The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-11-27
REV. STRONG'S IDEAS OF HELL.
1T IS NOT A PLACE OF EVERLAsT-
ING PUNISHMENT.

Hell Created by Sin and Exists with
the sinner-The state of Probation
Continues After Death and Saliva
ton Is offered TO Men in He'll.
Christ Descended Into He'll That
He Might Omer His Salvation to
the Imprisoned Spirits There-The
Westminster Catechism Utterly
Regulated.
Rev. Charles II. Strong delivered the first
of the two sermons which he had an
! nounced he would deliver upon the sub
Ject of he'll as the conclusion of his series
| Of sermons upon the -Four Last Things"
| last night. The sermon was upon the ex-
istence of hen and the kind and character
of place It is While Mr.. Strong avowed
his belief in The existence of he'll, his views
upon this subject differ very materially
with those held by the majority of the
ministry.
Mr.. Suong's text was from the words
Of the Psalmist IF I make my bed in he'll
behold Thou art there" 1t might be taxi
en- as a fundamental principle of philoso-
ply and theology, Mr.. Strong said, not
where. We can never flee from his pres
ence. This being true, there is no place
In Gods universe where He is not, either
in heaven or in hell.
Il have often been asked if l believe in
hell said Mr.. Strong. 81 do. l believe in
its existence because 1 believe in the ex-
istence Of God and His righteousness. If
God is everywhere then His righteousness
must be everywhere. Like the law of
gravitation, which governs the universe,
the law of Righteousness is prescribed for
man to obey. Where this law is broken
serious loss and disaster follow and this
loss and disaster is hell"
The scriptural quotation. "Shall be turn
ed into hell.' Mr.. Strong said had been
interpreted by many theologians to mean
that hell is a walled-in Enclosure with cir
cumscrlbed metes and bounds. He held,
on the contrary. that he'll is created by the
existence of sin and that wherever the
sinner goes he'll goes with him. Sin should
not be lightly regarded nor laughed at he
said, for sin is hell and carries the sting
and poison of hell with it, The tendencY
of the literature and fiction of the day is
to treat sin lightly, and so does popular
science, with it's teaching that heredity
and environment are responsible for men
moral natures and account for their sins
Hell is because God is" Mr.. Strong
said. God is everywhere and because He
is everywhere there will come a time
when he'll will be not. If the sinner is
in hell, God is there with Him, and
therefore, there Will come a time when all
sin will be abolished We must realize
that GOO is stronger than sin and that
the devil is not more powerful than God "
Mr.. Strong said that there are two doors
into he'll one by which the sinner enters
by reason of mis- violation of the law of
righteousness and the other by which He
makes His exit from he'll by reason of the
I dob
furnace in the heart, he said If YOU Vio-
late the law which God has written in
your heart, there is a burning hell there
IL is well to remember that il you have
made your bed in hell that God is there
also pleading with you.
Mr. Strong said that he is not and never
has been a Universalst Many things
have been said of his opinions on this
subject, he said, and for that reason ne
| wished TO state plainly the ideas which
! he had advanced There were three ideas
which he had urged on this question, he
said. First. ne had endeavored to change
mems conception of hell from the old idea
of physical torment and burning. This
was the idea which Spurgeon and Johna-
than Edwards had upheld and they had
even endeavored to enhance the joys Of
the righteous by picturing them as enjoy
| ing the torments of the damned while re-
yelling in eternal bliss themselves His
| SGtDilu ldcd AittI DNGll 10 LGdCn InaI the
word eternal" in the Bible does not mean
| everlasting; that it refers simply to the
| things which are in eternity or the world
| to come, and not to time everlasting. It
connOtes quality and not quantity
The third idea which he has advanced,
| Mr.. Strong said, is that there is nothing
| in the physical change inVof ,ed in death
! that interrupts man stale Of probation.
| 1t is true that now is the accepted
| time" but all time to come. That a state
of probation exists in he'll is best evidence
ed by the fact that Christ descended into
| hell after His crucifx on. Why did he
descend into he'll If it were not to peach
to the spirits there and to carry there the
great evangel of salvation
MIR. Strong compared tie e'igious beliefs
| of so to 100 years ago. with those of today
and quoted from the Yves minister cate
| chism in evidence of his assertions. The
! Westminster catechism, he said. holds that
Adam fell from a sinless state and that
being the father OF all MANKIND his gull
was imputed to an his posteritv. That
! God, out of his grace had predes tinated
| some Of Adams descendants TO everlast-
ing life and others He had foreordained
to everlasting hell and that no matter
how much these latter might exert their
will to lay hold upon this salvation their
efo t. wlud be fIu tless and Their con-
demnat on rem ain.
THAT statement as a whole and in every
single clause" said Mr. Strong, Il repu-
diate with every moral feeling ] have in
me. on the contrary l hold that Adams
faN was simply q passage from The knowl-
edge of good to the knowledge of good and
evil and that his sin was not imputed 10
his descendants. Such a belief is incon-
sistent with the idea of a righteous God.
Such God l might fear ard obey, but |
could never reverence Him. l am not a
universalist because l believe that God
has given us the power of choosing good
and also that Of choosing evil. We have
the reins e our destiny in our own hands. %
Mr.. Strong said that he c0ud not con-
ceive for q moment that God would no d
any human being in he'll eternalIy, even
though one die in his sins md go to he'll
he stlll has the free win to avail himself
OF the grace of God offered there Even
should he then refuse to accept of this
grace he could suffer nothing but the loss
of God. which comes from SIN
Christ descended into hell that he might