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

In defense of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ and by the request of others, |
feel it my indispensable duty to write
a few lines on the article in last
weeks issue of the Sequachee News,
entitled Eternal Torment If the
false doctrine the gentleman contends
forswas an error of small magnitude
had it affected the minor points only
of our holy religion-charity would
enioin forbearance and christian fell
lowship. l would pay no attention
to it, but take this modern doctrine to
be another Gospel, and when consid-
cred as system, to be totally unevan-
gelical.
notice that the gentleman is very
kind in advising earnest seekers after
the true meaning of certain words in
the original, namely sheol, hades,
hell, where this information may be
had. | am very proud, indeed, to say
that there are still some of us left,
who adhere to the truth, who do not
need any assistance whatsoever from
The Peoples Pulpit but are able to
read the Bible in the original Hebrew
and Greek for ourselves.
1t is characteristic of narrow
minded pigmy to cite people to some
other sources for the desired informa-
tion.
will now endeavor to discuss the
Bible idea of future punishment, and
give the meaning of these Greek and
Hebrew words, according to Groves,
Graves, Heducus', Herman's, Thay-
er's and Liddell & Scott's dictionar-
les.
''Hades' is a Greek word meaning
the unseen world, the yelled world,
the place of disembodied spirits. Ha-
des received the souls of men. Tarta-
rus is one of the departments of this
unseen world. Sheol is a Hebrew
word, and its meaning is just the same
and as full as the Greek word hades.
Sheol meant to the Hebrew just what
hades did to the Greek. Hell some
times means the same as those other
two words Sometimes it is mistrans-
lated and employed where the word,
"gehenna" should be employed. The
words themselves are of little conse-
quence The fact exists, it is a world
unseen, but real 1t would have exist
ed and filled its Office if the name had
been different, or if no name had ever
been given to it. The Mississippi river
poured its waters along the same chan
mel for ages before the word, Missis-
sippi, was known, and it would have
continued as deep and wide if no name
had been applied to it. In the course
of human events it SO happened that
the word "hades' was used among
| men as the name of the unknown re.
gions, inhabited by departed souls,
, and the Saviour adopted it as suitable
} to his purpose, because it would be
understood, and in using it he sane
J toned the general idea of world Of
spirits.
The same remark is true of 'gehen
ma. The name is mere incident
The eternal state of the wicked is {
fact, a necessity. Its terriblenes'
grows out of the nature of sin, and thu
= relation of sin to the divine govern.
= ment.
} This word more nearly than any 9th
t er one in the scriptures, corresponds il
9 meaning with the ideas commonly at
9 tached to the English ''hell'' so far a
the fnality of punishment is concern
ed, and cannot, by any possibility o
fair criticism, be forced to give ex
preston to the idea of place of TEN
porary affection or reformatory tor
ment 1t points to the extreme pun
ishment of the enemies of Christ, t,
e the last abode of the lost None hav
r yet been cast into Gehenna, and W
: hazard nothing in assuming that tn
: place itself has not been created. |
n amounts to nothing against the argu
S ment in hand that its locality in th
, universe is unknown and that ages up
Il on ages will yet pass before "the pi
: be digged for the wicked. Not evel
n the devil has yet reached this abode
d The fallen angels are not in Gehenna
+ but in Tartarus. They are not ye
S punished but are reserved under chain
of darkness to be punished at the da
of judgement, and so it is with tn
a wicked dead. They are in custody un
der arrest, awaiting the revelation o
/ the judicial decision that consign
S them to the final DOOM But tn
: "chains of darkness under which tn
! fallen angels are held are not materia
chains We need not suppose tina
: they impede locomotion or bind thos
S ON whom they rest as to locality. Th
d devil with his mysterious host goes t
= and fro ON the earth. This is now hi
sphere, but after the judgement whe
cast into the lake of fire his acoes
to earth will cease and be will temp
us no more. Now he is in the invis
n ible world, in hades, wherein is dark
S ness. and this prison is Tartarus, bu
it is not Gehenna. When the Saviou
used this word He looked beyond Tar
r tarus and beyond Hades: He locke
= beyond the disembodied state, beyon
+ the resurrection and the judgemen
- and pointed 10 the last calamity of th
.vs.l-ad uaaaa Gahapna - diFarar