Fear of punishment--Early Impressions--Men of piety and learning--Fact
and figures--Mental or material fire--The theory of conditional
immortality--Why invented--Moody--Divine failure impossible--Future
operations of grace--Restoration--A plea for charity--Other worlds--The
heathen--Devout use of the imagination.
There is a general fear of suffering after death. Such fear may be
derived in part from early impressions and education, and in part from
the conscience that God has given to every man. But whatever their
secondary origin, these sources of fear have been divinely ordained as
means to an end. Such fear could not be divinely inspired if it were not
founded on fact. And the fact is, that there is suffering in reserve for
evil doers. There is no mistaking the statements of Scripture as well as
the voice of conscience on that point.
What that suffering is, for what object inflicted, and how long it will
continue, have been of late years much discussed, and with diverse
views. Some of these views are very literal interpretations of the
divine Word, and others of them are very figurative. The fact is, it is
not always easy to distinguish between symbolism and reality, whether in
nature or in revelation. I remember that the first time that I saw Mount
Tacoma in the distance, I could not distinguish as to what was mountain
and what was cloud. When I got very near, then I knew. And so in several
Scripture statements it is not easy, for the present, to distinguish
between what is fact and what is figure. When we get nearer no doubt we
shall know. So it is with the nature and the duration of future
punishment. Some take a more literal, and some a more figurative view.
The result is, that the Christian world is at wide variance on the
subject. And I think he would be a bold man, and not a very wise one,
who could be very dogmatic in such a realm of investigation.
* * * * *
Now, with regard to the portion of the wicked in the next life, there
are three main theories that are held.
First: There is the theory of everlasting conscious torment of the most
terrific kind. It is not clearly defined whether the suffering is of the
body or the mind, or both; but the general idea is that it is of both.
The bodily suffering is usually conceived of as being inflicted by fire;
but whether the fire is material or of some other kind, is not clearly
defined. The mental suffering is usually represented as the most
bitter remorse.
Then second: There is the theory of extinction at death or after. The
idea is that there is utter destruction both of the body and the mind at
some period.
Then again: Some hold that the wicked are given another opportunity
after this life of obtaining salvation; that many will do so, and that
the remainder will be destroyed. We may call this the theory of
extinction.