Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1909-11-18

standing of the scriptures. If they be-
lieved it, then my reasons are all the
better for rejecting it.
In the parallels and symbols of our
Lord, and in catechisms, and hymn
books, the torment doctrine is rooted.
And this would not be if people would
only think. Consider for a moment
Matt. 25:4t-46. Beginning at verse 81
we have the parable of the sheep and
the goats This parable describes the
scene of the millennial judgement to
it's end This is shown by verse 81
where the Lord comes and sits ON the
'throne of his glory" and all nations
first the living and then the dead,
have been gathered before him and in
structed and tested and the final YER
dict rendered as to whether they shall
live or die the Second death I" The
everlasting fire. mentioned in verse
Al, is the everlasting punishment"
of verse 46. The fire mentioned is a
symbol of destruction. The word pun
ishment in verse 40 is "kolasin" in
the Greek, which means to prune, to
''cut off as looping off branches of
trees" This punishment is everlast-
ing death, everlasting destruction, as
referred to by Paul in Heb. ALA,
Thess. 10. The sheep class, those
having developed characters in har-
mony with the divine standard, the
standard of holiness, are separated to
the right and of favor indicating life;
while the goat class elsewhere describ
! ed as "the fearful and unbelieving,
(who will not trust Cody the abomin-
able (brother haters,) whore mongers,
sorcerers, idolaters (such as misuse di-
vine favors, giving to self or any 9TH
er creature or thing, that service and
honor which belongs to God, and all
liars =" whosoever loveth.and max
eth a lie lin word all who do not
love the truth and seek it and at any
cost defend and hold it, ''shall have
their part in the lake which burneth
with fire and birthstone, Gehenna,
symbol of utter destruction, which is
ment here, but as the scriptures every
where teach a just and satisfactory
penalty, the wiping out of the evil do
er.
The Revelations abound with sym
bols and references to fire and brim-
stone and torment. But these do not
support the doctrine They make it
, ridiculous. Take Chap 20: 8, 10.
, Verse tells of the destruction of those
? who join with Satan in the last rebel
lion at the end of the millennium. The
flake of fire. of verse Is, is a symbol
} of their complete destruction, whatev-
er the agency used to 'devour them.
This being true the torment of verse
! 10 does not refer to human beings who
have been destroyed. Hence the ques-
tion arises, "Will Satan, and beast,
and false prophet be tormented for
} ever. Y''
u The Scriptures answer, "All the
wicked will He destroy" Satan will
finally be destroyed as we have seen
from Heb 81 "A.
= Rev. 14:9-11, is highly symbolic
} language. Here we read that IF any
man )rship the beast and his image,
J and receive his mark in his forehead
3 or in his hand, shall drink of God s
wrath, poured into cup of his jndig-
nation, and he is to be tormented with
fire and birthstone Who is liable to
this penalty Have any of you his
mark in your forehead2 If this be ia
ken literally we know of none. But if
the beast, and the image, and the
mark, and the wine, and the cup, and
the fire, and the birthstone are SYM
bols, then we properly conclude that
the smoke and the torment of verse IL,
5 are symbols, and represent something
else than suffering of individuals.
Other Scriptures identify the "beast
} and his image" with the "beast and
the false prophet and ''great Baby
lon." and the City of Babylon, the
) devil, the mother, etc. We find
that these are inanimate systems, and
are therefore incapable of being burn
ed with literal fire of conscious suffer
ing of any kind These with death
( and hell and the hopeless wicked and
3 every evil thing, are to be DESTROYED
in the second death. Rev. 20:15, Ia.
The eternal torment doctrine has fell
! through. He'll has iguratively frog
{ en- over, and the devil that deceiv-
, ed them will be destroyed. Amen
Fear not, little children. Jesus shall
see the travail of his soul and be salts
t tied.-Isa. 53:11, 12.
/ now drop this subject for the pres
ent. remind you that have not en-
, deavored to strengthen my argument
by any claims to education, piety, or
high sounding titles, being content
that the truth be heard, since as Paul
3 says, 1--WE preach not ourselves, but
r Christ Jesus our Lord. - Cor. As.
l am perfectly willing to leave to
} our readers the arbitrament of the de-
bate thus far, and each may choose
the argument which seems most fully
to accord with the character of the
b God who is not only perfect in wis