The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-09-02
PEOPLES
Sermon by
CHARLES T.
RUSSELL.
Pastor Brooklyn
Tabernacle.

ing of our Protestant childhood was to
the effect that only the sanity elect
would go TO heaven and that others
would not only lose heaven, but gain
an eternal life in torment. Thus our
text was understood to portray what
practically the whole world of mankind
would be compelled to endure. This
hell was pictured to our childhood
minds from outside the Bible as heated
TO white heat. If we expressed won
der or surprise that any human creature
could endure such conditions so Ion
the answer was that God would cxer-
else his omnipOtent power to make US
fire-proof and pain-sensitive. Some theo-
logians of the Thomas kempis school
of thought went so far as to picture
the poor creatures in their sufferingS
and TO show that the heat would form
kind of an asbestos covering which
would shield them from a measure of
its intensity. But those deluded theo-
logians proceeded to explain that these
outer coverings would crack and shell
off every little while, leaving the poor
victim freshly tender that his suffering
might be the more intense.
OF course, these theologians of the
past had their difficulty in dealing with
the worms. They could imagine devils
who would oversee the torture as being
made immune TO pain by the chief tor
turer, the Almighty God. But just how
TO imagine the worm getting along in
so great heat and how they would in
poor sufferers was to many a perpleX-
ity. But patient thoughtfulness along
these cruel and deviiSh lines enabled
some to formulate the theory that the
worms would be fiery ones. living in
fire. delighting in ire-worms that
would bore through the incrustations
and add still further to the horrible
sufferings OF the world OF mankind.
Was This What Jesus Meant?
Did the Great Teacher intend that
such conclusions should be drawn from
bis language? And did he stop short
of the description from reasons of SYM
pathy or modeSty or shame? Is this
the general teaching of Gods Word
or has a great and terrible mistake
been made? And have we mistaken
a figure of speech and treated it as
literal? We erred. We misunder-
stood. The Great Teacher who rebuk-
ed his disciples. James and John. when
they desired to call fire from heaven
upon the City of Samaria, because the
people thereof refused to sell them
food for the Master-the sympathetic
One who said to them, "Ye know not
what manner of spirit We are of; the
Son of man came not to destroy mems
lives. but TO save them"-could that
Son of man in any wise intend to tell
US that our great Heavenly Father had
less of the spirit of love and righteous
ness than the two impetuous disciples?
Did he mean to intimate that while the
disciples impetuously might have been
willing to destroy the earthly life of
the Samaritans. the Heavenly Father
of still more demoniacal disposition.
would treat practically all mankind ten
million times worse than that and use
Divine Power to all eternity to perpet-
uate the sufferings of his earthly crea-
lures which his own Word declares
were born in sin. shapen III iniquity.
in sin did their mothers conceive them?
earthly creatures. too, whose environ
ment was unfavorable and whose Adj
versary, the devil, God neither destroy
ed nor bound?
Such an interpreted ton, my dear hear
ers, is not supposable. We must look
for some explanation of the Masters
words more consistent with his own
character and with the Heavenly Fa-
Tiers character, and more consistent
with our conception of what a Just.
Loving Wise and Powerful Creator
would do. 1t does not answer the pur-
pose to say. as so many do. "Bosh. do
not discuss such a matter Nobody
now believes such things" This one
Scripture repudiated would shake our
confidence in the whole Bible. But
rightly explained and understood it
would settle and increase our faith in
the Scriptures as a Divine message.
This, then. must be our obiect-not
btiSl. " Cast IIOu uS TIC uSSiiiSh III
depreciation of the dark ages. but to as
certain the true interpretation-tO get
the true lesson from the words of the
Great Teacher Thousands are drift
ing off into more or less open infjdelity
simply because of the irrational inter
probation given to this text and two or
three others. And these errors have
become so fastened in our minds from
childhood days that they have become
part and parcel of our very lives. so
that many of us would have been in
cliped at one time to dispute the very
existence OF God as much as to dis.
pute such slanderous misrepresenta
lions Of his glorious character
Entering Into Life.
Let US go back to Jesus day and in
mind place ourselves with those who
heard him utter the words of our text
and context. The Teacher had just
said, eff thy hand offend thee, cut it
Oft is better for thee to enter into
life manned. than. having two hands,
to go into hell, into the fire that never
shall be quenched. where their worm
dieth not and their fire is not queuch-
ed" lie SAID the same IN the Hollow
ing verses respecting the foot and the
eye. Was he speaking literally or fig
uratively? Does any sane person sup
pose today that Jesus advised literal