The essential elements of misery remain in the wicked after death. Redemption by Christ is represented as having for its object salvation from final perdition. The work of the Holy Spirit as a part of redemption, and the unpardonable sin against him, prove that the present is the final effort to save men. None of the passages relied on to prove final restoration occur in connection with the subject of future punishment, but with the reign of Christ and the happiness of the righteous. No passage of the Bible discloses the future repentance of the wicked. Promises of restoration, made to sinners who in this world were to become penitent, always occur in connection with threatenings and doom. No such promises are made in connection with the threatenings of future punishment or with the final doom of the wicked. The Bible closes with an express declaration of the future unchangeableness of character. There are no prophetic visions in the New Testa ment which contemplate deliverance from hell, and corresponding to visions of God's ancient people in captivity and of their release and restoration. The fall of angels and of man is a confirmatory argument in favor of future punishment, seeing that if God did not keep them from falling he can consistently refuse to restore them. The terms used with regard to the resurrection of the dead show that the wicked will have experienced no change since death, but will come forth from their graves to the resurrection of damnation. If the wicked are punished hereafter merely for their own good, there is no such thing as sin against God, or our neighbor;-which is contrary to Scrip ture. The law of God has no curse, if future punishment be in all cases disciplinary. The sentence passed upon the impenitent indiscriminately, forbids the idea of discipline in future punishment. It is inconceivable that fallen angels and "the spirits in prison" who were on earth "in the days of Noah," should not long ago have repented of their sins, if repentance were the object sought by their punishment. If death and the scenes within the veil previous to the judgment day, do not effect repentance in the wicked, there is no ground to think that their banishment from Christ with the fallen angels at the last day is intended for their reformation, or would effect it. "Forever" and "Everlasting" always denote the whole, as to duration, of that with which they stand connected. If a finite being cannot justly be punished forever, then if the whole universe should sin forever, it could not be punished forever, because the whole intelligent universe also is finite. The duration of future punishment is expressed in the New Testament by the terms employed to denote absolute eternity in cases which are never questioned. The provision made in the incarnation, sufferings, and death of the Son of God for pardon and salvation, and the abundant calls to repentance and offers of eternal life through Christ, to all, will make the final impenitence of sinners inexcusable, and their misery will be of their own procuring. I may be allowed, in closing, to quote the words of the Apostle Paul, which those who preach and are set for the defence of the Gospel, must not hesitate to adopt: "For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish. To the one we are the savor of death unto death, and to the other the savor of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?" 2 Cor. ii. 15, 16. Pursuing my ordinary labors, a Universalist and Unitarian clergyman of this city invited me to repeat in his pulpit, a sermon on this subject to which he had listened in my church. As I profess not to be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ which, in my view, involves the doctrine of endless punishment, I complied with his request. This has led to the present communication. Had mere controversy been my object, I would not have sought to discuss the Scriptural view of this subject, with such admissions before me as those of Rev. T. S. King and Rev. Theodore Parker. When I read them, I thought that one whose only object was to get the advantage of an opponent might be justified in feeling with regard to the doctrine of Restoration, as Joab did when he found Absalom in the tree, and he blew a trumpet and all the people returned from the battle. Such men as Mr. K. and Mr. P., seeing the doctrine of endless punishment in the literal speech of the Bible as interpreted by us, and rejecting its inspiration partly because they find it there, relieve us greatly from the need of holding controversies on this subject. Controversy has not been my motive. I have sought to persuade my reader to flee with me for refuge, to lay hold upon the hope set before us. In the foregoing discussion, I am not aware that there is any thing which intentionally reflects upon the understanding or motives of others. It has cost no effort to abstain from being, in any way, derisory, or satirical, or contemptuous. Conscious only of kindness and good will to all, and grateful for this opportunity to state and defend important principles, I am, the reader's friend and servant, Boston, December 10, 1858. N. ADAMS. |