San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-05-02
HE'LL u
Mr.. G. S. LINCOLN DISCUSSES THIS
WARM SUBJECT.
Are It's Pictured Torments Purely For
Revenge Or Are They Intended
For Correction
Written for the Sunday Light.

Written for the Sunday Light.
l have come to the CONCLUSION that |
have located hell. 1t exists in the
minds of it's believers and creators but
is found no where else in nature. 1t
has been said that man creates his own
God and it may be added that he also
creates his hell.
l wish to review as fully as space will
permit the idea of God and his relation
to the supposed occupants of hell.
1t is stated and re-stated that God
is all Dowerful-is all wise, and is
present everywhere at the same time.
Being all wise he knows all things and
time does not affect his knowledge. He
knows as well what will happen as
what has happened. The bible says
that from the beginning he knew the
end. In fact there can be no action
thought, or desire that omniscience
does not know. The so-called pro-
phecies in the bible teach us that God
could have given us a minute account
of all that would ever happen in the
world. The names of all to be borne
and their acts for all time. In fact
there can be no limit to Gods knowl-
edge, for to limit it destroys it.
l am not saying that ! believe in a
God but am presenting arguments that
must apply if a God exists. If God
be all wise he knows before he makes
us exactly what we will do. He knows
what we will think. He then makes
us because he wants us to do as we are
doing and think as we are thinking.
Take the case of Holmes whose bru-
tai crimes came to light only a few
months ago. God must have known
before he launched Holmes soul on the
sea of mortal life exactly what we
would do. Being fully as able to keep
| him from being born as he was by an
action of will power to have him born
| it necessarily follows that God made
| him to do as he did.
Take the case of Judas Iscariot God
! knew before he made him that he
would betray Jesus and as he could as
easily have kept him from making
| him as to cause him to live it follows
that he made him to do as he did. Being
made by a being who knew before he
made him exactly what ne would do it
follows that Judas could not do any
other way than he did. Then it fol-
! lows that he was not a free moral
| agent. He could not choose what he
would do because God knew exactly
| what he would do before he was born.
This argument applies to all beings.
We are then not responsible for our
actions nor thoughts. We neither make
ourselves nor ask to be made. We are
made by an all wise, all powerful be-
ing who must therefore fashion our
brains so that our thoughts and ac-
tions will be in accord with what he
knows We will do or rather, he knows
how we will act and gives us the sur
roundings and brains that produce the
actions.
All our acts are therefore in perfect
accord with the will of God. The one
who makes a thing is responsible for
the actions. If we go to hell it is be-
cause God made us for that purpose
for knowing before he made us what
we would do and where we would go
he makes us do as we do and go where
we go. The idea of an all wise God
entirely destroys the idea of mans free
moral agency. The one who is re-
sponsible for an act ought to be the one
to suffer. If by some hypnotic or
other means 1 cause a man to do a
crime would be the one held respOn-
sible Now If a God makes me know
ing as he must that I win be an inf
del then I assert that he is responsible
for It. If he makes a murderer he is
raenonsfhIe for the murder. Some