Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1909-07-15

attached to Gehenna and however fig
urative the lake of fire, the point so
clearly made, that the punishment de-
noted is in the future world, stands !
unmoved and this is the great fact.
Then what if it could be shown that
by the use of Gehenna the Savior made
the valley of Hinnom the emblem of
national judgements? Would that ex
plain the doom Of the devil and all the
punishments that follow the destruc-
tion of death and HadesE Would it OBJ
literate the significance Of the ''second
death. .
But no proof or good reason can
be given for separating Gehenna and
the lake of fire. AS we have seen, Ge
henna means punishment after death.
Men are cast into it after the body is
killed and yet it. receives them soul
and body together. 1t is therefore af-
ter the resurrection 1t is the Gehen
ma fire-the everlasting fire, - 'the
unquenchable fire. and it is the fire
prepared for the devil and his an
gels. 1t corresponds in every partic-
ular to the lake of fire. Like the
lake it is after death, after the resur-
rection and after the judgement, and it
receives the devil and his angels as
we'll as the ungodly of earth. Then
why separate them' This cannot be
done Gehenna and the lake of fire
point to the same thing. That thing
is final. 1t is the 'second DEATH.
Upon it falls the curtain of ever
lasting night2! No voice echoes back
its horrors. No light CLEANS from its
lurid burnings. No revolution of cy-
cles numbers the measure of its years.
Eternity dark, fathomless, hopeless,
seals the fate of all adjudged to dwell
amid the devouring fires.
The best way to learn the opinions
of people at a given time in their
history is to study their literature at
the period in question or as near it as
possible. Josephus and other Jewish
J writer's of the times of Christ, record
} with great minuteness and general ac-
curacy, the history of that nation.
According to Josephus, the Jews be-
> lieved in judgement after death, fol-
{ lowed by eternal punishment to the
wicked. 1t is evident that at the age
, in which this document was written,
intelligent christians so understood the
: Jews and SO represented them, and SO
/ far as we can learn, without complaint
: or contradiction. Josephus tells us
g that the Pharasees held that all souls
| are incorruptible, but the souls of bad
: men are subject to eternal punishment
/ WARS of the Jews II, 8, IA. The Tar
g gums are perhaps tine most authorita.
tive expositions of the Jewish faith, as
: it was when Christ was on earth, now
Q within our reach. These afford un.
S mistakeable evidence that eternal pun,
s ishment was taught and believed by
: the Jewish people.
If the Jews got their notion of etern
!, al punishment from the heather phil
f osophers, why did not Christ correct
: this error rather than give strength tC
f it? The truth is that the Jews per
9 fectly understood Christ in reference
y to eternal punishment, but in the Ian
It guage of the Bible as quoted by the
y author of the article entitled 'Eterna
It Torment SIN the last days men shall
: depart from the true faith, giving heet
: unto seducing spirits and the doctrin,
y of devils" and the above scripture il
r a merited photograph of the no-hell
g ties. 1t is none other than the doc
b trine of devils. 1t is sustained ant
t propagated by devils. The no-hel
}, doctriue was conceived in iniquity
g and born in hell. If these men, il
e the language of st, Paul, ''of corrup
/ minds get any consolation out o.
!. their doctrine, why not keep it fol
e themselves, and not try to force it up
d on innocent girls and boys and other
d of pure minds and life, for they them
+ selves viii need all the comfort theil
doctrine can give, when they become
i companions and associates of the deyi
}, and his angels. This doctrine Of NJ
n eternal punishment for the wicked is
/ hel-trap calculated to slide souls int,
i hell with ease. If there is no hell /
N occurs TO me there should be TIVE
e hells to put the advocates of such /
/ pernicious doctrine in.
Ie The souls of men are conscious af
is ter the death of the body Moses an,