CHAPTER XXXIX.

ALL THE WICKED WHO DIE FINALLY IMPENITENT WILL COME FORTH TO THE RESURRECTION OF CONDEMNATION.

Not Human Opinion but the Divine Word alone the Source of Truth Concerning a Future Life.-Christ Illustrates its Character, Definitely and Solemnly, by the Par able of Lazarus and the Rich Man.-Hades, as well as Heaven, a Place, not a State or Condition.—The Individuality of their Inhabitants not Destroyed or Lost.— Destiny, too, Unalterably Fixed by an Impassable Gulf.-No Restoration from Hades to Heaven Possible.-The Consciousness Shown to Exist After Death Forbids the Idea of Soul-sleeping, or of Annihilation.—Salvation is a Free Gift to Believers in Christ.-For Refusing or Neglecting this Gift, and Disbelief in Christ, Sinners are "Turned into Hell."-No Foundation for Doubting the Fact of Endless Punishment After Death.-Duration of "Eternal Life" and of "Eternal Punishment "set forth in Scripture Co-equally.—Wresting of Holy Writ in Advocating Heresy.-Rationalistic Character and Paralyzing Effect of the Second Probation Theory, and of the Denial of Eternal Punishment.

By C. W. PRITCHARD, Minister in Friends' Church, and Editor of the Christian Worker, Chicago, Ill.

As a life-long member of the Friends' Church, I shall set forth in this article what I believe to be the doctrine held by this body of Christians, as tested both by its authorized writings and the general tone of its preaching. For what is herein written, however, I hold myself alone responsible.

While attempting an argument from Scripture on the subject of punishment after death, no pretense to superior learning is made; but, taking the common English Bible, both the authorized and the revised versions, I have sought to discover the plain, obvious meaning of the text, such meaning as an intelligent reader, seeking the truth, would naturally gather from a careful perusal. To the Scriptures alone do I look for the truth concerning a future state. I have no confidence in any opinion based upon anything else.

To begin with, let us take the lesson of the rich man and Lazarus,

given by the Saviour in Luke 16:19-31. I mark the following points which seem to me plainly deducible therefrom:

1. Two men spent this life within knowledge of each other. Death, man's common lot, came to each. Lazarus had lived with a view to future existence, and was prepared for death; the rich man, satisfied with his "good things" in this life, gave no heed to the invitations and warnings of the Lord's prophets, did not repent of his sins, and was, therefore, not prepared for death.

2. After death, Lazarus was taken to the abode of righteous Abraham; the rich man found himself in hell or hades.

The one was "comforted," the other "tormented." The happiness of one was complete, his fruition perfect; as a faithful Israelite he could ask no more than the companionship of Father Abraham, in his heavenly home; the despair of the other is described in his sad lament, "I am tormented in this flame," and in the piteous cry for but a drop of water to cool his tongue.

3. Heaven is a place, and hades is a place. Nothing here sustains that mystical, super-spiritual view which would make hell a state, and its inhabitants characterized by evil passions and dispositions. The voice of Abraham and the voice of the doomed man came from living beings, with the same individuality as upon earth, each in his respective place, permanently separated from the other. We hear of the eyes, the tongue, the finger. The rich man pleads that Lazarus may be sent to warn his brethren against coming to "this place of torment."

4. The future destiny of the rich man was unalterably fixed. Is there anywhere a hint of the possibility of his future redemption? Not the slightest. If the doctrine of restoration beyond the grave be true, how could Abraham have said, "Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us that would come from thence"? All passing from hades to heaven is cut off, though there may be those who "would come from thence." Equally significant is the declaration, "they which would pass from hence to you can

not." If probation be not ended, why should heavenly messengers be excluded from this region of hope, seeing their pleading might yet avail to save? If righteous persons are needed in this probation, why not in the next? If preaching and prayer and pleading are effective here, why not there? Why this impassable gulf between these candidates for redemption and those who would offer them help? Between the righteous dead and the impenitent living on earth there is a gulf, but no such gulf as this. Abraham did not say that Lazarus could not return with a message to the five brethren, but that he need not; many a time such messengers have returned to earth. This, then, seems clear, that when this life ends. the mingling of the righteous and the wicked will end. The power and influence of a living church are not known in hades. Again, if there was hope for the rich man, why was there not the least expression of it in this conversation? In a most eloquent and pathetic manner does the rich man invite such expression, but no word of hope is spoken. Does he not seem repentant, even? See his anxiety for his brethren. If repentance may yet bring salvation, are there not the most favorable indications that the rich man is about to turn unto God? Then why does he not receive some word of comfort? If in this life one show a like evidence of sorrow for himself and interest for the salvation of others, the messengers of the cross shower upon him the promises of the gospel. Why this silence of Father Abraham towards this suffering, anxious man? Why no word of hope? Answer, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended."

5. The rich man after death was in a state of consciousness. To him death was not a sleep; it seemed rather the beginning of a life of torment, in which he was keenly alive to all about him. Upon what principle of Scripture exegesis can the doctrine of soul-sleeping find any support from this portion of revelation? Is not the text equally fatal to the doctrine of annihilation? Here are both punishment and a place for the unsaved, with no intimation that there will ever be a change. Lazarus is not alone; others are awake;

Abraham's words are in the plural, "you," and the five brethren were in danger of joining them. What reason have we to suppose that all the impenitent dead are not, like Lazarus, awake? When will their sleep begin? Will they sleep amid the anguish of hades? The concern of the rich man was not that his brethren should escape annihilation, but a living torment. If this anguish is to end in non-existence, or if there is to be an unconscious sleep, strange that this lesson should have gone into the sacred record with teaching so directly opposed thereto, the natural conclusions drawn therefrom being erroneous and not one word written to correct them.

6. The general if not the specific truth, taught by this Scripture, was enforced by Moses and the prophets. The request of the rich man that Lazarus be sent to "testify unto" his five brethren, “lest they also come unto this place of torment," was answered by the words, "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” The teaching of these messengers of God had been so plain that Abraham withheld not the strong expression, "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." Hear not Moses and the prophets concerning what? Manifestly concerning hell and how to escape it, and heaven and how it may be won. It is not claimed that the Old Testament teaches as definitely as the New all the points we have drawn from the lesson of Lazarus and the rich man. It was not necessary that it should do so, in an age when, in common with people of all nations, the Jews believed in the final separation of the righteous and the wicked after death, and were little given to disputing about the character and duration of the punishment. Yet there are several plain affirmative declarations in the Old Testament concerning the eternal doom of the wicked, and the general tenor of its teaching in this direction need not be misunderstood. Moses and the prophets, clearly and in many forms of expression, described man as lost, dead, blind, impure, unfit for the society of righteous and holy beings in another state of existence; they.

held up before them the way of salvation, and pleaded with them to accept it and walk therein, warning them of their danger, and assuring them of God's love and mercy. "Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation," "Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?" are but examples of their fervor and zeal in exhortation.

An argument, when followed to its legitimate end, sometimes leads to a conclusion which is the very opposite of that which was intended by its author. I may refer to an example of this in my own experience. When a young man, I listened to a highly intellectual and eloquent discourse in favor of universal salvation. The following argument impressed me and I remembered it: The speaker stated that Moses, in giving the law, nowhere made punishment after death a penalty for disobedience. This, he reasoned, was strong presumptive evidence that there is no such punishment. If the Hebrews were to suffer only famine, pestilence, the sword, and like earthly evils, as the result of their sins, such is the lot of all men; the penalty for transgression is paid in this life, and there is no punishment in the hereafter. My spiritual condition was such as to make this doctrine very acceptable. It would have been a great relief to me to know that there is no hell. For a time this discourse strengthened my temptation to unbelief. Presently I inquired, Is there a promise of heaven as a reward for keeping the law? I examined the Pentateuch and did not find that there was. Then I saw that if the omission in one case proves there is no hell, in the other it proves there is no heaven. I was now more perplexed than ever. This seemed a clear defect in the Scriptures. At last, when I had come to know Christ, and had made some advancement in divine life, the mystery was solved; the glorious truth took possession of me, that salvation is a free gift, bestowed only upon him who believeth in Jesus. Heaven is not won by keeping the law, man is not saved by works. Conversely, the wicked are not turned into hell for disobedience, but for refusing or neglecting to accept God's free gift, for not believing in Jesus Christ. From the beginning, this foundation truth was guarded by Jehovah. The