The Scripture Doctrine of a Future Life

Sixth Text.—"But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness but is in danger of eternal damnation." Mark 3:29.

This is claimed to be a strong text proving eternal suffering; but it says no such thing. It simply affirms that a certain class of the wicked shall suffer eternal damnation. The only question is, What does damnation mean? Turning to Webster we find as follows: "Damn.—To condemn; to decide to be wrong or worthy of punishment; to adjudge to punishment or death." To damn, then, is to condemn or adjudge to death. This is the simple meaning of that word. It means condemnation, and nothing more. Turning to the original Greek, krisis, Greenfield defines it thus: "Decision; sentence; condemnatory sentence; condemnation." Christ, then, simply, affirms that those who sin against the Holy Ghost will be eternally condemned. But it does not say to what they are condemned. Whether it is imprisonment, or stripes, or death, or something else. Other Scriptures must determine that. But we have already seen that scores of texts plainly declare that the wicked shall die, perish, be destroyed, burned up, etc.

Seventh Text.—"And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Mark 9:43, 44.

This probably stands as the second strongest text which our opponents produce. Hell, never dying worm, unquenchable fire! This they think settles the question. But let the word of God explain itself. The word hell in this instance comes from gehenna which is thus defined by Greenfield in his Greek Lexicon. "Properly the valley of Hinnom south of Jerusalem, once celebrated for the horrid worship of Moloch, and afterwards polluted with every species of filth, as well as the carcasses of animals, and dead bodies o malefactors, to consume, which in order to avert the pestilence which such a mass of corruption would occasion, constant fires were kept burning. Hence, hell." There was a place just south of Jerusalem where Moloch was formerly worshiped. When the Jews reformed, and saw the error of that worship, they made this a place for casting all the filthy refuse of the city. Dead bodies of beasts and malefactors were cast into fire to be consumed. These fires were kept burning. And worms also devoured some other parts which the fire did not consume. Thus, there were two elements of destruction here: the fire and the worms. As long as there were any carcasses to burn, the fire was kept burning; and, of course, as long as there was a piece of decaying flesh, there were worms to devour it. Dr. Barnes thus comments on Mark 9:43-48.

"This figure is clearly taken from Isa. 66:24. In describing the great prosperity of the kingdom of the Messiah, Isaiah says that the people of God shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men who have transgressed against God. Their enemies shall be overcome. They shall be slain. The people of God shall triumph. The figure is taken from heaps of the slain in battle; and the prophet says that the number shall be so great that their worm—the worm feeding on the dead—shall not die—shall live long—as long as there are carcasses to be devoured: and that the fire which was used to burn the bodies of the dead shall continue long to burn, and shall not be extinguished till they are consumed."

This figure the Saviour uses to illustrate the destruction of the wicked. Seeing that the damned will finally be destroyed, just as these carcasses were consumed in gehenna, no doubt this was the most forcible figure that could be produced of the utter destruction and consumption of the wicked. It is the very farthest from teaching endless suffering, because, in the strongest language it asserts utter destruction.

But it says, "unquenchable fire." If the fire is unquenchable, must it therefore burn eternally? No. To quench a fire is to extinguish it, to put it out before it has entirely consumed that upon which it is feeding. Thus, a house gets on fire. We call for help, the fire is extinguished, and the house is saved. That fire was quenched. But in case the house caught fire, and every effort was made to save it, but it was found impossible, and the house is burned down,—that is an unquenchable fire. We are not able to quench it, and the building is burned. Just so, says Christ, the wicked shall be cast into fire which they can in no way extinguish. Thus, in another passage we read. "Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Matt. 3:12.

The wicked will be burned up like chaff in the fire. That would be a poor illustration to teach never ending burning. The chaff does not burn that way. It burns up speedily and certainly. Just so the Lord says of the wicked. They will be burned up with unquenchable fire, that is, fire which they can by no means put out. Suppose the Lord had said that the wicked shall be cast into quenchable fire. They might say, very well; we will make a desperate effort and put out the fire and save ourselves. But no, says the Lord, you shall be cast into fire which you can by no means extinguish, and hence it will certainly burn you up without any hope. This is the simple meaning of the text which we will prove by other passages. Thus the Lord threatened old Jerusalem: "I will kindle a fire in the gates thereof and it shall not be quenched." Jer. 17:27. Jerusalem was to be burned in unquenchable fire. The Lord carried out this threat, and where is Jerusalem now? Burned down to the dust eighteen centuries ago. Are the gates of Jerusalem burning now? And yet it was burned with unquenchable fire. Then if God could burn Jerusalem with unquenchable fire and that go out, he can burn the wicked, with unquenchable fire and the fire go out.

Eighth Text. —"The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." Rev. 14:10, 11.

The whole objection in this passage turns upon the meaning of "forever and ever." It is maintained by our opponents that it must necessarily mean unending and cannot mean anything else. We as stoutly maintain that it does often mean a limited period of time, and we find in this case it does not mean without end. We might quote scores of passages where the term in the English Bible and in the original is applied as all will admit, to a limited time. We will take a few. Ex. 21:5, 6. The case is stated where a certain bondman loved his master so that he wished to stay with him always. In that case the Lord says his master "shall bore his ear through with an awl and he shall serve him forever." We ask our opponents if the term forever does not here mean a limited period? It simply means that as long as the servant should live he was to serve his master. And this is a good illustration of the equivocal meaning of that term. Now that servant might live after this fifty years. In that case the term forever would cover a period of fifty years. On the other hand, he might die the next day, and then the term forever would cover only one day. This all must admit.

Take another case. Lev. 25:30. Here the Lord says:—"Then the house which is in the walled city shall be established forever to him that bought it." That is, on certain conditions if a man bought a house it was to be his forever. Does the Lord mean that he was to own that through eternity? Everybody knows better. It is to be his for his natural lifetime and no longer.

So in the case of Jonah who was in the whale's belly three days and three nights, and yet when he comes up he says, "The earth with her bars was about me forever." Jonah 2:6. Jonah exclaims that he was there forever, and yet was there only three days. But we have another passage almost exactly parallel to Revelation 14, where all must admit that the same terms have a limited meaning. Let us notice the special phrase used in Revelation. The wicked are to be tormented with fire and brimstone; the smoke of their torment is to ascend up forever. They are to have no rest day nor night. Now turn to Isa. 34, where the Lord foretold the destruction of Idumea, a land near to Judea. We have these same phrases employed here. Thus, he says: "The Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea." Verse 6. "And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch." Verse 9.

When this is fulfilled, pitch and brimstone set on fire, we shall certainly have fire and brimstone, the same as in Revelation.—"It shall not be quenched night nor day." Here we have unquenchable fire, and the term night and day also. "The smoke therefore shall go up forever." Here we have the same thing. "It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up forever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever." Verse 10.

You will see that this passage is fully as strong as that in Revelation; and yet in this case it is simply a prediction concerning the destruction of all the land of Idumea. This was all accomplished ages ago, and that country was laid desolate; but is the fire now burning? No. Hence if God could destroy Idumea with fire and brimstone, the smoke of which was to go up forever and ever, and yet that be a total destruction and the fire go out, then God can do the same with the wicked. Therefore we maintain that in Revelation 14, "forever and ever" has a limited meaning. We do not know how long the wicked may be in burning up, whether it will be an hour, day, or a year. It will be very severe and long drawn out. But it will not be unending we certainly know, for other scriptures say they shall "die," "perish," "burn to ashes," "be as though they had not been," etc.

But the opposer says, Then, if the phrase forever and ever does not necessarily mean unending, how do we know that the righteous will live an unending life? How do we know that God himself will live eternally? for the same phrase is applied to the saints of God, to Heaven, and all these things. The answer is readily given. The simple words themselves "forever and ever" do not necessarily contain the idea of perpetual, unending. We must look at the circumstances under which they are used, and nature of the thing to which they are applied. In the case of the wicked they are applied to that which is corruptible, mortal, hateful to God, that which is thrown into the fire and of which it is declared it shall utterly perish. Hence, in this case they can not reasonably be taken to mean unending. But in the case of God himself, for instance, the circumstances are very different. Other texts positively declare that God is immortal, eternal, almighty, omniscient; and from everlasting to everlasting; that he is the source of all life and strength: hence when applied to God, unlimited duration is necessarily meant. So of the saints. It is said of them that they shall be immortal and have an endless life; neither can they die any more, and all such phrases. And then the situation in which they are placed, freed from disease, having right to the tree of life, placed in the midst of the heavenly city, they of necessity must live eternally. We think that every candid reader can see the difference. It is by ignoring such plain distinctions as these, that our opponents make out their desperate case.

Ninth Text.—"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever." Rev. 20:10.

This is the ninth and last text for our opponents. It declares that the devil shall be tormented in the lake of fire forever and ever. Now we can answer this very briefly. The whole controversy turns on the meaning of the phrase forever and ever as in the previous case just examined. Hence, all that we have said on that text applies with equal force to this. Notice farther that this text declares that the devil is to be burned in the same lake of fire that the wicked are. See Matt. 25:41. "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Having previously answered this text, it answers the one now under consideration, because the devil goes into the same fire with the wicked. We admit that the term forever and ever may signify a very long time. The devil is a very bold and hardened sinner. His case will be a desperate one, hence his punishment will be very severe, and long drawn out, but it nowhere says that his sufferings shall be unending. It is never declared that he is indestructible, eternal, immortal, or anything of the kind; but Paul affirms that the devil is finally to be destroyed. See Heb. 2:14. He says that Jesus Christ was partaker of flesh and blood, "that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil."

Thus, we have examined every pillar upon which this structure of eternal torment is built. We have found that they do not support the theory. Here, then, you have all the texts upon which this terrible doctrine of a never-ending hell has been built. There are only nine of them, and we maintain that everyone has been candidly and fairly answered, and explained in harmony with the destruction of the wicked. Can those on the other side answer the scores of texts in favor of the destruction of the wicked? No, they never have, and never can.