Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-05-11

AtNA INV AtANAN NiAi hNhNAAa NH'h H'N
the opportunities here offered are ac-
cepted or neglected. THIS Is ,he large
~ prevalent idea--one that Is In full
harmony with the Scriptures and with
reason
It therefore sounds rather strange
when seotarlan clergyman lifts his
voice In defense Of the ancient idea OF
everlasting torment in burning lake.
as does the Rev, r. A. Lapsley, Of
Greenyille, Va lie takes the ground
that our Lord In the parable Of the rich
man and Lazarus. teaches unaquiyocal-
ly' first, that the souls Of the ungodly
do at their death pass into a state Of
penal suffering second, that this state
Is without mitigation or end, And the
authority" he SAYS, "ofJesus Christ as
a divine te1chcr, stands committed to
these two points Of doctrine"
Is this true? Is Jesus committed to
the doctrine that the greatest number
ct the Fathers children are TO perish
cterrally; that the adversary 10 the
battle between right and wrong Is T.
come out triumphant at last, and that
the infinite mercy. that found its ex-
preston In the redeemlng work Of the
Son is wasted, as Ear az the many
are concerned? II 50. no wonder II in
fidelity claims many victims
But the divine Master never taught
such gloomy doctrine He did speak
again and again, OF the awful fate
hereafter Of those who die unrepentant.
lie spoke in terms that sufficiently in
dictate that their misery is beyond hui
man comprehension. But He never in
tlmatei physical torment without end.
The parable Of the rich man. to which
Mr.. Lapsley refers. has not the least
feature upon which such doctrine can
be built It's aim Is evidently twO-fold.
1t teaches that he who sehshly closes
his heart TO suffering brethren in this
life, VIII suffer torment hereafter, be-
cause his selfishness has excluded him
from the company Of the righteous, 1t
has In hades, placed him where there
is a gulf between him and the society
In which Abraham moves. just as
crimes here often open a gulf" between
those who commit It ana former asso-
clates, Still Abraham calls the man
who suffers for his errors "son," and
we would think In that term alone, a
ray Of hope is offered He was not
eternally cast off. He was still son"
The second object of that parable is
to teach the futility OF relying upon
visions or appearances from another
world, for repentance and salvation.
Abraham is represented as saying to
the erring man, that his living breth-
rem, whom, probably. by his example,
he had led on the wrong road, had
Moses and the Prophets, and that, If
they would not be guided by them, they
would not believe testimony from a
departed spirit. Neither will they be
persuaded, though one rose from the
dead This seems, indeed, to be the
great lesson Of this remarkable parable
To make 1t teach endless torment to
the great majority Of mankind is to
deduce from it something entirely
foreign to its obvious purpose.
The Scripture teaching on this point
is summed up in the statement that
everyone shall finally be rewarded ac-
cordlng to his works. II Is lntimated in
the wonderful vision in which both
death and hades are represented as
being cast into "the lake Of fire." as
having served their purposes and be-
ing no more needed. That In this final
contamination Of all things some will
be lost, namely all whose names ARE
not found written in the book OF life
is also stated. But il is nowhere re-
vealed what their fate will be; nor Is
it anywhere intimated that the large
majority Of the children of men will
thus become eternally lost. The throng
of the redeemed is said 70 be innumer-
able.
The subject is Of no small import
ance. The work Of redemption, the
relationship OF God to His children,
and the efficiency Of the Gospel are in
VOWED in the proper understanding Of
1t. Luther once asked an applicant
for a pulpit the abrupt question: What
do you know about the devil?" as II
such knowledge were OF the first i'm
portance And in one sense It Is, For
without a correct understanding Of the
influence and power Of evil, there can
be no correct view OF the work done
by our Father for the redemption of
His children.