St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-03-20
IhE SIAIE Ut HELL
Vivldly Portrayed In q Ser
mon Yesterday by Arch
bishop Ireland.
He Believes There Is a He'll as
Certainly as There Is a
Heaven.
Gods Wisdom Demands q He'll
Just as 1t Demands
Holiness,
But Christians Must Guard
! Against Apprehension
. OF 1t.

Archbishop Ireland preached on
"Helr' to a large congregation at the
cathedral last night, speaking as fol-
lows: Divine laws being the conditions
whereby we arrive at a fulfllment of
being, at life's journeys end, at happi-
ness, there follows upon the violation
of those laws nOn-attainment OF orr
end, a state of unhappness, of misery.
This state is called hell.
| shall speak this evening of one of
| the most terrible truths of revealed re-
| ligiOn.s-1t is, at the same time, one Of
| the salutary truths. Whatever the pur-
pose of hell when life's probation is
over, its purpose during this life is to
impel us to righteous conduct, to the
observance of Gods laws. Divine JUS
tice and divine wisdom will hereafter
be voiced by hell: here it tells of prl-
meval love. Dante writes OF his In
fernO:
Justice the founder of my fabric, moved;
To rear me was the task Of Power divine,
Supremest wisdom, and primeval love-"
There is IL Hell.
Is there a hell? Yes. as surely as
there is an ethical ordering in this uni
verse, as surely as the Christian reve-
latiOn is from God.
Given moral Ordering-and this we
have already prOven-there is and
there must be sanction to Gods moral
laws. Virtue leads TO reward, sin leads
to punishment. The sanction not show
ing itself upon earth, it must be sought
for beyond the grave, Without punish
hpUnn6 "a Or nft n
premium set upon sin, which frssaently
leads to mundane felicity; virtue, which
frequently suffers, or Is without reward,
becomes an i lLsion.
Annihilation of the soul at death does
not vindicate the moral law. The sinner
would be quite satisfied with annihila-
ton. His wish is, TO eat, drink and be
merry and tomorrow die. God made
mans soul indestructible, and crossing
the portals of death it survives for veal,
or woe, according to its deserts.
Gods wisdom demands hell, because
it demands order in the universe, moral
order tor rational creatures, physical
order for the irrational, aud moral order
would be meaningless. i'll fact, without
a sanction in the next life. Gods own
moral goodness, or holiness, demands
hell. He owes it to His holiness to
draw the sharpest distinction between
righteousness and sin, and between the
ending of one and that of the other.
Gods justice demands hell. He is the
Supreme Master, the Lawmaker. Sin
is the breaking of law, rebellion
against divine power and majesty.
70 allow sin to 90 UNPUBLISHED is in God
the reinforcement OF His power, and the
assertion of lmpOtency before His
creature. Plato argues that "to do
wrong, and not to suffer for it, is the
greatest of evils, for this is to perpetu-
ate the wrong" s.:
The human race has never been with
out moral instincts, and without be-
lief, however vague and undetermined
in many instances, in hereafter of re-
wards and punishments.
The Christian Religion.
The existence of hell-a State of pun
ishment for the wicked after death is
the clearest of the teachings Of the
Christian religion. The denial of hell
is the complete setting aside of Chris
tianIty. The whole Durthen of the Cos
pei is the salvation from sin and hell
offered to men through the merits of
Christ, aud the punishment awaiting
the unrepentant sinner.
Eternity OF Hell
The teaching of Christ as to the dura-
u
is eternal. depart from me. We cursed,
into everlasting fire." will the Judge say
to the wicked OH tine last day. And
these" it is added, "shall go into ever
lasting punishment; but the Just into
life everlaSting." The same duration is
assigned to the life Of the damned as to
that of the just. A carplng criticism of
the Greek word tor the adjective "ever-
lasting" is of 10 avail to those who con-
tend against the eternity of hell. APP
piled 10 the future time this Greek
word. ''aionios," is nowhere used in the
New Testament except Of eternal life
Pusey lucidly shows by numerous
quotations.. There are other passages,
too, no less explicit than the words
which describe the last judgment.
There is passage in st. Mark, "Where
their worm dieth not, and their fire is
not extinguished." and that of the
Apocalypse, in which there is twice the
vision Of the ''smole Of their torments'
going up forever and ever" The
church in her councils has more than
once formally declared the dogma of
the eternity of the pains of hell. so that
there is no room for hesitation or quib-
bling or any kind. The Christian re-
ligiOn is unalterably committed to main
tain the dogma.
Persistence of Energy.
Nor can this dogma be said to contra
dict reason, mysterious as it may appear
under some of its aspects. Probation
must some time or other come to close,
and if the sinner persists in his iniquity
punishment must go on: else. in the
end, the sinner would triumph over
God. Nor can an argument be adduced
why probation should be renewed be-
vond the grave. AS fact we learn
from revelation that it is not renewed
All opportunities to turn to God are af-
forded during this life; if they are not
put to profit, the sinner alone is to
blame. Eternity of hell is the law of
persistence of energy. The soul, en-
tered on a course, continues in it. 1t
falls, on leaving this life, in the
direction of It's previous acts, and there
remains. If we were to consult UNI
aided reason, we should be less aston
ished at this than we would be at the
possibility of repentance and relntegra-
ton during the period OF probation.
Sin. it would seem, must always bear
its consequence, as 1T happens to the
violation OF physical law. Love and
mercy for the sinner on the part of God
should, if nature be our speaking guide,
astonish us mere than justice and the
awarding of penalty. Justice is law
of creation, Il necessary law, and what
ever exceptions are made to it on earth.
none will be made to it hereafter, and
heaven and hell are enduring states for
souls.
Suffering in Hell.
The sufferings of the souls i'll hell we
must assume to be most acute. There
is in hell, first, the pain of loss. The
soul has lost God. has failed to reach up
to its destiny. There is the total wreck
of beings purpose, the permanent empt-
| mess Of the soul. which was created for
| the Infinite. aud from which it is now
severed for ever. Upon earth the soul
had no clear vision of its needs and
powers: it found dissatisfaction in
| creatures In hell it is cut off from
creatures: it is conscious of what has
| been its destiny, and has been lost
through its own wrong-doing. The soul
4