The Newtown bee., 1908-05-29

1 9abdeNN ss sssAe hRAstN BhHAtAi aagAlH@
 bly,. There is much confused and con.
 trasting thought or lack of thought con-
 cerning this theme. Traditional theOl-
 Ogy has treated the issues of llfehand
 death, the reward on retribution of
 eatthly life. the effects and employ.
 ments of eternal existence in strange
 sorry fashion.
 The matter of fact mind makes the
 hereafter most materialistie matter
 and in truth no miad can c0nceiy c of
 tn heavenly abode without material
 metaphor which after all is contrary
 to the truth of spiritual existence. It is not easy to form the idea of God as
 Spirit immortal, invisible immanent al-
 ways and everywhere present, per-
 son, without some external sybmol or physically portrayed imagination. But
 to conceive of self as pure spirit, with
 out body parts or passions is more difli-
 cult still. Therefore the popular the-
 ory or resurrection and celestial exist
 ence have been often gross and gro-
 tesque. The instinctive opposition to
 or lack of adoption of cremation of the
 dead is due to a feeling that the ma
 terial particles of the body would be
 less likely to get together on loud
 last trumpet sounding general resurrec-
 tion morning than if buried in one
 special spot in the soil and subject to
 the slow process of decay of dust to
 dust and ashes to ashes. Art and an-
 ticipation put feathery wings on an-
 gels when Scripture says nothing about
 such appendages and science scouts it
 and sense should spurn such a sugges-
 tion. We want great white throne
 in heaven for without tive might fail
 to find God in the multitude which no
 man can number and there is a turk
 ing expectation that we shall behold
 him seated thereon in the likeness of
 man only bigger. Golden streets it
 seems to me would be glaring with
 the white unapproachable light beating
 on them. rather have the cool soft
 green grass. How heavy and hard
 would be crown upon ones head.
 Nothing short of miracle could make
 most men learn to play harp and the
 few tunes we know would grow very
 tiresome before week of endless eter-
 nity was completed. Yet did we not
 sing in childhood of the longing to be
 "an angel and with the angels stand
 a crown upon my forehead, a harp with
 in my hand and there before my Sa-
 viour so glorious and so bright, I'd make the sweetest music and praise him day and night" even though the Apocalypse asserts that there will be no night there. The child's mind took this imagery literally and those early impressions are not easy to efface and much of that materialism though mod flied, fingers and turks the average adult mind.
 Then the location of heaven has its popular point of celestial compass up above the blue Armament as the an- clents imagined and the contrasting abode of the departed was down some where into the abyss of space or be- meath the surface of the earth. What ever the direction of these domains the distance to them was tremendous even for. thought and Deity was more em- phatically present in one place and the devil in the other than either or both were on or in the earth. To be pure in heart and see God while person is in the flesh has not entered into the pop ular mind very much as yet. To pre- pare to meet thy God is thought to be by the door of death. We pray to the Lord to save us at last because it is supposed to mean the receiving us into some celestial place when we die, rath- CT than the thought that we can be saved now by coming into condition of character that partakes of the Di- vine nature proof against the tooth of time and eternally enduring in its ele- ments. Heaven and hell are regarded as localities in space rather than states of the soul and there is too much try ing to get into Heaven and keep out of hell instead of trying to get heaven in- to ourselves and keep hell out of our selves. The determination of our di- yergent destination of future life de- bends upon the decision of great gen. eral assize patterned after Police Court in any city about here, the pris- Dner, is arraigned at the bar, his case taken by an able and affectionate ad- vocate who pleads for mercy before a stern judge, making mention of his ; own merltorious individuality and { offering to take the four forty or four hundred lashes for the ; cnlprit and though the arraigned has no merits whatever, the judge consents to suspend sentence in some cases but many incorrigible cases must pay the { penalty of violated law and the sen- I tence is the same for all everlasting . of physical suffering or mental anguish from which there is no pardon nor any alleviation of its awfulness. The penalty is purely pun ] ative, never remedial, for no repentance will result in recovery. This necessi- . .ates that sin is always to exist in 'pite of Gods adherence of it and an- ,ther and an antagonistic kingdom is Q endure in eternal enmity to Gods . loly reign. Satan's throne is to stand ] IS long as the Lords and the kingdom | 'f evil is never to be wholly extermin- < tied. l. {
 confess that I have exaggerated a title in explanation of the popular es- [ innate and made it bit of burlesque f 'ut there is enough of fact this diag- | losis of prevalent opinoin so that am ashamed of the stiffness and selfshess | 'f salvation is held by large portion , md think proportion of Christian 1 constituency. Furthermore, that frac- l ion who rejects this theory set forth ' Ire apt to take sort of agnostic atti- 1 -t1de tnward the lifo bayond ,o;ss +ha Y