Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1897-09-15
"a THE SOUL IMMORTAL!
Does the Bible Teach It?-Letter
from "PhilanthrOpos.

Does the Bible Teach lt?-Letter
from "PhilanthrOpos."
EDITOR EDeEF1ELD ADVERTISER:
A short editorial in your issue OF
Sent. ! has caused considerable
investigation and study upon my
part, and 1 beg space in your col
umns to say few words on the
subject with a hope that others OF
your readess may be stimulated to
a little study. The paragraph re-
ferred to is as follows:
A so-called new religion has
sprung up in this country when ~, is
little more than revival of the
old heather belief in the transmit
grafton of souls. Truly the home
mission n field is in great need OF
laborers.
Your paper never contained a
more potent truth than the last
sentence. But in THIS letter my
desire is to dwell upon the first.
When 1 read it I was led to wonder,
how near the heather belief are
we all! Can il be possible that
there is here connecting link be-
tween heathenism and Christian
ity, making them sister SYSTEMS
standing on the same foundation
viz, the migratory nature OF the
soul after death? When we aver
our abiding faith in a conscious,
intelligent existence during death,
are we, without intending to do so,
furnishing old Egyptian heathen-
ism with it's very life-element, the
principle without which it could
not exist? I fear this is alarmingly'
true. And are we, as Protestants,
furnishing the iniquitous Romish
hierarchy with their central tenet
equally as important to their sys-
! tenn? If so, is it not our duty TO
investigate it? And if all we aver
and teach ID not in strict accord
ance with Gods word, is it not our
duty to conform thereto?
Let US fud the origin of the doc
trine whether human or divine
Herodotus, the earliest regular his
torian whose works we have, speak
ing of the Egyptians, says p. 1854 /;
"7Hey are the first OF manhtgo
pho haze defended the immortality
of the soaA. (Note the fact. They
believe that on the dissolution OF
the body, the soul Immediately
enters some other animal, and
that after using as vehicles every
species of terrestrial, aquatic, and
winged creatures, it finally enters
a second time a human body.
They affirm that it undergoes all
these changes in the space of three
thousand years. This opinion
some of the Greeks have adopted
as their own"
Now, let us see the character OF
the people who originated this doc
trine:
"What could they think of q ma
ton, where, as Herodotus tells US,
if a house was on fire the father OF
a family would take more pains to
save his cats than his wife and
children? Where a mother would
be transported with Joy at the
news of her child being devoured
by crocodile; or where the sol,
diers, returning from a military
expedition, would come home load.
ed with precious (?) booty Of
dogs, cats, hawks and vulturesi
The general character of the Egyp'
tians, with respect to morals, con
tributed likewise to draw upor
them the dlsesteem of other ma
t;,ns. They have been generally
accused by the ancients of grea
cunning and insinceritY in theil
dealings" ."-Tytlers Univ. Hist.
vol. 1, p, 46-7.
We might observe that the treat
ment of the Israelities by thu
Egyptians is insufficient proof o
these facts. AS Whitmore says
"Let it be understood, then, tina
the doctrine of the Immortality o
the soul owes it's origin to super
stitious, deceitful and idolatrou
f people. Page 6.
Is it possible that heather Egyp
! tian priests taught such doctrin
not positively taught anywhere il
r the Bible? Is it possible that tn
prophets a-d apostles are such
J J class of writer's as to be 80 inferio
to these Ethiopeans2 On matur
thought I fail to believe it. There
fore I must conclude that it wer
better to follow the Bible. Afte
.I,,l,, &c fbo p;blc