Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1909-09-23

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their lessons certainty that fables
could not give. 1t is fact that SOW
ers 90 forth to sow; that tares grow
with the wheat: that fishermen gather
the good and bad into their nets; that
the mustard seed grows to be a large
herb; that leaven leavens the meal
and it is a fact that both rich and poor
men die that both the righteous and
the wicked enter the unseen world
Then, whether it be true or false that
particular rich man died and was
buried, and lifted up his eyes in
Hades lin torment) one thing is Ger.
tain, Christ represented this state of
things. Did be represent state of
things as true which is not trueT
Did He adopt a falsehood and make it
into a parable This is incredible,
and yet if the representation of the
rich man into Hades, in torment after
death, set forth what actually occurs.
it must follow that the chief feature
of this parable is false representa-
tion of the state of things after
death.
We agree to call this Scripture
parable, but it is neither fable nor
falsehood. 1t represents truth. And
taken in its most obvious sense it rep
resents, and therefore teaches, that
Al o-o - IN, uoHac
Now let me quote from the No-Hell-
ite literature, and give their interpre-
tation of this parable. Mr.. Barnes
gives it in part, but will give their
explanation in full, and then to your
satisfaction explain it away. l. By
the rich man they say that the Saviour
represents the Jews, especially the
priests. 2. By the begger He repre-
sents the Gentle world. 3. By the
death of the two personages He de-
scribes the change in the circnmstan-
ces of both the Jews and Gentiles,
which took place at the introduction
of the Gospel Dispensation. 4. The
rich man in hell (Hades) represents
the wretched condition of the Jews
when God had placed them aside as
his chosen people. 5. The begger in
| Abraham bosom indicates the en-
trance of the Gentiles into the Gospel
kingdom which the Redeemer estab-
lished on earth. 6. The gulf signi-
| Co. hn nf nf in ha
Redeemer, whereby they have been
kept in their unhappy state of saliena-
tion unto this day. Now let us look
at these six items cOnsecutively, and
test their value.
1. Is it true that ''by the rich man
the Saviour represents the Jews, es-
pecially the priests? If so, all that
is said of the rich man must be true of
the Jews. 1t might be said of some of
them that they faired sumptuously,
for they were rich, but this cannot be
taken of the Jews any more than of
the nations around them. Nor can
this with the allusion to their dress,
be applied to the priests as distinguish
ed from the people, for the priests had
no ecclesiastical or political life, apart
from the people, that would warrant
such language concerning them. They
did not constitute the nation. With
them the purple and fine linen were
not the only distinguishing articles of
official dress Gold, blue, scarlet and
precious stones were equally impor.
tant and conspicuous. And if we ad.
nit that the allusion was to the dress
of the priests, we are still at loss tC
know what the clothing represents.
If spiritual privileges, what does the
sumptuous feasting representa- Il
worldly prosperity when was it enjoy
ed? If national greatness when were
the Jews so great that neighboring
nations, the Romans for instance,
were 'beggars" in comparison with
them. The Jews as nation acknowl
edged Abraham as their father" but
this rich man had another father
for he said in the parable, addressing
Abraham, Il pray thee, father, thai
thou would st send him to my father
house. Who besides Abraham die
the Jews call ''father'p The ricl
man after death appealed to Abraham
for help by the ministry of the beggal
but when, and in what sense, did tn,
Jews appeal to Abraham to send Lazs
rus to their relief after the change il
circumstances supposed to be denoted
by the death of these personagesG Th,
rich man had five brethren and i
he represents nation so they ought t,
represent nations, but what five ma
tions could they representa- Thes
brethren had Moses and the Prophets
that is the Old Testament Scriptures
but what FIVE nations, besides tn
Jews had the Sacred Writings.
Many attempts have been made I
! tell what or whom these five breth
rem represent in the parable. Som
say they represent the Jews scattere
abroad, who carried the writings Q
Moses and the prophets with them
But the Jews scattered abroad wer
not separate nations. They were jew