The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1904-08-05

There may be a falling OIL IN church
attendance aud men may have for
gotten TO keep holy the sabbath day
IN this our day, and yet never before IN
the history Of the world was so much
said or written on the general subject
Of religion. a magazine without one
or more contributions ON the theme, or
a Sunday newspaper minus It's ser
mon are rare things The Literary
Digest gives unusual prominence 10
such discussions, and though often
crowded with errors and bristling
with doubts, it still publishes that
which IL believes lis readers VIII pay
for.
In a recent issue i quotes literally
from one professor Knight, Of Tufts
College, who contributed an article to
the July North American Review on
the above subject. This writer avOws
that the tendency Of the times would
do away with the hell ola Calvin and
Of a Luther, quench the "literal fire,
the "endless torment and substitute a
kind Of prison reform
When men cut loose from the Bible
and boldly assert that there are "er-
rOrs in the Bible they at once launch
out on an unknown sea without chart
OF compass. What hell is none Of
US know and we can no more grasp
the thought Of eternal punishment
than We can the infinite Of God him
self, but the most humble Of us, and
the more humble the better, and even
those who run may read and under
stand this: at is appointed unto men
Once to die and after death the judg-
ment." We have seen our friends die
and there are times when we realize
that we too must die, and yet we
know nothing Of the nature Of death.
We are accustomed to Use this ex-
preston: "COme 10 judgment, mans
judgment, and we know in some sense
what this means, and now if we in
this connection would only remem-
Der that Gods thoughts are not a. our
thoughts, We might come to the con-
clusi0n that his judgments are not a.
our judgments. The sentence from
him, "to depart" may mean Calyin's
hell, or Luther's hell, or such punish
ment as mar has never conceived Of
and it is madness to run the risk
OF meeting any such doom.
The Christian loves TO read this: at
doth not yet appear what we shall be,
but We rejoice TO know that we shall
be like him and be satisfied when we
see the King in his beauty" And fit
is going to be a better heaven than the
Christian has ever conceived Of why
not a more fearful he'll than the sinner
has ever dreaded? Do you say that
We are rash in dealing with any such
subject? Permit Us in answer to say
that you may be very reckless in not
dealing with it. Search the Scrip
lures, for they are they which testify
Of me, " and you will find out all that
mortal mar need know Of the great
beyond. Not what Calvin taught, nor
what Wesley urged, nor what Luther
would have you believe, but to the
claw and the testimony" No mar y
a Christian land need go wrong.
While reading from Professor Knight
we we're glad that he quoted from the
gifted Patton, Of Princeton, who gives
his opinion that the inmates Of hell
would as lost bear to the saved in hes-
ven about the same proportion a. the
inmates in our prisons now bear to
those who are on the outside Of prison
That's new thought to US and
Dne full Of comfort. "GOd is love" and
ielighteth not in the death Of any sin
ler. And now if you can have no fear
hell remember that the man who {
.ries 10 escape 1t is going to lead the
loblest highest best life here. II we
ay a God Of love can't punish his
FEATURES, and realize that we were
mistaken 81 eternity can't correct it. )