The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-07-09

eternal punishment. The different
churches vary in their ideas of the number
of people consigned TO endless torment. II
used to be thought that everyone was go
| ing to he'll except the communicates of
ones own particular church. Most churches
are now willing to allow the heather who
never heard of Christ and Christians of all
| denominations a chance of salvation; and
| some go so far as to say that the honest
unbelfever will be saved, though this was
| not credited until about fifty years ago at
the most. The church known as the Sew
enth Day Adventists believes absolutely
that it has found the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth; and its
| creed. while complicated. is in some ways
good type Of the general orthodox idea
as it existed up to a very recent time. and
in some places still exists. The adherent
of this creed believes that he has arrived
at the precise truth regarding the plan of
salvation and that nobody else has hit it
exactly right. There are twelve hundred
millions of people in the world at the pres
emit time, not counting all those who have
lived and died in the last eighteen hundred
years and before that; and the church In
question numbers possibly few score
thousand persons. 1t must be great deal
of comfort to its members to feel sure that
they, and only they, know the truth and
are certain to go to heaven. especially as
majority of the communicates believe in
very literal kind of hell. This hell will be
place wherein torments worse than any
which the Boxers can DEVISE worse than
the Hoboken horror worse than the tor
lures of the 1nquisition. will be inflicted
on millions of human souls for millions of
years. There is absolutely no end to the
punishment and no mercy for those who
fail to comprehend or to accept the Sew
enth Day Adventist plan of salvation when
it is plainly preached to them. But the
believer in a rational religion will not seek
to destroy the comfort which any body can
get out of this belief-out OF, the prospect
Of spending an eternity in bliss while the |
large majority of the people in the world
men, women. and children-are being tor
mented in the neither world. The average |
member of the orthodox church does not |
say much about hell nowadays. When it |
is suggested to him he says that nobody |
believes in a literal hell; but he seldom |
can explain what kind he does believe IN. |
1t seems as il it would be just as honest |
to come out and say in so many words that |
the Idea Of eternal punishment is one in
which the real Christian can find no pleas
ure or profit.
The thought Of an angry God. ready to
punish and discipline those who transgress
his laws, has been replaced in the rational
religion by the conception Of an infinite
working in harmony with ma
ture, inspiring all good thoughts and &C
tions. and allowing evil only because, in
the infinite wisdom OF evolution, it is nee
essary for the production Of good. II any
believer finds comfort in the thought Of a
stern and jealous divinity rather than an
wise, tender. merciful. and SYM
pathetic one, that comfort should not be
taken away from him. 1t may be neces-
sary to his development. The believer in
the religion Of reason does not wish to
deny him this; but he is little inclined
to wonder sometimes where the comfort is
to come in.