The fool-killer., 1919-10-01

and religious sects are supposed
to "dive down. into them in Or
der to teach those under them, I
hold that the leaders of one are
as apt to misinterpret as the
leaders of another. Then why
should | take the word of the
Baptists or any other eternal
torment" leaders any more than
that Of leaders who oppose it?
So far as God has given us the
mental ability to "dive down"
for ourselves, it is our privilege
to do so, and if by the aid of our
best reason sanctified by the
Holy Spirit we see things diff
ferent from any of the leaders,"
haven't we the same right to be-
iieve it as we see it that the
leaders have? I hold that the
smartest of us can't see it all
just exactly right, and whether
we believe in eternal torment or
not, and have accepted Christ as
our personal Saviour and try to
live accordingly, we have escap-
ed whatever future punishment
IS in store for the unsaved. But
to believe in eternal torment for
the wicked as is ordinarily be-
lieved is God-dishonoring, even
if so many of Gods earnest chill
dren do believe it. Many of
them believe it only because
their leaders have taught it, and
would see differently if they got
down in earnest to think for
themselves. For instance, if
you had been born into an Ad-
ventist family and raised among
Adventists instead of Baptists,
it would be easy for you to see
like the Adventists and hard for
you to see like the Baptists. |,
of course, was raised in the same
church belief with you, but sew
eral years ago I began to study
other beliefs and found so much
friction among religious leaders
that [ by degrees decided to fol-
low none of them, but to follow
the Bible according to the best
light | could get from ALL of
them, together with my own
convictions guided by the light
of the Holy Spirit.
[ am glad you are afraid of
what you call the second chance
doctrine, but I don't think you
have a very clear understand.
ing of what the so-called "sec.
ond chance" is. AS a matter OF
fact, nobody teaches any such
doctrine unless it is the Univer
salists. Russell does not teach
anything of the sort, although
he is being continually Charge
with it. The present Gospel Ag
is to select the Bride of Christ
and the Wedding Guests, a specia
small company of faithful saint
who will get the highest honor
in the Kingdom, and many rea
Christians will miss it. Blu
they will not be lost. They viii
belong to the "great compan!
that no man can number" ant
they will get a lower place in tn
Kingdom. This present life of
fers the only chance of getting
into the Bride Class. Russell
does say that a great many o:
the worlds population have new
er had a fair chance-millions O
them have had no chance at all
, for instance the countless multi
tudes of heather who have diet
in heather lands through all pas
ages. And it would not be Civ
: ing them a square deal for then
to be finally lost without eve
having any chance at all. S.
: Russell thinks that all such PEG
. pie will have a FIRST chance il
the next life to come in and b
j, CITIZENS of the Kingdom an
> live UNDER the rule of Chris
!. and his Bride.
. This is one phase of the Cos
! pei that few Christians com
!, prehend, much less understand
You speak of hoping to be
, Guest at the Wedding Feast, an
r perhaps you did not realize tina
you were rightly, though uncor
sciously, dividing the Christian
into different classes. To be
q GUEST at a wedding implie
that you are not the bride G
~ bridegroom, although ever
q wedding has both. All Chris
q tians understand that Christ
;, to be the Bridegroom at tn
~ great Wedding Feast referred I
in Revelations, and they usual
y understand that the Church
>. the Bride. But where most
y them miss it is in thinking tt