Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1913-07-10
rExT-Rom. IS,


[ doom awaits them Others believe
ture punishment strikes terror TO peo-
pies hearts. and therefore this doc
Z trine is repulsive to them To others.
/ the thought of future anguish seems
utterly Incompatible with the father
I " love OF God Vet 1t Is acknowledged
10 be remarkable fact that both
Jesus and John. who more than any
one else In the New Testament rep
resent the element OF love in their
lives and teaching. speak most Of the
future anguish Of the wicked
L The wicked are said to die In
their sins
John s;2i-"Then said Jesus again
unto them. I so my way. and ye shall
seek me. and shall die In your sins -
The death spoken OF here does rot
mean Cessation Of existence any more
than eternal life means the beginning
OF existence. Eternal life does no,
mean merely 10 live forever, but to
live In a state OF hlessedness forever.
Eternal life deals not so much with
quantity rs with quality OF existence
Even In this life death can co-exist
with life: But she that uveth In
pleasure Is dead while she liveth- q
Tim 5:s): Eph- al. What men call
life God calls death. Rev. AIS de-
scrtbes what death means: But
the fearful. and the unbelieving
shall have their part in the lake which
burnett with IRE anc birthstone:
which Is the second death
?. The wicked are not anaihilated-
The texts most strongly urged as
teaching the annihilation theory. 10
rightly interpreted. will be seen to re-
fer to removal from OF the earth. and
not to future retribution- Here are
the principal passages:
Pisa 3T:20-~But the wicked shall
perish. and the enemies OF the Lord
shall be as the fat Of lambs: they
shall consume: into smoke they shall
consume away This psalm Is writ
ten for the encouragement OF Israel.
and against her enemies and their
power on the earth This earthly
power shall be utterly broken. and BE-
OF no more account than the smoke
OF burnt sacrifice. The great truth
taught here Is that the earth Is the
Inheritance OF the saints, and that the
wicked shall have no part in IL
In speaking of the everlasting pun
ishment- with which the wicked Will
be visited. as recorded in Thess. Is.
the annihilationist would say that ref.
erence is made TO the results or con
sequences" OF that punishment and
not to the punishment itself But the
Scriptures state that it is the punish
ment" itself. and not the conse-
quenees. that is everlasting
What need IL there Of a resurrec-
ton II the wicked are to be annihl-
lated at death. or Why should they BE-
raised from the dead II only to be at
once extinguished forever. Again.
there is no such thing as -uneon-
scious- punishment You cannot pun
tsh anything that is unconscious. Can
you punish a stone or a houseg Pun
ishment can take place only where
there Is consciousness on the part OF
the one suffering.
= The wicked are to be punished
This punishment Is eternal We read
OF eternal or everlasting punish
ment. everlasting IRE. II is object
ed that the word eternal or ever
lasting" does not mean forever
willing to admit that when this word
qualities the condition OF the righteous
IL means forever. without end. e. e..
the righteous shall go into LIE eter-
nal The same word. however. quail
fes the punishment OF the wicked. O.
&. these shall go away into everiast-
ing punishment Fairness demands
that we make the Joy of the righteous
and the punishment OF the wicket
both qualified as they are by the same
vord-of the same duration II there
is any end to the reward of the
righteous. there Is also 10 the penalty
Of the wicked The one lasts as long
as the other. II destruction" means
annihilation. then there Is no need OF
the word eternal to qualify it, Fur
Their the Scriptures present the pun
ishment of the wicked not only as
eternal" Tor age-long). but as en-
during for ever and ever or unto
the ages Of the ages REV. 1873:
20:I0: 1i:11. R W. Here is a pic
ture of ages rambling upon ages In
eternal succession
2 Fire
This is one OF the most constant
images under which the torment and
misery OF the wicked Is represented
Fire is a SYMBOL OF the divine iuds-
ment OF wrath Matt 5:22l. In Mat
thew 3;10 the goddess are represented
as a tree hexn down and cast into the
FIRE: in 3:12 tie chan (godlessl Is
burned with unquenchable FIRE: in
l3:42 the wicked are said TO be cast
into q furnace Of fre-
Is the Are spoken of here literal
IRE? IL is an accepted law Of Ian
guage that a figure of speech is Iess
intense than the reality II fire is
merely q nggratiye expression. II must
stand for some great reality. and If
the reality Is more intense than the
figure. what an awful thing the pun
ishment symboIlzed By rre must be-
There Il unthfnu more riffahIa thar