El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-08-05
CHURCHES.


that appeared in The Herald Of
- July Is. is deserving Of some com
ment; and it Is with all due courtesy
toward him. and with a liberal consid-
Grafton for his opinions that I pre-
sumo TO offer some friendly criticisms
Mr. Allen stated that the Bible has
much TO say regarding he'll. but admits
that much Of the teaching regarding It
is erroneous and that because OF this
the subject has become repulsive to
some. and frankly confesses his ina
bility to believe that the Billions that
have died without having heard the
gospel will be CONSIGNED TO an eternity
of torture. as taught by orthodoxy
Thus far our opinions concur. but
what Mr.. Allen may believe or what
may believe is Of no importance In
Matt. 1879. Jesus complains that the
ministers OF that time were teaching
the precepts OF men instead Of those OF
God and such is the case today; hence
the great confusion upon all Bible doc-
trines. and the 200 different Sects. or
denominations. each Of which claims 20
be right and TO eXoOund Gods word
correctly
Is Made Plain.
If hell is a Bible doctrine. and II the
Bible be Gods word. surely We should
be able to find a Thus saith the Lord.
as TO what II is. where II is and for
whom il is L seems that God would
be too good 10 leave US in darkness.
and TO our own feeble speculations as
regards a question Of such vital mo-
ment. and once we dispense with our
creedal speCtacles through which we
are wont to read the Bible. and get the
smoke and fOgs Of the dark ages ont
Of our eyes. We find that God has made
il plain: that there IS no necessity for
the confusion. the doubt and fears now
reigning throughout ChriSteudOm- thar
the Bible is its own interpreter and
that all sincerely wishing the truth
may have II without money and with
out price. The 200 conflicting creeds.
consisting of a miscellaneous mixture
OF Christianity with feathen philoso-
plies and dark age errors. tend merely
70 distort and mystify Gods word, ont
to elucidate II.
Doctrine of Torture RePuISive.
The orthodox doctrine of everlasting
torture for the non-elect is loathsorne
and re9ulsive to the thinking mind
Furthermore. IL is unreasonable. bias
phemous. God dishOnoring, saint him
dering. sinner hardening. and il is not
supported by one text Of scrfptflre
either directly or by implication and
all preachers sufficiently educated 10
be justified in Uresuming TO eynound
Gods word know it. They know that
the Hebrew sheol and the Greek words
hades. Eehennah and tartaroO contain
no thought Of torture or of pain in auv
degree. and these are the only words
that the transla tors rendered hell Hell
is an old English word and contained
no thought of pain or suffering until .
the theologians gave il such mean .
ing.
Not in Revised Version.
The word hell does not appear in our :
revised version Bible. The translators 2
knew that the Herbew and Greek words .
contained no such thought as the word
he'll had been made TO imply. but We're
not sufficiently honest to expose the .
fraud that had been perpetrated upon .
the world by rendering them correctly f.
therefore they did not translate them a .
all. but merely Transcribed them. as
Stunning that the laity would believe .
sheOl and hades to he as hot as they +
had been taught to believe hell to be .
Throughout all the centuries It has
been the rule Of the clergy to keep the
laity in ignorance It would be con-
sidered bad policy to repudiate this
heinous Islander Of the Divine character F.
and admit that the theOlOgians have
siole an error for so long time. how
ever. all educated preachers know It to
be false.
should Have Been Grave"
The Hebrew word sheol, the only
word in the Old Testament scriptures
translated hell. occurs So times. II was
rendered hell 81 times; grave 81 times
and pit three times. It should have
been rendered grave in every instance.
because il means nothing more nor Jess
than the state or condition Of death:
and inStead of being described IS
place lighted BY lurid flames of ever
burning fires. where tortured human
beings are to be made the sport Of fire
proof demons forever and forever. il is
described a place of darkness and
absolute silence. In Feel. we read
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do
10 ii with thy might; for there is no
work, nor device, nor knowledge nor
wisdom, in sheOl. whittier thou goest.r
lob. 1921. reads. Before I go whence
shall not return. even to the land OF
darkness and of the shadow of death"
IN lisa, 1873. and in Jonah. %. the word /
hell makes the sense so absurd shat IL (
s admitted in the margins of our Bibles
hat grave is meant In Psa-. 1918. the J
sweet singer of Israel says. Thou hast ! .
delivered my soul from the lowest hell"
n the margin of our common version il
s explained that grave is meant In
'ur revised version pi. is he rendition. |
Hades and SheOI.
In para graph seven Mr.. Allen saws. /
The term hades simply means the nm
4