Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1909-09-09
NATURAL HUMAN
IMMORTALITY"
DECLARED TO BE A "DAN-
GEROUS DOCTRINE" BY
DR.. BARNES.

Washington, D. c., Aug. 2l, 1909.
Editor News:
Imust congratulate our friend on
his production on the Separate Ex-
istence of the Soul" He certainly
did well from his obscured Scriptural
standpoint. However as the subject
is barely introduced, / will, with the
editor kind consent and cooperation,
present final and conclusive evidence
from the Bible that man is mortal,
subject to dissolution. But let me ex-
plain that we force our views ON none
rs the brother claims, but, obeying
the Masters injunction to let our
light shine before men, we, as is Gus
tomary, present our testimony either
orally or written, knowing that only
those having ears to hear and hearts
to obey will be moved by it. And to
those who do not see as we do, we at
tach no penalty, knowing that our
heavenly Fathers plan now is to take
out of the world "a people for his
name,'' to be his 'elect" ''bride'
and through whom the non-elect mil
lions are to be blessed. To such we
say God bless You, and bid you trust
not to any fancied intrinsic merit in
yourselves, but in God. and Christ.
.'Who ONLY hath Immortality, whom
no man can approach, and ON whose
will your existence depends.
The doctrine of natural human inn
mortality though highly esteemed
among men and entertained in some
indehnable way by many, is an abom-
ination to God, and under the search
light of Scripture and reason most
absurd proposition, and at the same
time dangerous doctrine land he who
attempts to defend it from the Bible.
using his reason, has tough PROPOSE
tion, as many have found out to their
surprise and disappointment.
We claim the doctrine is dangerous,
first, because it presupposes that God
who is "All-powerful" and KNEW
the end from the beginning has Gre
ated millions of creatures whom he
cannot destroy, and who must, because
of having been conceived in sin and
reared in iniquity'' suffer untold ag-
ony for all eternity. Second, it Is
dangerous because it fosters deadly
pride in that it makes man consider
himself to be equal with God, that
his power and provision for man
restoration is not needed, and the un-
holy and profane declare themselves
too good to be tormented, and there
fore they exalt themselves to the di-
vine nature without Gods provision
or approval. They mistakenly call
this faith, when as matter of fact it
is presumption. Faith is the sub
stance (understanding)of things hoped
for. We do not hope for present
possessions. Now reason should teach
any man that the life of the creature
is subject to the will of the creator.
A being whose life depends upon con-
ditions such as food, climate, etc, is
mortal. But we set out to prove this,
and in order we first introduce the
Genesis account of the first man.
Adam s, creation; and if we prove
that Adam was created mortal, it will
also prove that according to the laws
of generation his children are mortal.
Here we learn that ''God formed man
1.-THE body) of the dust of the ground
and breathed (blewl into his nostrils
the breath of life; and man became a
living SOUL" In other words, the un-
ion of the breath of life with the new
Informed organism produced sen
tient being; that is, being having
sense, capable of sensation and OF
thought. And the expression 'liv-
ing soul means this and no more
because every creature that hath life
is called in the original Hebrew liv-
ing soul, as the margin shows. A
horse, a cow, fowl, etc, is a soul.
In proof of this we quote from the
Emphatic Diaglot,a a standard work, on
the word, Soul. THE Hebrew word,
nephesb, of the Old Testament oc-
ours about 700 times. 1t is translated
life and living about 15O times: and
the same word is also rendered a man,
person. self, they, me, him, anyone.
breath, heart. mind, appetite, the bod
Y. dead or alivel lust, creature and
beast: for it is 2s times applied to
beasts and every creeping thing In
further proof we quote samples from
the Genesis record of the lower animal
creation. God said let the water
bring forth abundantly the moving
fcreeping) creature that hath life.
Heb aephesh-soul'l lGen. Leo
God created great whales and every
living creature Heb. aepheSe, living
souIl that moveth. which the water:
brought forth abundantly. lGen'
20 God said; let the earth bring
forth the living creature Heb. ne
Dhesh-living soul) after his kind
cattle and creeping thing and beast.
fGen. 1:94l. This will suffice to show
that the lower animals are souls IN ex
artlv the same terms that refer q