Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1911-04-22

NIT iii IeAl wiz ITOHI
Sz7===s=sz=sy Corinthians xv, l2-
@s@5IoR Egs9ELLl 49,
How say some
among you that there is no resurrec-
tiun Of the dead? I" . i" II Christ be not
risen then is our preaching vain and
your fnith Is also vain. = =" Then they
also which are fallen asleep In Christ
are perisbed." He sald;-
For years Gods people have had ex-
cellent Bibles, and thus have been
blessed far In advance of our brethren
who lived during the Dark Ages. But
we have read our Bibles too carelessly
and often have most Of us wondered
at the great stress st. Paul laid upon
the resurrection. Rarely is the subject
preached upon now and rarely is 1t
ever thought of except as an absurdlty.
The reason for this Is not far to seek.
From childhood we have been taught
that nobody is dedd-that In dying ev.
erybody, good and bad. becomes more
dliUe than ever before: that this alive
ness. TO the saintly few. means splr-
itual powers and an immediate en-.
trance into heaven. death being swal-
lowed up in life. The unsaintly masses
also. we are told, have qulckened sensi-
bilitles after dying they become more
alive. more able to appreciate and suf-
fer pain.
Our Catholic nPlghbors tell us that
the majority Immediately so to Pur-
gatory. there TO be tried by various
sufferings and tortures. and later. en-
ter heaven. Our Protestant teachings
have been 10 the effect that the un-
sanity masses. unit for the presence
OF God and the holy, will be consigned
to an eternity of awful torture and
made very much more alive to suffer
ing than before Thus we have been
taught to believe that death Is a portal
or door into an intenser life-thdt no
body Is dead Many Of us perplexed
ourselves. and were perpexed by 9th.
ers. with questions respecting how
there could be resurrection Of the
dead" If nobody ls dead. We avoided
the question. or gave the answer, "Mys-
terry; go run and play
Some. indeed. attempted u patchwork
of the matter and told us that those
in heaven were huppy, but not so hap
py as though they had bodies and that
after thousands of years of craving for
q body (which they had used for only
few years.. they would get II back
again for all eternity Others said,
"No. our bodies have been only clog
and hlndrance and from the moment
of death we will be better off without
them: and we do not know why the
Bible should teach resurrection OF
the dead. to get back bodies that we
would be glad to be rid Of" Respect
ing the wicked. we said that after
roasting for centuries without body,
then. to intensity their pain, the body
would be resurrected and they would
have double suffering. What bosh!
What foollshness! Is 1t any wonder
that many of the bright minds Of the
world learned to doubt everything con-
nected with religion and the Blblel
Rather the wonder is that seeing
things so obscurely, we did not all re-
pudlate everything.
Now What Do We Find?
With the clearing of the mists of lg.
norance and superstition. with better
light reflected from one page to an.
other Of the Bible, the resurrection sub.
ject clarifies and the statements of
Jesus aud the Apostles and Prophets,
which we thought 50 strange, become
luminous and soul-satisfying.
When once we see that "the wages
Of sin is death and not eternal tor
ment; and, that the Bible hell Is the
tomb and not fiery furnace; and that
all mankind so to sheoI, TO hddeS. Just
as did our Savior; then we begin to
see that what we all need IL to be
so we'd from Shc0i, from hddsS, uS wNs
the Savior A salvation
IS thus the salvation hope Of the
Church and OF the world
What u relief this gives us as re-
vpects parents, children nelgbbors,
friends aud the heather, who have
died out Of Christ. insanity. What
comfort II brings TO know that they
are sleeping In the great prison house
Of death, unconscious Of the lapse Of
time, waiting for the Redeemer. Who
will as King Sei up His Kingdom In
glory. associating His Bride with Him.
self for the blessing OF all the families
or the earth. The bringing forth OF
the prisoners out Of the prison. house
of death viii be TO set before them
under the glorious provisions of the
New Dispensa ton M opportunity for
Iife everlasting, by obedience to The
laws of the Kingdom under the as,
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