Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1911-07-22

cy." Another was
specially to Bible Students, and 1t we
report. His text was, Where their
worm dieth not and the fire Is not
quenched" Mark TX. Al The speaker
said:--
There are other and much more beau
tlful topics than the one have chosen
for this occasion. Nevertheless, Hand
some is that handsome does" This
text has stood in the way Of Gods
people for centuries. and still continues
In the way Of many Of them. To such
It proves the Almighty Creator to be
most unkind one, most un-Fatherly
one, view the matter as we will. Some
say. lovolessly and llloglcally, that God
provided from before the foundation
Of the world great OehennG OF fire,
torture, suffering, and that all man
kind were doomed on account OF father
Adams transgressl0n, but that through
Jesus death arrangement was made
by which the small number who walk
In His footsteps in the marrow way"
may escape this awful eternity.
Others say. not 50; God is love, and
these unquenchable fires and immortal
worms are matters Of necessity which
His love cannot overcome, because, by
some slip Of unwisdom In the begin
ming. or by some lack of power since.
the Almighty Is unable to do better
than to save the mere handful and to
allow the great mass Of mankind to
Buffer endless torture In the fire that
never shall be quenched, and where
the worm will never die,
The Great Teacher Misunderstood.
These words from the lips Of our
Master, the Great Teacher, have been
grievously misunderstood. The teach
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 man.
kind would be compelled to endure.
This hell was pictured to our child
hood minds from outside the Bible as
heated to a white heat. II we ex-
pressed wonder or surprise that any
creature could endure such conditions
80 long the answer was that God
would exercise his omnlpotent power
to make us tire- proof and pain.sensitive,
Some theologians Of the Thomas a
Kempis school Of thought went 80 far
as to picture the poor creatures in
their sufferlngs and to show that the
heat would form kind Of IN asbestos
covering which would shield them
from measure OF It's intensity, hut
those deluded theologinns proceeded
to explain that these outer coverings
would crack and shell of every little
while, leaving the poor victim freshly
tender that his suffering might be the
more intense.
or course. these theologlHns 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 torturer, the Almighty God. But
just how TO imagine the worms got
ting along In no great heat and how
they would In any wise increase IN,
torture OF the poor sufferers was 4
many perplexlty, But patient
thoughtfulnoss along these cruel ant
deylllsh lines enabled some TO formu
late the theory that the worms woult
be fiery ones, living In nre, delightinI
In nre-worms that would bore through
tho lncrIistatlons and add still fur
ther to the horrible sutferings Of IN,
world OF mankind
Was This What Jesus Msantf
Did the Great Teacher intend tina
such conclusions should be draw
from His languagcl And did He stol
short OF the description from reasons
Of aympathy or modesty or shame1 L
this the general teaching OF Cod
Wori or hns great and terrible mis-
take been nader And have we mlstaS
" a figure Of speech and treated Il a
literaly We erred, We misunderstood
The Great Teacher who rehuked III
disciples, James and John. when the,
desired to call fre from heaven upol
the City OF Samarla because the peo
pie thereof refused To sell them foo,
for the Master-the sympathetic ON
who said TO them. "yc know not wha
manner OF spirit ye are Of; the Son o
man came not TO destroy mems lives
but 10 save thc,a" could thai son O
man In any wise intend to tell MS tina
our great Heavenly Father had les
OF the spirit Of 1--we aud Righteousness
than the two inpetuouS dlsciplesl
DID BE mean TO Intimate that Will