The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-08-29

These words from tho lips OF our Mas
ter the Great Teacher. have been griev-
ously misunderstood. The teaching OF our
Protestant childhood was TO the effect
that only the sanity elect would go 70
heaven and that others would not only
lose heaven, but gain an eternal life In
torment. Thus our text was understood
10 portray what practically the whole
world OF mankind would bo compelled TO
endure. This hell was pictured To our
childhood minds from outside the Bible
as heated TO a white heat. If We ex-
pressed wonder or surprise that any hui
man creature could endure such condi-
tions so long. the answer was that God
would exercise His omnipotent power TO
Some theologians OF the Thomas Kemp
Is school of thought went so far as to
picture the poor creatures In their suffer-
lngs and to show that the heat would
which would shield them from u measure
OF It's Intensity. But those deluded thco-
logians proceeded 70 explain that these
outer coverings would crack and shell
of every little while. leaving the poor
victim freshly tender that his suffering
might he the more intense.
or course. these theologians of the past
had their difficulty in dealing with tho
worms. They could imagine Sevls who
would oversee The torture as being made
immune to pain by the chief lorturer.
the Almighty God. But just how 10
imagine the worm getting along in so
great heat. and how they would in any
wise increase the torture of the poor
sufferers, was to many a pcrpleXlty. But
patient thoughtfulness along these cruel
and devillsh lines enabled some to formu-
late the theory that the worms would he
nre-worms that would bore through the
incrustations and add still further 10 the
horrible su6erngs of the world OF man
kind
Was This What Jesus Meant?
Did the Great Teacher intend that
such conclusions should be drawn from
ms language? And did He stop short
OF the description from reasons OF SYM
pathy or modesty or shamep Is this the
general teaching Of Gods Word. or has
a great and terrible mistake been made
-Nnd have VIC mistaken figure OF speech
and treated Il as literal? We erred We
misunderstood. The Great Teacher who
rebulled Ills disciples. James and John.
when they desired 10 call fire from
heaven upon the city of Samaria be-
cause the people thereof refused TO sell
them food for the Master-the sympa-
ihetc ono who said 10 them, "Ye know
not what manner Of spirit ye are of the
son OF Man came not TO destroy mems
iNcs, but To save them"-Could that Son
'o' Man In any wise intend to tell us that
our great Heavenly Father had less OF
the spirit OF love and righteousness than
the Two impetuous disciples Did He
mean TO intimate that while the dis
,,lples !mpetuousIy, might have been will
Samaritans. the Heavenly Father. of st{l
more dcmonacal disposition, would treat
practically all mankind ten million times
worse than that and use divine power
10 all eternity 10 perpetuate the suffer
lnEs OF Ills earthly creatures which His
own Word declares were born i'm sin
shapcn In iniquity In sin did their
mothers conceive them?-earthly crca-
lures. too. whose environment was un-
favorable and whose adversary, the devil
""d neither destroyed nor bound?
n ipt tSNr,r fip,,
clS' is not supposable. We must look
Tor some explanation OF the Masters
words more consistent with his own char
acter and with tho heavenly Fathers
character, and most consistent with our
conception of what a just. loving. wise
and powerful creator would do. 1t does
not answer the purpose TO say. as so
many do Bosh. do not discuss such a
matter. Nobody now believes such
things! This one scripture rcpudatcd
would shake our confidence I'm the whole
Bible. But rightly explained and under
stood. 1t would settle and increase our
faith in the scriptures a Divine mes
sage. This. then. must be our object
not merely to east from us the devllSsh
Interpretation of the dark ages. but to as
certain the true intcrprctation-to get the
true lesson from the words OF the Great
Teacher. Thousands are drifting off into
more or less open infidoity simply be-
CaTse Of tho irrational Interpretation
given BIZ this text and tNo or three otl =