1t is described ns Of an uncer-
tain area. As to tho number Of Its In
habltants there has been much dispute.
According to the view Of those who hold to
the damnation OF the heathcn indiscrimi.
nately. It contains much moro than two
thirds OF the human race. THE bigger part
of men that have died heretofore are gone
to hell" said JONATHAN EDWARDS In SER
mon at Enfield. in Connecticut. in 17Ai.
GULIELANUs PARIsIENsIs computed that
there are 44.4 devils alone. but other
authorities estimate the number as vastly
greater. A clergyman said In the last Cen
eral Assembly Of the Presbyterians at
Detroit that the Westminster Con-
fession dooms thirty souls to hell
every minute. os 1920 day. and
15.76s.000 year. DR.. LOUIS DU MOULIN.
professor Of history at Oxford in 1850.
proved from Scripture and other evidence
that not one In one hundred thousand. nay.
probably. not one in a million Of mankind.
from ADAM down to our own times. could be
saved. MICHAEL WIaaLEswoRTH, in his
DAY OF DOOM" is humane enough to
imagine that the non-elect infants will be
consigned to the easiest room in hell"
Modern sentiment. Is Mortified by such
pictures Of the fate Of the vast majority of
mankind, and under its influence the move
ment for getting rid Of the hell Of the West
minister. Confession has gathered force. As
that standard represents the dogmas Of the
Calvinistic Churches generally. the hell Of
the old theology will speedily disappear
altogether from Professionalism il the
enterprise is successful. It cannot
60 without radically changing tho very
foundations of Protestant belief. even If
they are not destroyed utterly. Human
society would also DO affected powerfully
by the extinction Of the popular belief in
everlasting punishment. and the popular
fear Of the terrible consequences to the In
dividual which go with denial Of the faith
Of Christianity.
Yet Protestanism ia unquestionably de-
termined to modify the theory Of the gov
eminent Of COP. 90 that 1t shall be recon-
cilable with the present sensitive aversion
to the infection Of pain on man or beast.
That resolute purpose is at the bottom Of
the theological controversy which is now
raging throughout Protestant orthodoxy.