Year: 1863

Future Punishment.
II. w. Beecher, on future punishment,
says


:" In religion there is supposed 10 be
an out-growing Of the doctrine of future
: punish hment. Il certainly is not preach


ed as much as ii used TO be. Bul let
man 60 out into the outskirts of society,


where the Bible is the bowie knife. and


where men drink, race horses and swear.
and roll in debauchery, and undertake


to preach, and | don't care if it be Mr..


Chaplin, in less than month he would


preach hell.fre and damnation TO those


people. He could not help himself


Why? Because he has common sense


and beginning at the top, and trying to
Ind something that would touch them,


he would go down and down, till he
come TO something that would touch


them, and the first thing that would be
/ like mustard would be the doctrine Of


future punishment. And you will find


wherever there is low, coarse animal
community the doctrine Of eternal pun


ishment fourishes Not only that, the


lower they are, the more physical their
beliefs become. II they are low, so that


they are the next thing TO animals, not
only do they believe in the general doc
trlne Of future punishment, but they
believe in \ future punishment that is
actual and material. They believe in a
punishment that consists in the roasting,
the scorching, the singing Of human
bodies /; they believe there is veriable
sputtering hell. But as men rise up out
Of their degraded condition, and begin to
be brought toward conscience and the
higher feeling, what will you find . A
modification in mems belief of future
punishment? No, not that You will
find that they will, in talking about IT,
employ figures of speech They will
come TO say there is no punishment in
the nature of literal fire, but that here


is punishment that smarts like fire.


II man is an animal, they trea. him
as an animal, and if he is an intelligent
moral creature they treat him as such
Ii he is low down in the scale of being.
hey open hell and take medicine from
that and when he is more developed
they open the other medicine chest aud
take. something from that. In their
higher state Of development. all sects
lay aside the preaching of it. Why
For the same reason that when your
children are twenty one years of age.
you dispense with the ounce switch.
saying, they have out. t.grown the need
OF this" You think that your neigh
bor's children need it even when they
are older than that, but that yours have
come into realm where higher motives
are demanded. | think that we make
mistakes sometimes in this matter |
think that men that are above twenty
one, and some that are about fifty, would
be proGted by sound treatment. such as
they received in child hood.


The change that is not necessarially a
change Is significant in the matter of
theology. 1t may or may not indicate
modification Of belief In my own case
believe there IS punishment in the
future. | do not believe that there is
future punishment that is material.
There are many difficult questions con-
neeted with the doctrine Of future pun
ishment, which is not my purpose now
to discuss.


So far as my preaching is concerned.
the reason ! do not preach it more. is,
that think can make better headway
by the application Of higher sentiments
than by the presentation of lower truths
10 the element Of fear II were to 90
into other places, under difieren, crcum-
stances in this community, TO preach, |
have no doubt that should feel the need
Of bearing down with more terrific exhi-
b,'ions Of truth, and il | felt the need Of
it. should do it. All truth is like med
icine. and medicine is relative to disease,
and | should take that which would
effect the system most favorably.- From
Boston Investigator.