doctrine, that beyond death and the grave are two worlds and two modes of existence, heaven and hell, in bliss and in woe that men are fitting themselves in this world for either the one or the other that at death they will enter into heaven, or into woe, according to the moral, or immoral character they sustain that the destiny of men is fixed after death, the righteous are not commissioned on errands of mercy to the lost, nor are the lost allowed to pass over from their dreary region into the place of glory, all relief and every source of joy is cut off-the punishment of the damned shall prey upon the soul like the gnawing of the undying worm, and the fury of quenchless fires. Reader, beware lest you come to this place.

8. The Scriptures represent the main punishment of the wicked as taking place after the resurrection, and the general judgment.

If this proposition is susceptible of proof, then we are favored with another argument adapted to sustain the doctrine of future woe and misery. We read in Matt. x. 15, "It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city;" xi. 23, 24, “And thou, Capernaum-it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee." Luke xi. 31, 32. "The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them," &c. "The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it," &c. These passages speak of a future judgment, and declare that the punishment of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah shall not be so intolerable, at that time, as that which shall be inflicted on the people of Capernaum, and the impenitent cities of the land of Judea. The queen of the south visited Solomon about 1,000 years before the appearance of Christ, and the preaching of Jonah to the Nine

vites a few hundred years less, yet the queen and the men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment and condemn the generation that lived in the days of Christ; therefore the necessity of a general resurrection is apparent, a subsequent judgment, and the infliction of condign punishment. If those generations which have been dead for many centuries shall be judged and punished together and at the same time; then punishment for sin must be in the future world.

We are taught that the end of the world, the resurrection of the dead, the judgment of the great day, and the punishment of the wicked, shall take place in swift succession, and in consecutive order. We read in 2 Peter iii. 7, "But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and the perdition of ungodly men." As the flood swept over the earth in the time appointed, and demolished the works of men; so the world is still kept by the word of God, reserved for that time when the fire shall sweep around and invelop the habitable globe: at that time the day of judgment shall pass by and the perdition of ungodly men shall take place. This punishment must be in the future world. "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up." (Verse 10.) "Looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat." (Verse 12.) Here we have a description of the end of the world.

We have in another Scripture the whole subject brought to view. Rev. xx. 11-15. "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth

and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them." This represents the end of the world, the same as in Peter. "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God: and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works." All this declares the resurrection of the dead, who were still retained under the dominion of death, after the first resurrection, and the final judgment of the dead who were raised by the power of God, in soul and body from death and Hades, the grave and the spirit-world. Now comes the final doom of the wicked, as an event subsequent to the resurrection and the judgment. “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found of life was cast into the lake of fire." description of the punishment of the wicked. The expression that "death and hell were cast into the lake of fire," we understand to teach, that all those who were confined in the grave, as to the body—and in the spirit-world, as to the soul, after the first resurrection had taken place, were then, after being judged and fully condemned, cast soul and body into the misery of the damned as their future destiny. Every reader must be aware, that the first resurrection had taken place prior to this time 1000 years, and all who were so fortunate as to have a part in this and awoke from death on that sweet morn, were not liable to the second death.

written in the book

This is an awful

After wading through all the arguments we have advanced, in favor of future punishment, with a mind controlled by candor and a prayerful spirit, still to cling with a deathstruggle to the doctrine, that in the future world, misery and

woe shall never stamp its sorrows on any portion of the human race, and that after death, all will start anew on a common level, in their race stretched through eternal glories; all such we despair of benefiting or of recovering them to heaven-begotten truth. We fear that they will wonder and perish, that they are given over to a reprobate mind, to believe a lie that they might be damned, because they have pleasure in unrighteousness. But if, reader, you are pos

sessed of candor, and are inclined to know the truth, and if in your heart only some faint scruples arise, whether after all it may not be true, that the Bible teaches a future retribution and woe, we entreat you to re-peruse this investigation in the light and solemnities of eternity. If true, it is a solemn work for you, to be reviewed in the judgment and to cast a moulding influence over your future well-being. Be sober, impartial and prayerful.

But perhaps, we are addressing some who admit future punishment, while they deny the eternity of punishment. They see the difficulty of confining all just and adequate punishment to this world, and the necessity of future punishment on the principle of distributive justice, the administration of moral government, and the reformation of the punished, yet they see no justice or necessity of an eternity of woe. The doctrine of eternal punishment we shall now defend.

V. THE ETERNITY OF PUNISHMENT.

We have proven, that there will be future punishment inflicted upon the finally impenitent. Hereafter we shall assume this position as substantially and clearly fortified, and proceed to establish by reason, logic and Scripture, the doctrine, that the wicked deserve for their sins, eternal or non-ending punishment. The main object of such punishment will be to vindicate the justice and the moral govern

ment of God; and the procuring cause will be the willful commission of sin and rejection of salvation by the precious blood of Christ. The question, which now remains, and claims investigation, is, whether the punishment of the wicked in the future world will be limited, or eternal, Those who advocate and defend a limited future punishment, declare that the only object of punishment is corrective, and designed to reform the guilty; while those who advocate eternal punishment, believe that the principal object of punishment is to vindicate the justice and government of God, and that there is therefore a necessity of its being eternal.

We have heretofore spoken somewhat at large in reference to the object of punishment, and the absurdity of a limited future punishment; and we would merely add, that since we have proven, that the most prominent object of punishment is, to vindicate the justice and authority of God, therefore there is a necessity that it should be eternal, for if these require a vindication at any one time, they do so to all eternity. Thus only God can rear up a standing monument of his displeasure at sin, and a proof that he will not screen the impenitent guilty.

But the objector to eternal punishment affirms, that all punishment is corrective, emendatory, therefore necessarily limited; for when the object is secured then it must cease to be. We would append a few remaks in reply.

The point to be proved is gratuitously assumed, that all punishment is corrective and emendatory. If this point. were substantiated, there would be a strong presumption that future punishment might cease, though it would not be of inevitable consequence. We readily acknowledge that some of the afflictions and judgments of God, which grow out of the providence, and the administration of his moral government in this world, are designed to reform the guilty,