River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1915-01-28

(lASI0& Rg22Elzg was, Thou wilt
not leave My soul
in Hell."-Psalm 1910; Acts 2:27
The Pastor declared that the Bible
He'll is a very reasonable one, but that
the theological He'll is q most unrea
sonabe one, Us all must agree. The
Theological He'll is red hot furnace,
m.nnpd with fire proof devils and con
tanning practically all Of the human
family who nave ever lived-the eX
ception being the comparatively snaH
number of sanity followers Of Jesus
This He'll is the common property OF
Catholics and PrOtestants: and they
are welcome to it, so far rs the Pastor
is concerned He declares it an all
surdity, wholly contradictory to the
Bible; and he proved his points well
in tbe estimation Of nearly all present
HeIIs Galore-Modern Theology.
The Pastor remarked upon how
many different kinds of He'll there are
according to theology. 1t seemed to
him that each preacher felt that he
had a right to make q hell for all non
church members according to his own
conception. None seemed to think it
necessary to 60 to the Bible. He re-
minded us Of the views of the SANITY
Thomas a Kempis, in which he de
scribed the horrible smells and sights
Of He'll so graphically as TO make one
wonder if he had made Il special visit
and returned to write it's description
He reminded us Of the vivid picture
this writer gives of naked soul II
anybody knows what naked soul is
and how the fiery blasts finally as
bestOsized the outer skin, rendering
the suffering somewhat less.
But this decrease of suffering. az
cording to Thomas Kempis, was dis
pleasing to God; and a description is
given of how this torture was renew
ed and intensified. The asbestos skin
split down the back like the shell of a
locust, and into that crack the flames
of He'll licked their way furiOusly
upon the raw flesh of the damned
souls. This process. the saint inform
eternity for the JOY of God and the
holy angels. for the satisfaction OF
some kind of justice which the saint
had in mind. but which we Of today
thank God! are unable to comprehend
The Pastor declared that fire is used
in the New Testament as a symbol OF
destruction, an illustration of how all
! the wilfully wicked God will destroy
eventually. People do know something
about fiery trials. and about heaping
Goals Of fire upon the heads OF their
enemies fguratively. But whenever
the word fire occurs in any connection
where it can be twisted into signify
| ing eternal torment, those who love
that kind of punishment for their enc
mics are swift to take advantage Of ii
eternal torment is the just, the low
ing thing to give to all the heather
! poor, ignorant and degraded who. born
in sin. in weakness, find themselves
! discouraged and overwhelmed by the
Adversary to all not church members
This sort of thing has been going on
so long. the Pastor said, that every
body gradually came to believe it. and
remarkably few have inquired as to its
unscripturaness. Many sensible peo-
pie held aloof from religion entirely,
unwilling to confess themselves believ-
ers of such a doctrine or worshipers
of such a God.
But now we have variations to suit
orr more refined feelings. Ministers.
without giving their authority, now tell
various tales about He'll Some have
| it with a slower fire. not SO red-hOt;
others have it that it IS merely a place
of mental remorse-following in this,
to some extent. the leading of Dante's
picture of Purgatory. where various
punishmentS are melted out for vari
Gus sins They do not, however, go so
far as Dante and call the place Purga-
tory, or admit that there will ever be
any release from it. They content
themselves by saying that there IS
nothing in the Bible about Purgatory,
and forget that there is nothing in the
| Bible about their kind of He'll. the III
bic He'll being totally different one.
According to the Catholic doctrine,
all Catholics go TO Purgatory 10 be
purified and fitted for Heaven; and
/ they rejoice in this lesser torture be-