The Cairo bulletin., 1913-04-28

text. like many other Bible statements.
is so rrievously misunderstood as TO
prevent Christian progress. Many no
bic hearts. he claimed. are furnishing
for lack of refreshment of Gods Truth.
The ehanRels of thought are blocked
bv fossilized errors of the Dark Ages
The ports OF our hearts should be deep
ened and widened by the blowing up
of the, false aud deviish hell doctrines.
which hinder US from receiving spirit
ual nourishment. There exists "a fam
inc for hearing the Word Of God
If this text we're the only one mis-
translated and misunderstood. he said.
the ordinary reader would doubtless
pass it by as figure of speech But
1t is merely one of a combination of
mistranslations all of which are con
nected with an eternal torment sys-
tenn of doctrines invented during the
Dark Ages. This power of error is
turning intelligent minds away from
the Bible. Hence it is our duty to
break down these false doctrines. and
to clear away whatever binders the
dow Of Truth to Gods people.
The Psalmist is merely telling of his
severe illness. from which by the grace
of God he recovered. He would have
it understood that it was not merely q
slight ailment. Hence he described il
as ''the sorrows of death that is. the
sadness associated with the thought
that he was about to die, about to
leave his friends. In poetic Hebrew
he repeats the thought in the next
statement-.the pains of hell gat hold
upon me-" They were the pains of ap
preaching dissolution There is not
the slightest reference to the future.
Why Not the Whole Truth.
In their revised translation of the
Bible, our Baptist friends use the ex.
preston, "the underworld" instead OF
hell. Yet even here is danger that the
average reader may not catch the true
thought. Far, simpler and wiser IL
would be had the translator said, "the
pains Of the tomb"
Every learned minister knows that
the Hebrew word Sheol really means
the grave, the pit, the state of death
Why do they hesitate to tell the people
Why do they translate it sometimes
the craze, and other times the under.
f5orlds Why do they use the transla.
ton the craze, in one place, the pit In
another. and then refuse to translate Ii
in a third place, giving instead the
original word Sheol? Was it their in
tention to confuse the people? What
is the motive? We wish that some OF
these great men would explain.
The Reason For All This.
We would like to have our minis
terial brethren state their reasons for
hiding the truth ON the subject of hell.
Only because they decline to do so, do
we feel at liberty to make suggestions.
These ministers seem to be of two
classes. with slightly different reasons
for silence on this subject. They seem
to agree that it is dangerous to tell the
people that God is really God of love,
and that the doctrine of eternal tor
ment is unscriptural, promulgated dur
ing the Dark Ages by men who burn
ed one another at the stake.
The Pastor declared that one class
of ministers seem to fear that If PEG.
pie saw the errors of the creeds. they
would discredit the ministers who had
taught these doctrines But why fear
to tell the truth? Perhaps they fear
that people will lose confidence I'm their
teachings. and that the party walls of
Christendom, which have so long di.
vided Gods people, will fall. Since they
will not tell us. we can only surmlse.
Other ministers, he said. have become
higher critics, and do not believe the
Bible They prefer to pose as believ-
ers and hope for the time when all the
wealthy and intelligent will have be-
come believers also. Then they win say,
We have been unbelievers for many
wears. but have kept it secret, fearing
to be misunderstood as opponents of
the best interests of society"
The.latter class constitutes the great
est menace to law and order. md are
Satan's best agents in destroying. faith
in Gods Word fngersolrs methods of
antagouizing the Bible were far less
successful than are those of modern
a. a