The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1891-07-02
IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL AND
ETERNAL PUNISHMENT.
By R. 8. M'ARTHuR, b. D.

ETERNAL PUNISHMENT.
By R. g. M'ARTHuR, b. D.
From, the Christian Inquirer.
If the doctrine of eternal punishment
of the impenitent be not true, in what
way shall We dispose Of the soul2 Vari-
ous opinions have been held. Is the soul
annihilated7 So some have affirmed.
Gross materialists make thought secre.
ton Of the brain. 1t is, they say, the
brain in motion. They know no soul.
According to their teaching man is an
animal; he is vegetable; he is what he
eats. Carlyle calls this "the gospel of
dirt" Its "god is its belly" It abom'
Unable. 1t degrades minister to refute
it. Its refutation is an insult to hearers
or readers. Are men no better than
beasts? Annihilation is the vain hope.
Of men consciously wicked, and, there
fore, fearful. It is weak and cowardly.
I unhesitatingly affirm that no satisfacto.
ry evidence in its support can be found
in the Bible. The Bible, legitimately
interpreted, conveys the opposite mean
ing: ANY man who will affirm that the
words "life" and "death" in the Bible
are to be used in the limited and degrad.
ed sense in which Annihilationists use
them, advertises his utter inability to
interpret any document. Can God anni-
hilate soul? The question is asked
with all reverence. He has degraded,
but, as DR.. Parker suggests, He has not
annihilated Satan. The immortal in
Satan and man is spark of the divine
flame. Can God annihilate himself2 A
belief in this doctrine unspeakably de-
grades the whole scheme of redemption.
Did God give His only begotten son to
the shame agony of the cross merely to
save men from aunihilation7 Was this
the purpose of Christ's wondrous birth,
glorious life. atoning death, victorious
resurrection and triumphant ascension
If humiliation be the send all" of the
wicked, the cross of Cavalry was stu.
pendous blunder. To say that annihila.
ton is the eternal punishment of the
wicked is nonsense. Can re punish
those who have ceased to be7 Can We
punish nonentity9 AS we'll might we
talk of punishing those who are not born.
Oh, men and women, you are immortal
Insrenched within its own Immortality,
the soul defes death. It smiles at the
assassin's dagger; it defes the marks.
mans bullet. It cannot die, Christ
came to seek and to save, not from ami.
hiliation, but from ain here and from hell
hereafter; to save to purity here and to
eternal bliss hereafter.
Does second probation help the mat
ter? Some have assumed that punish.
ment is reformatory; that when it tsccom.
plishes its ends it will cease, and that all
sinners, men and angels, shall yet be re-
stored to the favor Of God. This assump.
tion contains many errors. It assumes
that men who have despised one proba-
tion would improve a second. What
right has any man to think be would do
so? What inducements to repent could
God offer men which He does not offer
now2 The atonement of Christ and the
sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost are
the means of salvation. These are never
offered in hell. A mans salvation is less
likely then than nov. It is hard for us
to be Christians now? Now ne have
Christ with extended arms and loving
heart; ne have an open Bible; we have
a preached Gospel; we have prayer
meetings and sabbaths; We have praying
parents and friends. Will it be easier to
repent in hell! There men will be ban.
ished. from God; they will be, 80 far as
We know, without grace, without hope,
and With lost men and devils for their
companions. A second probation Why
not third, fourth, a. tenth? Repen.
tance, salvation in hell! Then the cross
of Cavalry was stupendous blunder
What can God do for men there? He
has already exhausted Himselfl But is
punishment reformatory? Is this it's
natural effects Are there not thousands
of men in prison who are hardened ten
fold by their punishment? Even while
the Law has its firm grip upon them, they
are plotting deeper wickedness. Suffer
ing, per sc, has no purifying power.
Penalties cannot cleanse the heart. They
may satisfy human Law for past crimes,
but cannot insure against future sins.
God does not always infiot punishment
with the design of reforming men. The
destruction ofSodom and Gomorrah can
scarcely be called a reform measure.
Their cup of wrath was full; God held
it with outstretched arms over the doom.
ed cities. His servant ceased praying;
the cup WAS poured out. The terrible
monument of Gods wrath was all that
remained of the great city in the beauti.
full vale of Siddim. The death of Auanias
and Sapphira was rather more than
reform measure. In these cases God has
permitted us to get glimpse Of His
workings. Gould We see His "ways" as
plainly in Other cases, no doubt the histo.
ry of the race would show tens of thous.
ands of just such reform measures. How
terrible must be the lngratitude, and
how awful the blindness of men who are
despising the means of grace to day, and
are looking forward to perdition as q
school of reform! Satan has suffered
long. Has he reformed7 2 Is suffering
likely to convert Satan? Mr.. Spurgeon