Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-02-23

his eternity. quite evidently IneSo we'll
meaning forefathers Of ours were not as
long-headed, far-sighted and logical as
we might have expected them to be, when
they did not perceive the difficulty into
which they were walking. Rather We
should say, perhaps, that they did see
something of the difficulty, but viewed
matters differently from what we do. The
theory of Calvin and Knox prevailed at
that time amongst Protestants and led
each denomination to hope that 1t was
Gods elect and that it would consti-
tute the little flock" who would go to
heaven, while all the remainder Of man.
kind would be consigned to an eternity
of hellish torture.
With a broadening sentiment which,
we thank God. has come to Professionals
and to Catholics also, we no longer feel
disposed to pray after the example Of
the past
God bless me and my wife,
Ny son John and his wife,
We four and no more"
Both Catholics and Professionals, looking
back to that period which we often term
the dark ages" have reason to give
thanks to God for the amounting OF the
eyes Of our understanding, which enables
us, we believe, to think more logically
than our forefathers. Even those OF US
reared under the doctrine of predestina-
ton have lost the idea that the heather
were passed by because they were pre-
destinated to damnation; and instead OF
those who accepted the Westminster con-
fession of faith are today the most zeal
Gus In the preaching of the gospel among
the heather by missionary effort. We are
glad OF this. 1t is sign that our hearts
are in truer and nobler condition, even
though our heads have not yet gotten
into proper adjustment with our hearts,
and we still look at crooked doctrines
and endeavor to imagine them altogether
straight.
Theoretically, the Protestant doctrine
stands with the Bible and declares that
heaven is place of perfection; that
there can be no change to any who enter
there; hence that all trial, all refinement,
all chiseling, all polishing of character
must be accomplished in advance of an
entrance into the abode of the saints. In
a word, we agree that only the saints
will ever enter there, the pure in heart,
the overcomer the little flock" who
now walk in the footsteps of Jesus. What
about the remainder of mankind? All!
there is the difficulty. Our larger hearts
will not consent that all except the saints
must spend an eternity of torture,
though this IS the logic of our creeds.
Our hearts protest, saying that three
fourths of humanity today are heather,
and that fully that portion of humanity
altogether have never heard OF God and
the terms OF salvation.
Our creeds perplex US; for, as our
hearts will not permit us to think Of
these poor creatures going to an eternity
of misery, neither will our hearts permit
us to say that they are At for heaven.
Indeed, II would be at variance not only
with the Scriptures, but also with reason
itself, to suppose heaven with three
fourths of It's inhabitants unregenerate in
any sense Of the word. Our forefathers
merely spoiled things for us when they
threw away Purgatory and kept the re-
mainder of the arrangement. If we must
object to Purgatory as being unscriptural,
must we not equally object to the eternal
torment Of all the families of the earth
as being unscriptural especially when the
Bible declares in it's very earliest part
that all The families of the earth shall
be blessed through Christ-blessed with
knowledge of the truth and come into
heart harmony with God and to attain
everlasting life through Christ. believe
that It Is unnecessary to press this point
of the unreasonableness of the eternal
torment doctrine. Nevertheless. will re-
tant theories are on the subject. namely:
ID The Calvinistic thought is that divine
wisdom and power planned for mankind
in advance-knew of the fall of man in
advance, and prepared therefore by the
creating of a great place called hell and
the manning of II with 6reproof devils
for the overthrowing of me racial ex-
cept the little flock" the ELECT" Love
and Justice were left out Of this calcula-
ton and its predestination. 90 The other
prominent Protestant theory, the ar
minian," held today probably by the ma
jority, insists that it is love and justice
that created the world and arranged for
torment, and that wisdom and power
were not consulted; hence that God has
gotten into difficulty, while endeavoring
to do Justly and lovingly by His crea-
lures The entire difficulty, dear friends,
is that in our reasoning on the subject,
we have merely asked the opinions of
men, and have not sought the word of
the Lord.
I will surprise you, I feel sure, when
1 bring to your attention now the clear,
plain reasonable, Just, loving and wise
program Of our heavenly Father. 1t has
been so long overlooked, so long buried
under the rubbish of human traditions of
the dark ages" that today Truth is
stranger than fiction" Well did our Lord
through the prophet declare.
''As the heavens are higher than the
earth,
So are my ways higher than your ways,
And my thoughts than your thoughts.
lisa. $50.
And what else should we expect than
this-that God would be better than our
selves? Our Lord said, Love your enc
mics, bless them that curse you, do good
to them that hate you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you" Matt. 6:44)
"If thine enemy hunger, feed him; II he
thirst, give him drink" CRom. 12:20) In
view of this, how strange to think that
he would torture his enemies, and that
eternally; and not only so, but torture al
so those who are not specially his enc
mies-the ignorant, the heathen-all who
do not become saints under present adj
verse conditions! From only the one
standpoint can we get order out of con-
fusion and regain the proper respect for
our Creator and his dealings with our
race. That is the standpoint of the Trnth,
as revealed to US in the Bible.
What Say the Scriptures
All of the foregoing theories, be 1t no
ticed, are based upon the assumption that
death does not mean death-that to die is
to become more alive than before death.
In Eden 1t was God who declared to our
first parents, I'VE shall surely die" 1t