Where Are The Dead?

Where are our friends and our neighbors, the holy and the unholy, the civilized and the vile?

"Men and brethren, let me freely speak to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. For David is not ascended into the heavens." (Acts 2:29,34)

"And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man." -- John 3:13

For a man to declare himself uninterested in this subject would be to proclaim himself idiotic -- thoughtless. If the ordinary affairs of this present life, food, raiment, finance, politics, etc., which concern us but for a few years, are deemed worthy of thought, study, how much more concern should we have in respect to the eternal future of ourselves and neighbors and mankind in general?

Of course, so important a question has had the most profound study, ever since the reign of Sin and Death began six thousand years ago. By this time the subject should be threadbare. The entire world should be so thoroughly informed respecting this question that there would be nothing new to say and nobody curious to hear. But the large audiences of intelligent, thoughtful people which come to hear, and which listen with breathless interest to what we have to say, imply that after all the study the subject has had, but few are thoroughly satisfied with their conclusions.

The Agnostic Answers the Question

Before presenting what we claim is the Scriptural and only satisfactory answer to our query, we think it but proper respect to the intelligence and thought of our day and of past centuries to make general inquiries on the subject and have before our minds the most profound thoughts of the most astute thinkers of our race. We cannot, however, go into this matter elaborately and give lengthy quotations. We must content ourselves with brief, synoptical answers, which will be stated kindly and truthfully, and with a desire not to offend anybody, however much we may disagree with his conclusions. We recognize the right of every man to do his own thinking and to reach his own conclusions, whether these agree with our conceptions or not.

We begin our examination by asking our agnostic friends, who boast of their untrammeled freedom of thought, "What say you, Free-thinkers, in reply to our query, 'Where are the dead?'" Their answer is, "We do not know. We would like to believe in a future life, but we have no proof of it. Lacking the evidences, our conclusion is that man dies as does the brute beast. If our conclusion disappoints your expectations in respect to having joy for the saints, it certainly should be comforting to all as respects the vast majority of our race, who certainly would be much better off perished like the brute beast than to be preserved in torture, as the majority believe."

We thank our agnostic friends for the courteous reply, but feel that the answer is not satisfactory, either to our heads or to our hearts; which cry out that there must, or should be, a future life; that the Creator made man with powers of mind and heart so superior to the brute that his pre-eminence in the Divine plan should be expected. Furthermore, the brevity of the present life, its tears, its sorrows, its experiences, its lessons, will nearly all be valueless, useless, unless there be a future life -- an opportunity for making use of these lessons. We must look further for some more satisfactory answer to our question.

The Heathen Answer to Our Query

Since three-fourths of the world are heathen, the weight of numbers implies that they next should be asked for their solution to the question -- Where are the dead? Heathenism gives two general answers:

(1) Prominent are those which hold to Transmigration. These reply to us, "Our view is that when a man dies, he does not die, but merely changes his form. His future estate will correspond to his present living and give him either a higher or a lower position. We believe that we lived on earth before, perhaps as cats, dogs, mice, elephants, or whatnot, and that if the present life has been wisely used, we may reappear as men of nobler talents, as philosophers, etc.; but if, as usual, life has been misspent, at death we will be remanded to some lower form of being -- an elephant or a worm, perhaps. It is because of this belief that we are so careful in respect to our treatment of the lower animals and refuse to eat meat of any kind. Were we to tramp ruthlessly on the worm, our punishment might be a form in which we ourselves should be treated ruthlessly after the change which we call death."

(2) The other large class of heathen believe in a spirit world with happy hunting grounds for the good and a hell of different torments for the wicked. We are told that when people seem to die, they really become more alive than ever; and that the very minute they cross the river Styx they go to the realms of either the blessed or the ever doomed, and there are steps or degrees of punishment and reward. We inquire, "Where did you receive these views?" The answer is, "They have been with us for a long, long time. We know not where they came from. Our learned men have handed them down to us as truths, and we have accepted them as such."

But heathenism's answer is not satisfactory to our heads and hearts. We must look further. We must not trust to speculation. We must look for divine revelation; the message from Him with whom we have to do -- our Creator.

The Catholic Answer to Our Question

Turning from heathenism we address our question to that informed one-fourth of the world's population known as Christendom. We say, "Christendom, What is your answer to the question?" The reply is, "We are divided in our opinion, more than two-thirds of us holding the Catholic and nearly one-third the general Protestant view." Let us hear the Catholic view (Greek and Roman) first then, because age, as well as numbers, suggests such precedence.

"Catholic friends, Give us, please, the results of your labors and studies, the conclusions of your ablest thinkers and theologians, in respect to the revelation which you claim to have from God on this subject: Where are the dead? We will hear you thoughtfully, patiently, unbiasedly." Our Catholic friends respond: "Our teachings are very explicit along the lines of your question. We have canvassed the subject from every standpoint in the light of divine revelation. Our conclusion and teaching are that when anyone dies, he goes to one of three places: first, the saintly, of whom we claim there are but a few, go immediately to the presence of God, to heaven. These are referred to by our Lord, saying, "Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:27) Those who faithfully bear the cross are the "little flock," the "elect." Respecting these Jesus says, "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth to life, and few there be that find it." (Matt. 7:14) These saintly do not include our clergy, not even our bishops, cardinals and popes; for you will find that when any of these die, it is a custom of the church that masses be said for the repose of their souls. We would not say masses for any we believe to be in heaven, because there surely is repose for every soul; neither would we say masses for them if we believed them to be in eternal hell, for masses could not avail them there. We might remark, however, that we do not teach that many go to the eternal hell. It is our teaching that only incorrigible heretics -- persons who have had a full knowledge of Catholic doctrines and who have willfully and deliberately opposed them -- these alone meet the awful, hopeless fate.

Millions to Purgatory

"The dead in general, according to our teaching, pass immediately to purgatory, which is, as the name indicates, a place of purgation from sin, a place of penances, sorrows, woes, anguish indeed, but not hopeless. The period of confinement here may be centuries or thousands of years, according to the deserts of the individual and the alleviations granted. If you would know more particularly the Catholic teaching on this subject, we refer you to the writings of one of our great Catholics, the noted poet Dante, a loyal Catholic, at one time an abbot, who died in a monastery with the full rites of the church. Dante's poem, "Inferno," graphically describes the tortures of purgatory, as we understand the matter. You can procure at almost any library an illustrated copy of this great Catholic poem. Dore, the artist, was also a prominent Catholic and he portrayed Dante's poem vividly and truthfully. The illustrations show the torments of purgatory vividly -- how the demons chase some until they leap over precipices into boiling water. They ply others with fiery darts. Others are burned with heads downward; others with feet downward in pits. Some are bitten by serpents. Still others are frozen. We advise that you see Dante's work, "Inferno," because it gives our Catholic view of the proper answer to your question, Where are the dead? The vast majority are in purgatory. The billions of the heathen are there; because ignorance does not save, does not qualify for the heavenly condition. All who enter heaven must previously have been fitted and prepared in a manner impossible to the heathen. Millions of Protestants are there. They could not enter heaven, except through the portals of the Catholic church; neither would God deem them worthy of eternal hell, because their rejection of Catholicism was due to the confession of faith under which they were born and environed. Nearly all Catholics go to purgatory also, because, notwithstanding the good offices of our church, our holy water, confessions, masses, holy candles, and consecrated burying ground, nevertheless, not having attained to saintship of character, they would be excluded from heaven until the distressing experiences of purgatory would prepare their hearts for heaven. We hold, however, that for the reason stated, Catholics will not need to remain as long in purgatory as will the Protestants and the heathen."

We can thank our Catholic friends for so kind a statement of their case. We will not ask them where their purgatory is, nor how they obtain the details of information respecting it, because such questions might offend them, and we have no desire to offend. We merely wish for their ripest, clearest, maturest thought respecting our question. We regret to say that the answer is not all that we might have hoped for in clearness and reasonableness and scripturalness. Our hearts are heavy with the thought that our poor race, by reason of original sin, is already, as the apostle says, a "groaning creation," and the present life of a few years is full of trouble. It is saddening, discouraging to all of us, to think that when present trials and difficulties are past, of being obliged, even for centuries (not to mention eternity), to have such awful experiences as Dante portrays, even though those centuries of anguish would purge us and fit us for the Divine presence of heavenly glory. It may seem strange to some theologians, but it is nevertheless true, that the answer of Catholicism to our question is not much better than the answer of heathendom. Neither our heads nor our hearts are yet satisfied. It cannot be wrong to look further for something more satisfactory.

The Protestant Answer to Our Question

Many of us in times past have been inclined to boast a little of Protestant "breadth of mind," "intelligence," "education," etc. May we not reasonably expect from Protestants a clear, logical, satisfactory answer to our question? Having found all the other answers unsatisfactory, and having now come to the one-twelfth portion of our race which has had most advantage every way, we might reasonably expect to find in its answer the quintessence of wisdom and proof from every quarter and from every age. But what do we find, dear friends? We find the very reverse! We find that the voice of Protestantism as a whole (barring numerically insignificant denominations) giving the most absurd answer to my question that could be conceived -- an answer which is put to shame by the Catholics, the heathen and the agnostics. Is not this marvelous? Can this be? It is written, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend" (Prov. 27:6). Bear with me, therefore, while I expose to you the weaknesses of our position as Protestants; not with a view to our vexation and shame, but with the thought that our intelligent investigation of the subject can be turned to our advantage and enable us to know the Truth and to lift the true, Divine standards before the people, to the intent that we and all may come to clearer views of our heavenly Father's character, purposes and future dealings with our race.

Permit us as gently as possible to touch this sore spot. The removal of the bandages and the cleansing of the sore may cause us pain, but the investigation should be helpful, nevertheless. We got our name, Protestants, from the fact that our intelligent and well-meaning forefathers, who were Catholics, thought that they discovered inconsistencies and unscripturalness in Catholic doctrines in which they had been reared. They protested against these, and hence came the name Protestants. We cannot defend all that they did to their enemies nor all that their enemies did to them.

One of their points of protest was that our forefathers could find nothing of purgatory anywhere on earth, nor any declaration respecting it in the Bible. With a simplicity that is certainly marvelous to us, they concluded that they would merely pick up their views of purgatory and throw them away forever. This left them heaven and hell, into one of which, they said, every member of the race must go at death and there spend his eternity. Quite evidently these well-meaning forefathers of ours were not as long-headed, far-sighted and logical as we might have expected them to be, when they did not perceive the difficulty into which they were walking. Rather we should say, perhaps, that they did see something of the difficulty, but viewed matters differently from what we do. The theory of Calvin and Knox prevailed at that time amongst Protestants and led each denomination to hope that it was God's "elect" (Titus 1:1) and that it would constitute the "little flock" (Luke 12:32) who would go to heaven, while all the remainder of mankind would be consigned to an eternity of hellish torture.

No longer does either Catholic or Protestant pray,

"God bless me and my wife,

My son John and his wife,

Us four and no more."

Both Catholics and Protestants, looking back to that period which we often term the "dark ages," have reason to give thanks to God for the anointing of the eyes of our understanding, which enables us, we believe, to think more logically than our forefathers. Even those of us reared under the doctrine of predestination have lost the idea that the heathen were passed by because they were predestined to damnation; instead, those who accepted the Westminster confession of faith are today the most zealous in the preaching of the Gospel amongst the heathen by missionary effort. We are glad of this. It is a sign that our hearts are in truer and nobler condition, even though our heads have not yet gotten into proper adjustment with our hearts; and we still look at crooked doctrines and endeavor to imagine them altogether straight.

Theoretically Protestant doctrines stand with the Bible and with Catholics and declare that heaven is a place of perfection; that there can be no change to any who enter there; hence, that all trial, all refinement, all chiseling, all polishing of character must be accomplished in advance of an entrance into the abode of the saints. In a word, we agree that only the saints will ever enter there, the "pure in heart" (Matt. 5:8), the "overcomers" (1 John 4:4), the "little flock" (Luke 12:32), who now walk in the footsteps of Jesus. What about the remainder of mankind? Ah! there is difficulty. Our larger hearts will not consent that all except the saints must spend an eternity of torture, though this is the logic of our creeds. Our hearts protest, saying that three-fourths of humanity today are heathen and that fully that proportion of humanity altogether have never heard of God and the terms of salvation.

The Best of People Perplexed

Our creeds perplex us; for, as our hearts will not permit us to think of these poor creatures going to an eternity of misery, neither will our heads permit us to say that they are fit for heaven. Indeed it would be at variance not only with the Scripture, but also with reason itself, to suppose heaven with three-fourths of its inhabitants unregenerate in every sense of the word. Our forefathers merely spoiled things for us when they threw away purgatory and kept the remainder of the arrangement. If we must object to purgatory as being unscriptural, must we not equally object to the eternal torment of all the families of the earth as being unscriptural, especially when the Bible declares that "all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen. 28:14) through Christ -- blessed with a knowledge of the Truth and opportunity to come into heart harmony with God and attain everlasting life through Christ. I believe that it is necessary to press this point of the unreasonableness of the eternal torment doctrine. Nevertheless, I will remind you of what our prominent Protestant theories are on the subject:

(1) The Calvinistic thought is that divine wisdom and power planned for mankind in advance -- knew of the fall of man in advance, and prepared therefor by the creating of a great place called hell and the manning of it with fire-proof devils for the torment of the race -- all except the "little flock" (Luke 12:32), the "elect" (Titus 1:1). Love and justice were left out of this calculation.

(2) The other prominent Protestant theory, the Armenian, held today probably by the majority, insists that both love and justice created the world and arranged the torment, and that wisdom and power were not consulted; hence that God has gotten into difficulty, while endeavoring to do justly and lovingly by his creatures; because lacking in power to render the needed aid.

The entire difficulty, dear friends, is that, in our reasoning on the subject, we have merely asked the opinions of men and have not sought the Word of the Lord.

Let us consider the clear, plain, reasonable, just, loving and wise program of our heavenly Father. It has been so long overlooked, so long buried under the rubbish of human tradition of the "dark ages" that today "Truth is stranger than fiction." Well did our Lord through the prophet declare:

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." -- Isa. 55:9.

What Say the Scriptures?

All of the foregoing theories, be it noticed, are based upon the assumption that death does not mean death -- that to die is to become more alive than before death. In Eden it was God who declared to our first parents, "Thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:17). It was Satan who declared, "Ye shall not surely die (Gen 3:4). Notice that the heathen, as well as the Christians, have accepted Satan's lie and correspondingly rejected God's truth. Do they not all agree with the serpent's statement, "Ye shall not surely die"? Do they not all claim that the dead are alive -- much more alive than before they died? This, dear friends, has been our common point of mistake. We have followed the wrong teacher, the one of whom our Lord said, "He abode not in the Truth," and that he is the father of lies. -- John 8:44.

These false doctrines have prevailed amongst the heathen for many, many centuries, but they gained an ascendancy in the church of Christ during the "dark ages" and had much to do with producing the darkness thereof. If our forefathers had believed God's testimony, "Thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:17), there would have been no room for the introduction of prayers for the dead, masses for their sins, frightful thoughts respecting their torture. The scriptures agree from first to last that "the dead know not anything" (Ecc. 9:5) and that "His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them" (Job 14:21). It is the scriptures that tell us where the dead are and their condition; that they are experiencing neither joy nor sorrow, pleasure nor suffering; that they will have no knowledge of anything done under the sun until their awakening in the resurrection. Remember the wise man's words, "Do with thy might what thy hand findeth to do, for there is neither wisdom nor knowledge nor device in (sheol) the grave, whither thou goest." (Ecc. 9:10) Both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament it is written of both the good and the bad that they fell asleep in death. The apostle speaks of those who "sleep in Jesus," (1 Thes. 4:14) and of those who have "fallen asleep in Christ" (1 Cor. 15:18) who, he declares, are perished, if there be no resurrection of the dead. Could they perish in heaven or in purgatory or in a hell of torment? Assuredly no one so teaches. They are already in a perished condition in the tomb; and the perishing would be absolute, complete, unless a resurrection be provided for their deliverance from the power of death. Hence we read, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

In a word, then, the Bible teaching is that man was made superior to all the brute creation -- in the image and likeness of his Creator; that he possessed life in a perfect degree in Eden and might have retained it by full obedience. But in his trial, his testing, he failed and came under the death sentence. "In the day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die." (Gen. 2:17) There the dying began, which, after nine hundred and thirty years, brought father Adam to the tomb and involved all of his children in his weaknesses and death sentence. He died in the very day, which the Apostle Peter explains was not a twenty-four hour day but a thousand-year day, saying, "One day is with the Lord as a thousand years." (2 Peter 3:8) During six of these great days the death sentence has brought man down in some respects to the level of the brute and left him without hope of future life, except as God might take compassion upon him and bring him some relief. This was hinted at in the statement that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head. It was yet further elaborated to Abraham saying, "In thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." -- Gen. 28:14.

Death, Not Torment, the Penalty

Note well the mistake made in assuming eternal torment the wages of original sin, when the scriptures explicitly declare that "The wages of sin is death" -- not eternal torment. (Rom. 6:23) We search the Genesis account of man's fall and the sentence imposed, but find no suggestion of a future punishment, but merely of a death penalty. Repeating it the second time the Lord said, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Gen. 3:19) But he said not a word respecting devils, fire and torment. How, then, did the Adversary deceive our fathers during the "dark ages" with his errors, which the apostle styles "doctrines of devils" (1 Tim. 4:1)? Note the fact that none of the prophecies mention any other than a death penalty for sin. Note that the New Testament likewise declares the same. St. Paul, who wrote more than one-half of the New Testament, and who assures us that he did not shun to declare the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27), says not a word about torment. On the contrary, discussing this very matter of sin and its penalty, he says, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (Rom. 5:12) Note that it was not eternal torment that passed upon one man nor upon all men, but death. If some one suggests that death would not be a sufficient penalty for sin, all we would need to do would be to point him to the facts and thus prove his suggestion illogical. For the sin of disobedience Adam lost his paradisaic home -- lost eternal life and divine fellowship, and instead got sickness, pain, sorrow, death. Additionally the billions and billions of his posterity, disinherited so far as the blessings are concerned, have inherited weaknesses, mental, moral and physical, and are, as the apostle declares, "A groaning creation." -- Rom. 8:22.

God's Penalty a Just One

Let no one think the death penalty unjust and too severe. God could have blotted out Adam, the sinner, thus fulfilling the sentence. He could have blotted out the race instantly. But would we have preferred that? Assuredly not. Life is sweet, even amidst pain and suffering. Besides, it is the divine purpose that present trials and experiences shall prove useful as disciplines; to prepare us for a wiser course than father Adam took, when we shall be privileged to have a further individual trial. Our race would have been without hope of future existence, just as agnosticism claims, had it not been for divine compassion and the work of redemption.

Notice again why our Lord died for our redemption and see in that another evidence of the penalty. If the penalty against us had been eternal torment, our redemption from it would have cost our Lord that price. He would have been obliged to suffer eternal torment, the just for the unjust. But eternal torment was not the penalty; hence Jesus did not pay that penalty for us. Death was the penalty and hence "Christ died for our sins." "He by the grace of God" tasted "death for every man" (Heb. 2:9). Whoever could pay Adam's penalty could settle with divine justice for the sins of the whole world, because Adam alone had been tried -- Adam alone had been condemned. We, his children, were involved through him. Behold the wisdom and the economy of our Creator. The scriptures assure us that he condemned the whole world for one man's disobedience, in order that he might have mercy upon all through the obedience of another -- Christ. We were condemned to death without our consent or knowledge. We were redeemed from death without our consent or knowledge.

Some one may inquire, "Are we, therefore, without responsibility? Will there be no individual penalty upon us for individual wrong doings?" We answer, "A just recompense of reward" (Heb 2:2) will be meted out to all. But our eternal destiny can be settled only by ourselves, by our individual acceptance or rejection of the grace of God. The scriptures clearly inform us that every sin, in proportion to its willfulness, brings a measure of degradation which involves "stripes," chastisements, corrections to regain the lost standing. (Luke 12:47,48) Thus the more mean and more wicked a man or woman may be, the greater will be his or her disadvantages in the resurrection time, and the more he will then have to overcome to get back to all that was lost in Adam and redeemed by Christ.

"And the Dead Came Forth"

At his first advent our Lord's miracles foreshadowed the great work which he, with his glorified Church, will accomplish for the world during the Millennium -- then all the sick, lame, blind and deaf will be revived and, if obedient, will be brought ultimately to full perfection. The disobedient will be destroyed in the Second death. The most notable miracle which our Lord performed was the awakening of Lazarus, his friend. Jesus was gone several days when Lazarus took sick and, of course, knew about the matter. Nevertheless Martha and Mary sent him a special message, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick." (John 11:3) They knew of Jesus' power to heal, even by the word of his mouth. They had faith that if he could help strangers, he would surely be glad to assist his friend. But Jesus remained where he was and allowed Lazarus to die and a rude shock to come to the dear sisters. Then he said to his disciples, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth." (John 11:11) Then, coming down to their comprehension, he added, "Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there." -- John 11:14,15.

He was glad to let his friend fall asleep in death because it would provide a special opportunity for a special miracle. Then, with his disciples, he began the three-days' journey to Bethany. We cannot blame the sorrowing sisters that they felt hurt that the Messiah should apparently neglect their interests. They knew that he had the power to relieve them. Martha's gentle reproof was, "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." (John 11:21,23,24) Notice that our Lord did not say, "Thy brother is not dead; thy brother is more alive than he ever was; he is in heaven or in purgatory." Nothing of the kind! Purgatory had not yet been invented, and he knew nothing of it. And as for heaven our Lord's testimony is, in our text, "No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven." Martha was also well informed. The errors of the "dark ages" had not yet supplanted the truth. Her hope for her brother was the Scriptural one -- that he would rise in the resurrection, in the last day, the Millennial day, the seventh of the great thousand-year days from creation.

Our Lord explained that the power of resurrection was vested in himself, that he was there with her, and could give relief to them without waiting. Martha told our Lord that it was too late, that putrefaction had set in by this time. But Jesus insisted on seeing the tomb and when he arrived at it, he said, "Lazarus, come forth." And we read, "He that was dead came forth." (John 11:43,44) Mark well that it was not the living that came forth, but that Lazarus was really dead. Mark well that he was not called from heaven nor from purgatory.

"All That Are in Their Graves"

What Jesus did for Lazarus he intimated he would ultimately do for Adam and his entire race. Note his words: "The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth." (John 5:28,29) Does this astonish us? If so, the reason is not far to seek. It is because we have gotten so far away from the teachings of the Bible -- so fully immersed in the "doctrines of devils" (1 Tim. 4:1), so fully to believe in the serpent's lie, "Ye shall not surely die" (Gen. 3:4) -- so blinded to the Lord's declaration, "Thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:17), and "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23).

The remainder of John 5:29 explains that there will be two general classes of the dead to come forth. The first, those who have had their trial and who have passed it successfully; the second, all the remainder of mankind who have thus far failed to have divine approval. The approved will come forth from the tomb unto a resurrection of life -- perfection. The disapproved will come forth unto a resurrection of judgment (see Revised Version). The coming forth is one thing. The resurrection is another. The apostle explains that they will come forth, "every man in his own order." (1 Cor. 15:23) On thus being awakened the privilege will be theirs of rising, up, up, up out of present degradation, mental, moral, physical, to the glorious perfection which father Adam enjoyed in the image and likeness of his Creator. The uplifting or resurrection work St. Peter refers to as the "restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3:21).

Not Universalism Either

Nor does this mean universal everlasting life, for the scriptures declare that such as refuse to profit by the glorious opportunities of the Millennium, such as refuse to be uplifted to perfection, shall be destroyed from amongst the people in the Second death -- "They shall be as though they had not been." (Obadiah 16) Our Lord entered the synagogue at Capernaum and, being asked to read the lesson, chose Isaiah, the sixty-first chapter. He read respecting himself and his work -- that a part of it would be to open the prison doors and set at liberty the captives. We are well aware that our Lord did not open any of the literal prisons, such as John the Baptist was confined in. He made no effort to succor him. The prison-house which Christ will open is the great prison-house, the tomb, which holds billions of our race. At this second advent our Lord will open this great prison-house and allow all the prisoners to come forth, just as truly as he did in the example -- in the case of Lazarus. Nor will he call them from heaven, purgatory and hell, but, just as he declared,"Lazarus, come forth," "all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth" (John 5:28,29).

Where Are the Dead?(2)

My dear friends, you had before your minds the answers to our question from the highest to the lowest earthly authorities. None of them was satisfactory. Now you have heard the testimony of God's Word -- the divine declaration as to "Where are the dead?" Harkening to the voice from heaven we are assured that they are really dead and that all their hopes as respects the future are centered, first upon the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus, accomplished at Calvary, and secondly, upon the work or resurrection which, at his second advent, he is to accomplish for those whom he redeemed. If perchance you have a shade of disappointment as respects a saintly brother or sister, father or mother or child who you hoped was already in heaven, then as a consolation look at the other side of the question -- behold how many of your loved ones, kith and kin, friends and foes and neighbors, according to your theory and all the prevalent theories, have been suffering untellable woe since their death and would be suffering similarly for long centuries to come -- consider the relief of mind and heart you get from the knowledge of the truth: that they are not alive anywhere, but simply dead, or more poetically, they are "Asleep in Jesus," in the sense that he is their Redeemer, in whom all their hopes of a future awakening reside.

Present Your Bodies Sacrifices

Just a closing word! Our subject would lack a proper finish if we did not explain scripturally why God has delayed the world's blessing, the resurrection, nearly two thousand years since the death of Jesus. The reason is such a glorious one! It must appeal to every true Christian heart and make it glad. It is this:

God purposed the selection of the Church before the blessing of resurrection should go to the world. This Church is called sometimes "the body of Christ" (1 Cor. 12:27), which is the church of which Jesus is the head (Eph. 5:23). Again it is styled "The Bride -- the Lamb's Wife" (Rev. 21:9). Ever since Pentecost the heavenly Father has been drawing believers to Jesus' side. After having been justified through faith in the precious blood, they have been invited to become Jesus' disciples, his followers, to walk in his steps, to lay down their lives in the Father's service, as Jesus did, and to develop in their hearts the fruits and graces of the holy Spirit to such a degree that they might be called copies of God's dear Son.

The promise to these is not the resurrection of restitution promised to the world during the Millennium. On the contrary, these have a "heavenly calling" (Heb. 3:1). After their consecration they are begotten of the holy Spirit and then instructed in the school of Christ and submitted to trials and disciplines in various ways, for the purpose of chiseling ad polishing their characters as New Creatures. These are a "little flock" (Luke 12:32), gathered one here and one there; "saints" (Rom. 1:7) from all denominations and from outside of all denominations, for "the Lord knoweth them that are his" (2 Tim. 2:19). When the predestined number of the "elect" (Titus 1:1) shall have been selected and polished, the present age will end. Our Lord will come in second advent glory and power. His elect Bride will constitute the First Resurrection class, from earthly to heavenly nature, "changed in a moment," for "flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God." -- 1 Cor. 15:50-52.

Then will come the holy, invisible Millennial Kingdom and the binding of Satan and the destruction of his unholy, invisible kingdom, and the setting loose of agencies for the enlightening and uplifting of the whole race.

Those of you who are already the Lord's consecrated saints, lift up your heads and realize more fully than ever before the glorious fullness of the heavenly calling, of which you have been made partakers. To others who have the hearing ear and appreciate this high calling we way, Permit the love of God and of Christ to constrain you (2 Cor. 5:14) and become disciples indeed of Jesus, laying aside every weight and every besetting sin, and entering the race and pressing with vigor to its end and crown of glory! (Heb. 12:1)

"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." -- Isa. 8:20

A correct understanding of this subject has become almost a necessity to Christian steadfastness. For centuries it has been the teaching of "orthodoxy," of all shades, that God, before creating man, had created a great abyss of fire and terrors, capable of containing all the billions of the human family, which he purposed to bring into being; that this abyss He had named "hell"; and that all of the promises and threatenings of the Bible were designed to deter as many as possible (a "little flock") from such wrong-doing as would make this awful place their perpetual home.

As knowledge increases and superstitions fade, this monstrous view of the divine arrangement and character is losing its force; and thinking people cannot but disbelieve the legend, which used to be illustrated on the church walls in the highest degree of art and realism, samples of which are still to be seen in Europe. Some now claim that the place is literal, but the fire symbolic, etc., while others repudiate the doctrine of "hell" in every sense and degree. While glad to see superstitions fail, and truer ideas of the great, and wise, and just, and loving Creator prevail, we are alarmed to notice that the tendency with all who abandon this long revered doctrine is toward doubt, skepticism, infidelity. Why should this be the case, when the mind is merely being delivered from an error -- do you ask? Because Christian people have so long been taught that the foundation for this awful blasphemy against God's character and government is deep-laid, and firmly fixed, in the Word of God -- the Bible -- and, consequently, to whatever degree that belief in "hell" is shaken, to that extent their faith in the Bible as the revelation of the true God, is shaken also -- so that those who have dropped their belief in a "hell," of some kind of endless torment, are often open infidels, and scoffers at God's Word.

Guided by the Lord's providence to a realization that the Bible has been slandered, as well as its divine Author, and that, rightly understood, it teaches nothing on this subject derogatory to God's character nor to an intelligent reason, we will attempt to lay bare the Scripture teaching on this subject, that thereby faith in God and His Word may be re-established, in the hearts of His people, on a better, a reasonable foundation. Indeed, it is our opinion that whoever shall hereby find that his false view rested upon human misconception and misinterpretations, will, at the same time, learn to trust hereafter less to his own and other men's imaginings, and, by faith, to grasp more firmly the Word of God, which is able to make wise unto salvation.

That the advocates of the doctrine of eternal torment have little or no faith in it is very manifest from the fact that it has no power over their course of action. While all the denominations of Christendom sustain the doctrine that eternal torment and endless, hopeless despair will constitute the punishment of the wicked, they are mostly quite at ease in allowing the wicked to take their course, while they pursue the even tenor of their way. Chiming bells and pealing organs, artistic choirs, and costly edifices, and upholstered pews, and polished oratory which more and more avoids any reference to this alarming theme, afford rest and entertainment to fashionable congregations that gather on the Lord's day and are known to the world as churches of Christ and representatives of his doctrines. But they seem little concerned about the eternal welfare of the multitudes, or even of themselves and their own families, though one would naturally presume that with such awful possibilities in view they would be almost frantic in their efforts to rescue the perishing.

The plain inference is that they do not believe it. The only class of people that to any degree show their faith in it by their words is the Salvation Army; and these are the subjects of ridicule from almost all other Christians because they are somewhat consistent with their belief. Yet their peculiar, and often absurd, methods, so strikingly in contrast with those of the Lord, of whom it was written, "He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street" (Isa. 42:2), are very mild compared with what might be expected if they were fully convinced of their doctrine. We cannot imagine how sincere believers of this terrible doctrine go from day to day about the ordinary affairs of life, or meet quietly in elegance every Sunday to hear an essay from the pulpit on the peculiar subjects often advertised. Could they do so while really believing all the time that fellow mortals are dying at the rate of one hundred a minute, and entering

"That lone land of deep despair," where

"No God regards their bitter prayer"?

If they really believed this, few saints could complacently sit there and think of those hurrying every moment into that awful state described by that good, well-meaning, but greatly deluded man, Isaac Watts (whose own heart was immeasurable warmer and larger than that he ascribed to the great Jehovah), when he wrote the hymn --

"Tempests of angry fire shall roll

To blast the rebel worm,

And beat upon the naked soul

In one eternal storm."

People often become frantic with grief when friends have been caught in some terrible catastrophe, as a fire, or a wreck, though they know they will soon be relieved by death. Yet they pretend to believe that God is less loving than themselves, and that He can look with indifference, if not with delight, at billions of His creatures enduring an eternity of torture far more terrible, which He prepares for them and prevents any escape from forever. Not only so, but they expect that they will get literally into Abraham's bosom, and will then look across the guilt and see and hear the agonies of the multitudes (some of whom they now love and weep over); and they imagine that they will be so changed and become so like their present idea of God, so hardened against al pity, and so barren of love and sympathy, that they will delight in such a God and in such a plan.

It is wonderful that otherwise sensible men and women, who love their fellows, and who establish hospital, orphanages, asylums, and societies for the prevention of cruelty even to the brute creation, are so unbalanced mentally that they can believe and subscribe to such a doctrine, and yet be so indifferent about investigating its authority!

Only one exception can we think of -- those who hold the ultra-Calvanistic doctrine; who believe that God has decreed it thus, that all the efforts they could put forth could not alter the result with a single person; and that all the prayers they could offer would not change one iota of the awful plan they believe God has marked out for His and their eternal pleasure. These indeed could sit still so far as effort for their fellows is concerned. But why sing the praises of such a scheme for the damnation of their neighbors whom God has told them to love as themselves? Why not rather begin to doubt this "doctrine of devils" (1 Tim. 4:1), this blasphemy against the great God, hatched in the "dark ages," when a crafty priesthood taught that it is right to do evil that good may result.

The doctrine of eternal torment was undoubtedly introduced by Papacy to induce pagans to join her and support her system. It flourished at the same time that bull fights and gladiatorial contests were the public amusements most enjoyed; when the Crusades were called "holy wars," and when men and women were called "heretics" and were often slaughtered for thinking or speaking contrary to the teachings of the Papacy; at a time when the sun of gospel truth was obscure; when the Word of God had fallen into disuse and was prohibited to be read by any but the clergy, whose love of their neighbors was often shown in torturing "heretics" to induce them to recant and deny their faith and their Bibles -- to save them, if possible, they explained, from the more awful future of "heretics" -- eternal torture. They did not borrow this doctrine from the heathen, for no heathen people in the world have a doctrine so cruel, so fiendish and so unjust. Find it, whoever can, and show it up in all its blackness, that if possible it may be shown that the essence of barbarism, malice, hate and ungodliness has not been exclusively appropriated by those whom God has most highly favored with light from every quarter, and to whom He has committed the only oracle -- His Word. Oh, the shame and confusion that will cover the faces of may, even good men, who verily thought that they did God service while propagating this blasphemous doctrine, when they awake in the resurrection to learn of the love and justice of God, and when they come to know that the Bible does not teach this God-dishonoring, love-extinguishing, truth-beclouding, saint-hindering, sinner-hardening, "damnable heresy" of eternal torment. -- 2 Peter 2:1.

But we repeat that, in the light and moral development of this day, sensible people do not believe this doctrine. However, since they think that the Bible teaches it, every step they progress in real intelligence and brotherly kindness, which hinders belief in eternal torment, is in most cases a step away from God's Word, which is falsely accused of being the authority for this teaching. Hence the second crop of evil fruit, which the devil's engraftment of this error is producing, is skepticism. The intelligent, honest thinkers are thus driven from the Bible into vain philosophies and sciences, falsely so-called, and into infidelity. Nor do the "worldly" really believe this doctrine, nor is it a restraint to crime, for convicts and the less educated are the firmest believers in it.

But, says one, Has not the error done some good? Have not many been brought into the churches by the preaching of this doctrine in the past?

No error ever did real good, but always harm. Those whom error brings into a church, and whom the truth would not move, are an injury to the church. The thousands terrorized, but not at heart converted, which this doctrine forced into Papacy, and which swelled her numbers and her wealth, diluted what little truth was held before, and mingled it with their unholy sentiments and errors, so that, to meet the changed conditions of things, the clergy found it needful to add error to error, and resorted to methods, forms, etc., not taught in the scriptures and useless to the truly converted whom the truth controls. Among these were pictures, images, beads, vestments, candles, grand cathedrals, altars, etc., to help the unconverted heathen to a form of godliness more nearly corresponding to their former heathen worship, but lacking all the power of vital godliness.

The heathen were not benefited, for they were still heathen in God's sight, but deluded into aping what they did not understand or do from the heart. They were added "tares" to choke the "wheat," without being profited themselves. The Lord tells who sowed the seed of this enormous crop. (Matt. 13:39) The same is true of those who assume the name "Christian" today, who are not really at heart converted by the truth, but merely frightened by the error, or allured by promised earthly advantages of a social or business kind. Such add nothing to the true Church; by their ideas and manners become stumbling blocks to the truly consecrated, and by their inability to digest the truth, the real food of the saints, they lead even the few true pastors to defraud the true "sheep" (Matt. 25:33) in order to satisfy the demands of these "goats" for something pleasing to their unconverted tastes. No: in no way has this error accomplished good except in the sense that God is able to make even the wrath of man to praise Him. So also He will overrule this evil thing eventually to serve His purposes. When by and by all men (during the Millennium) shall come to see through this great deception by which Satan has blinded the world to God's true character, it will perhaps awaken in them a warmer, stronger love for God.

Seeing, then, the unreasonableness of man's view, let us lay aside human opinions and theories and come to the Word of God, the only authority on the subject, remembering that

"God is his own interpreter

and He will make it plain."

"Hell" As an English Word

In the first place bear in mind that the Old Testament scriptures were written in the Hebrew language, and the New Testament in the Greek. The word "hell" is an English word sometimes selected by the translators of the English Bible to express the sense of the Hebrew word sheol and the Greek words, hades, tartaroo and gehenna -- sometimes rendered "grave" and "pit."

The word "hell" in old English usage, before Papal theologians picked it up and gave it a new and special significance to suit their own purposes, simply meant to conceal, to hide, to cover; hence the concealed, hidden or covered place. In old English literature records may be found of the helling of potatoes -- putting potatoes into pits; and of the helling of a house -- covering or thatching it. The word hell was therefore properly used synonymously with the words "grave" and "pit," to translate the word sheol and hades as signifying the secret or hidden condition of death. However, the same spirit which was willing to twist the word to terrorize the ignorant is willing still to perpetuate the error, presumably saying, "Let us do evil that good may follow."

If the translators of the Revised Version Bible had been thoroughly disentangled from the Papal error, and thoroughly honest, they would have done more to help the English student than merely to substitute the Hebrew word sheol and the Greek word hades as they have done. They should have translated the words. But they were evidently afraid to tell the truth, and ashamed to tell the lie; and so gave us sheol and hades untranslated, and permitted the inference that these words mean the same as the word "hell" has become perverted to mean. Their course, while it for a time shields themselves, dishonors God and the Bible, which the common people still suppose teaches a "hell" of torment in the words sheol and hades. Yet anyone can see that if it was proper to translate the word thirty-one times "grave" and three times "pit," it could not have been improper to so translate it in every other instance.

A peculiarity to be observed in comparing these cases, as we will do shortly, is that in those texts where the torment idea would be an absurdity the translators of the King James' version have used the words "grave" or "pit"; while in all other cases they have used the word "hell"; and the reader, long schooled in the Papal idea of torment, reads the word "hell" and thinks of it as signifying a place of torment, instead of the grave, the hidden or covered place or condition. For example, compare Job 14:13 with Psalms 86:13. The former reads "O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave (sheol), etc." while the latter reads "Thou has delivered my soul from the lowest hell (sheol)." The Hebrew word being the same in both cases, there is no reason why the same word "grave" should not be used in both. But how absurd it would have been for Job to pray to God to hide him in a hell of eternal torture! The English reader would have asked questions and the secret would have gotten out speedily.

While the translators of the Reformation times are somewhat excusable for their mental bias in this matter, as they were just breaking away from the old Papal system, our modern translators, specially those of the recent Revised Version, are not entitled to any such consideration. Theological professors and pastors of congregations consider that they are justified in following the course of the revisers in not explaining the meaning of either the Hebrew or Greek words sheol or hades, and by their use of the words they also give their confiding flocks to understand that a place of torture, a lake of fire, is meant. While attributing to the ignorant only the best motives, it is manifestly only duplicity and cowardice which induces educated men, who know the truth on this subject, to prefer to continue to teach the error inferentially.

But not all ministers know of the errors of the translators and deliberately cover and hide those errors from the people. Many, indeed, do not know of them, having merely accepted, without investigation, the theories of their seminary professors. It is the professors and learned ones who are most blameworthy. These have kept back the truth about "hell" for several reasons. First, there is evidently a sort of understanding or etiquette among them, that if they wish to maintain their standing in the "profession" they "must not tell tales out of school," i.e., they must not divulge professional secrets to the "common people," the laity. Second, they all fear that to let it be known that they have been teaching an unscriptural doctrine for years would break down the popular respect and reverence for the clergy, the denominations and the theological schools, and unsettle confidence in their wisdom. And, oh, how much depends upon confidence and reverence for men, when God's Word is so generally ignored! Third, they know that many of the members of their sects are not constrained by "the love of Christ" (2 Cor. 5:14), but merely by the fear of hell, and they see clearly, therefore, that to let the truth be known now would soon cut loose the names and the dollars of many in their flocks; and this, to those who "desire to make a fair show in the flesh" (Gal. 6:12) would seem to be a great calamity.

But what will be the judgment of God, whose character and plan are traduced by the blasphemous doctrine which these untranslated words help to support? Will the Chief Shepherd commend these unfaithful servants? Will he justify their course? Will he call these his beloved friends, and make known to them his further plans (John 15:15), that they may misrepresent them also to preserve their own dignity and reverence? Will he continue to send forth "things new and old" (Matt. 13:52), "meat in due season" (Matt. 24:45), to the household of faith, by the hand of the unfaithful servants? No, such shall not continue to be his mouthpiece or to shepherd his flock. (Ezek. 34:9,10) He will choose instead, as at the first advent, from among the laity -- "the common people" -- mouthpieces, and will give them words which none of the chief priests shall be able to gainsay or resist. (Luke 21:15) And, as foretold, "the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." -- Isa. 29:9-19

"Hell" in the Old Testament

The word "hell" occurs thirty-one times in the Old Testament and in every instance it is "sheol" in the Hebrew. It does not mean a lake of fire and brimstone, nor anything at all resembling that thought: not in the slightest degree! Quite the reverse: instead of a place of blazing fire, it is described in the context as a state of "darkness" (Job 10:21); instead of a place where shrieks and groans are heard, it is described in the context as a place of "silence" (Psalms 115:17); instead of representing in any sense pain and suffering, or remorse, the context describes it as a place or condition of forgetfulness (Psalms 88:11,12). "There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge . . . in the grave [sheol] whither thou goest." -- Ecc. 9:10.

The meaning of sheol is "the hidden state," as applied to man's condition in death, in and beyond which all is hidden, except to the eye of faith; hence, by proper and close association, the word was often used in the sense of grave -- the tomb, the hidden place, or place beyond which only those who have the enlightened eye of understanding can see resurrection, restitution of being. And be it particularly noted that this identical word sheol is translated "grave" thirty-one times and "pit" three times in our common version by the same translators -- more times than it is translated "hell." Twice, where it is translated "hell," it seemed so absurd, according to the present accepted meaning of the English word "hell," that scholars have felt it necessary to explain in the margin of modern Bibles, that is means grave. (Isa. 14:9 and Jonah 2:2) In the latter case, the hidden state, or grave, was the belly of the fish in which Jonah was buried alive, and from which he cried to God.

All Texts in Which "Sheol" Is Translated "Hell"

(1) Amos 9:2. -- "Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them." [A figurative expression; but certainly pits of the earth are the only hells men dig into.]

(2) Psalms 16:10. -- "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." [This refers to our Lord's three days in the tomb. -- Acts 2:31; Acts 3:15.]

(3, 4) Psalms 18:5 and 2 Samuel 22:6 margin. -- "The cords of hell compassed me about." [A figure in which trouble is represented as hastening one to the tomb.]

(5) Psalms 55:15. -- "Let them go down quick into hell" --margin, "the grave."

(6) Psalms 9:17. -- "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." This text will be treated later, under a separate heading.

(7) Psalms 86:13. -- "Thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell" -- margin, "the grave."

(8) Psalms 116:3. -- "The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me." [Sickness and trouble are the figurative hands of the grave to grasp us.]

(9) Psalms 139:8. -- "If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there." [God's power is unlimited; even over those in the tomb. He can and will exert it and bring forth all that are in the graves. -- John 5:28]

(10) Deuteronomy 32:22. -- "For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell." [A figurative representation of the destruction, the utter ruin of Israel as a nation -- "wrath . . . to the uttermost," as the apostle called it, God's anger burning that nation to the "lowest deep," as Leeser here translates the word sheol. -- 1 Thes. 2:16]

(11) Job 11:8. -- "It [God's wisdom] is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell [than any pit]; what canst thou know?"

(12) Job 26:6. -- "Hell [the tomb] is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering."

(13) Proverbs 5:5. -- "Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell [i.e., lead to the grave]."

(14) Proverbs 7:27. -- "Her house is the way to hell [the grave], going down to the chambers of death."

(15) Proverbs 9:18. -- "He knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell." [Here the harlot's guests are represented as dead, diseased, or dying, and many of the victims of sensuality in premature graves from diseases which also hurry off their posterity to the tomb.]

(16) Proverbs 15:11. -- "Hell and destruction are before the LORD." [Here the grave is associated with destruction and not with a life of torment.]

(17) Proverbs 15:24. -- "The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath." [This illustrates the hope of resurrection from the tomb.]

(18) Proverbs 23:14. -- "Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from hell" [i.e., wise correction will save a child from vicious ways which lead to premature death, and may also possibly prepare him to escape the "Second death"].

(19) Proverbs 27:20. -- "Hell [the grave] and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied."

(20) Isaiah 5:14. -- "Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure." [Here the grave is a symbol of destruction.]

(21, 22) Isaiah 14:9,15. -- "Hell [margin, grave] from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming." "Thou shalt be brought down to hell" [the grave -- so rendered in verse 11].

(23) Isaiah 57:9. -- "And didst debase thyself even unto hell." [Here figurative of deep degradation.]

(24, 25) Ezekiel 31:15-17. -- "In the day when he went down to the grave. . . . I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit. . . . They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword." [Figurative and prophetic description of the fall of Babylon into destruction, silence, the grave.]

(26) Ezekiel 32:21. -- "The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him." [A continuation of the same figure representing Egypt's overthrow as a nation to join Babylon in destruction -- buried.]

(27) Ezekiel 32:27. -- "And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living." [The grave is the only "hell" where fallen ones are buried and lie with their weapons of war under their heads.]

(28) Habakkuk 2:5. -- "Who enlargeth his desire as hell [the grave], and as death, and cannot be satisfied."

(29) Jonah 2:1,2. -- "Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly, And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice." [The belly of the fish was for a time his grave -- see margin.]

(30, 31) Isaiah 28:15,18. -- "Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell [the grave] are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: Therefore, thus saith the Lord, . . . Your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell [the grave] shall not stand." [God thus declares that the present prevalent idea, by which death and the grave are represented as friends, rather than enemies, shall cease; and men shall learn that death is the wages of sin, and that it is in Satan's power (Rom. 6:23; Heb. 2:14) and not an angel sent by God.]

Genesis 37:35. -- "I will go down into the grave unto my son."

Genesis 42:38. -- "Then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave." [See also the same expression 44:29,31. The translators did not like to send God's servant, Jacob, to hell simply because his sons were evil.]

1 Samuel 2:6. -- "The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up."

1 Kings 2:6,9. -- "Let not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace. . . . His hoar head bring thou down to the grave with blood."

Job 7:9. -- "He that goeth down to the grave."

Job 14:13. -- "O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me [resurrect me]!"

Job 17:13. -- "If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness." [Job waits for resurrection -- "in the morning."]

Job 17:16. -- "They shall go down to the bars of the pit [grave], when our rest together is in the dust."

Job 21:13. -- "They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave."

Job 24:19,20. -- "Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned." [All have sinned, hence "Death passed upon all men," and all go down to the grave. But all have been redeemed by "the precious blood of Christ"; hence all shall be awakened and come forth again in God's due time -- "in the morning," Rom. 5:12,18,19.]

Psalms 6:5. -- "In death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?"

Psalms 30:3. -- "O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit." [This passage expresses gratitude for recovery from danger of death.]

Psalms 31:17. -- "Let the wicked be ashamed, let them be silent in the grave."

Psalms 49:14,15, margin. -- "Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright [the saints -- Dan. 7:27] shall have dominion over them in the morning [the Millennial morning]; and their beauty shall consume, the grave being an habitation to every one of them. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave."

Psalms 88:3. -- "My life draweth nigh unto the grave."

Psalms 89:48. -- "Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?"

Psalms 141:7. -- "Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth."

Proverbs 1:12. -- "Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit" [i.e., as an earthquake, as in Num. 16:30-33].

Proverbs 30:15,16. -- "Four things say not, It is enough: the grave," etc.

Ecclesiastes 9:10. -- "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest."

Song of Solomon 8:6. -- "Jealousy is cruel as the grave."

Isaiah 14:11. -- "Thy pomp is brought down to the grave."

Isaiah 38:10. -- "I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years."

Isaiah 38:18. -- "The grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth."

Numbers 16:30-33. -- "If . . . they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand. . . . The ground clave asunder that was under them: and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation."

Ezekiel 31:15. -- "In the day when he went down to the grave."

Hosea 13:14. -- "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes." [The Lord did not ransom any from a place of fire and torment, for there is no such place; but he did ransom all mankind from the grave, from death, the penalty brought upon all by Adam's sin, as this verse declares.]

The above list includes every instance of the use of the English word "hell" and the Hebrew word sheol in the Old Testament. From this examination it must be evident to all readers that God's revelations for four thousand years contain not a single hint of a "hell" such as the word is now understood to signify.

"Hell" in the New Testament

In the New Testament, the Greek word hades corresponds exactly to the Hebrew word sheol. As proof see the quotations of the apostles from the Old Testament in which they render it hades. For instance, Acts 2:27, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hades," is a quotation from Psalms 16:10, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in sheol." And in 1 Cor. 15:54,55, "Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave [hades], where is thy victory?" is an allusion to Isaiah 25:8, "He will swallow up death in victory," and to Hosea 13:14, "O death, I will be thy plagues; O sheol, I will be thy destruction."

"Hell" From the Greek Word "Hades"

Matthew 11:23. -- "And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell." Luke 10:15 -- "Shalt be thrust down to hell." [In privileges of knowledge and opportunity the city was highly favored or, figuratively, "exalted unto heaven"; but because of misuse of God's favors, it would be debased, or, figuratively, cast down to hades, overthrown, destroyed. It is now so thoroughly buried in oblivion, that even the site where it stood is a matter of dispute. Capernaum is certainly destroyed, thrust down to hades.]

Luke 16:23. -- "In hell he lift[ed] up his eyes, being in torments." [A parabolic figure explained further along, under a separate heading.]

Revelation 6:8. -- "And behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him." [Symbol of destruction or the grave.]

Matthew 16:18. -- "Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." [Although bitter and relentless persecution, even unto death, should afflict the Church during the Gospel age, it should never prevail to her utter extermination; and eventually, by her resurrection, accomplished by her Lord, the Church will prevail over hades -- the tomb.]

(Hades) -- (Acts 2:1, 14, 22-31)

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come . . . Peter . . . lifted up his voice, and said . . . Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you . . . being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God ['He was delivered for our offenses'], ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains [or bands] of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it [for the Word of Jehovah had previously declared his resurrection]. For David speaketh concerning him [personating or speaking for him], 'I [Christ] foresaw the Lord [Jehovah] always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [hades, the tomb, the state of death], neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou [Jehovah] hast made known to me [Christ] the ways of life.'"

Here our Lord, as personified by the prophet David, expresses his faith in Jehovah's promise of a resurrection and in the full and glorious accomplishment of Jehovah's plan through him, and rejoices in the prospect. Peter then proceeds, saying:

"Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day [so that this prophecy could not have referred to himself personally; for David's soul was left in "hell" -- [hades, the tomb, the state of death -- and his flesh did see corruption]. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before [prophetically] spake of the resurrection of Christ [out of "hell" -- hades, the tomb -- to which he must go for our offenses], that his soul was not left in hell [hades -- the death state], neither his flesh did see corruption."

Thus Peter presents a strong, logical argument, based on the words of the prophet David -- showing first, that Christ, who was delivered by God for our offenses, went to "hell," the grave, the condition of death, destruction (Psalms 16:10); and, second, that according to promise he had been delivered from hell, the grave, death, destruction by a resurrection -- a raising up to life; being created again, the same identical being, yet more glorious and exalted even to "the express image of his [the Father's] person." (Heb. 1:3) And now "that same Jesus" (Acts 2:36), in his subsequent revelation to the Church, declares:

"I am he that liveth and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [hades, the grave] and of death." -- Rev. 1:18.

Amen! Amen! our hearts respond; for in his resurrection we see the glorious outcome of the whole plan of Jehovah to be accomplished through the power of the Resurrected One who now holds the keys of the tomb and of death and in due time will release all the prisoners who are, therefore, called the "prisoners of hope." (Zech. 9:12; Luke 4:18) No craft or cunning can by any possible device wrest these scriptures entire and pervert them to the support of that monstrous and blasphemous Papal tradition of eternal torment. Had that been our penalty, Christ, to be our vicarious sacrifice, must still, and to all eternity, endure such torment, which no one will claim. But death was our penalty, and "Christ died for our sins," and "also for the sins of the whole world." -- 1 Cor. 15:3; 1 John 2:2.

Revelation 20:13,14. -- "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell [the grave] delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell [the grave] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the Second death." The lake of fire is the symbol of final and everlasting destruction. Death and hell [the grave] both go into it. There shall be no more death; "the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." -- 1 Cor. 15:26; Rev. 21:4.

Other Occurrences of the Word "Hell"

Having examined the word sheol, the only word in the Old Testament rendered "hell," and the word hades, most frequently in the New Testament rendered "hell," we now notice every remaining instance in Scripture of the English word "hell." In the New Testament two other words are rendered "hell": namely, Gehenna and tartaroo, which we will consider in the order named.

"Gehenna" Rendered "Hell"

This word occurs in the following passages -- in all twelve times: Matt. 5:22,29,30; Matt. 10:28; Matt. 18:9; 23:15,33; Mark 9:43-47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6. It is the Grecian mode of spelling the Hebrew words which are translated "Valley of Hinnom." This valley lay just outside the city of Jerusalem and served the purpose of sewer and garbage burner to that city. The offal, garbage, etc., were emptied there, and fires were kept continually burning to consume utterly all things deposited therein, brimstone being added to assist combustion and insure complete destruction. But no living thing was ever permitted to be cast into Gehenna. The Jews were not allowed to torture any creature.

When we consider that in the people of Israel God was giving us object lessons illustrating his dealings and plans, present and future, we should expect that this Valley of Hinnom, or Gehenna, would also play its part in illustrating things future. We know that Israel's priesthood and temple illustrated the Royal Priesthood, the Christian Church as it will be, the true Temple of God; and we know that their chief city was a figure of the New Jerusalem, the seat of kingdom power and center of authority -- the city (government) of the Great King, Immanuel. We remember, too, that Christ's government is represented in the book of Revelation (21:10-27) under the figure of a city -- the New Jerusalem. There, after describing the class permitted to enter the privileges and blessings of that Kingdom -- the honorable and glorious, and all who have right to the trees of life -- we find it also declared that there shall not enter into it anything that defileth, or that worketh abomination, or maketh a lie; but only such as the Lamb shall write as worthy of life. This city, which thus will represent the entire saved world in the end of the Millennium, was typified in the earthly city, Jerusalem; and the defiling, the abominable, etc., the class unworthy of life everlasting, who do not enter in, were represented by the refuse and the filthy, lifeless carcasses cast into Gehenna outside the city -- whose utter destruction was thus symbolized, the Second death. Accordingly, we find it stated that those not found worthy of life are to be cast into the "lake of fire" (Rev. 20:15) -- fire here, as everywhere, being used as a symbol of destruction, and the symbol, lake of fire, being drawn from the same Gehenna or Valley of Hinnom.

Therefore, while Gehenna served a useful purpose to the city of Jerusalem as a place for garbage burning, it, like the city itself, was typical, and illustrated the future dealings of God in refusing and committing to destruction all the impure elements, thus preventing them from defiling the holy city, the New Jerusalem, after the trial of the Millennial age of judgment shall have fully proved them and separated with unerring accuracy the "sheep" from the "goats."

So, then, Gehenna was a type or illustration of the Second death -- final and complete destruction, from which there can be no recovery; for after that, "there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins," but only "fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." -- Heb. 10:26,27.

Let us remember that Israel, for the purpose of being used as types of God's future dealing with the race, was typically treated as though the ransom had been given before they left Egypt, though only a typical lamb had been slain. When Jerusalem was built and the temple -- representative of the true Temple, the Church and the true Kingdom as it will be established by Christ in the Millennium -- that people typified the world in the Millennial age. Their priests represented the glorified Royal Priesthood, and their Law and its demands of perfect obedience represented the law and condition under the New Covenant, to be brought into operation for the blessing of all the obedient, and for the condemnation of all who, when granted fullest opportunity, will not heartily submit to the righteous ruling and laws of the Great King.

Seeing, then, that Israel's polity, condition, etc., prefigured those of the world in the coming age, how appropriate that we should find the Valley or abyss, Gehenna, a figure of the Second death, the utter destruction in the coming age of all that is unworthy of preservation; and how aptly, too, is the symbol, "lake of fire burning with brimstone" (Rev. 19:20) drawn from this same Gehenna, or Valley of Hinnom, burning continually with brimstone. The expression, "burning with brimstone," adds force to the symbol "fire," to express the utter and irrevocable destructiveness of the Second death; for burning brimstone is the most deadly agent known. How reasonable, too, to expect that Israel would have courts and judges resembling or prefiguring the judgments of the next age; and that the sentence of those (figurative) courts of that (figurative) people under those (figurative) laws to that (figurative) abyss, outside the (figurative) city, would largely correspond to the (real) sentences of the (real) court and judges in the next age. If these points are kept in mind, they will greatly assist us in understanding the words of our Lord in reference to Gehenna; for, though the literal valley just at hand was named and referred to, yet his words carry with them lessons concerning the future age and the antitypical Gehenna -- the Second death.

Shall be in Danger of Gehenna (Matt. 5:21,22)

"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, 'Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be amenable to the judges:' but I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall [future, under the regulations of the real Kingdom] be amenable to the judges; and whosoever shall say to his brother, 'Raca' [villain] shall be in danger of the high council; but whosoever shall say, 'Thou fool,' shall be in danger of hell [Gehenna] fire."

To understand these references to council and judges and Gehenna, all should know something of Jewish regulations. The "Court of Judges" consisted of seven men (or twenty-three -- the number is in dispute), who had power to judge some classes of crimes. The High Council, or Sanhedrin, consisted of seventy-one men of recognized learning and ability. This constituted the highest court of the Jews, and its supervision was over the gravest offenses. The most serious sentence was death; but certain very obnoxious criminals were subjected to an indignity after death, being refused burial and cast with the carcasses of dogs, the city refuse, etc., into Gehenna, there to be consumed. The object of this burning in Gehenna was to make the crime and the criminal detestable in the eyes of the people, and signified that the culprit was a hopeless case. It must be remembered that Israel hoped for a resurrection from the tomb, and hence they were particular in caring for the corpses of their dead. Not realizing fully God's power, they apparently thought he needed their assistance to that extent. (Exod. 13:19; Heb. 11:22; Acts 7:15,16) Hence the destruction of the body in Gehenna after death (figuratively) implied the loss of hope of future life by a resurrection. Thus to such Gehenna represented the Second death in the same figurative way that they as a people represented or illustrated a future order of things under the New Covenant.

Notice that our Lord, in the above words, pointed out to them that their construction of the Law, severe though it was, was far below the real import of that Law, as it shall be interpreted under the real Kingdom and Judges, which theirs only typified. He shows that the command of their Law, "Thou shalt not kill," reached much farther than they supposed; that malicious anger and vituperation "shall be" considered a violation of God's Law under the New Covenant; and that such as, under the favorable conditions of that new age, will not reform so thoroughly as to fully observe God's Law will be counted worthy of that which the Gehenna near them typified -- the Second death. However, the strict severity of that Law will be enforced only in proportion as the discipline, advantages and assistance of that age, enabling each to comply with its laws, shall be disregarded. The same thought is continued in:

Matthew 5:22-30

"Ye have heard," etc., "but I say unto you . . . it is better for thee to lose one of thy members, than that thy whole body should be cast into Gehenna."

Here again the operation of God's Law under the New Covenant is contrasted with its operation under the Old or Jewish Covenant, and the lesson of self control is urged by the statement that it is far more profitable that men should refuse to gratify depraved desires (though they be dear to them as a right eye, and apparently indispensable as a right hand) than that they should gratify these, and lose, in the Second death, the future life provided through the atonement for all who will return to perfection, holiness and God.

These expressions of our Lord not only serve to show us the perfection (Rom. 7:12) of God's Law, and how fully it will be defined and enforced in the Millennium, but they served as a lesson to the Jews also, who previously saw through Moses' commands only the crude exterior of the Law of God. Since they found it difficult in their fallen state to keep inviolate even the surface significance of the Law, they must now see the impossibility of their keeping the finer meaning of the Law revealed by Christ. Had they understood and received his teaching fully, they would have cried out, Alas! if God judges us thus, by the very thoughts and intents of the heart, we are all unclean, all undone, and can hope for naught but condemnation to Gehenna (to utter destruction, as brute beasts). They would have cried, "Show us a greater Priesthood than that of Aaron, a High Priest and Teacher able fully to appreciate the Law and able fully to appreciate and sympathize with our fallen state and inherited weaknesses, and let him offer for us 'better sacrifices,' and apply to us the needed greater forgiveness of sin, and let him as a Great Physician heal us and restore us, so that we can obey the perfect Law of God from our hearts." Then they would have found Christ.

But this lesson they did not learn, for the ears of their understanding were "dull of hearing" (Matt. 13:15); hence they knew not that God had already prepared the very priest and sacrifice and teacher and physician they needed, who in due time redeemed those under the typical Law, as well as all not under it, and who also "in due time" (1 Tim. 2:6), shortly, will begin his restoring work -- restoring sight to the blind eyes of their understanding, and hearing to their deaf ears. Then the "vail shall be taken away" (2 Cor. 3:16) -- the vail of ignorance, pride and human wisdom, which Satan now uses to blind the world to God's true law and true plan of salvation in Christ.

And not only did our Lord's teaching here show the Law of the New Covenant, and teach the Jew a lesson, but it is of benefit to the Gospel Church also. In proportion as we learn the exactness of God's Law, and what would constitute the perfection under its requirements, we see that our Redeemer was perfect, and that we, totally unable to commend ourselves to God as keepers of that Law, can find acceptance with the Father only in the merit of our Redeemer, while none can be of that "Body" (Col. 1:18), covered by the robe of his righteousness, except the consecrated who endeavor to do only those things well pleasing to God, which include the avoidance of sin to the extent of ability. Yet their acceptability with God rests not in their perfection, but upon the perfection of Christ so long as they abide in him. These, nevertheless, are benefited by a clear insight into the perfect Law of God, even though they are not dependent on the perfect keeping of it. They delight to do God's will to the extent of their ability, and the better they know His perfect Law, the better they are able to rule themselves and to conform to it. So, then, to us also the Lord's words have a lesson of value.

The point, however, to be specially noticed here is that Gehenna, which the Jews knew, and of which our Lord spoke to them, was not a lake of fire to be kept burning to all eternity, into which all would be cast who get "angry with a brother" and call him a "fool." No; the Jews gathered no such extreme idea from the Lord's words. The eternal torment theory was unknown to them. It had no place in their theology, as will be shown. It is a comparatively modern invention, coming down, as we have shown, from Papacy -- the great apostasy.

The point is that Gehenna symbolizes the Second death -- utter, complete and everlasting destruction. This is clearly shown by its being contrasted with life as its opposite. "It is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, than otherwise to be cast into Gehenna" (Matt. 18:8). It is better that you should deny yourselves sinful gratifications than that you should lose all future life, and perish in the Second death.

(Matt. 10:28; Luke 12:5)

"Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell [Gehenna]."

Here our Lord pointed out to his followers the great cause they had for courage and bravery under the most trying circumstances. They were to expect persecution, and to have all manner of evil spoken against them falsely, for his sake, and for the sake of the "good tidings" (Luke 2:10) of which he made them the ministers and heralds; yea, the time would come that whosoever would kill them would think that he did God a service. (John 16:2) Their consolation of reward for this was to be received, not in the present life, but in the life to come. They were assured, and they believed, that he had come to give his life a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28), and that all in their graves must in consequence, in due time, hear the Deliverer's voice and come forth (John 5:28,29), either to reward (if their trial had been passed in this life successfully), future trial, or judgment, as must be the case with the great majority who do not, in this present life, come to the necessary knowledge and opportunity essential to a complete trial.

Under present conditions men are able to kill our bodies, but nothing that they can do will affect our future being (soul) (Matt. 10:28), which God has promised shall be revived or restored by His power in the resurrection day -- the Millennial age. Our revived souls will have new bodies (spiritual or natural -- "to every 'seed' his own [kind of] body" -- 1 Cor. 15:38), and these none will have liberty to kill. God alone has power to destroy utterly -- soul and body. He alone, therefore, should be feared, and the opposition of men even to the death is not to be feared, if thereby we gain divine approval. Our Lord's bidding, then, is, Fear not them which can terminate the present (dying) life in these poor, dying bodies. Care little for it, its food, its clothing, its pleasures, in comparison with that future existence or being which God has provided for you, and which, if secured, may be your portion forever. Fear not the threats, or looks, or acts of men, whose power can extend no farther than the present existence; who can harm and kill these bodies, but can do no more. Rather have respect and deference to God, with whom are the issues of life everlasting -- fear him who is able to destroy in Gehenna, the Second death, both the present dying existence and all hope of future existence.

(Matt. 18:8, 9; Mark 9:43-48)

Here it is conclusively shown that Gehenna as a figure represents the Second death -- the utter destruction which must ensue in the case of all who, after having fully received the opportunities of a future being or existence through our Lord's sacrifice, prove themselves unworthy of God's gift, and refuse to accept it, by refusing obedience to His just requirements. For it does not say that God will preserve soul or body in Gehenna, but that in it He can and will "destroy" both. Thus we are taught that any who are condemned to the Second death are hopelessly and forever blotted out of existence. Since these two passages refer to the same discourse, we quote from Mark -- remarking that verses 44 and 46, and part of 45, are not found in the oldest Greek MSS., though verse 48, which reads the same, is in all manuscripts. We quote the text as found in these ancient and reliable MSS.

"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 Gehenna, into the fire that never shall be quenched: And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into Gehenna. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into Gehenna: Where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched." (Mark 9:43,45,47,48)

After reading the above, all must agree with the prophet that our Lord opened his mouth in figures and obscure sayings. (Psalms 78:2; Matt. 13:35) No one for a moment supposes that our Lord advised the people to mutilate their bodies by cutting off their limbs, or gouging out their eyes. Nor does he mean us to understand that the injuries and disfigurements of the present life will continue beyond the grave, when we shall "enter into life." The Jews, whom the Lord addressed, having no conception of a place of everlasting torment, and who knew the word Gehenna to refer to the valley outside their city, which was not a place of torment, nor a place where any living thing was cast, but a place for the utter destruction of whatever might be cast into it, recognizing the Lord's expression regarding limbs and eyes to be figurative, knew that Gehenna also was used in the same figurative sense, to symbolize utter destruction.

The Lord meant simply this: The future life, which God has provided for redeemed man, is of inestimable value, and it will richly pay you to make any sacrifice to receive and enjoy that life. Should it even cost an eye, a hand or a foot, so that to all eternity you would be obliged to endure the loss of these, yet life would be cheap at even such a cost. That would be better far than to retain your members and lose all in Gehenna. Doubtless, too, the hearers drew the lesson as applicable to all the affairs of life, and understood the Master to mean that it would richly repay them to deny themselves many comforts, pleasures and tastes, dear to them as a right hand, precious as an eye, and serviceable as a foot, rather than by gratification to forfeit the life to come and be utterly destroyed in Gehenna

-- the Second death.

But what about the undying worms and the unquenchable fire?

In the literal Gehenna, which is the basis of our Lord's illustration, the bodies of animals, etc, frequently fell upon ledges of rocks and not into the fire kept burning below. Thus exposed, these would breed worms and be destroyed by them, as completely and as surely as those which burned. No one was allowed to disturb the contents of this valley; hence the worm and the fire together completed the work of destruction -- the fire was not quenched and the worms died not. This would not imply a never-ending fire, nor everlasting worms. The thought is that the worms did not die off and leave the carcasses there, but continued and completed the work of destruction. So with the fire: it was not quenched, it burned on until all was consumed. Just so if a house were ablaze and the fire could not be controlled or quenched, but burned until the building was destroyed, we might properly call such an "unquenchable fire."

Our Lord wished to impress the thought of the completeness and finality of the Second death, symbolized in Gehenna. All who go into the Second death will be thoroughly and completely and forever destroyed; no ransom will ever again be given for any (Rom. 6:9); for none worthy of life will be cast into the Second death, or lake of fire, but only those who love unrighteousness after coming to the knowledge of the truth.

Not only in the above instances is the Second death pointedly illustrated by Gehenna, but it is evident that the same Teacher used the same figure to represent the same thing in the symbols of Revelation -- though there it is not called Gehenna, but a "lake of fire."

The same valley was once before used as a basis of a discourse by the Prophet Isaiah. (Isa. 66:24) Though he gives it no name, he describes it; and all should notice that he speaks, not as some with false ideas might expect, of billions alive in flames and torture, but of the carcasses of those who transgressed against the Lord, who are thus represented as utterly destroyed in the Second death.

The two preceding verses show the time when this prophecy will be fulfilled, and it is in perfect harmony with the symbols of Revelation: it appertains to the new dispensation, the Millennium, the "new heavens and a new earth" (2 Peter 3:13) condition of things. Then all the righteous will see the justice as well as the wisdom of the utter destruction of the incorrigible, willful enemies of righteousness, as it is written: "They shall be an abhorring unto all flesh" (Isa. 66:24).

Matthew 23:15, 33

The class here addressed was not the heathen who had no knowledge of the truth, nor the lowest and most ignorant of the Jewish nation, but the scribes and Pharisees, outwardly the most religious, and the leaders and teachers of the people. To these our Lord said, "How can ye escape the judgment of the Gehenna?" (Diaglott translation) These men were hypocritical; they were not true to their convictions. Abundant testimony of the truth had been borne to them, but they refused to accept it, and endeavored to counteract its influence and to discourage the people from accepting it. And in thus resisting the holy spirit of light and truth, they were hardening their hearts against the very agency which God designed for their blessing. Hence they were wickedly resisting his grace, and such a course, if pursued, must eventually end in condemnation to the Second death, Gehenna. Every step in the direction of willful blindness and opposition to the Truth makes return more difficult, and makes the wrongdoer more and more of the character which God abhors, and which the Second death is intended to utterly destroy. The scribes and Pharisees were progressing rapidly in that course: hence the warning inquiry of our Lord, "How can ye escape?" etc. The sense is this -- Although you boast of your piety, you will surely be destroyed in Gehenna, unless you change your course.

Set on Fire of Gehenna (James 3:6)

"So [important] is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and [or when] it is set on fire of Gehenna."

Here, in strong, symbolic language, the apostle points out the great and bad influence of an evil tongue -- a tongue set on fire (figuratively) by Gehenna (figuratively). For a tongue to be set on fire of Gehenna signifies that it is set going in evil by a perverse disposition, self-willed, selfish, hateful, malicious, the sort of disposition which, in spite of knowledge and opportunity, unless controlled and reformed, will be counted worthy to be destroyed -- the class for whom the "Second death," the real "lake of fire," the real Gehenna, is intended. One in that attitude may by his tongue kindle a great fire, a destructive disturbance, which, wherever it has contact, will work evil in the entire course of nature. A few malicious words often arouse all the evil passions of the speaker, engender the same in others and react upon the first. And continuance in such an evil course finally corrupts the entire man, and brings him under sentence as utterly unworthy of life.

"Tartaroo" Rendered "Hell"

The Greek word tartaroo occurs but once in the scriptures and is translated hell. It is found in 2 Peter 2:4, which reads thus:

"God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast [them] down to hell [tartaroo], and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment."

Having examined all other words rendered "hell" in the Bible, and all the texts in which they occur, we conclude the examination with this text, which is the only one in which the word tartaroo occurs. In the above quotation, all the words shown in italic type are translated from the one Greek work tartaroo. Evidently the translators were at a loss to know how to translate the word, but concluded they knew where the evil angels ought to be, and so they made bold to put them into "hell," though it took five words to twist the idea into the shape they had pre-determined it must take.

The word tartaroo, used by Peter, very closely resembles tartarus, a word used in Grecian mythology as the name for a dark abyss or prison. But tartaroo seems to refer more to an act than to a place. The fall of the angels who sinned was from honor and dignity, into dishonor and condemnation, and the thought seems to be -- "God spared not the angels who sinned, but degraded them, and delivered them into chains of darkness."

This certainly agrees with the facts known to us through other scriptures; for these fallen spirits frequented the earth in the days of our Lord and the apostles. Hence they were not down in some place, but "down" in the sense of being degraded from former honor and liberty, and restrained under darkness, as by a chain. Whenever these fallen spirits, in spiritualistic seances, manifest their powers through mediums, pretending to be certain dead human beings, they must always do their work in the dark, because darkness is the chain by which they are bound until the great Millennial day of judgment. Whether this implies that in the immediate future they will be able to materialize in daylight is difficult to determine. If so, it would greatly increase Satan's power to blind and deceive for a short season -- until the Sun of Righteousness has fully risen and Satan is fully bound.

Thus we close our investigation of the Bible use of the word "hell." Thank God, we find no such place of everlasting torture as the creeds and hymn-books and many pulpits erroneously teach. Yet we have found a "hell," sheol, hades, to which all our race were condemned on account of Adam's sin, and from which all are redeemed by our Lord's death; and that "hell" is the tomb -- the death condition. And we find another "hell" (Gehenna -- the Second death -- utter destruction) brought to our attention as the final penalty upon all who, after being redeemed and brought to the full knowledge of the truth, and to full ability to obey it, shall yet choose death by choosing a course of opposition to God and righteousness. And our hearts say, Amen! True and righteous are thy ways, thou King of nations! Who shall not venerate thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou art entirely holy. And all nations shall come and worship before thee, because thy righteous dealings are made manifest. -- Rev. 15:3,4.

Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)

The great difficulty with many in reading this Scripture is that, though they regard it as a parable, they reason on it and draw conclusions from it as though it were a literal statement. To regard it as a literal statement involves several absurdities: for instance, that the rich man went to "hell" because he had enjoyed many earthly blessings and gave nothing but crumbs to Lazarus. Not a word is said about his wickedness. Again, Lazarus was blessed, not because he was a sincere child of God, full of faith and trust, not because he was good, but simply because he was poor and sick. If this be interpreted literally, the only logical lesson to be drawn from it is that unless we are poor beggars full of sores, we will never enter into future bliss; and that if now we wear any fine linen and purple, and have plenty to eat every day, we are sure of future torment. Again, the coveted place of favor is "Abraham's bosom"; and if the whole statement be literal, the bosom must also be literal, and it surely would not hold very many of earth's millions of sick and poor.

But why consider absurdities? As a parable, it is easy of interpretation. In a parable the thing said is never the thing meant. We know this from our Lord's own explanations of his parables. When he said "wheat," he meant "children of the kingdom"; when he said "tares," he meant "the children of the devil"; when he said "reapers," his servants were to be understood, etc. (Matthew 13) The same classes were represented by different symbols in different parables. Thus the "wheat" of one parable correspond to the "faithful servants" and the "wise virgins" of others. (Matt. 25:2) So in this parable, the "rich man" represents a class, and "Lazarus" represents another class.

In attempting to expound a parable such as this, an explanation of which the Lord does not furnish us, modesty in expressing our opinion regarding it is certainly appropriate. We therefore offer the following explanation without any attempt to force our views upon the reader, except so far as his own truth-enlightened judgment may commend them as in accord with God's Word and plan. To our understanding Abraham represented God, and the "rich man" represented the Jewish nation. At the time of the utterance of the parable, and for a long time previous, the Jews had "fared sumptuously every day" -- being the especial recipients of God's favors. As Paul says: "What advantage then hath the Jews? . . . Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God [Law and Prophecy}." (Rom. 3:1,2) The promises to Abraham and David and their organization as a typical Kingdom of God invested that people with royalty, as represented by the rich man's "purple." The typical sacrifices of the Law constituted them, in a typical sense, a holy (righteous) nation represented by the rich man's "fine linen" -- symbolic of righteousness. -- Rev. 19:8.

Lazarus represented the outcasts from divine favor under the Law, who, sin-sick, hungered and thirsted after righteousness. "Publicans and sinners" (Matt. 9:10) of Israel, seeking a better life, and truth-hungry Gentiles who were feeling after God (Acts 17:27) constituted the Lazarus class. These, at the time of the utterance of this parable, were entirely destitute of those special divine blessings which Israel enjoyed. They lay at the gate of the rich man. No rich promises of royalty were theirs; not even typically were they cleansed; but, in moral sickness, pollution and sin, they were companions of "dogs." Dogs were regarded as detestable creatures in those days, and the typically clean Jew called the outsiders "heathen" and "dogs," and would never eat with them, nor marry, nor have any dealings with them. -- John 4:9.

As to how these ate of the "crumbs" of divine favor which fell from Israel's table of bounties, the Lord's words to the Syro-Phenician woman give us a key. He said to this Gentile woman -- "It is not meet [proper] to take the children's [Israelites'] bread, and to cast it to dogs [Gentiles]"; and she answered, "Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." (Matt. 15:22,26,27) Jesus healed her daughter, thus giving the desired crumb of favor.

But there came a great dispensational change in Israel's history when as a nation they rejected and crucified the Son of God. Then their typical righteousness ceased -- then the promise of royalty ceased to be theirs, and the Kingdom was taken from them to be give to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof -- the Gospel Church, "an holy nation, a peculiar people." (Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 2:7,9; Matt. 21:43) Thus the "rich man" died to all these special advantages, and soon he (the Jewish nation ) found himself in a cast-off condition -- in tribulation and affliction. In such condition that nation has suffered from that day to this.

Lazarus also died: The condition of the humble Gentiles and the God-seeking "outcasts" of Israel underwent a great change, being carried by the angels (messengers -- apostles, etc.) to Abraham's bosom. Abraham is represented as the father of the faithful, and receives all the children of faith, who are thus recognized as the heirs of all the promises made to Abraham; for the children of the flesh are not the children of God, "but the children of the promise are counted for the seed" (Rom. 9:8) (children of Abraham); "thy seed which is Christ" -- and "if ye be Christ's, then are ye [believers] Abraham's seed [children], and heirs according to the [Abrahamic] promise." -- Gal. 3:16,29.

Yes, the termination of the condition of things then existing was well illustrated by the figure, death -- the dissolution of the Jewish polity and the withdrawal of the favors which Israel had so long enjoyed. There they were cast off and have since been shown "no favor," while the poor Gentiles, who before had been "aliens from the commonwealth [the polity] of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of promise [up to this time given to Israel only], having no hope, and without God in the world," were then "made nigh by the blood of Christ," and reconciled to God. -- Eph. 2:12,13.

To the symbolisms of death and burial used to illustrate the dissolution of Israel and their burial or hiding among the other nations, our Lord added a further figure -- "In hell [hades, the grave] he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off," etc. The dead cannot lift up their eyes, nor see either near or far, nor converse; for it is distinctly stated, "There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave"; and the dead are described as those who "go down into silence." (Ecc. 9:10; Psalms 115:17) But the Lord wished to show that great sufferings or "torments" would be added to the Jews as a nation after the national dissolution and burial amongst the other peoples dead in trespasses and sins; and that they would plead in vain for release and comfort at the hand of the formerly despised Lazarus class. -- Deut. 28:15-68.

And history has borne out this parabolic prophecy. For nineteen hundred years the Jews have not only been in distress of mind over their casting out from the favor of God and the loss of their temple and other necessaries to the offering of their sacrifices, but they have been relentlessly persecuted by all classes, including professed Christians. It was from the latter that the Jews have expected mercy, as expressed in the parable -- "Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue"; but the great gulf fixed between them hinders that. Nevertheless, God still recognizes the relationship established in his covenant with them and addresses them as children of the covenant. (Verse 25) These "torments" have been the penalties attached to the violation of their covenant, and were as certain to be visited upon them as the blessings promised for obedience. -- See Leviticus 26; Zech. 9:11.

The "great gulf fixed" represents the wide difference between the Gospel Church and the Jew -- the former enjoying free grace, joy, comfort and peace, as true sons of God, and the latter holding to the Law, which condemns and torments. Prejudice, pride and error from the Jewish side form the bulwarks of this gulf which hinder the Jew from coming into the condition of true sons of God by accepting Christ and the gospel of his grace. The bulwark of this gulf which hinders true sons of God from going to the Jew -- under the bondage of the Law -- is their knowledge that by the deeds of the Law none can be justified before God, and that if any man keep the Law (put himself under it to try to commend himself to God by reason of obedience to it), Christ shall profit him nothing. (Gal. 5:2-4) So, then, we who are of the Lazarus class should not attempt to mix the Law and the Gospel, knowing that they cannot be mixed, and that we can do no good to those who still cling to the Law and reject the sacrifice for sins given by our Lord. And they, not seeing the change of dispensation which took place, argue that to deny the Law as the power to save would be to deny all the past history of their race, and to deny all of God's special dealings with the "fathers," (promises and dealings which through pride and selfishness they failed rightly to apprehend and use); hence they cannot come over to the bosom of Abraham, into the true rest and peace -- the portion of all the true children of faith. -- John 8:30; Rom. 4:16; Gal. 3:29

True, a few Jews probably came into the Christian faith all the way down the Gospel age, but so few as to be ignored in a parable which represented the Jewish people as a whole. As at the first, the rich man represented the orthodox Jews, and not the "outcasts of Israel" (Isa. 56:8), so down to the close of the parable he continues to represent a similar class, and hence does not represent such Jews as have renounced the Law Covenant and embraced Christianity, or such as have become infidels.

The plea of the "rich man" for the sending of "Lazarus" to his five brethren we interpret as follows:

The people of Judea, at the time of our Lord's utterance of this parable, were repeatedly referred to as "Israel," "the lost sheep of the house of Israel," "cities of Israel" (Matt. 8:10; 10:6,23), because all of the tribes were represented there; but actually the majority of the people were of the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, but few of the ten tribes having returned from Babylon under Cyrus' general permission. (Gen. 47:2) If the nation of the Jews (chiefly two tribes) were represented in the one "rich man," it would be a harmony of numbers to understand the "five brethren" to represent the ten tribes chiefly scattered abroad. The request relative to them was doubtless introduced to show that all special favor of God ceased to all Israel (the ten tribes, as well as to the two more directly addressed). It seems to us evident that Israel only was meant, for no other nation than Israel had "Moses and the prophets" as instructors (verse 29). The majority of the ten tribes had so far disregarded Moses and the prophets that they did not return to the land of promise, but preferred to dwell among idolaters; and hence it would be useless to attempt further communication with them, even by one from the dead -- the figuratively dead, but now figuratively risen, Lazarus class. -- Eph. 2:5

Though the parable mentions no bridging of this "great gulf," other portions of Scripture indicate that it was to be "fixed" only throughout the Gospel age, and that at its close the "rich man," having received the measurement of punishment for his sins, will walk out of his fiery troubles over the bridge of God's promises yet unfulfilled to that nation.

Though for centuries the Jews have been bitterly persecuted by pagans, Mohammedans and professed Christians, they are now gradually rising to political freedom and influence; and although much of "Jacob's trouble" (Jer. 30:7) is just at hand, yet as a people they will be very prominent among the nations in the beginning of the Millennium. The "vail" (2 Cor. 3:13-16) of prejudice still exists, but it will be gradually taken away as the light of the Millennial morning dawns; nor should we be surprised to hear of great awakenings among the Jews, and many coming to acknowledge Christ. They will thus leave their hadean state (national death) and torment, and come, the first of the nations, to be blessed by the true seed of Abraham, which is Christ, Head and Body. Their bulwark of race prejudice and pride is falling in some places, and the humble, the poor in spirit, are beginning already to look upon him whom they have pierced, and to inquire, Is not this the Christ? And as they look the Lord pours upon them the spirit of favor and supplication (Zech. 12:10). Therefore, "Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her appointed time is accomplished" -- Isa. 40:1,2, margin.

In a word, this parable seems to teach precisely what Paul explained in Romans 11:19-32. Because of unbelief the natural branches were broken off and the wild branches grafted into the Abrahamic root-promise. The parable leaves the Jews in their trouble, and does not refer to their final restoration to favor -- doubtless because it was not pertinent to the feature of the subject treated; but Paul assures us that when the fulness of the Gentiles -- the full number from among the Gentiles necessary to make up the Bride of Christ -- is come in, they [natural Israel] shall obtain mercy through your [the Church's] mercy. (Rom. 11:31) He assures us that this is God's cov