Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1894-01-25

Reply to Rev. Alford'. sermon on His Idea
of That Place.

% ofer some thoughts concerning J
"Hsll." suggested by the published ex-
egesis by Rev. c. NJ. Afford in your re-
cent issue.
1t is wonderful that many noble
minded men, who love their fellows, es-
tablish hospitals. orphanages, asylums,
and societies for the prevention OF '
cruelty TO even the brute creation, are
yet so mentally unbalanced as TO sub
scribe to such a doctrine without inves- l
tigatlng the subject in the light afford |
ed and shining upon all questions to- |
day. These men would be incapable OF |
such cruelty; how can they avoid the
Just inference and ascribe to God the
.horrid blasphemy?
We make bold to say that sensible
people do not believe this doctrine Of
everlasting torture, the moral develop
ment is effectually damning "this God
dishonoring, observation-disclosures, truth
beclouding, saint-binderiug, sinner
hardening, damnable heresy." Yet
since they think that the Bible teaches
IL, every step OF progress In real intelli-
gence and return TO the God image of
mind, which forbids such belief, is In
most cases a step away from Gods
word, which they falsely accuse OF such
teaching. The present attempt to re-
viye again this scorpion sting To scourge
servient stage will but drivs honest
thinkers into vain PHILOSOPHERS aud sci
| ences falsely so.celled) and into skep-
| ticism-nor can the worldly" be re-
strained as of yore. Theft, murder,
suicide, immortality and drunkenness
| are far less common in MOhammedan
| aud Buddhist lands than In those mis-
named "Christendom," True, under
pressure OF fear or sickness some confess
| a faith under the teaching, but their
lives OF disregard and their profanity,
show that IL ever this doctrine restrain
ed men, IL does not now. II, as the
reverend gentleman suggests, the doc
trine came with the glad tidings for
all people" TO restrain from sin II sig
nally fails to-day and surely he will not
urge that the Old Testament scripture
hints OF snch n devilish scheme. The
world 'Sheol" In o. Il. to which the
thought is reverted being rendered as
often grave as hell or pit, insomnch
l that the revisers refused TO translate 1t
at all. There eau be no controversy
about its meaning. II the Scriptures and
not traditions are allowed free testi-
mony, it being simply the condition In
death, from which there would be re-
turn. No matter what the Jewish
thought was upon this under world, y
the teaching of the Sacred word is
clear. Thou turnest man to destruc-
ton, and sayest, Return ye children OF
men" psalm 90:3.)
The .hades" of the New Testiment ia
the Greek equivalent of "sheol," and OF
course means the same condition of ex-
tinction. Always presented with the
idea of prison house to which Jesu:
has the keys, and who having himself
brought back" the boon of life, which
was forfeit in the loins of Adam, will
call all forth and destroy both death
(the Adamic) and his prison house
(Rev. 2O:14).
But In the text chosen by the rever
end gentleman, our Lord did not use the
word "hades," but "gehenna," from
which the Scriptures promise no re
lease. To which there are no KEYS, but
la plain, bold words clear from Symbol
or figure "eyerlasting destruction"
The symbolic "gehenna" used by our
Lord must then have this same explana
tion. The condition In hades or sheo
we find in the Old Testament to be de-
struction, from which a return Is prom
ised. Thou redeemest my soul from
destruction, is the one hope OF the an
cient worthless. But this second de.
struction is everlasting.
Briefly, the Jewish Church reasona-
bly, supposed that they had authority TO
condemn very wicked persons as wholly
unworthy OF resurrection, and this in
deed would have been the sad case +
their sacrifices had actually taken away
sin. Then, indeed, would they have
died for their sins.
The bodies of such as these had the
burial Of dog" or ian ass" to hide
away their carcasses. or were cast ito
their valley OF Hinnom, witlfr he ofTal
OF the city. The meaning is in. The
Master fttingly uses the figure "Valiey
OF Hiunom," of which "Gehenna" is the
Greek spelling TO warn aud teach those
who were now having life accounted to
them by faith in himself OF the posi-
bility OF dying again on their own ac-
count, from which destruction there is
no hope Of a resurrection. THE wages
of sin is DEATH" not torture, and from
very reasonable data we rejoice in the
expectation that paratiyely few Of
mankind will prove incorrigibe aid
merit the "second death" utter and
ever asting destruction, while the rev.
erend gentleman admits the symbolic
wording OF his text he reasons upon &c
absurdly literally. II we 90 step
further we could draw the differences
that the parts cutoff escape the &C.
henna fire, and it is the dead body
merely that such disposition includes.
The good word OF God" comes with
in the easiest prehension, viz:
THE dead know not anything" There
Is no knowledge or device 10 the grave
whittier thou goest," hence, as this con-
dition Is upon the race through Adam,
10 is indeed glad tidings" that "al
that are in their graves shall hear his
voice, and come forth" And
they that hear obey shall live. 1t is
when the son OF man shall sit In the
throne OF his glory" during the millen-
NAL reign. due just beyond the fearful
storm now brewing-that they that
obey shall live" and the goats" be
cut off and destroyed iorever.-Wlth all
due respect to the gentleman's convic-
lions we invite investigation OF those
grand topics and with loving greetings
call TO him, "Come up higher" $50
Terra Alta, ". Va, JdnWurU %, 1891.
LITERARY NOTES.
The advertising poster IL fast becom-
ing work Of art. In Paris tho colored
cartoons Of NJ. Jules Cheret. proclaim