PRESENTED TO THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
 BY 
 
 |VIi?s. Alexander Proudfit. 
 
 BT 701 .M8 1862 
 Morris, William, 
 
 The question of ages 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2019 with funding from 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 https://archive.org/details/questionofagesor00rnorr_0 
 
THE QUESTION OF AGES 
 
 WHAT IS MAH? 
 
 OUTLINES OP TESTIMONY 
 
 IN RELATION TO 
 
 LIFE, DEATH AND IMMORTALITY. 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM MOKRIS, M. D. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 “ These (the Bereans) were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received 
 the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things 
 were so.”— Acts xvii. 11. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY. 
 
 1 8 6 2 , 
 
 • 9 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1862, by 
 
 WILLIAM MORRIS. 
 
 In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court, for the Eastern District of 
 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 pRIKTED BY KING & BAIRD, SANSOM STREET, PHILADA. 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 The eighth Psalm is a prophecy concerning “ The Christ. ” 
 In it, David personates the Lord Jesus ; who is, therein, 
 shown to stand as man —“ the second man”—at the head of 
 all terrestrial things. As standing on the earth, and address¬ 
 ing Jehovah, the Father, he expresses the sentiments of 
 perfect humility and adoring praise—a devout admiration of 
 the infinite greatness, and the condescension of God : “When 
 I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and 
 the stars which thou hast ordained ; What is man^ that tiiou 
 art mindful of him ? and the son of man, that thou visitest 
 him ?” Ps. 8 : o, 4. 
 
 The question, What is man ? —as found in the psalm, is 
 intended to denote the humility and admiration now described ; 
 but the form of words used will serve to denote a question of 
 ages, among the speculative classes of mankind. Our present 
 purpose is to show, that to this question, men have offered a 
 reply, in the way of ecclesiastical teaching; and God has 
 supplied an answer, in the Scriptures of truth. Our immediate 
 concern is with the reply of wise and prudent men. 
 
 From the various schools of ecclesiastical tuition, a reply has 
 come forth, the substance of which may be thus condensed :—• 
 
 “ Man is an immortal being—mortal, as to his body, but 
 immortal in his soul. The soul of man is allied to angels—■ 
 is allied to God. The soul of man is an immortal principle 
 to which consciousness a|ways attaches. The soul of man is 
 an indestructible essence—an emanation from the Deity—a 
 
4 
 
 WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 spark of the Divinity. Man is a partaker of the life of the 
 Lord God—a participant in the immortality of God.” 
 
 “ The sun is but a spark of fire, 
 
 A transient meteor in the sky ; 
 
 The soul , immortal as its Sire, 
 
 Can never die !” 
 
 “ Yea, the visible universe in all its magnitude and magnifi¬ 
 cence is but a gilded bauble, and a transient meteor, as com¬ 
 pared with the inherent worth and dignity of one man—of 
 one human soul.” 
 
 Such is the reply given, to the question, What is man ? 
 And this estimate of man is said to be sustained and confirmed 
 by the deductions of Reason, from the nature of things; and 
 by the teachings of Revelation, as found in the inspired Book. 
 
 I. The alleged evidence of the immortality of man, from 
 the deductions of Reason are, chiefly, as follows, viz. : — 
 
 1. “ The soul of man is immaterial; and therefore is 
 
 IMMORTAL.” 
 
 But in this statement, an argument is present, but an 
 evidence is not found. The premise is merely a negative pro¬ 
 position ; from which a positive conclusion cannot be justly 
 drawn. It merely states what the soul is not. Thus : “ the 
 soul is not matter :” and from this negative assertion, the 
 positive conclusion that, “ therefore the soul is immortal ” is 
 professedly deduced. The kind of logic found in this mode 
 of reasoning, if fairly tested, will be discovered to be false. 
 It may be tested thus : Man is not an ant, therefore he is an 
 archangel. This paper is not ivory, therefore it is gold. In 
 this way the unsoundness of the above argument will be per- 
 ceived. The premise is little more than a confession of 
 ignorance, as to what the nature of the soul is, or of the kind 
 of substance in which its being and properties consist; and 
 it is unreasonable to claim that this confessed ignorance 
 supplies an evidence that the soul of man is immortal ; or that 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 5 
 
 because it is not matter, therefore it can never die, or be 
 destroyed. 
 
 The soul of man is, doubtless, immaterial ; and so, also, is 
 the soul of everything that lives and breathes: for all the 
 living creatures on earth, think; and thought is not a pro¬ 
 perty of matter, nor a result of organization, however won¬ 
 drous, or refined. Matter does not think : and to deny that 
 the inferior creatures think, is to reject the strongest evidences 
 of thinking, besides one’s own consciousness : and to affirm 
 that they think without an immaterial nature is to counte¬ 
 nance the dogmas of materialistic skepticism, and to surrender 
 one of the strongest evidences in favor of the immateriality of 
 the human soul. 
 
 Whether the thinking habits of the inferior creatures be 
 called reason, or sagacity, or instinct, it is not to be denied, 
 that they think. They love, and desire, and are glad ; and 
 they grieve, and remember, and hate ; which their bodies 
 cannot do ; any more than can the body of # a man. And as 
 the act, or habit of thinking is the strongest metaphysical 
 argument for the immateriality of the human soul ; therefore, 
 the statement under review—even if its logic could not be 
 questioned—will be perceived to be worse than unsound ; 
 unless indeed, the premise, in that statement, be alleged as an 
 evidence of the immortality of the dog, the elephant, and the 
 ape, and of every creature that lives and thinks; having the 
 same weight as when it is used as an evidence of the immor¬ 
 tality of man. In a word : the argument is invalid and 
 unreasonable ; and its only supposable force arises from a 
 silent assumption, that, because the soul of man is not matter, 
 therefore it is spirit. But this assumption is not warranted ; 
 for mere human Reason does not, and cannot, know anything 
 of spirit; except as apprehending the Existence and ubiquity 
 of God, through a consideration of His visible works. And 
 it will be perceived, by thoughtful minds, that the immateriality 
 of the human soul is not an evidence—and cannot, legiti- 
 
6 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 mately, be offered as an evidence—of the predicated immor¬ 
 tality of man. 
 
 The second argument to be considered relates to the con¬ 
 stitution of the soul of man ; and is presented thus :— 
 
 2. “ The soul of man is uncompounded ; and therefore is 
 
 immortal.” 
 
 But this argument is not the result of knowledge : neither 
 is it possible to try the question involved in the premise. The 
 soul , though immaterial is a real substance; and though it 
 be not spirit, it is a real and substantial entity; for it has 
 properties and active powers, which are evinced by its mental 
 phenomena, and which all reasonable minds admit to be proofs 
 of the soul’s substantial and personal being. But whether 
 the soul be a simple or a compound substance, no man is able 
 to discern ; for even an attempt at analysis is impossible to 
 man. Respecting the constitution, even, of material things, 
 men have greatly erred. For instance : There was a time 
 when water and air, and light were supposed to be simple 
 substances; but the investigations of Science have dispelled 
 the mists of ignorance, in the midst of which such conceits 
 were formed. And the corrective teachings of Natural Science, 
 should suffice to inculcate a lesson of philosophic modesty, 
 respecting a subject which the highest analytical, human 
 wisdom cannot explore. But assuming that the soul of man 
 is uncompounded. Must it not be assumed, also, that the 
 souls of the inferior creatures are uncompounded ? and are 
 not their souls reduced to nonentity by means of death ? 
 Granting that the soul of man is uncompounded; which we 
 liave no desire to deny, or call in question. Is it, therefore, 
 and consequently immortal ? Is not God able to destroy the 
 soul of man—as a personal, conscious being—if such should 
 be, in any case, his governmental will ? Is not God able to 
 destroy the soul—as a personal, conscious being—by depriv¬ 
 ing it of its personal properties and powers ; though the im¬ 
 material substance of which it consists may still remain ; and 
 
WITAT IS MAN ? 
 
 7 
 
 may be confounded with other immaterial substance, that 
 once was endued with life and consciousness, but which has 
 since been deprived of the same ? Such, for instance, as the 
 souls of the beasts that perish. This would not , indeed, ex¬ 
 tend to an annihilation of the immaterial substance of the 
 soul; but it would extend to the destruction of the soul, con¬ 
 sidered as a conscious, personal being, and as a creature of 
 God. No exertion of power, on the part of God, is requisite 
 to destroy the creatures of his power. They perish at the 
 rebuke of his countenance. If he cease to uphold them, they 
 are no more ; and his suspended smile, is utter death. No 
 one who has a becoming reverence for God, will deny that, 
 “ He can create, and He destroy.” 
 
 The first argument relates to the nature of the soul; and 
 
 this, the second, relates to the constitution of the soul: the 
 
 * 
 
 next to be weighed, relates to the active powers of the soul; 
 and is presented thus :—- 
 
 3. “ The human intellect is progressive in its attainments, 
 and requires eternity for the completeness of its mental pro¬ 
 cesses ; and this is a valid evidence, that the soul of man is 
 immortal.” 
 
 But progressive attainment is a proof of personal imper¬ 
 fection ; and of being exceedingly unlike God. The Divine 
 Mind does not progress. The perfectness of eternity and 
 immortality is in the mind of God; and therefore it does not 
 progress. And if the fact, and the proof of the fact, that 
 man—in his mental history—is wholly unlike God, can be 
 used as an evidence that man is immortal; then, indeed, the 
 immortality of man can be most easily, but, at the same time, 
 most strangely proved. But the possession of a mind that is 
 unprogressive, because perfect, would seem like an evidence 
 of immortality, superior to that which is assumed to be de¬ 
 rived from the mental history of man. The Bee, for instance, 
 evinces an innate possession of the elements of mathematics, 
 lie is a perfect Geometrician, in as far as the economy of the 
 
 1 * * 
 
8 
 
 WITAT IS MAN ? 
 
 apiary is concerned : and he is a perfect courtier, and citizen, 
 and subject; to the same extent. He does not progress in 
 his attainments, because that progression is not possible where 
 perfectness is present. And if the limitations of the insect 
 be objected, our reply is that man also is limited : so that a 
 question of degree, only, is involved. We are not aware that 
 infinity, in addition to eternity, is claimed as pertaining to 
 man. The mind of man has a wider range and a more versa¬ 
 tile adaptation, than has any other creature on earth ; but the 
 intellect of man is finite; and the progressive attainments 
 which are assumed to supply an evidence of his immortality 
 •—these vaunted attainments, are found only in the mental 
 history of a few, out of the myriads of minds upon the face 
 of the globe. It is most true that nations have progressed ; 
 but even in the case of those nations that have the most pro¬ 
 gressed, the more elevated attainments are not those of the 
 multitude ; and those attainments which are resorted to for an 
 argument, are but progressions in Natural, and chiefly in Ma¬ 
 terial, Science ; and are occupied almost entirely with the 
 things and interests of time, and of the earth—the earth being 
 the great apiary, so to speak, where men are busily employed ; 
 but where progress shows that perfectness does not reside. 
 The attainments of such men as Newton and Herschell, for 
 instance, serve to show that the human mind is adapted for a 
 high degree of attainment, and may suggest and sustain the 
 thought that man was originally adapted to live forever; but 
 they do not supply any evidence that man is immortal. They 
 may favor the doctrine of the immortality of philosophers; 
 particularly of Astronomers; but in this way they would dis¬ 
 countenance the doctrine of the immortality of the mass of 
 mankind. 
 
 Concerning the vaunted assertion, that “man requires eter¬ 
 nity, in which to complete his mental processes, we merely 
 remark, that there may be judicial reasons, pertaining to the 
 government of God, why those mental processes should be 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 9 
 
 cut short; and why the bright and soaring speculations of 
 men should be caused to perish. Besides, the most mature 
 and philosophic minds, are the readiest to admit, that there 
 is, in the nature of things, a limit set to the attainments of 
 the human intellect—an impassable line between the known, 
 and the unknown, the ascertainable and that which cannot be 
 ascertained. 
 
 The assertion, that “ man requires eternity in which to 
 complete his mental processes,” derives all its apparent plaus¬ 
 ibility from the history of astronomic science. But, because 
 that in the course of thousands of years, Astronomers have 
 discovered only the outskirts of the universe, does it follow 
 that, therefore man is immortal ? Or does it follow that man 
 must still live on, in a state of active intelligence, until he has 
 fully explored the immensity of space, and unbarred all the 
 secrets of the sidereal heavens ? Can reason deduce any 
 such conclusions from any premises that are just and true ? 
 Does it follow, that because—intellectually considered—man 
 has not attained to all conceivable knowledge, that therefore 
 he is immortal; and is of greater inherent worth and dignity 
 than the material universe ; which, in all its grandeur and 
 glory, revolves around the throne of Tiie Eternal ; and the 
 outlying provinces of which are so remote from the small, 
 spheroid and floating island on which man speculates and 
 aspires ? The argument under review is more like a petition 
 than a proof; in relation to the immortality of the human 
 soul. And this leads us to consider the argument assumed to 
 be derived from the aspirations of the soul of man ; and 
 which is offered in this form : 
 
 4. “ There is in the soul of man an inextinguishable thirst 
 for immortality ; and this fact supplies an evidence that man 
 is immortal.” 
 
 But this is, in truth, a strange statement. It is based upon 
 the assumption that, an ardent desire to possess an object is 
 an evidence that the object so ardently desired is actually 
 
10 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 possessed. If, as an argument, it were logical and sound it 
 would fill the face of the inhabited earth with wealthy and 
 powerful men ; for every man who has an ardent desire for 
 money would be a millionaire ; and every man who thirsts for 
 power would be a potentate. But the least reflective minds 
 will be aware that an ardent desire for an object is a proof 
 positive that the desired object is not possessed. 
 
 There is, indeed, in the soul of man an irrepressible love of 
 life—an ardent thirst for immortality; but this, instead of 
 proving that man is immortal, might, justly, be used as 
 proving the reverse. But the premise of the argument— 
 being in itself true—will serve to show, that if the final pen¬ 
 alty of sin shall be unto the utter death and destruction of 
 the man, this will be a penalty that may justly be called 
 “eternal judgment”—“capital punishment”—“eternal pun¬ 
 ishment,” and “the second death.” And it is known and felt 
 that the human soul—whose strongest instinct is an innate- 
 love of life, and whose most ardent aspiration consists in a 
 thirst for immortality—shrinks back with inexpressible horror 
 from the apprehended idea, even, of being utterly and forever 
 
 destroyed. 
 
 %/ 
 
 II. It is affirmed that, “the teachings of divine Bevelation 
 supply a conclusive proof of the immortality of man.” The 
 alleged evidences are these : 
 
 I. It is asserted that, “The immortality of man is assumed 
 in the Bible; even as the immortality of God is, therein, 
 assumed.” 
 
 But this assertion has been inconsiderately made. The 
 existence or God —and, thus, the eternity and immortality 
 of God—is, of necessity, assumed in the Revelation that God 
 has given. We must, of necessity, believe that God exists, 
 before we can believe that God has spoken ; and, believing in 
 the existence of God, we, of necessity believe that He is 
 eternal and immortal. The proofs of the existence of God 
 —the eternal and immortal God—are not to be sought for in 
 
WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 11 
 
 the Bible. They must be seen where they are so evidently 
 shown ; even in His visible works. The proofs of mathemat¬ 
 ical design, and systematic adaptations—the elements and 
 evidences of perfect Reason, even Divine Reason, are 
 everywhere presented to view. They embroider the fabric of 
 the universe ; they emblazon every world of light; they are 
 written with a sunbeam on every object upon earth. The 
 telescope has brought the report from the ethereal regions of 
 the nebulce, that God is there; and the microscope has 
 testified that God is working, in every department of terres¬ 
 trial nature, on objects too minute to be discerned by the 
 human eye. The clouds, as chariots of His presence and 
 progress, say that God is within their gorgeous forms; and 
 the winds, in their orderly circuit, testify that God walketh 
 upon their wings. The birds of the air sing of the existence 
 of God ; and to their melody, the ocean responds in the 
 thorough bass of its mighty roar. The sun, in its going 
 forth, proclaims that God has gilded it with glory; and the 
 lily, in its lowly bed, most softly and sweetly says, that God 
 has painted its petals with hues of beauty, brought from the 
 effulgence of the sun. And man’s own wondrous organism 
 completes, to him, the testimony borne by universal nature, 
 to the truth of the existence of the eternal, the immortal 
 God. And, with these manifold forms of perfect proof within 
 view, men are without excuse, who dare to question the 
 existence and eternity of God : “ For the invisible things 
 of Him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being 
 understood by the things that are made, even His eternal 
 power and Godhead.” But, notwithstanding this convincing 
 array of various and manifold proof; and notwithstanding 
 that the existence and eternity of God is, of necessity, assumed 
 in the Bible; yet , in the Bible, the eternity of God, is 
 frequently asserted—the immortality of God, is emphatically 
 declared. Time would fail us to quote the half of the 
 instances to which we refer, so let the following suffice :—“ I 
 
12 
 
 WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.” (Dent. 
 32: 40.) “ From everlasting to everlasting thou art God .” 
 
 (Ps. 90 : 2.) “ The King eternal, incorruptible, invisible, the 
 
 only wise God.” (1 Tim. 1 : 17.) “Who only hath immor¬ 
 tality.” (1 Tim. 6 : 16.) 
 
 And now, seeing it is alleged, that “ the immortality of 
 man is assumed in the Bible, even as the immortality of God 
 is assumed ;” we justly ask, Where in all the visible universe 
 are the evidences of man’s immortality to be discerned ? The 
 presence of man upon the earth, and the works that he has 
 done, are the only and proper evidences of his having, and 
 having had, any existence at all; and here “He cometh up 
 as a flower, and is cut down; he fleeth as a shadow, and con- 
 tinueth not.” “Man dieth, and wasteth away; yea, man 
 givetli up the ghost, and where is he ?” And where, on the 
 pages of the inspired book, is the immortality of man, even 
 once asserted or taught ? That ought to be a self-evident 
 truth, the evidences of which are nowhere discernible in the 
 universe; and which is nowhere declared in the Word of 
 God. And are we not justified in saying, that the assertion, 
 that, “the immortality of man is assumed in the Bible, even 
 as the immortality of God is therein assumed”—are we not 
 justified in saying, that this assertion has been most incon¬ 
 siderately made? It lacks the wisdom of the Sage, the 
 thoughtfulness of the Theologian, and the humility and rever¬ 
 ence of the Saint: and, to the minds of many earnest men, it 
 has been a stumbling block and a snare. 
 
 2. It is affirmed that, “ the immortality of man is substan¬ 
 tially taught in various passages of the inspired book.” 
 
 The passages adduced to sustain this assertion, are chiefly 
 those which relate to the origin of man ; for instance :— 
 
 “ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our 
 likeness : and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, 
 and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all 
 the earth, and over every thing that creepeth upon the earth. 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 13 
 
 So God created man in his own image; in the image of God 
 created he him; male and female created he them.” (Gen. 
 2 : 26, 21.) The argument, said to be derived from this 
 passage, is thus expressed :—“ Man was made in the image 
 of God ; therefore man is immortal.” 
 
 But does the fact which is made the premise of the argu¬ 
 ment, really and of necessity, include and supply the deduc¬ 
 tion ? If the image of God, in which man was made, con¬ 
 sisted' in some one quality or attribute, why should it be 
 assumed to consist in the attribute of immortality, and of 
 immortality alone ? Why not in some other attribute, proper 
 to God? We know that the image of God, in which man 
 was made, was not corporeal; for, God is spirit : neither 
 was it intellectual; for, God is omniscient: neither did it 
 consist in physical power; for, God is omnipotent: nor was 
 it moral, for, God is holy ; and the attribute or characteristic 
 of holiness, presumes the possession of “the knowledge of 
 good and evil;” and this knowledge, man did not possess, 
 when he was made; and it was this that he was forbidden to 
 obtain. Holiness consists in the opposedness of moral good¬ 
 ness to moral evil as known and morally judged. It is most 
 true that knowledge, and holiness, and righteousness are 
 ascribed to the “new man” in Christ: but this “new man” 
 is not likened" to the “ old man” but is contrasted : The 
 analogy implied, is in the way of contrast and not of com¬ 
 parison—“the heavenly” is contrasted with “the earthy.” 
 (Eph. 4: 24; Col. 3: 10; 1 Cor. 15: 40.) The first man 
 was innocent and very good, when he was made in the image 
 of God. But in what did the image of God consist ? 
 
 The word which is translated, “ likeness,” in Gen. 2 : 26, is 
 d’mooth, and is very general in its meaning; implying some 
 kind of equivalence ; either in the way of reality, or of repre¬ 
 sentation: and the word rendered, “image,” is tzeh-lem ; 
 and this word signifies an image or representation that may 
 be compared, but jniust also, be contrasted with the object 
 
 2 
 
14 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 which it is designed to represent. The word is used to 
 signify the “images of men:” (Ezek. 16: It;) and, in Ps. 
 39 : 6, it is translated, “ a vain show;” as it is said, “ Man 
 walketh in a vain show;” and in the margin,—“an image.” 
 The meaning is that, man, in his present state, is only in the 
 image or shadow of what he was at the first. But at the 
 first, he was only in the image or shadow of God—made in 
 the image of God, but was “ not the very image” of God. And 
 so, even if the fact of his own immortality was in the mind of . 
 God when he said, “ Let us make man in our image, after 
 our likeness;” it would not by any means follow that God 
 intended to make, and did actually make man an immortal 
 being; but rather, the contrary would seem to be implied. 
 For, as the word, tzeh-lem, means merely an image, a shadow 
 or shadowy representation—a symbol merely of the object 
 represented; and as man is said to have been made in the 
 image of God, therefore the life of man was but the shadow 
 of the immortality of God; and, so, man was not made a 
 partaker of the immortality of God. 
 
 But why should it be questioned, that the image of God, in 
 which man wms made, was governmental, and only govern¬ 
 mental ? The delegation of dominion is the predominant 
 thought in the passage; the word, “ dominion,” qualifies the 
 word “image;” and the exercise of dominion is shown to be 
 the end for which man was made in the image of God. The 
 conclusion towards which these particulars lead, is shown to 
 be a just conclusion, by the apostle Paul. When speaking 
 of the relative superiority of the man, and subordination of 
 the woman, in the conjugal economy, as ordered of God, Paul 
 says of the man, that, “ he is the image and glory of God : 
 but the woman is the glory of the man.” 1 Cor. 11 : 17. 
 
 The truth concerning the image of God, in which man was 
 made, appears to be this :—Man was made to be the govern¬ 
 mental representative or shadow of God, in the zoological 
 economy which God had ordained. He was set over the 
 
WirAT IS MAN ? 
 
 15 
 
 inferior creatures ; towards whose limited intelligence he stood, 
 governmentally, in the place of God. They were to be subject 
 to him, and were to look up to him ; even as he by reason of 
 his superior intelligence and moral nature and relations, was 
 to be subject to his Creator, and devoutly raise his thoughts 
 to God. But man by disobedience, lost this image of God 
 in which he was made; or, rather, in the very act of disobe¬ 
 dience, he surrendered the dominion with which he had been 
 invested of God, to Satan ; who on the evil principle of sin, 
 and by the act of usurpation, became, from that time, “ the 
 prince of this world :” (Jno. 12: 31; 14: 30; 16:11;) and 
 he is also “ the God of this age.” 2 Cor. 4 : 3, 4. 
 
 The next passage which is quoted to prove the immortality 
 of man is this :—“And the Lord God formed man of the dust 
 of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; 
 and man became a living soul.” Gen. 2: 7. 
 
 From this passage, a two-fold evidence is said to be derived. 
 The first is assumed to be included in the words: “breathed 
 into his nostrils the breath of life.” But this same “ breath 
 of life” pertained, in common with man, to all creatures that 
 breathe, on the earth and in the air. (Gen. 6 : 17 ; 7:15, 
 22.) This well known fact is, however, said to be of no weight 
 at all ; because that, it is not written, concerning the inferior 
 creatures, that God breathed into their nostrils the breath of 
 life. But they could not have had the breath of life, except 
 by an original act of God : and it is not written, that God 
 breathed the breath of life into the nostrils of the woman. 
 She had the breath of life, in common with the man, and with 
 all creatures on earth that breathe: as it is said, “Yea, they 
 all have one breath.” (Eccle. 3 : 19.) The attempt to qualify 
 this, is of no force at all. 
 
 The assumption in which the assertors of man’s immortality 
 indulge is that “the words : ‘ breathed inter his nostrils,’ &c. ; 
 signify that a divine efflux or emanation was communicated 
 into the man, out of the life and immortality of the Lord 
 
1G 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 God.” But the original word, translated, “ breathed” has no 
 such meaning, and bears no such intent, as that of personal 
 breathing. That word is nah-phach, and means, to blow, as 
 the wind; and to put air in motion, either by means of the 
 pneumatic laws, or by artificial ineans. # It occurs, and is thus 
 used in Job 20 : 26 ; Isa. 54 : 16 ; Ezek. 22 : 20, 21 ; 37 : 9, 
 and Hag. 1:9; and is therein represented by the English 
 verbs, to blow, and to breathe. The truth is, that the ideas 
 brought to the ecclesiastical interpretation of this passage, 
 are derived from Plato, the heathen philosopher, and not 
 through “Moses, the man of God.” 
 
 But again it is argued that, “ the breath of life,” given to 
 man, is called in the original, ‘ the breath of lives and that, 
 “it is thus shown, that God imparted to man a plurality of 
 lives, even, animal life, intellectual life, and immortal life.” 
 But if this were true, and these three kinds of life were im¬ 
 parted to man, or breathed into man, at the same time, in the 
 breath of life, and by a divine emanation out of the life of the 
 Lord God; then, even the animal life of man would be a 
 portion of the life of God ; and so it would be impossible for 
 man to die, at all : even a temporal death would be impossi¬ 
 ble to him. An argument that, thus, proves too much, dis¬ 
 proves the point which it is used to maintain. 
 
 The words in the original are nisiimath ciiah-yeem, and 
 do literally mean, breath of lives : but the same plural word, 
 ciiah-yeem, is used in relation to all creatures that breathe. 
 It occurs in Gen. 6 : \7 ; 7 : 15, 22 ; where the words, “breath 
 of life,” represent the original terms, iioo-ach ciiah-yeem, 
 and nisiimath roo-ach ciiah-yeem :* so that, in as far as the 
 breath of life is concerned, there is nothing pre-eminent, or 
 
 * The truth is, that, according to the idiomatic usage of the Hebrew 
 language, plural nouns are used, when the ideas of importance, and of 
 necessary and common possession, are prominently in view. For in¬ 
 stance : the Hebrew word for “blood,” is, daiim; but the plural form 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 17 
 
 even distinctive, predicated of man. We repeat the quotation : 
 “Yea, they all have one breath ;” and remark, that the fact, 
 that man’s “ breath is in his nostrils,” is mentioned to show 
 that he is an unreliable creature—fleeting, evanescent and 
 »ain. Isa. 2 : 22. 
 
 The second evidence, said to be derived from Gen. 2 : 7, 
 as proving the immortality of man, is supposed to be found in 
 the words, “living soulas it is written : “And man became 
 a living soul.” But it is not written concerning the woman, 
 that she became a living soul. She did of course become a 
 living soul; and so did every creature that was caused to re¬ 
 spire ; and every such creature is so called in the Hebrew 
 text. The original phrase in question is nephesh chah-yail 
 For some reason known to the translators, but not derived 
 from the laws and usages of the Hebrew language, this phrase 
 istranslated, “living soul,” in Gen. 2: 7; and “living creature” 
 in every other place where it is found. The phrase, nephesh 
 chah-yah, is peculiar to Moses; in whose writings it occurs 
 twelve times ; that is, in Gen. 1: 20, 21, 24, 30 ; 2 : 7, 19 ; 9: 
 10, 12, 15, 16 ; and in Levit. 11: 10, 46. It is a compound 
 term, pertaining to descriptive history, and relating in com¬ 
 mon to everything that lives and breathes. This is well 
 known to every one, acquainted with Hebrew nouns and 
 adjectives. And, in a note of his, on Gen. 1 : 24 ; Hr. Adam 
 Clarke, has the following remarks :—“ nephesh chaiyah, a 
 general term to express all creatures endued with animal life, 
 in all its infinitely varied gradations, from the half-reasoning 
 elephant down to the stupid potto , or lower still, to the 
 polype, which seems equally to share the vegetable and 
 animal life.” But for some reason of his own, the learned 
 
 of this word, dahmeem, is frequently used, by reason of the importance 
 of the blood, and of its necessary presence and circulation, for the sus¬ 
 tainment of animal life ; and by reason of its being possessed, in com¬ 
 mon, by all men ; and also by creatures inferior to man. 
 
18 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 Doctor ignores the fact, that it is this same “ general terra,” 
 that being found in Gen. 2 : 1, and therein applied to man, is 
 there, and there only, translated, “living soul.” Had the 
 learned Doctor, not suppressed the truth of this ; and had he 
 said that this “ general term” is descriptive of all creatures 
 endued with animal life, from man down to the stupid potto, 
 he would not in that case have obscured the Mosaic record, 
 by keeping back a part of the truth. 
 
 The arguments we have just reviewed, are professedly de¬ 
 rived from the divine record of man’s first appearance on the 
 earth ; the next in order is supposed to be supplied by a 
 certain notice of man’s disappearance from this earthly scene. 
 
 In Eccle. 12 : 7 ; it is written, “ Then shall the dust return 
 to the earth as it was : and the spirit shall return unto God 
 who gave it.” The argument which this passage is supposed 
 to supply, is to the following effect:—- 
 
 “ It is written, that at death, the spirit of a man returns to 
 God who gave it; therefore we conclude and affirm that man 
 is an immortal being.” 
 
 This argument is based on the assumption that the word 
 translated, “ spirit” in the above passage is used as a substan¬ 
 tive noun ; and means, the soul of man. But this is not self 
 evident, and may not be the meaning at all. The original 
 word, roo-acii, may possibly mean, the breath of man, as in 
 Gen. 6 : 17 ; and several other places. We do not say that, 
 in this instance, it means the breath. It may be used to sig¬ 
 nify the motion of the soul, in passing away ; and passing into 
 the custody of God. More than this it cannot mean ; seeing 
 that it is applied to man, as man ; and, so, to all men alike. 
 
 The doctrine deducible from the text, may be this : the soul 
 survives when the body is dead, or continues to be a real 
 entity, whatever change of state it may have undergone ; 
 and it passes into the custody of God ; either that the purpose 
 of salvation may be realized, or, that the ends of justice may 
 be secured. This is true, in itself; whether it be taught in 
 
WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 19 
 
 this passage, or not: but this fact is not by any means a 
 proof that the soul of man is possessed of inherent immortal¬ 
 ity There shall be “the second death and it remains to be 
 shown—that the soul of man, as unredeemed and unregenerate, 
 can survive the second and final death. 
 
 The word roo-acii, is sometimes translated, “breath;” in 
 some instances, “ wind;” and in others, “ spirit.” The ideal 
 meaning of the word is, motion; as excluding the idea of 
 matter. Its lower application is to the wind; which is the 
 motion of the atmosphere ; and on this same principle it is used 
 to signify the breath, or the motion of the air in respiration. 
 It is also used to signify the motions and emotions of the soul, 
 in the case, both of men and of beasts In all these cases of 
 application it is used adjectively, and not as a proper noun. 
 But in its highest application, and as retaining its ideal 
 meaning, it is used as a noun-substantive, and so is applied 
 to God. It is so used, because that, its ideal meaning ex¬ 
 cludes the thought of matter, and includes the idea of active 
 power. In this way it is employed to present a negative 
 idea of the nature of God ; thus : God is not corporeal ; 
 neither is He material; nor do the properties and limitations 
 of matter pertain to Him ; God is essentially possessed of 
 active power : “ God is spirit :”—and “ that which is born 
 of the Spirit is spirit:” and, so, the word pneuma —the Greek 
 equivalent of the Hebrew word roo-acii —in the proper sense 
 and meaning of a substantive noun, is applied to those who are 
 born of God, as denoting that new nature which is in them, 
 as regenerate men. But to man, as man, the word, “ spirit,” 
 in every department of Holy Scripture, is used adjectively, as 
 signifying, only, the motions and emotions of the soul. Had 
 this been properly considered we should have had no occasion 
 to remark, that the first metaphysical argument we examined, 
 derives all its apparent plausibility from a silent assumption 
 that, “ because the soul of man is not matter, therefore it 
 is spirit.” 
 
20 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 There is another passage quoted from Ecclesiastes, which, 
 in the English version, reads thus : “Who knoweth the spirit 
 of a man that goeth upward, and the spirit of a beast that 
 goeth downward to the earth.” (Eccle. 3: 21.) And the 
 argument, which is professedly based on this text, takes this 
 form : “ It is written, that the spirit of a man goeth upward, 
 
 and the spirit of a beast goeth downward to the earth ; and 
 this statement, distinctively proves the immortality of man.” 
 
 It must require a considerable degree of courage—not to 
 say temerity—even to approach this passage, when the im¬ 
 mortality of man is affirmed. For, in the first place, the text 
 does not affirm any thing ; but only asks a question, and 
 offers a challenge of the most formidable kind. Solomon had 
 just written some exceedingly “ hard sayings,” respecting 
 which, those who use the above argument may well exclaim, 
 “Who can hear them ?” We commend those sayings to the 
 thoughtful regard of such as desire to learn and know the 
 truth. Having written those sayings, Solomon asks, “Who 
 knoweth the spirit of the sons of men is ascending ? (or is 
 that which ascends,) and the spirit of the cattle is descending 
 (or is that which descends) downward to the earth ?” In 
 both cases alike, Solomon uses the participle in its emphatic 
 form; and by means of his two-fold question, he appeals to 
 the wisdom of the world, and challenges the philosophy of its 
 most erudite sages, to show by any method of actual proof, 
 that the sons of men possess that kind of pre-eminence which 
 they claim, but which lie so roundly denies. 
 
 We have now examined the arguments, most commonly 
 said to be derived from the Hebrew Scriptures, by those who 
 advocate the doctrine of the inherent immortality of man. 
 But it is affirmed in ecclesiastical teaching, that, “in the 
 Christian Revelation it is expressly stated, that Adam was 
 tlie son of God, and that all men are the offspring of God.” 
 The passages which are claimed as teaching this, are Luke 3 : 
 30 j and Acts 17 : 28, 29. 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 21 
 
 The passage in Luke is the last clause in the maternal 
 genealogy of the Lord Jesus; and, in the received English 
 version, it stands thus: “Adam, who was the .son of God.” 
 Here, the words, “ the son being printed in italics, give 
 notice to the reader of mere English that they are words 
 added by the translators; and, so, do not represent any words 
 found in the Greek text. The syntax of the maternal 
 genealogy of the Lord Jesus is a notable instance of the 
 preciseness which distinguishes the language of the inspired 
 * Book. 
 
 That genealogy commences thus: “And Jesus himself 
 began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) 
 the son of Joseph;” and of Joseph, it is said, “who was of 
 Heli.” Joseph’s own, proper father was named Jacob ; as 
 shown in the legal genealogy of the Christ. (Matt. 1: 16.) 
 But Joseph was the son in law of Heli, who was the father 
 of the blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of the Lord. In the 
 legal genealogy, the royal line is traced from David, through 
 Solomon , down to Joseph ; but in the maternal genealogy, 
 the royal line is traced upward from Heli, through Nathan , 
 to David ; and then still upward to the first man, Adam. 
 But Joseph was not the son of Heli; and Adam was not the 
 son of God. This two-fold consideration governs the syntax 
 of the genealogy, immediately in view. The first person 
 named in the series (Joseph) was not the son of Heli; and 
 the last person named in the series (Adam) was not the son 
 of God ; and therefore—though each of the other persons 
 named was the begotten son of his father who is also named 
 — the Holy Spirit, the Divine Author of the inspired Book, 
 directed that neither the word, son, nor the idea of son 
 should be, at all, introduced. The Greek preposition, eh, 
 might have represented the idea of son, or of derivation out 
 of, if such had been the intention of the record, in the case of 
 the first man. But the sign of the genitive, only, is used, (in 
 the form of the relative) and it is so used because that, 
 
22 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 Joseph “was of Ileli,” in the sense and relation, only, of 
 being his son in laic; and because that, Adam “ was of God,” 
 in the sense and relation, only, of being the creature of His 
 power. The syntax was constructed to show, that Adam was 
 not the son of God. 
 
 But, the apostle Paul is said to teach, that all men are the 
 veritable offspring of the living God. He is supposed, so to 
 teach, because that, on a certain occasion, he quoted from 
 certain Greek poets a sentiment which is translated by these 
 words : “ For we are also his offspring.” But the history of 
 the affair, as recorded in Acts 17, 16-34, supplies a correc¬ 
 tive answer to this ecclesiastical mistake ; and to the use, so 
 commonly, made of the same. 
 
 At Athens, Paul was accused of being “a setterforth of 
 strange gods;” and to be such an one was, by the laws of 
 Athens, to be guilty of capital crime. But Paul cleared 
 himself, at once, from this accusation, by quoting the inscrip¬ 
 tion on one of the Athenian altars:— agnosto tiieo, “to 
 the unknown God.” But did Paul, by making this quota¬ 
 tion, endorse the ignorant and vain conceits of the Athenians, 
 by whom that altar had been reared, and by whom it was 
 revered ? On the contrary, he proclaimed pure theism, to 
 the Athenians. He declared the true God—the Unity, 
 the Creator, the Supreme, the Spirit, the Independent, 
 the Benefactor, the Invisible, the Omnipresent, the 
 Adorable, the Adjuster of the nations, the Upholder of 
 all things, the Raiser of the dead. And, while he was thus 
 preaching pure theism, he convicted the Athenians of the 
 unreasonableness of idolatry, by quoting from certain of their 
 own poets, and by reasoning from their own premises, as 
 found in the quotation he had then made. The sentiment 
 which Paul quoted is found in Aratus, and also in Cleantlies. 
 The words quoted are these : Tou gar kai genos esmen. 
 The true rendering of these words is: For we are also his 
 product. Even the Socratic or Platunic idea of the origin 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 23 
 
 of the soul of man is not included in these words, and was 
 not in the mind of the poets by whom they were written. 
 This will presently be shown. But we now observe, that 
 Paul—as in the former case, so also in this—met the Atheni¬ 
 ans on their own ground; and, on the principle of this latter 
 quotation, he reasoned thus : “ Bor as much then as we are 
 the product of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead 
 is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s 
 device.” The word which, in the received English version is 
 translated, “offspring,” and which is herein translated, 
 “product,” is genos; and the Scriptural usage of this word 
 is to signify, a class, a kind, a species, a stock, a kindred, 
 a native country, and, at most, a product or result. And the 
 point of Paul’s reasoning is this : “ Man is animate, intelli¬ 
 gent and active. For as much then as men are a product of 
 God, or a result of his intelligent and active power, we are 
 bound not to think, and to establish by law, that the Godhead 
 can be represented by inanimate statues, designed and 
 chiseled by human art.” But did Paul, by reasoning thus, 
 on a quotation made—did he endorse the sentiment of the 
 Greek poets, that mankind were the product of Jupiter ? Of 
 course he did not; neither did he teach the doctrine that 
 mankind are the veritable offspring of the true God. As we 
 have already intimated, the words which Paul quoted are 
 found in Aratus; and also, substantially, in Cleanthes, in a 
 hymn to Jupiter or Jove—the Supreme God of the Greek and 
 Roman world. Under the title of Jupiter or Jove, they 
 worshipped the whole expanse of the heavens,—particularly 
 the celestial Ether; which they conceived to be productive 
 of universal life; and which was called—as by Yirgil, for 
 instance, “ The Almighty Father, Ether.” And Euripides, 
 one of the Greek poets, says, 
 
 “Thou seest this lofty, this unbound ether, 
 
 Encircling, with his fluid arms, the earth ; 
 
 Esteem this Jove, this venerate as God.” 
 
24 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 This was the Supreme God of the Greek poets, from whom 
 Paul quoted; and as he did not endorse the sentiment that, 
 mankind are the product of the celestial Ether ; no more did 
 he teach the doctrine that, all men are the veritable offspring 
 or sons of the true God. He merely met the proud Athenians 
 on their own ground ; fought them with their own weapons ; 
 and pierced their pride of Reason, to the quick. And it is 
 marvelous that this has not been perceived by intelligent and 
 learned men, who are professionally engaged in the study and 
 exposition of the Scriptures of truth : and yet, it is not mar¬ 
 velous, seeing that, they have assumed, without a particle of 
 any kind of evidence, that man is by nature immortal—that 
 the human soul is an emanation from God, and that every 
 child of Adam is a partaker of the life and immortality of the 
 Lord God. 
 
 There are other passages of Holy Scripture, quoted with 
 an endeavor to prove that man is immortal. They are of two 
 distinct and very different classes. The one class relates 
 exclusively to the ransomed and regenerate from among men 
 .—the sons of God ; who, having eternal life now , shall put oil 
 immortality at the appearing of the Lord : and the other 
 class relates to the future punishment of the ungodly, conse¬ 
 quent on the judgment of the quick, and the dead, at the last 
 day. Both these classes of texts will come under review as 
 we proceed. At present we turn from the reply which men 
 have offered to the question, What is man ? in order that we 
 may give heed to the answer which God has supplied, in the 
 Scriptures of truth. 
 
 We have before observed that the eighth Psalm is a prophecy 
 concerning “the Christ;” and that, in it, David personates 
 Christ. Inspiration was of more avail to the eye and to the 
 mind of David, than the telescope has been to the “ wise and 
 prudent” of the present time. It supplied him with a just 
 conception of the magnitude and magnificence of the universe, 
 and, also, with a just estimate of the actual littleness of man. 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 25 
 
 But the impression made on our minds, by David’s words is 
 deepened exceedingly by a knowledge of the fact that “ the 
 Spirit of Christ” spoke by David—that the speaker in the 
 psalm is the Son of God. Having become man, He stood 
 upon the earth, and contemplating the azure heights of heaven, 
 and the worlds that revolve therein, He addressed Jehovah, 
 the Father, saying, “ When I consider thy heavens, the work 
 of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast 
 ordained ; What is man , that thou art mindful of him ? and 
 the son of man, that thou visitest himV ’ In this manner, 
 lie who came to redeem men, has pronounced upon the actual 
 littleness, and comparative nothingness of man. And, in this 
 way, He has shown, that the grandeur and glory of redemp¬ 
 tion do not, in any respect, arise from any real, or supposa- 
 ble dignity, or worth in the nature of man. Redemption has 
 a far different basis for its surpassing magnitude and magnifi¬ 
 cence ; and far other sources of its eternal glory and renown. 
 In a word : the grandeur and glory of redemption are derived 
 entirely from God — from the displays of his “ manifold wisdom,” 
 and, “ the exceeding riches of his grace.” 
 
 In the School of God, we obtain a true answer to the ques¬ 
 tion, What is man ? And the answer which God has supplied 
 is both manifold, and distinct. 
 
 I. From the intimations of universal Nature, and from the 
 teachings of divine Revelation, we learn that, man is a creature 
 of God. 
 
 The fact that God is the universal Creator is sufficient to 
 establish the truth, that man is his creature. No being, or 
 thing, outside of God, is eternal. Out of nothing, God 
 created all things— out of nothing, He created the spirit of 
 the archangel, and the life-principle of the worm— out of 
 nothing, He created the soul of man, and the vital germ of 
 the grass of the field. Man is a creature of God, and net his 
 offspring—not his son ; as men so vainly speak. 
 
26 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 Concerning the direction whence the first man came, it is 
 written, “ The first man is out of (Greek, etc) the earth, earthy : 
 the second man is the Lord out of heaven.” (1 Cor. 15 : 47.) 
 The soul is—primarily and essentially and operatively—the 
 man. The body is an affair of cellular tissue, and organic 
 structure—a wisely adapted instrumentality for the manifesta¬ 
 tion and uses of the soul. The soul is essentially the man. 
 This is evidently true. And it is fundamentally true, that the 
 personal Deity of Jesus is essentially “the Lord.” And, 
 in the verse, now in view, the earth, as an origin of ascent , is 
 contrasted with heaven, as an origin of descent. The con¬ 
 trast instituted does not relate merely to the body of the first 
 man ; even as it does not relate at all to the body of the Lord. 
 It was the Lord, Himself, that came down out of heaven ; and 
 it was the man, himself, that came up out of the earth. 
 
 The fact of man’s original creation is recorded in Gen. 1 : 
 26, 28 The order of the Adamic formation, and evolution, 
 is described in Gen. 2 : 7, 18-23. And the philosophy of 
 the human creation is enshrined in Ps. 139 : 14-16. In that 
 psalm, David celebrates the perfections of Jehovah—more 
 particularly, His omnipresence, and omniscience, and the 
 secret wonders of his unlimited power. In respect to the 
 latter, David refers to the mysteries of gestation, and of his 
 own embryo existence, in his mother’s womb. And, having 
 made this allusion, he proceeds to trace up the prime origin 
 of his personal being to the creation of “the first man well 
 knowing that the whole human race is but an evolution, in the 
 way of increase and multiplication, of that which, at the very 
 first, God created and made; and which, increase and multi¬ 
 plication, was enjoined in the divine benediction on the first 
 human pair. Gen. 1 : 28. 
 
 Devoutly raising his thoughts to God, David says, “ I will 
 praise thee ; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: 
 marvelous are thy works: and this my soul knoweth right 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 2 « 
 
 well. My substance (“goii-tzmi* — essential force or undif¬ 
 fused essence) was not hid from thee, when I was made 
 (gnus-seh-thi, — prepared) in secret, and curiously wrought 
 (ruhk-kam-ti, embroidered ) in the lowest parts of the earth. 
 Thine eyes did look upon my unevolved substance ; (gohl-mi, 
 from goh-lem, a little ball or globule — my globular vesicle 
 of evolution;) and in thy book (of design) the whole of my 
 members were written, (or sketched) as timely they should be 
 fashioned ; when as yet not one of them was.” 
 
 The elemental truths in this divine philosophy are these :— 
 The vital and vigorous substance— the immaterial soul-*— of 
 man; was created of God, and under his especial regard, “ in 
 the lowest parts of the earth,” or, as men speak, “ in the 
 bowels of the earth.”—In the mystery of creation, this vital 
 and vigorous essence, was caused of God, to be enveloped 
 within a minute and globular vesicle of evolution—the prim¬ 
 ordial spermatozoon —and was evolved within the earth, as in 
 a prepared germ-cell, and matrix. This created and imma¬ 
 terial soul was endued of God with appropriative and forma¬ 
 tive capabilities ; and being constitutionally energized by the 
 power of God, in the way of organic forces, certain primary 
 elements of the earth were taken up and appropriated, by 
 virtue of that same power of God ; and so, in accordance with 
 the artistic design of God, the created and immaterial, human 
 soul—“ in the lowest parts of the earth”—was arrayed in an 
 embroidered vestment, a coporeal form, that may well inspire 
 us with devout wonder and awe. 
 
 This organized body, so wonderously wrought from within 
 .—by the power of God, as put forth through the appropria- 
 
 * “goh-tzem denotes strength, substance, force —the essence of a being, 
 or thing—the being, or thing itself. The feminine form, “geh-tzem, is 
 used to signify a bone; because the bones of a body are its concentrated 
 strength and firmness. But in respect to the essential substance and 
 force of man, the first instant it was created, it is more correct to speak 
 of it as undiffused, than as concentrated. 
 
23 
 
 WTTAT IS MAX ? 
 
 live and formative capabilities with which the created sonl 
 was constitutionally endued—may well be described as a body 
 embroidered of God : and most artistically and admirably 
 were the various substances and colors of its manifold texture 
 disposed and arranged ; in the forms of ganglia, and nerves, 
 and muscles, and viscera, and arteries, and veins, and carti¬ 
 lage, and bones; while the whole was formed and fashioned 
 in organic symmetry and beauty; clothed with native come¬ 
 liness ; and was completed and crowned with a graceful and 
 glossy crown. 
 
 We now turn back upon Gen. 2 : 7, to learn certain other 
 particulars relative to the corporeal formation of man ; and 
 how he was physically inspired, and was thus invigorated for 
 the purposes of phenomenal and practical life. “ And Jehovah 
 Eloheem formed the Adam of dust or atomic elements ("gaii- 
 ptiar) of the earth ; (ha-adahma) and blew (ya-yeh-piiacii) 
 into his nostrils the breath of life; (nish-math chah-yeem) 
 and the Adam (ha-adam) became unto a living soul — 
 l’nepeiesii chah-yah. 
 
 We have already noticed the meaning and force of the 
 principal words in this text; and to the remarks then made 
 we now refer. And we have already shown, from 1 Cor. 15 : 
 47, that the first man, in his origin, as a man, was out of the 
 earth ; and, in Gen. 3: 19, we are told that he was 11 taken ” 
 out of the earth ; and, so, was not formed on the surface of 
 the earth. Concerning the inferior creatures, it is written : 
 “ And Eloheem said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly 
 the moving creature that hath a living soul— nephesh chaii- 
 yah. “ Let the earth bring forth the living soul (nephesh- 
 ciiah-yah) after his kind.” Gen. 1: 20, 24. 
 
 We have now learned that the earth was the common mother 
 of all creatures that live and breathe, including the man ; who 
 was taken out of the earth. When the immaterial soul of 
 man had been created “in the lowest parts of the earth,” and 
 the man had there been evolved, and organized, and matured, 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 29 
 
 by the wondrous wisdom and power of God—when he had 
 thus been formed and mo,tiered as a man —the maternal earth 
 was caused to open, and the vital and mature man was taken 
 out of the earth; and when God took out the animate man , 
 He blew into his nostrils the electricized air—the common 
 breath of all lives upon earth—and the man became unto a 
 living soul; that is, he became unto a vigorous and energetic 
 soul. Man was a nephesh or soul, a vital soul, before he was 
 taken out of the earth; and he was caused to become a 
 vigorous soul by means of the breath of life. The word chah- 
 yah, living , does not represent the idea of abstract existence, 
 but of vigorous being. The idea of abstract existence is 
 represented by another word, the word hah-yah, pronounced 
 with a soft breathing, and meaning, he was ; but ciiaii-yaii 
 includes the idea of the existence of the being, as an antece¬ 
 dent fact, and has a rough guttural sound, and means he was 
 strong , robust , vigorous . The man differed very greatly from 
 all the other creatures on earth, as touching his grade and 
 status among and over them, especially by reason of his 
 moral powers, and his governmental relations to his Creator, 
 God ; but as touching the effects and result of the breath of 
 life, he became unto that which all the inferior creatures had 
 become before him—he became a vigorous creature of God. 
 
 But is it not remarkable, and “ passing strange,” that the 
 wondrous facts and divine philosophy of the human creation 
 should be so thoroughly ignored in ecclesiastical teaching, 
 even by wise and very learned men ? The puerile, and yet 
 proud, conceits that are substituted for the teachings of Holy 
 Scripture, are much to be deplored, and the condition of mind 
 in which they are entertained is most pitiable to view. For 
 instance :—It is represented that the all-wise Creator, in the 
 first instance, moulded and fashioned an inanimate statue on 
 the surface of the earth ; of moistened earth, or, in plain 
 words, of mud. (The playful ways of little children, in form¬ 
 ing clay dolls may have suggested the thought). It is repre- 
 
 3 * 
 
30 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 sented, that, this cold and inanimate image lay on the surface 
 of the earth ; and that the Creator breathed out of IIis own 
 eternal being, a portion of His own immortal life into the 
 nostrils of this moulded clay; and that (though before this 
 there was no man at all , yet) by this divine emanation, “ the 
 man” became an immortal spirit, a spark of the Divinity, a 
 partaker of the life and immortality of God.—“ The Lord 
 knoweth the thoughts of the wise; that they are vain ” 
 
 But the order of the Adamic formation includes also the 
 personal evolution and formation of the woman. The man¬ 
 ner of this mystery is in accordance with the evolution and 
 formation of the man. The incipient evolution of the woman 
 took place within the man, and “ she was taken out of the 
 man ;” even as the man had been created and evolved within 
 the earth, and was taken out of the earth. This mystery, 
 Moses has recorded ; but his record is greatly obscured by the 
 use of the word “rib,” in the Received English Version ; and 
 by the popular and puerile conceits that are consequently enter¬ 
 tained. The particulars of the record are these :—“And 
 Jehovah Eloheem caused a deep sleep to fall upon the Adam, 
 and he slept: and lie took one* from out of iiis sir>E,f and 
 enclosed flesh instead thereof: and that very substance 
 (etii)— from out of —the side, (iia-tzeh-lah) which Je¬ 
 hovah Eloheem had taken out of the Adam, He builded to a 
 woman, and brought her to the Adam.” Gen. 2 : 21, 22. 
 
 The soul of the man had been created out of nothing, and 
 
 * “ one —ah—ciiath, the feminine of aii-ciiad, one, an only one. 
 
 f “ OUT OF HIS SIDE -MITZLOII-THAHYOU ; fl'Om TZEH-LA n G, with 
 
 the prefix, signifying, from out of. The noun, tzeh-la“g, means, a side 
 or lateral extremity. In the Greek of the Septuagint, it is represented 
 by the word pleura, which has the same general meaning and intent. 
 And even the Latin word costa as used in the Vulgate,—from which the 
 English Version has the word “rib”—even this word costa properly 
 signifies a side, from the idea of extension; and so it means a coast. 
 The true idea of the Hebrew record is— from out of the side of the 
 abdomen. 
 
WITAT IS MAN ? 
 
 31 
 
 the soul of the woman was evolved out of the soul of the 
 man ; and a mystery was performed within the man , similar 
 to that whereby the created soul of the man was enveloped in 
 its globular vesicle, and furnished with its germ cell, and was 
 evolved in the first stage of his embryo being. The embryo 
 woman was first evolved within the man ; and, in this incipi¬ 
 ent state, “ she was taken out of the manand, by an 
 especial mode of mysterious working, she was fashioned and 
 matured by the Creator; and was presented to the man, in 
 the perfection of psychical beauty, and living loveliness ; to be 
 his bride. The genus Adam was then evolved. Gen. 1: 27. 
 
 II. Man is a mortal being; by reason of sin. 
 
 In his primeval state, man was innocent and “very good.” 
 His heart and mind reflected the innocency and benevolence 
 of heaven : and in his outward presence, he was the master¬ 
 piece of the divine wisdom and power on earth. In his 
 governmental relations towards the inferior creatures, he was 
 the shadow and representative of God : and, in his own moral 
 relations towards God, he stood a responsible being; neither 
 controlled by necessity, nor possessed of a self-determining 
 power ; (the conceit of which metaphysicians have invented, 
 and called 11 the will ;”) but he was constituted to be swayed 
 by motives , having an operative force within him ; but being 
 derived and excited from without him. Being a proper subject 
 of the moral government of God, man was placed under pro¬ 
 bation, and his loyalty was tested and put to the proof, by 
 means of a prohibitory command, that was consonant with his 
 state and surroundings, and was easy to be observed :—“ But 
 of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat 
 of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely 
 die.” The motive which, in this way, was presented or ex¬ 
 cited was the constitutional love of life with which man was 
 endued ; and the premonition given, was the penal sanction 
 of the divine law. When thus placed under probation, man 
 possessed a life unsubject to death, He was adapted to live 
 
32 
 
 WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 forever. Though not immortal, he was capable of living to 
 perpetuity : and this constitutional life, possessed as the gift 
 of his Creator, he held, unsubject to death ; on the sole con¬ 
 dition of non-disobedience to the prohibitory command, which 
 his Creator had imposed. The words of the premonition 
 made known to him, that on the very day on which he would 
 eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree, his life would be for¬ 
 feited to the justice of God ; and, so, would b e judicially lost. 
 He was not told that he should actually die on that day; but 
 that on that day his life would no longer be his own ; and 
 that, subsequently, he should most certainly die. The penal 
 words of the premonition are these : —moth ta-mooth. The 
 order and quality of the words are these :— first , the infinitive, 
 to die ; and then , the future, thou shalt die : and the gram¬ 
 matical rule^which governs, in this case, is made sufficiently 
 plain in these words : “ The infinitive is often joined with a 
 finite verb of the same sense. And when the infinitive pre¬ 
 cedes, then, intensity and certainty is denoted. But if an 
 infinitive follow , then continuation and repetition is implied.” 
 Now, it is to be observed, that in the premonition given to 
 man, as shown above, the infinitive does precede the future; 
 and this order in the words, moth ta-mootii, is intended to 
 express the ideas of intensity and certainty; as contrasted 
 with the ideas of continuation and repetition. The same 
 identical Hebrew phrase occurs, either in the second, or in 
 the third person, about forty times ; and with the same mean¬ 
 ing and intent. And in Solomon’s decree concerning Shimei, 
 the same usage is observed, as to the words, “ on the day.” 
 (See 1 Kings, 2: 37, 42.) But Shimei did not die on the 
 day that he went out and passed over the brook Kidron, nor 
 for a number of days after that; but on that very day he for¬ 
 feited his life; and the judicial decree of Solomon being 
 “certain,” in the due course of law and justice he died the 
 death of which he had been forewarned. Even so, man for¬ 
 feited his constitutional life, to the law and justice of God, on 
 
WTIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 83 
 
 the very clay on which he disobeyed God; by eating of the 
 forbidden tree. He was long respited ; but the premonition 
 was explicit, the judicial decree was certain, and the death 
 must ensue. 
 
 Death , as to its origin and cause, is one of “ the works of 
 the devil.” The Tempter, first approached the woman : and 
 he insinuated in the way of a question, a dark suspicion of 
 the goodness of God. Tie then assumed greater boldness, 
 and dared to call iu question, and to deny openly, the veracity 
 and uprightness of God. And while so doing, he said unto 
 the woman, “you shall not surely die: For Eloheem doth 
 know that on the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be 
 opened; and you shall be as Eloheem, knowing good and 
 evil.” In this way, the tempter taught that the first human 
 pair were as God, in immortality; and that for sinister 
 reasons, they had been placed under law, lest they should 
 become as God in knowledge also. To calumniate God, and 
 to ruin man, he dared to introduce and to urge the delusive 
 doctrine of the inherent immortality of man. He dared to 
 make “God a liar,” saying unto the woman, “ No death (lo- 
 Moth) you shall not die.” And lo-moth, is, athanatos or 
 athanasia, in the Greek, and is “immortality,” in the English : 
 aud so the first assertion of the tempter uttered in human 
 ears, was immortality —“ you shall not die; hut are im¬ 
 mortal even as God!” In this way he laid in utter repose 
 and quiescence, the constitutional love of life with which the 
 human soul had been endued of God, and to which the pre¬ 
 monition of God had appealed. The woman believed the 
 doctrine of inherent, human immortality, and was beguiled, 
 deceived, and disobeyed God. “Adam was not deceived.” 
 (1 Tim. 2 : 14.) He knew that the doctrine of the tempter 
 was false. His own acquaintance with the fact of his crea¬ 
 tion, assured him it was false. He was self-possessed in his 
 mind, but by the instigation of the tempter, through the law 
 and the fact of his having been forbidden to acquire, “the 
 
34 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 knowledge of good and evil”—lie became estranged in heart 
 from God; and in heart became rebellious against God, and 
 with lawlessness he disobeyed God. And on the day of his 
 disobedience he was arraigned, and judged, and condemned. 
 
 On that day a three-fold judgment was pronounced of God; 
 on the temper, physical degradation in time, and destruction 
 at the endir (his head shall be crushed) and on the woman, 
 subjection, and maternal throes; and on the man, toilsome 
 labor and utter death. To him, the judicial decree of God 
 was thus denounced : “ In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat 
 bread, till thou return into the earth ; for out of it (mimenha 
 .—out of that sort of origin) wast thou taken : for dust 
 ("gah-tiiar, elemental atoms) thou art, and unto dust (ele¬ 
 mental atoms) shalt thou return.” (Gen. 3 : 14-19.) In 
 this sentence pronounced on the man, the fact of his personal 
 origin, out of the earth, is embodied ; and the force of the 
 penal words of the premonition, which he had received, is 
 plainly and convincingly shown. 
 
 The banishment of the first human pair from the garden of 
 Eden, and the reasons assigned for their exile, serve to deepen 
 our conviction of the intent, and the extent of the judicial 
 decree that had been pronounced of God. The record is 
 this :—“And Jehovah Eloheem said, The Adam has become 
 as one of us, to know good and evil: and now lest he put 
 forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and 
 live eorever. Therefore, Jehovah Eloheem sent him forth 
 from the garden of Eden to till the earth out of which he was 
 taken. So He expelled the Adam: (the generic pair) and 
 lie entabernacled, (vah-yesh-keen) at the east of the garden 
 of Eden, the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned 
 every way (a self-rotating fire with sword like flames) to 
 keep the way of the tree of lifethat is, as sentinels ever on 
 the watch. Gen. 3 : 22, 24.) In this way, God rendered it 
 impossible that man should “ live for ever,” and made sure 
 the final execution of the sentence of utter death. 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 35 
 
 III. Man— the race of Adam —is born of “corruptible seed ” 
 
 The apostle Peter contrasts the spiritual generation of 
 “ the children of God,” with the natural or psychical genera¬ 
 tion of “the children of men.” Concerning those who are 
 “ born of the Spirit,” he says, “ Being born again, not of cor¬ 
 ruptible seed, but of incorruptible :” (1 Peter, 1 : 23;) and, 
 in this way he indicates the truth that, the children of men 
 are born of “corruptible seed.” We have shown that the 
 soul is, essentially, the man: and, so, the soul is, essentially 
 the seed in which the man originates, and from which he is 
 born. The souls of the offspring of man, are derived from 
 man. They are generated by the paternal parentage : as it 
 is written, “ And all the souls that came out of the loins of 
 Jacob were seventy souls.” (Exod. 1: 5.) And concerning 
 Levi it is said, by Paul, that he was in the loins of his fore - 
 father Abraham, when Melchizedec met him. (Heb. 7 : 9, 
 10.) Such is the uniform testimony of the word of God : and 
 by the modern discoveries of science in the department of 
 Physiology, men are now beginning to understand that which 
 has been taught from the first, in every department of the 
 inspired Book. 
 
 The microscopic spermatozoon in which the man is origi¬ 
 nated, and from which he is born, contains within its mys¬ 
 terious minuteness the vital and active immaterial principle, 
 that is essentially the future man ; being the soul of the future 
 man. By virtue of the laws of psychical evolution, this soul 
 becomes evolved and embodied, in the process of gestation ; 
 and, in due time, a child is born ; and is progressively mani¬ 
 fested in the babe, the youth and the man. And it is a fact 
 well known in the science of physiology, that at the moment 
 of each one conception there are very many spermatozoa 
 present, and also that each spermatozoon present, contains 
 within itself the seminal principle of a human being—in a 
 word, that which is essentially an immaterial soul; and that 
 excepting the one that becomes the embryo infant, all these 
 
•36 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 vital seminal souls, soon die and perish and are no more. 
 And it is also very well known that'thousands and millions 
 of embryo infants, die and perish in the womb before they are 
 born. These all are facts that cannot be denied, and they 
 serve to illustrate the scriptural truth, that the children of 
 men are “born of corruptible seed.” The truth of this was 
 properly understood in ancient times; and was confessed by 
 Job, in these words :—“I have said to corruption, thou art 
 my father.” (Job, It : 14.) And he must be a puerile 
 thinker, who could suppose that, “ the human body is pro¬ 
 duced in the womb, without the presence and formative 
 activities of the human soul; and that the entrance of the 
 {material) atmosphere into the lungs of the new-born babe 
 is that whereby the babe is endued with an immaterial and 
 immortal soul.” And he must be an inconsiderate man who 
 could believe and say, that, “the Lord God creates by a new 
 and separate act of creation—a soul for every child that is 
 begotten, and conceived, and born; and that, in this way, the 
 Holy God co-operates, even, with the incontinence of “ the 
 adulterer and the whore.” And he must be a teacher of 
 “strange doctrines” who can believe and teach that, “an im¬ 
 mortal soul proceeds from God, by emanation—a portion of 
 the life of the Lord God, and coming down from heaven, 
 comes into the world in every living child that is born ; and 
 from the dawn of reason, at least, that soul—that portion of 
 the life of the Lord God—becomes a sinful soul, estranged 
 from holiness and heaven ; having a heart and mind that ‘is 
 enmity to God ’; and, being obnoxious to the wrath of God, 
 will very probably be hated and tortured of God, with incon¬ 
 ceivable torture for evermore.” 
 
 IV. God’s estimate of man is both literally and figuratively 
 expressed. 
 
 We will not here enlarge upon the declared truth of man’s 
 exceeding sinfulness :—that he is “ shapen in iniquity and 
 conceived in sin,” (Ps. 51 : 5,) that he has a heart that is 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 37 
 
 exceedingly weak and evil; (Jer. 17: 9; Mark 7 : 20-23;) 
 and that he is “sold under sin,” (Rom. 7 : 14,) and is a very 
 vassal of Satan, (Acts 26: 18 ; Eph. 2 : 2,) and has, by nature, 
 a mind that is absolute “enmity to God.” (Rom. 8: 7.) We 
 will not now exhibit the dark features of man’s moral 
 portraiture as sketched by the Spirit of God, upon the pages 
 of the inspired Rook ; but we will notice God’s revealed 
 estimate of man, as a physical and psychical being—his 
 mortality and consequent frailty and evanescent state. 
 
 1. For example :—even the generic name of the race is 
 significant of the earth, as contrasted with heaven ; but the 
 historic name of the race, which is enosh, is significant of 
 mortality , as, contrasted with man’s first estate. It denotes 
 the frailty and worthlessness of man, and is the name com¬ 
 monly given to the human race. It occurs about five 
 hundred times, in the Hebrew text; and signifies a feeble and 
 wretched mortal: as it is said, “shall mortal man be more 
 
 . just than God?” (Job, 4: 7.) The phrase here rendered, 
 “mortal man,” is ha enosh, the mortal; and no one would 
 say that, the question in the text relates to the body of man. 
 It is the man himself that is called the mortal .* 
 
 2. The figures of speech used to express God’s estimate of 
 man are various. For instance :—Men are compared to 
 grass-hoppers (Isa. 40: 22,) and to worms; (Isa. 41 : 14;) 
 
 • and this latter comparison, Job appropriates, thus: “I have 
 said to the worm, Thou art my mother and my sister.” (Job 
 17 : 14.) And how impressively does the humility and the 
 truth, expressed in the words of Job, contrast, with the pride 
 and falsehood, put forth in the presumptuous boast, that, 
 “man is allied to angels—is allied to God.” 
 
 Man is compared to grass ; (Isa. 40 : 6-8 ; 1 Peter 1 ^ 24, 
 
 * There is another term, used only in the plural, and •which more 
 literally describes men as being mortals: it is the word, m’theem ; and 
 is derived fi o;n mooth, to be dead ; and is used to signify that men are 
 mortal from their nature. 
 
 4 
 
38 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 25,) and to dead, dry, worthless chaff . (Ps. 1:4; Matth. 
 3: 12.) And David declares, saying, “verily, every man, at 
 his best state, is altogether vanity . Surely, every man 
 walketh in a vain show .” (Ps. 39: 5, 6.) The Hebrew 
 term which is here represented by the words “a vain show,” 
 is tzeh-lem, and means an image or shadow. It is the same 
 word that is used in Gen. 1: 25, 26. It has the meaning and 
 intent of signifying that which is not in reality what it seems 
 to be. When man was first created and made, he was made 
 only in the tzeh - lem , the image or shadow of God. To the 
 limited intelligence of the inferior creatures, he seemed to be 
 supreme , but his dominion was only the shadow of the 
 supremacy of God. And now man is only in the image of his 
 former self, is,—only the shadow of the relative worth and 
 dignity, that at the first, pertained to him, as the innocent 
 creature of God, who was then adapted to live for evermore. 
 
 We have but briefly noticed, God’s estimate of the frailty 
 and vanity of mortal man ; but enough has been adduced to 
 ■^sliow what man is in the estimation of God. And how 
 exceedingly proper it was, when the the adorable Son of God 
 had become incarnate, that he should respond on earth, to the 
 estimate of man which is held in heaven ; and that, addressing 
 God, the Father, he should say, “ When I consider thy 
 heavens, the work of thy fingers ; the moon and the stars 
 which thou hast ordained; what is man that thou art mind¬ 
 ful of him ? and the son of man , that thou visitest him ?” 
 and let every one, who appreciates the infinite greatness and 
 condescension of God, bow the head, and devoutly say, Amen. 
 
 The creation of man was the execution of an eternal pur¬ 
 pose in the mind of God. By the work of creation, God 
 conferred the boon and blessing of personal life . Man was 
 endued with various faculties and powers ; and for each of 
 these a corresponding object was provided of God. The man 
 was made the representative possessor and lord of the earth : 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 39 
 
 and in the garden of Eden was the bower of royalty, for him¬ 
 self and his bride. All that man became, and all that he 
 possessed had been freely originated and bestowed : but all 
 was conditionally held All was forfeitable by disobedience: 
 and by actual disobedience all was forfeited and lost —the 
 garden of Eden, the dominion of earth, and his own personal, 
 constitutional life —all was judicially lost on the day on which 
 he disobeyed. He was respited during the pleasure of his 
 offended Sovereign ; even for nine hundred and thirty years. 
 But he was debarred from “ the tree of life,” that he might 
 not live forever ; but that, in the due course of divine law and 
 justice, he should die the death which his righteous judge had 
 denounced. And in the forfeiture and loss, which he—the 
 generic head or race-man —had incurred, his whole prospec¬ 
 tive race was, psychically and physically and judicially, in¬ 
 volved. For “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;) “or, in whom all have sinned:” 
 or, more literally, “upon the principle that all have sinned.” 
 All were in him—as the origin of their essential or psychical 
 being—when he disobeyed God ; and out of him, all are 
 evolved. And it is upon this principle of generic headship, 
 and generic sin, that death has passed upon all men, or that 
 all men are mortal. 
 
 It has been correctly said that, “ the chief end of man is, to 
 glorify God, and enjoy Him, for ever.” But man, by his dis¬ 
 obedience, contravened the chief end of his existence, in as 
 far as both himself and his race are concerned ; and in as far 
 as it was possible for him so to do. The purpose of God, in 
 the human creation, was apparently frustrated, by the diso¬ 
 bedience of the first man : but that divine purpose was far 
 deeper and higher than did at first appear: and the fall of 
 man, and his consequent mortality, became the occasion of 
 that eternal purpose being progressively made known ; and 
 even the occasion of its being fulfilled. For it is the eternal 
 
40 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 purpose of God that the genus Adam shall “live forever” 
 shall he immortal. The race as viewed in the first man Adam 
 and involved by generation in his sinfulness and mortality, 
 and finally, in his doom, shall die and perish; but the genus 
 Adam as viewed in “the second man,” who is also, “the last 
 Adam,” “shall live for ever,” because He lives. 
 
 But now, who and what is “the second man ?” His name 
 is Jesus ; and he was known on earth as “ Jesus the Nazarene 
 who was born in a stable and cradled in a manger; the sup¬ 
 posed son of a poor carpenter, and who labored as a carpenter, 
 for daily bread. 
 
 But who and what is the second man ? To this question, 
 men have offered a reply, and God has supplied an answer. 
 When he was on earth, there were various opinions concern¬ 
 ing him : and after he was glorified in heaven, men reasoned 
 and speculated concerning him. The Gnostics, who claimed 
 to have superlative intelligence, as their appellation implies, 
 and who admired the “oriental philosophy”—these Gnostics , 
 in the first century, said that, the Christ was one of a myriad 
 of aions, which constituted the pleeroma or fullness of the 
 Deity ; and that Jesus was only an appearance or phantasma ; 
 or if a man at all —as some of them said he was—the aidn, 
 Christ, an inferior God, descended into him at his baptism, 
 and abandoned him, when he hung on the cross. Sabellius, a 
 philosopher of Egypt, in the third century, said that, Jesus 
 was a man in whom “the Word,” a virtue or emanation, or 
 function of the Deity, was present and did operate. Ay'ius , 
 a presbyter of the church in Alexandria, in Egypt, in the 
 fourth century, said that, Jesus was the incarnation of a 
 created being; inferior (of course) to God, in nature and 
 dignity, but the first and noblest of all creatures—in a word, 
 a super-angelic being. And* Socinus, a native of Sienna in 
 Tuscany, in the sixteenth century, said that, Jesus was a mere 
 man, even as other men are ; but that he had a special mission 
 from God; to fulfill in his day. 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 41 
 
 Such are the leading opinions that men have formed and 
 uttered concerning Jesus, “the second man:” and we have 
 now indicated the prototypes of all who, at the present time, 
 call themselves “ Unitarian Teachers ”*—even of every anti¬ 
 christ and teacher of antichristian doctrine—the fore-runners 
 of tiie antichrist ; (1 Jno. 2: IS, 22 ;) who is to be revealed ; 
 and whom the nations of the world will receive. 
 
 When Jesus was upon the earth, “he asked his disciples, 
 saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man, am ? And 
 they said, some ( say that thou art) John the Baptist; some, 
 Elias; and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. Ite 
 saith unto them, But whom say you that I am ? And Simon 
 Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the 
 living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed 
 art thou, Simon Barjona : for flesh and blood hath not 
 revealed this to thee, but my Father who is in heaven.”—The 
 knowledge and faith which Peter expressed is indeed of super¬ 
 human and divine origin. Peter confessed Jesus to be the 
 Christ, the grand theme of anciently inspired prediction and 
 promise—“ the child born and Son given, on whose shoulder 
 the government should be borne, and whose name should be 
 called, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, (Ehl-Gib-bohr) 
 Eternal Founder, (Anvi- n GAD) Prince of peace.” (Isa. 9: 6.) 
 Of Him, Jeremiah testified, saying, “ This is his name where¬ 
 by he shall be called— yeiio-yaii tzidkenu —Jehovah-our- 
 Righteousness. (Jer. 23 : 6.) Miclia predicted that He 
 should be born, as man, in Bethlehem ; and testified, that his 
 
 * The Lord seeks out and rescues the objects of his grace—calls out 
 his own—from among the so-called “ Unitarians’’ even as He calls his 
 own in the midst of many, who, while they do not deny the truth of 
 His personal Deity, do deny the revealed reality of His saving grace. 
 Many who once—“ignorantly in unbelief”—professed, and some who 
 taught, the antichristian doctrines of “ Unitarianism” have been called 
 out by the grace of Christ, to the true confession of Him. Blessed be 
 Bis name! 
 
 4 * 
 
42 
 
 WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 “ goings forth have been from old—from everlasting.” (Mic. 
 5:2.) And Zechariah anticipating the hour in which Ite 
 shall come again—and in glory then —testifies of Him, saying 
 “Jehovah my God shall come and all the saints with thee.” 
 (Zech. 14 : 4.) 
 
 Such, and such like, is the predictive testimony to which 
 Peter referred, when he confessed Jesus to be “ the Christ 
 and the other title by which he confessed who, and what 
 Jesus is, was to the same intent:—“the Son of the living 
 God”— ho whyos tou Theou zontos. According to the 
 genius and idiomatic usage of the Hebrew language the term 
 beiin —which in the Greek is represented by the term whyos, 
 and in the English by the word, “ Son”—is used as a term of 
 quality, when used to entitle or to describe a person, or thing. 
 Hence a “ son of wickedness,” means a wicked person , and a 
 “fruitful hill” is called a son of oil; and the “sons of cap¬ 
 tivity” are captive persons; and a “ son of wisdom,” means 
 a wise person. Such is the usage ; and according to it 
 the epithet or title, “ Son,” represents the idea of quality, or 
 nature, and not the idea of derivation. This being so, the 
 Jews, properly and perfectly, understood Jesus, to claim and 
 assert personal and essential Deity, when he said, “ I am the 
 Son of God :” and they “ took up stones to stone him;” and 
 they sought to justify the act, saying, “ Because that thou 
 being man, makest thyself God.” The title by which Jesus 
 most commonly spoke of himself was, “ the Son of man ;” and 
 the specific intent of this was to claim and assert, his true 
 manhood, or that, in accordance with ancient prediction, 
 he had become real man: and so when he said, “ I am the 
 Son of God” he claimed and asserted his own true Deity, or 
 that he is real or essential God— one with the Father, by 
 whom he had been sent into the world. And so, when Peter 
 confessed him to be “ the Son of the living God,”* he cou- 
 
 * The words, whyos tou Theou; without the definite article before 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 48 
 
 fcssed Jesus to possess an essential sameness of nature with 
 him whose title is “ the living God.” 
 
 Paul, echoing the strains of David, declares Jesus to be 
 u God(Heb. 1:8; Ps 45 : 6, 7 ;) and he announces the 
 great “ mystery of godliness” to consist in a true belief and 
 confession of the fundamental fact that Jesus is God ; who 
 was manifested in the flesh ; who was justified in the Spirit; 
 who was seen of angels ; who was preached among Gentiles ; 
 who was believed on in the world ; who was received up in 
 glory. (1 Tim. 3 : 16 ) John declares Jesus to be “ The 
 Word who was in beginning with God, and who was God;” 
 and ascribes to him the creation of all things, (Jno. 1 : 1-3 ;) 
 and Paul repeats the testimony to his creative might and 
 universal works. (Col. 1 : 16.) And when showing the 
 proper hope of all true Christians, Paul declares it to be “ that 
 blessed hope ; even the glorious appearing of the great God 
 and Saviour of us—Jesus Christ.” (Tit. 2 : 13.) These are 
 but a few of the recorded testimonies, found in the inspired 
 Book, that furnish an answer to the question, who and wiiat 
 is the scond man ? 
 
 We now proceed to consider the eternal purpose of God, 
 in the human creation ; which purpose was apparently frus¬ 
 trated, but shall certainly be fulfilled. It is the eternal and 
 immutable purpose of God, to give eternal life and embodied 
 immortality to sinful and mortal men. The genus Adam 
 shall he immortal. 
 
 whyos , are used to denote the Divine quality—the personal Deity—of 
 Jesus. They are thus both abstractly and adjcctively used: and when 
 these words are used with the definite article, thus : ho ivhyos ton Theou, 
 tliej-e is a direct and understood reference to the testimony of ancient 
 prediction, concerning the Divine Person who should become incarnate 
 —the “ Son •” that should be given. Examples of this are found in the 
 testimony of John the Baptist; (John 1; 34 ;) in the confession made by 
 Nathaniel, (Jno. 1: 50 ;) in the question of the Lord to the man whose 
 eyes he had opened; (John 9 : 35 ;) and in the confession made by Peter 
 which has now been brought into view. 
 
44 
 
 WHAT IS MAX ? 
 
 1. This purpose of the Father is to be accomplished through 
 the incarnation of the Son. 
 
 It is written, “ The first man Adam became unto a living 
 soul; the last Adam ( [became ) unto a life giving Spirit.” 
 (Gen. 2 : I ; 1 Cor. 15 : 45.) Both the incarnation and the 
 resurrection of the Son of God are here in view. But the 
 particular point to be now observed is the antithesis presented. 
 The psychical quality of the first man Adam and his race, is 
 contrasted with the spiritual quality of the last Adam, and 
 the order which pertains to Him. And so it is written, “The 
 first man is out of the earth, earthy : the second man is the 
 Lord out of heaven. As is the earthy (Adam) such are they 
 also that are earthy : and as is the heavenly (Adam) such are 
 they also that are heavenly.” (1 Cor. 15 : 47, 48.) Here 
 the terrestrial origin and quality of the psychical race, is, for 
 a specific purpose, contrasted with the celestial origin and 
 quality of the spiritual order. The contrastive, moral quali¬ 
 ties of these contrasted classes are elsewhere fully shown : but 
 here, the actual contrast of substantial natures, and consti¬ 
 tutional states is the prominent truth. The first man was 
 “ the earthy,” when he was first taken out of the earth; as 
 really as he was “ the earthy” after he had disobeyed God : 
 but the second man is the Lord out of heaven—eternally 
 celestial—essentially Divine : and the foundation truth of all 
 true Christianity, and of all human salvation is, that the second 
 man is the “ Rock of Ages,” the living and immovable Rock 
 (Matth. 16:18 ;) —the incarnate Son of God, one in eternal, 
 immortal Godhead, with the Father, and the Holy Ghost. 
 
 In the first man we admire the mystery of creation : but in 
 the second man we revere the far greater mystery of incarna¬ 
 tion. It is to us—on many considerations—a mystery that 
 God should have created man, but it is an unspeakably greater 
 mystery, that God—in the person of the Son—should have 
 become man. But true and living faith delights in mystery , 
 and especially in the great mystery of godliness and of God 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 45 
 
 When the Son of God had become man, he declared the 
 intent of his incarnation, and his mission from the Father. 
 For instance : He showed the benevolent and dispensational 
 intent for which he came, and was sent; saying, “For God 
 so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten* Son, that 
 whosoever believeth in him should not terish, but have 
 eternal life :” (Jno. 3 : 16.)—“ This is the bread that 
 cometh down from Heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and 
 not die : (Jno. 6 : 50.)—“ Whosoever liveth and believeth 
 in me shall never die.” (Jno. 11 : 26.) He also declared the 
 specific purpose for which he became man, saying, “ All that 
 the Father giveth me shall come to me : and him that cometh 
 to me I will in no wise cast out: for I came down from 
 heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that 
 sent me. And this is the will of him that sent me, that of 
 all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should 
 raise it up again at the last day.” (Jno. 6 : 37-39.) And 
 concerning those whom the Father gave to him, and whom 
 he calls his sheep, he has said, “ I am come that they might 
 have life, and that they might have it more abundantly —. 
 “ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow 
 me. And I give unto them eternal life ; and they shall 
 
 * The title “ only begotten,” according to the usage of Holy Scrip¬ 
 ture, does not mean, nor is it intended to mean, personal generation or 
 derivation of personal being. The Greek phrase, monogenees, is the 
 scriptural equivalent of the Hebrew term, ah-chad, which means one, 
 an only one ; and is used as a term of superlative appreciation—of pre¬ 
 eminent esteem and delight. Hence it was used of God in relation to 
 Isaac, when he said to Abraham, “ Take now thy son, thine ah-chad, 
 Isaac (Gen. 22: 2 ;) and Paul, referring to the conduct of Abraham, 
 on that occasion says, that “he offered up his only begotten;” (Ileb. 
 11: 17;) and, in so saying, Paul uses the Greek, monogenees, as the 
 adopted equivalent of the Hebrew, aii-chad. And in the sense and 
 meaning of the Father’s superlative and infinite appreciation, confidence 
 and complacency, the epithet or title monogenees , only-begotten, is in 
 every instance, applied to the Son of God 
 
46 
 
 WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 never perish, neither shall any one pluck them out of my 
 hand. My Father who gave them me, is greater than all, 
 and no one is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. 
 I and the Father are one. (Jno. 10 : 10, 27-30.) 
 
 The Son of God came to give life, even eternal life : 
 and if it be asked, “Who will live forever ?” The answer of 
 the Lord and Giver of Life, who is also “ the bread of 
 life,” is in these words :—“ He that eateth of this bread 
 shall live forever.” And it is most irreverent and evil in 
 any man, to say that, in the vocabulary of the Son of God, 
 the word, zoeen or “life” does not mean life; and that the 
 words, zoeen aidnion, or “ eternal life,” do not mean, eternal 
 life; and that the words, zeesetai eis ton aiona, or “ shall 
 live forever ,” do not mean, shall live forever. And yet, in 
 their ecclesiastical teaching, certain men are hurried into this 
 kind of irreverence and evil by reason of their having adopted 
 the false doctrine of the innate and essential immortality of 
 “ the earthy” race. 
 
 2. The purpose of God, to give eternal life, and embodied 
 immortality to sinful and mortal men, is to be accomplished 
 through the moral victory of “the second man.” 
 
 It had been declared of old, that a conflict should take 
 place between the wily tempter, and the woman’s Seed ; and 
 in due time the second man appeared. By the mystery of 
 incarnation, the Lord of glory became the woman’s Seed. 
 The favor and honor conferred on the blessed Virgin Mary 
 had been expressly foretold; as it is written, “ Behold the 
 virgin (ha- d GAL-mah) shall conceive and bare a son, and shall 
 call his name Immanuel ” (Isa. 7 : 14.) And again, it is 
 written “ Jehovah hath created (or originated and constituted) 
 a new thing oh the earth,—A woman shall compass a man 
 —a female , (n’keh-vaii) one who is merely such, and alone, 
 shall encompass or enclose within herself a male child. The 
 word geii-ver, which means a man, means also one who is 
 strong and valiant and victorious. (Jer. 31 : 22.) In the 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 47 
 
 mystery of the Adamic evolution and formation, the man 
 encompassed or enclosed within himself the woman, who was, 
 then, evolved out of him. But in the greater mystery of the 
 incarnation of the Son of God, the blessed Virgin Mary 
 encompassed and enclosed within herself “the second man.” 
 The Lord from heaven, became “ man, of the substance of his 
 mother.” His human soul was evolved out of the substance 
 of her soul, and his body was organized of her coporeal and 
 maternal secretions : and this deep mystery was effected by 
 the miraculous agency of the Holy Spirit, and thus the “ new 
 thing” was originated and constituted on the earth ; and the 
 blessed Mary became the mother of the Lord—the Lord from 
 heaven became truly and literally, the Woman’s Seed. He— 
 “ who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be 
 equal with God”—condescended to become the second man. 
 To this end he emptied himself ( ekenose , Phil. 2 : 6-f) of his 
 glorious majesty and immensity ; and self circumscribed, was 
 encompassed within “ the virgin’s womb,” and was born of her. 
 
 He was in very deed “ the Holy One but he became real 
 man ; to act within the limits of the humanity which he had 
 assumed. He was man, standing always in moral nearness to 
 God; but he was feeble, dependent, passible man. He became 
 accessible to every temptation with which Satan can test man. 
 In his moral conflict with the adversary, he used no weapon 
 except “ the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” 
 and he wielded this weapon with no other arm than that of a 
 human faith in God. The “stripling” David, was his type : 
 and his adversary was the Goliath of the fallen angels. He 
 “was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.” 
 The greater temptations sustained by him, were endured in 
 the wilderness, and on the cross. In the wilderness—when 
 reduced by fasting, to the lowest degree of human weakness— 
 he was tempted to mistrust God ; to act presumptuously to¬ 
 wards God ; and, even to worship the devil. But through all 
 this scene of moral conflict, he was, and remained the innocent 
 
43 
 
 WHAT IS HAN ? 
 
 and holy—the enduring and victorious—man. On the cross’ 
 he was sorely tempted to disobey the special “ commandment” 
 which he had received from his Father. (Jno. 10 : 11-18.) 
 He was tempted to be disobedient, through the agonies of 
 crucifixion, and through the bitter taunts, and scornful mock- 
 ings of his human enemies. “ Gome down from the cross, if 
 thou be the Son of God! Gome down from the cross if thou 
 be the Christ! Gome doiun from the cross, and ice will 
 believe thee /” Come down from the cross!! Such were 
 the tempting exclamations with which he was assailed, by 
 priests, and people; and to these tempting words, the devil 
 and his angels imparted a terrible force. And even God, his 
 Father, seemed to have abandoned him, in his greatest need, 
 and unto the malice of his numerous and scornful foes. But 
 “ he endured the cross and on the cross, he was victorious 
 over all. He spoiled principalities and powers, and made a 
 show of them openly, triumphing over them there. From the 
 depth of his weakness and anguish, he raised the shout of 
 triumph : He cried, “ It is finished !”•—the conflict was 
 ended, the victory was won ; and the angels of God, who had 
 hovered over the arena, on Calvary, witnessed the discomfiture 
 and disgraceful flight of Satan and his host : and Heaven 
 exulted in the moral triumph of the second man. The heel 
 of the woman’s Seed was sorely crushed in the conflict; yet 
 was he victorious over all the power of the enemy : and the 
 serpent’s head shall yet be crushed to death. 
 
 3. The purpose of God to give eternal life, and embodied 
 immortality to sinful and mortal men, is to be accomplished 
 through the sacrificial death of the second man. 
 
 By the disobedience of the first man, the whole human race 
 was brought under the power of sin and death : and in order 
 that any of that race should live for ever, it was necessary that 
 they should be redeemed. If redeemed at all they must be 
 redeemed in a wny that would afford to all the moral perfec¬ 
 tions of God, an honorable display :—the veracity of God 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 49 
 
 must be evinced; and Ills holiness must be vindicated; and 
 Ilis righteousness must be declared ; and His grace must be 
 justified ; and His moral glory must be manifested without a 
 cloud: and, in the manifold wisdom of God, it was decreed, 
 that all this should be effected and established through a sac¬ 
 rificial atonement for sin, and for the souls of men ; and to 
 this end, the Son of God became the second man : and received 
 from God the Father, the commandment to lay down his life ; 
 and, so, to become a substitutional sacrifice. 
 
 For this work of atonement* the second man, was in all 
 respects, meet and worthy and complete. He was the holy man. 
 Within the womb of the blessed Virgin, he was “ that holy-be¬ 
 gotten” one—unstained by the sinfulness of man. By reason of 
 “ the miraculous conception” he was free from all the psychical 
 and moral disorder inherited by all the children of men. “In 
 him was no sin.” He was “ holy, harmless, undefiled, separate 
 from sinners.” He was also the righteous man who delighted 
 to do the will of God ; who had the law of God in his heart ; 
 and who, in all respects, fulfilled that divine law under which 
 he was made, when made out of a woman. Moreover, He was 
 the God-man. His one life and one sacrifice of himself 
 —was of infinitely more value, than were the lives of all whom 
 he came to redeem and save. As the holy man, and the 
 righteous man, and the God-man, He possessed a three-fold 
 title to “ live forever and if He laid down his life, He was 
 competent to take it up again. As the sacrificial man, he 
 was meet for the altar when he was born of the blessed Mary, 
 in the stable in Bethlehem ; He was worthy of the altar all 
 
 * The Hebrew word, commonly rendered, “atonement,'’ is kah-phar. 
 The true ideal meaning of this word is, to put away, to make an end of, to 
 annul. This radical meaning is seen in Isa. 28: 18 ; and is illustrated 
 by the Apostle Paul in Ileb. 9: 2G. Put, in its secondary and resultant 
 usage, kah-phar, signifies, to cover; that is, in the sense of preserva¬ 
 tion, &c. 
 
 5 
 
50 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 along his appointed path ; and He was ready for the altar 
 when the pre-appointed hour arrived. 
 
 On the cross, “ Pie poured out his soul unto death.” In 
 obedience to the commandment of God the Father, and by an 
 act of pure volition, He laid down his life, that he might take 
 it again. (Jno. 10 : 17, 18.) This was the “ one obedience” 
 which he came to render. The first man by “ one disobedi¬ 
 ence,” brought in sin and death : and the second man by 
 “ one obedience,” brought in righteousness and eternal life. 
 He “put away sin by the sacrifice of himself :” judicially, 
 He made “an end of sins.” He triumphed over death, and 
 “him that had the power of death, which is the devil.” And, 
 in the view of angels, and principalities, and powers, He sus¬ 
 tained the honor of the divine government; vindicated the 
 holiness of God ; declared the righteousness of God ; evinced 
 the veracity of God ; and justified the grace of God ; and, 
 thus laid the foundation for the manifestation of the moral 
 glory of God, without a cloud. 
 
 In the free justification of sinners, and the gift of eternal 
 life, God is manifestly just.* And it is a truth, never to be 
 forgotten, that the infinite value which pertains to the one 
 sacrifice of Jesus ; arises—not from any inherent dignity or 
 value in man, as the subject of redemption ; neither from the 
 nature, or the extent, of the penalty due to sin ; nor from the 
 
 * The “atonement ” of Christ was made for all whom the Father had 
 given to the Son : for them it is effective, and its contemplated results 
 are made sure. But in another, and governmental, relation, the death 
 of Christ was on behalf of the Adamic race. The long-suffering of 
 God, from the hour in which Adam first sinned; and the multiplied 
 boon of personal life; and the unfailing order and munificence of God’s 
 providence —all this, and more, is based on the death and mediation of 
 “ the second man.” In this temporal, benevolent and merciful sense 
 and relation, the death of Christ was on behalf of the world. Many 
 passages of Holy Scripture relate to this ; but, by many uninstructed 
 persons, such passages are supposed to treat of “ the atonement.” 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 51 
 
 immortal and celestial results of Ilis obedience unto death, 
 but—from Who and wiiat He is in himself, from liis own 
 essential Deity ; and from the fact of his having, voluntarily, 
 laid down his life, in obedience to the commandment of his 
 Father, God 
 
 4. The purpose of God, to give eternal life and embodied 
 immortality to sinful and mortal men, is to be accomplished 
 through the resurrection of the second man. 
 
 When Jesus laid down his life on the cross, “he descended 
 into hell.” He went down into the lower parts of the earth ; 
 (Eph. 4 : 9;) to the place whence the first man originally 
 came. (Ps. 139: 15.) He went into the heart of the earth ; 
 (Matth. 12: 40 ;) into the place called in the Hebrew, Sh’ol; 
 in the Greek, Hades; and in the English, “Hell.” (Ps. 16: 
 10 ; Acts, 2 : 25-31.) He went into “the deep ” (Rom. 10 : 
 1) called in the Greek, abusson ; and commonly translated in 
 the English, “the bottomless pit.” According to his own 
 words, “the Son of man” was “three days and three nights in 
 the heart of the earth.” His body lay in the sepulchre, but 
 his human soul, in hypostatic union with his divine Spirit, 
 was in the heart of the earth. The sentence upon the first 
 man, was, that he should return into the earth (out of which 
 he had been taken) as the just penalty of his disobedience : 
 but Jesus, the second man, went down into the earth, not as 
 a criminal; but as the Conqueror of sin, death, and the 
 devil:—He went down there, not passively as a prisoner, but 
 actively as the Redeemer. Nevertheless, He went down there ; 
 and such was in part, the mystery of his death ; which was a 
 proper death, a real dissolution or disintegration ; for when 
 he died on the cross, he left the body which He had assumed. 
 And he himself had taught the necessity of his own death, in 
 order to the evolution of eternal life out of Him. “ In him 
 was life :” and lie is “the life.” But he showed, and illus¬ 
 trated, the necessity of the mystery of his death—in order to 
 the evolution and communication of eternal life out of him- 
 
52 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 A 
 
 self—when he said, “ Verily, verily, I say unto yon, except a 
 grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth alone : 
 but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” (Jno. 12: 24.) 
 And the type of this necessity of his death, was the death¬ 
 like sleep of the first man Adam, in order to the evolution of 
 the vital woman out of him. In the wisdom of God that 
 death-like sleep was made nnecessary to the evolution of the 
 psychical and communicable life of the first man ; to be 
 possessed by, and manifested in, his bride : and, in the mani¬ 
 fold wisdom and governmental righteousness of God, the 
 actual death of the second man was made necessary to the 
 evolution of his spiritual and communicable life; to be 
 possessed by, and manifested in, his church, which shall be 
 known as his bride—even the bride of the Lamb. (Rev. 19 : 
 6-9 ; 21 : 9.) But, as the mystery of the death of Jesus was 
 necessary, in order to the communication of eternal life and 
 immortality to those whom the Father had given him ; so also 
 was his resurrection, equally necessary to the same end : and 
 when speaking anticipatively of his resurrection, he assured 
 his disciples saying, “Because I live, you shall live also.” It 
 is from and in the second man that life and immortality is 
 and shall be the portion and inheritance of men—of the 
 genus Adam. 
 
 Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, and his resur¬ 
 rection was consequent on the atonement which he had made 
 and completed on the cross; and which God the Father had 
 accepted, there and then. His resurrection was consequent 
 on his having, through his death, made a judicial end of sins, 
 and annulled the power of death, and of the devil. He has 
 “abolished death; and, by his radiant manifestation,* has 
 
 * Not through his lowly advent in the stable in Bethlehem; but 
 through his radiant manifestation, to Saul of Tarsus, after he had risen, 
 and was glorified—not in his teaching, as a prophet on earth; but in 
 his Person , as seen by Saul, in the open heavens: as it is written, in 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 53 
 
 brought life and incorruptibility (aphtharsia) to light through 
 the Gospel.” (2 Tim. 1: 10.) These words teach, that 
 Jesus, the Saviour, has, in his own person, exemplified, and 
 illuminated, life and incorruptibility; as when he appeared to 
 Saul of Tarsus—brilliant, “above the brightness of the sun.” 
 It was in resurrection that the second man, the last Adam, 
 became or formally assumed his unique and proper position 
 and relations as the “life-giving Spirit.” In resurrection, he 
 stood forth in the view of “ angels and principalities and 
 powers ”— the immortal man, the Head of a new order, the 
 celestial and immortal order —the veritable offspring and sons 
 of the living God. 
 
 5. The purpose of God, to give eternal life and embodied 
 immortality to sinful and mortal men is to be accomplished 
 by the second man, as glorified in the heavens. 
 
 That same night on which he was betrayed, Jesus set 
 himself, anticipatively, on the other side of the cross. As 
 though he were already in resurrection, and standing in the 
 vestibule of the celestial Temple, as the High Priest of his 
 chosen, and seeking an entrance into the glory of the Throne, 
 he addressed the Father, and said “ Father the hour is come ; 
 glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee : as thou 
 hast given him authority over all flesh, that he should give 
 eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is 
 life eternal—that they might know thee the only true God, 
 and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” (Jno. 17 : 1-3.) 
 The latter sentence in this passage is elliptical; and the 
 
 the original Greek, phanerotheisan de nun dia tees epiphaneias tou soteeros 
 heem5n Ieesou Xristou. But now is made manifest through the shinino* 
 forth, or manifest splendor of our Saviour Jesus Christ. In this 
 manner, the eternal purpose and grace of God the Father is made 
 manifest; even his eternal purpose and grace towards those of the 
 human race whose salvation and holy calling he had fore-decreed; and 
 whom he had “ predestinated to be conformed to the imnge of his Son.” 
 
54 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 ellipsis is common to all discourse. A similar instance to the 
 present is perceived in 1 Jno. 5:3. If the ellipsis in this 
 present case be justly apprehended, the truth will be under¬ 
 stood, viz. : that the end or object, for which eternal life is 
 given, is, that the true knowledge of the true God and his 
 blessed Son, might be possessed, by those whom the Father 
 had given to the Son. 
 
 The first man Adam was assailed and was overcome and 
 ruined by the evil spirit, in the serpent’s form ; and that evil 
 spirit became, thus, and thenceforth, “the prince of this 
 world.” But the Holy Spirit descended on the second man, 
 at his baptism, in the likeness of a dove, and abode upon 
 him. Yea the Holy Spirit dwelt in him, and strengthened 
 him for moral conflict with his adversary the devil: and now 
 that he, the second man, has stood fast and prevailed,* and is 
 glorified, the Holy Spirit has been sent forth of the Father ; 
 and has come down from heaven to act on behalf of the 
 glorified man; as his Yicar on earth, and to efisure to him 
 the eternal reward of his obedience, and his triumph on the 
 earth. To ensure the reward, promised of the Father to the 
 Son, the Holy Spirit quickens men who are dead ( nehrous ) 
 in their sins; that is impotent and inert and insensible, 
 morally, towards God. (Eph. 2 : 1-7 ; Col. 2 : 13.) The 
 atonement, by blood, which the second man has made, is the 
 basis on which the Spirit of God acts, in quickening the souls 
 of men. As when the leper in Israel was cleansed, the sacri¬ 
 ficial blood was first applied, and then the holy oil upon the 
 blood ; (Levit. 14 : 14, 17 ;) so, where God has imputed the 
 redeeming value of the precious blood of Christ; there, and 
 to those, the Holy Spirit comes with his quickening and 
 enlightening powers. He comes with the full and unfailing 
 intent to regenerate “the ransomed of the Lord” —the objects 
 of the Father’s everlasting love and sovereign grace. He 
 quickens the souls of men into union of life with Christ 
 Jesus, risen and glorified ; (Eph. 2 : 4-7;) imparting, thus, 
 
V7IIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 the communicable life of the Father, which is also the resur¬ 
 rection life of the Son ; who lives in the regenerate, (Gal. 2 : 
 20;) and in whom they live. (Col. 3: 3, 4;) In this 
 manner the Holy Spirit acts on behalf of the second, the 
 glorified, man, as the abiding Comforter: and by the Holy 
 Spirit, the glorified man gives eternal life, to as many as the 
 Father has given to Him. 
 
 6. The purpose of God to give eternal life and embodied 
 immortality to sinful and mortal men, is being accomplished 
 in the way of absolute grace. 
 
 The boon of created life—to speak again of the first man 
 Adam—was the production and bestowment of pure and 
 sovereign benevolence, in the heart of God. Adam could 
 not possibly deserve to be created, and to live. Nonentity 
 could not deserve to be created into conscious and rejoicing 
 life: neither could nonentity co-operate with God, in the 
 production of an intelligent and moral being, such as man 
 became. No more can men who are dead in their sins 
 deserve, or even desire, to be begotten of God, into the 
 possession of eternal life. Nay in their case there is an 
 aversion to God—they are “ enemies’ 7 to God and godli¬ 
 ness—“the carnal mind is enmity to God.” Men who are 
 dead in their sins can neither deserve, nor desire, to be 
 begotten into spiritual and celestial life : and in relation to 
 immortality, the very thought of needing that priceless boon, 
 as the gift of God, is rejected and despised: and ecclesiastical 
 teaching tends to confirm men in the vauntings of -their 
 hearts; in which is cherished the proud assumption : “ Our 
 souls are our own, and are immortal too.” 
 
 Men morally dead, dead in their sins, cannot work for 
 spiritual life—cannot, co-work with the “ quickening Spirit.” 
 “Eternal life is the gift of God;” and a gift cannot be 
 earned. And he must be a proud man who would say, that 
 he could not receive eternal life as a free gift; nor even set a 
 value upon it, if possessed, unless he could believe and say, 
 
56 
 
 WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 that he had attained to its possession by his own will and 
 original choice, and by his own religious efforts, and by his 
 own faithfulness to God. He must indeed be a proud sinner , 
 who could thus speak. But, according to the tenor of these 
 words there are thousands, and tens of thousands, who thus 
 boast themselves, and glory in themselves; and while they 
 “profess and call themselves Christians;” they, in this way 
 despise the grace of Christ. 
 
 But, it is no marvel, that men commonly speak so arrogantly 
 in denying their own destitution and nothingness; seeing that, 
 they are so commonly told, that their “ dignity ,” and “ des¬ 
 tiny, ” is the basis of their “ duty .” 
 
 The concurrent teaching of the inspired Book is, that all 
 men are ruined mortals —helpless and blind and morally 
 inert and insensible; under the power of sin, and Satan and 
 death. And the key note of the true and melodious Gospel 
 is: “By grace ye are saved.”—“By grace* are ye saved, 
 through faith ; and that not out of (. ek ) yourselves ; it is the 
 gift of God.” The first movement of the quickened soul is 
 towards Jesus, risen and glorified. The living faith, inspired 
 of God, turns to the living Saviour, and trusts and rests in 
 Him. Salvation is realized on the principle of faith , in 
 contrast with the principle of law. Salvation is realized in 
 the way of faith, from first to last. As breathing was neces¬ 
 sary to the conscious and active psychical life of the 
 created man; even so, believing is necessary to the conscious 
 and active, spiritual life of the new man in Christ. This 
 
 Grace is the great love of God shown towards its human objects, 
 without deserving, or the possibility of deserving on their part—the 
 great love of God, contrary to moral, and judicial desert—the unmerit- 
 able and unforfeitable love of God, in Christ Jesus; all the reasons of 
 which love, are in the heart and counsel of God. Grace has respect to 
 sins, and the entire putting away, and forgiveness, of sins; that mercy 
 might come in with its free gift, and that the purpose of eternal love 
 might be fulfilled. 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 67 
 
 necessity lias, in both cases, been instituted of God : and the 
 origination, and the sustainment of the breathing, in the one 
 case, and of the believing, in the other case, is of God, and 
 not of man. The created man breathed, because that—he 
 being already made vital—God blew into his nostrils the 
 breath of life : and the regenerated man believes, because that 
 ■—he being already quickened—God inspires him with the 
 truth of the Gospel of his Son. And the apostle Paul wisely 
 has reasoned showing that men are either saved by absolute 
 grace from first to last, or that grace is not grace at all. 
 (Rom. 11: 6.) 
 
 7. The purpose of God, to give eternal life and embodied 
 immortality to sinful and mortal men, has originated a new 
 and peculiar order of beings, of which the last Adam is the 
 risen and glorified Head. 
 
 The Lord Jesus taught the necessity of a man being “ born 
 again,” born from above, in order to a discernment of the 
 Kingdom of God—not only, in order to a final entrance into 
 the Kingdom, but in order to a mental discernment of what 
 the Kingdom of God really is: and, while teaching thus, he 
 said, “that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which 
 is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (Jno. 3 : 6.) In the usage 
 of Holy Scripture, the term, “flesh,” when used in a physical 
 sense, signifies" all that man is, as man ; and even when used 
 in a moral and evil sense, it includes the whole natural man. 
 And in the words of Jesus, just quoted, the term “flesh,” in¬ 
 cludes the whole natural man, and the entire offspring of the 
 natural man—soul and body. The fact thus testified of by 
 the Lord, we have already reviewed. “ That which is born 
 of the flesh,” is a child constituted of soul and body: but, 
 “ that which is born of the Spirit,” is a new and spiritual 
 constituent of personal being. lie who is born of the Spirit 
 is constituted of a “spirit, and soul, and body.” (1 Thess. 
 5: 23.) We have shown that when the word “ spirit ” is 
 used in relation to man, as man , it is used adjeclively, and to 
 
58 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 denote the motions and emotions of his soul. But the 
 word, “ spirit,” as used by the Lord, in Jno. 3: 6, and as 
 elsewhere applied to the regenerate, is used as a substantive 
 noun ; to denote that new and living and eternal nature which 
 is in them, as born of God. Within the regenerate man, a 
 “ spirit ” has been engendered, by the Spirit of God—which 
 spirit is celestial, and, in the secondary meaning of the word, 
 is divine—a divine substance, the communicable life of God ; 
 and all the moral qualities thereof, answer to the moral per¬ 
 fections of God. This divinely engendered spirit, is the 
 eternal life, in union with Christ, risen. It is called the “new 
 man,” (Eph. 4: 24; Col. 3: 10,) and the “inner man.” (2 
 Cor. 4:16; Eph. 3 : 16 ) When it is spoken of in contrast 
 with “the flesh,” it is called “the spirit:” as, for instance, in 
 Gal. 5:17, 22-25 : but it must not be confounded in our 
 minds, with Deity—with the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost. 
 
 It is sad and sorrowful to be obliged to state that the real 
 and spiritual fact, and the doctrine , of a true and proper 
 regeneration by the Spirit of God, is either ignored, or is 
 formally denied ill the ecclesiastical teaching authorized and 
 received by men. The real fact is denied, by being repre¬ 
 sented to be only a “moral change,” a so-called “change of 
 heart:” and the true doctrine is denied by being called a 
 “figure of speech.” Ecclesiastical teachers may well be 
 asked, Have you never read that Scripture ?—“A new heart 
 will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” But 
 in thus rejecting the testimony of the Lord Jesus and of the 
 Holy Spirit, such teachers, are at least, consistent with them¬ 
 selves, and with the platonic teachings in which they indulge. 
 Eor a man cannot need, and—as it would seem—cannot 
 possess tivo deathless principles of personal being— two im¬ 
 mortal spirits : if he be born of God by creation and pro¬ 
 creation, lie cannot need to be born of God over again. But 
 if they are thus, consistent with themselves, it is a self-con¬ 
 sistency that involves a two-fold contradiction of God: for, 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 59 
 
 first they deny the testimony of God, concerning the origin 
 and constitution of man, and his present mortal state : and 
 then they deny the testimony of God, concerning those who 
 are “.born of the Spirit;” and who are determinately marked 
 off from the rest of mankind, in these words “ Whosoever 
 believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” (I 
 Jno. 5:1.) And to all such, it is said, “ Behold what manner 
 of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be 
 called the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, 
 because it knew Him not;” i. e., Jesus. “Beloved, now are 
 we the sons of God : and it doth not yet appear what we shall 
 be : but we- know that when He (Jesus) shall appear, we 
 shall be like Him ; for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 Jno. 
 3: 1, 2.) 
 
 Words cannot more distinctly announce a new order of 
 beings on the earth— men , indeed, but no longer mere men; 
 but, tekna Theou —children *of God, the veritable offspring 
 of the living God. Not gods, indeed, nor demigods; but not 
 mere men; for they are constituted of two natures, the origin 
 and qualities of which are exceedingly diverse. In their 
 persons, the “ earthy ” nature and the “ heavenly ” nature 
 co-exist, and constitute, in each, one person. In that they 
 have their 'psychical origin from the first man Adam, who 
 was out of the earth, and became unto a living soul, they are 
 men; but in that they have their spiritual origin in the 
 second man, the Lord out of heaven, the last Adam, who 
 became unto a life-giving Spirit, they are more than men . 
 As to their new and spiritual entity, they are brought forth 
 (apekueesen , from apokuo) out of God, of his own purpose; 
 ( bouleetheis —James 1: 18) and so are “ partakers of a 
 divine nature,” ( tlieias koinonoi pliuseos) which it is the good 
 pleasure of God that they should manifestly possess ; and for 
 which manifest possession God has given “ exceeding great 
 and precious promises” to them. (2 Pet. 1: 4.) This divine 
 nature is now , so to speak, in an embryonic state, but is 
 
60 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 manifestive, as to its proper fruits, in holiness and righteous¬ 
 ness and love and good works; for they are now the sons of 
 God; and His seed remaineth in them, and they cannot, law¬ 
 lessly , sin, because they are born of God. (1 Jno 3 : 9.) As 
 John has said, the world knows them not; even as the world 
 knew not Jesus, and because it knew not Eim. The mys¬ 
 tery of their being is too great to be apprehended by human 
 sagacity—is too deep to be fathomed by the philosophy of 
 man. (Jno. 3 : 8.) Jesus was in a state of incognito here, 
 and so are they: and when lie shall be manifested, they shall 
 be manifestly like Him. John has shown that the knowledge 
 of this is proper to them, as taught of God : and, it is said, 
 also, by Paul, “When Christ, our life, shall appear, then 
 shall ye also appear with him in glory.” (Col. 3 : 4.) And 
 Paul represents the sentient and groaning creation, as “ wait¬ 
 ing for the manifestation of the sons of God;” and the sons 
 of God, as waiting for the sbnstate ( whyothesian ) or the 
 state proper to them as sons; and in which they shall be 
 manifested to the world: (Rom. 8: 19-23,) and the world 
 shall then know that God has loved them, even as he has 
 loved Jesus, his blessed Son. (Jno. It: 23.) 
 
 Now are they the sons of God, and the Spirit of God 
 dwells in them. (Rom. 8: 11.) Their very body is the 
 temple of the Holy Ghost. (1 Cor. 6: 19.) By the Holy 
 Spirit of God, they are sealed unto the day of the redemption, 
 state ; (Eph. 4 : 30;) and He is the proper strength or vigor 
 of the new and “inner man.” (Eph. 3: 16.) And one 
 divine intent for which the Spirit of God is given to the 
 children of God, is, that from within their hearts, the cry, 
 “Abba, Father,” might ascend from the earth to God. In 
 the case of those children of God whose minds are beclouded 
 by the false teachings of men, and who are thus stunted, 
 being hindered in their growth ; and who by reason of their 
 spiritual baby-hood do not know their proper and filial 
 relations to God—in them, the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 61 
 
 the Sou of God, cries, “ Abba, Father” on their behalf and 
 in their stead ; and God the Father hears, and heeds. (Gal. 
 4 : 6.) But in the case of those who are no longer “babes 
 in Christ,” but who truly know and appreciate their celestial 
 and divine origin and relations—in them, the Spirit of God is 
 the light and strength of their spiritual intelligence; and, by 
 Him, they themselves cry, “Abba, Father.” And this they 
 do, as knowing that they are born of God ; and as realizing 
 their celestial filiation, and the true and proper paternity oi 
 God ; and this they know by the Holy Spirit, who bears 
 witness with their spirit that they are born of God—heirs of 
 God, and joint-heirs with Christ. Bom. 8 : 14-17. 
 
 8. The purpose of God, to give eternal life and embodied 
 immortality to sinful and mortal men, is to be accomplished 
 by a future, and physical resurrection, or a change equivalent 
 thereto. 
 
 The genus Adam “ shall live for ever ”—shall be immortal; 
 and in embodied immortality shall live and reign with God—. 
 though the race of the first man Adam shall, with him, 
 perish and be no more. The genus Adam has been 
 redeemed to God by the blood of “the Lamb.” The second 
 man, the Lord from heaven, became the Head of a new 
 process in the state and history of the human creation—the 
 Head of a new order of beings, taken out from among the 
 myriads of the human race; and made new creatures in 
 Christ. The last Adam has become to them a life-giving 
 Spirit, their Head of life and immortality, in resurrection 
 state: and because He lives, they shall also live; and because 
 He is immortal, they also shall be immortal. 
 
 The psychical and physical constitution of the first man, 
 and his race, was not designed, in the purpose of God, for 
 immortality. The first man was in truth adapted to “ live 
 for ever;” but the result of his moral freedom and probation 
 was perfectly foreknown to God. The first man, even at the 
 
 first, was not immortal; for he needed and was furnished 
 
 6 
 
62 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 with, the sustaining virtues of the tree of life. The psychical 
 and physical constitution of the human race was not designed 
 for immortality ; for it is sexual in its evolutions ; and in the 
 case of the ransomed and regenerate, from out of the race, 
 those sexual distinctions shall be done away. In Christ 
 Jesus—in whom they are now, as to their spiritual life, and 
 who is their immortal Head—“ there is neither male nor 
 female;” (Gal. 3: 28;) and there shall be neither male nor 
 female in the resurrection of life. All who are born of the 
 Spirit are “sons of God”— tekna Theou, children of God; 
 and whyoi Theou, sons of God *—the offspring of God by 
 divine generation, and like God (which is the meaning and 
 force of Whyoi Theou) in spiritual and heavenly qualities; 
 and all are predestinated to be conformed to the image of the 
 Son of God, in embodied immortality and glorious state. 
 (Rom. 8: 29.) Together with the constitution of “the 
 flesh,” all the distinctions, and relationships of the flesh shall 
 be done away, and shall be known and remembered no more. 
 (Luke 20 : 34-36.) The myriads of the immortals shall be 
 manifested, sons of God. 
 
 Resurrection or a change equivalent thereto, is essential to 
 immortality. The apostle Paul has made this truth the 
 postulate of his elaborate argument, in defending the truth 
 of a future and physical, “resurrection of the dead”—of 
 
 * Tekna Theou , means, tlie children or offspring of God: Whyoi 
 Theou means the sons of God—the idea of being like God, who “is 
 spirit,” and who is holy and righteous, and who “is love,” being 
 included and prominent therein. Tekna is a word denoting origin and 
 derivation; but, whyos is a word denoting quality and likeness—moral 
 and spiritual likeness. Why os, as applied to Jesus, means sameness, 
 or oneness of Divine Nature with God the Father; for its meaning is 
 governed and intensified by his other titles—Lord, and God. In the 
 case of the saints, u-hyoi signifies their common likeness to their Father 
 who is in heaven; and denotes their future embodied conformity to the 
 image of the Son of God. 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 63 
 
 “them who sleep;” and we commend the argument, and its 
 two-fold basis to the thoughtful regard of all saints ; see 1 
 Cor. 15 ch. 
 
 In that chapter, Paul takes his stand upon the truth, that 
 “Christ is risen:” —“But now is Christ risen from the 
 dead, the first fruit of them that sleep. Por since by man 
 came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.” 
 The resurrection made sure by the second man, is the 
 answer of God to the death brought in by the first man : and 
 by the resurrection , the immortality promised—embodied 
 immortality—shall be realized by men. And it is here 
 worthy of remark, that the proper term for immortality, 
 athanasia, is used only three times, in the Christian Revela¬ 
 tion—once in application to the Lord; (1 Tim. 6: 16,) and 
 twice in application to the saints of God. (1 Cor. 15: 
 53, 54.) In other passages, the English word, immortality; 
 represents the Greek word, aphtharsia, incorruptibility. The 
 latter is the stronger word : for while athanasia means no 
 death, and no possibility of death ; aphtharsia, means no 
 decay, and no possibility of decay or deterioration of any 
 kind. Both terms are applied to God, and to his saints ; and 
 concerning the raised saints, the Lord has said, “Neither can 
 they die any more.” Luke 20 : 36. 
 
 In pursuing the purpose of his argument touching the 
 resurrection, Paul says, “ There is a psychical body, (soma 
 psuhikon) and there is a spiritual body. ( soma pneuma- 
 tikon .) And so it is written, the first man Adam became 
 unto a living soul; (eis psuJceen zosan, see also Rev. 16 : 3,) 
 the last Adam became unto a life-producing Spirit, (eis 
 pneuma zdopoioun.) But that was not first which is 
 spiritual, but that which is psychical; afterwards that which 
 is spiritual. The first man is out of the earth, earthy : the 
 second man is the Lord out of heaven. As is the earthy 
 (one), such also are the earthy (ones) : and as is the 
 heavenly (one 1 ), such also are the heavenly (ones). And as 
 
64 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 we have borne the image of the earthy (one), we shall also 
 bear the image of the heavenly (one).” 
 
 “ There is a psychical body, and there is a spiritual “body.” 
 We are familiar with the first; even our own mortal body ; 
 but the last we know only by faith ; even “the glorious body” 
 of the Saviour, the last Adam. That glorious body is a 
 spiritual body ; and was changed from psychical to spiritual 
 at his ascension from earth to heaven ; when he was no 
 longer seen by his disciples from the Mount of Olives He 
 was received up in glory —en doxee .” (1 Tim. 3 : 10.) When 
 he condescended to become man, he adapted the mode of his 
 Divine Existence to the manhood which he assumed; and 
 returning to the glory which he had with the Father before 
 the world was, he changed and adapted his manhood, to that 
 which is spiritual and celestial; that it should be worthy of 
 his unveiled Deity and of the glory proper to him, upon the 
 Father’s throne. And when he shall come again he will 
 change the humiliation bodies of his ransomed, his “saints,” 
 his “ brethren and will fashion them like unto his glorious 
 body—his spiritual, immortal, incorruptible and glorious 
 body. 
 
 They who sleep shall be raised incorruptible, and we who 
 are alive and remain shall be changed, in a moment, in the 
 
 * The Lord Jesus never, directly, callecf.his chosen ones his “breth¬ 
 ren,” until he had risen from the dead. (Jno. 20: 17.) He intimated 
 this relation before, but never directly applied it to those whom he 
 before called his “ disciples,” and apostles. It is in resurrection that 
 he is the formal Head of the new order: and it will be after the 
 resurrection of his saints, in immortality and glory, that he will stand 
 at the Head of the divine family, the elder brother, “ The first-born 
 among many brethren.” (Rom. 8: 29; Col. 1: 18.) Jesus is not the * 
 “brother” of any human being, merely by his assumption of manhood. 
 When he became the seed of the woman, he did not come into any real 
 relations of kindred or aflinity, to the first man Adam and his mortal 
 
 race. 
 
WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 65 
 
 twinkling of an eye. (1 Cor. 15 : 51-54; 1 These. 4: 
 13-18.) No trace of the “flesh and blood,” or psychical, 
 constitution shall remain.* No trace of the first man Adam 
 shall be any more found. “ It is not yet manifest what we 
 shall be; but we know that when He shall be manifested we 
 shall be like Him ; for we shall see Him as He is.” 
 
 The present and psychical body has its origin in soul; and 
 its constitution is determined by the nature and quality of 
 soul; and it is designed for the uses and manifestation of the 
 soul. But the future and spiritual body will have its origin 
 in spirit; and its constitution will be determined by the 
 nature and quality of spirit; and it is designed for the uses 
 and manifestation of the spirit. It shall indeed be a body — 
 a material body;! but it shall be a spiritual and celestial 
 body. 
 
 In the mystery of the resurrection, and of the change 
 equivalent thereto, the Spirit of God will still act on behalf 
 of the second man, the last Adam, the heavenly one. He 
 will consummate that which the Father has purposed, and 
 which the Son has elaborated in the way of atonement and 
 redemption ; and which He, himself (the Holy Spirit) has in 
 part accomplished, in the way of quickening and regenerating 
 power and effect. And in the heavenly ones , life and 
 incorruptibility shall be exemplified and illuminated, even as 
 
 * The transformation that takes place, in the chrysalis state, from 
 the humble condition and limited capacity of the Caterpillar, to the 
 graceful and glorious body of the Butterfly, which soars on a sun-beam 
 and sips the nectar of fragrant flowers, affords but a faint suggestion of 
 the change that awaits the bodies of the saints. 
 
 | A piece of charcoal is composed of carbon, and so also is a diamond ; 
 but the latter is very diverse from the former. The former is carbon 
 in an impure and porous state; but the latter is carbon in a pure and 
 crystallized state. We cannot, at present, conceive what a pure and 
 precious, and beauteous and glorious body, the spiritual body shall be. 
 It is enough to know that our body shall be so changed that it shall be 
 like the “ glorious body” of the now glorified Son of God. 
 
 6 * 
 
66 
 
 WITAT IS MAN ? 
 
 it is now, in the person of their risen and glorified Head. 
 The eternal purpose of God, in the human creation will then 
 have been accomplished. The genus Adam shall be immortal 
 •—conformed to the image of the Son of God. Thanks be 
 unto God for his unspeakable gift ! Thanks be to God, 
 
 WHO GIVETH US THE VICTORY THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS 
 
 Christ 1 
 
 We have heard the reply of men, and have received the 
 answer of God, to the question, What is man ? We have 
 also learned the eternal purpose of God, in the creation of 
 “the first man Adam;” and how it is to be accomplished in 
 and by “ the second man”—the Lord from Heaven ; and by 
 the Holy Spirit, acting on his behalf. It has also been 
 remarked, that the eternal purpose of God, which seemed to 
 be frustrated by the disobedience of the first man, is far 
 deeper and higher than did at first appear. We now pro¬ 
 ceed to show, that in the counsel of God, redemption by the 
 second man, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and im¬ 
 mortality by the return of the Son of God from Heaven, is 
 the primary and predominant intention of the Divine Mind—■ 
 God’s eternal idea. In subserviency to this, all things are 
 constituted; and to this end all things were created and 
 made. God “ created all things to the intent, that now unto 
 the principalities and powers in the heavenlies (en tois epour- 
 aniois) might be known through the church {tees ekklee- 
 sias—the called out ) the manifold wisdom of God.” (Eph. 
 3: 10.) The celestial intelligences had known the wisdom 
 of God through the scheme and completeness of creation ; but 
 they are now learning the manifold wisdom of God through 
 the disclosure of the eternal purpose of God—“the mystery 
 which from the beginning of the world had been hid in God.” 
 
 The intelligent hosts of heaven were created to be admiring 
 observers of the evolutions and accomplishment of the eternal 
 purpose of God in the second man ; and in the result of his 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 67 
 
 obedience unto death. And the material hosts of heaven 
 were created to be magnificent observatories, whence the 
 intelligent hosts should look forth and contemplate the 
 wonders of the manifold wisdom of God, and the exceeding 
 riches of his grace. Those myriads of worlds of light— 
 which are so many subordinate ideas of God, projected by 
 the fiat of his will, and crystallized by his omnipotent word— 
 were not made to twinkle in darkness before the eyes of the 
 ignorant multitude, nor to furnish an intellectual gratification 
 to a few Astronomers; but to be the abodes of intelligent 
 and studious beholders of the wondrous ways of God—to be 
 the “ many mansions” in the Palace and Temple of The 
 Eternal. And while angels and principalities and powers 
 are now learning, and shall yet learn, the economy of the 
 mystery, which—at the beginning and till the pre-appointed 
 time—had been hid in God, they are rising, and shall yet 
 rise, in celestial science; in experimental beatitude, and 
 immortal dignity, as creatures of God. They are learning 
 what never could have been learned through the history of an 
 unfallen creation ; for they are learning God —in the unison, 
 and the united manifestation of all his moral perfections; 
 and in “ the exceeding greatness of his power ;” and especi¬ 
 ally that He is “ The God of all grace.” 
 
 But the lessons of these celestial students are not limited to 
 the history of redemption, and divine generation, and immor¬ 
 tality, in the state and experience of “the church of God,” 
 alone. The nation * of God shall also, in the future, be 
 
 * The purpose of God, in having originated that nation, in Abraham ; 
 and in having brought the people out of Egypt, and separated them to 
 himself, from the nations of the earth, was apparently frustrated by the 
 disobedience of the nation, under the law; and by the rejection of the 
 Messiah, when he had come into the world. But the eternal purpose 
 of God, in the call of Abraham, and the miraculous birth of Isaac, and 
 the redemption of Israel out of Egypt, and their separation from all 
 other nations, is far deeper and higher, than the past history of Israel 
 
68 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 saved; and shall be immortal. The future nation of Israel, 
 redeemed to God by the blood of his Son, shall be gathered 
 unto their own land; and there, as miracles of divine mercy, 
 and monuments of divine faithfulness and unchanging grace, 
 they shall be saved. 
 
 “ The second man” sustains certain special relations to that 
 nation, and to the land wherein their fathers have dwelt. 
 While he is the seed of the woman, by miraculous extraction, 
 he is the seed of Abraham, by genealogical descent; and is 
 “the heir” of Abraham’s land. (Gen. 15 : 18 ; Gal. 3 : 16 ) 
 He, also, “ was made of the seed of David, according to the 
 flesh;” and is the heir of David’s throne. (Ps. 89: 3, 4, 
 35, 36 132 : 11 ; Isa. 9 : 6, 7 ; Luke 1 : 32, 33 ; Acts 2 : 
 29-31.) He made an atonement for that nation, as really 
 and specially, as he did for the church. He made a two-fold 
 atonement. The type of this was the two-fold ceremonial 
 atonement made by Aaron, the high priest. (Levit. 16: 6, 
 7, 11, 15.) A declaration of the truth of this two-fold 
 atonement was made by John—the interest of Israel therein, 
 being mentioned first. (Jno. 11 : 51, 52.) And the atone¬ 
 ment made for Israel (Dan. 9 : 24,) shall yet be known and 
 acknowledged by the house of David, and the inhabitants of 
 Jerusalem ; (Zech. 13 : 1,) and by the nation as a whole. 
 (Isa. 53 : 4-6.) And by him and in him, shall Israel, as a 
 nation, yet be saved, (Jer. 23 : 5, 6,) with an eternal salva¬ 
 tion. (Isa. 45 : 17.) Jesus is the Redeemer of Israel; (Isa. 
 41 : 14;—49: 26.) and the “ransomed of the Lord shall 
 
 lias made known. The great moral problem:—Is there anything in 
 man, that does, or can, respond harmoniously to God ? Or, can man 
 attain to righteousness, and earn eternal life by his own obedience?— 
 This great moral problem has been solved, in the past histoi'y of that 
 nation; and by their disobedience, and unbelief, the exceeding sinful¬ 
 ness of sin has been shown. And, in the future history of the nation, 
 the exceeding riches of the grace of God shall be abundantly made 
 known. 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 69 
 
 return, and come to Zion with songs,” (Isa. 35: 10.) ITe 
 lias redeemed Israel fcy his blood ; and he will come again 
 to redeem them from the grasp of their despotic oppressors 
 and merciless foes. (Isa. 63 : 1-6.) He will effect their re¬ 
 demption and restoration by the arm of his glorious power; 
 and will rescue them from the dominion of sin, by his Spirit 
 and grace. (Isa. 59 : 20 ; Horn. 11 : 26, 27.) 
 
 The twelve tribes of Israel shall be gathered of God, and 
 brought again to their own land. (Isa. 11 : 11, 12 ; Jer. 23 ; 
 7, 8; Ezek. 36: 28.) They shall have a political, national 
 resurrection. (Ezek. 37 : 11-14.) The Israelites became 
 two nations, in the days of Rehoboham, the so‘n of Solomon ; 
 but they shall become “ one nation in the land, upon the 
 mountains of Israel.” (Ezek. 37 : 22.) And Jerusalem 
 shall become the metropolis of the world. (Isa. 60 : 10-12.) 
 
 Jehovah will make a new covenant—a covenant of absolute 
 grace—with the one nation of Israel; and they shall all know 
 Him ; for they shall be quickened and become regenerate, by 
 the Iloly Spirit. (Jer. 31: 31-34; Ezek. 36; 26-28.) 
 They shall be “all righteous”—a nation of true Christians—a 
 nation of real saints. 
 
 Over this, his own nation, Jesus, the second man, the 
 Messiah, shall reign, and his immortalized church—the celes¬ 
 tial bride of the Lamb—shall reign with him ; (1 Tim. 2 : 
 11, 12 ; Rev. 20 : 4, 6,) consequent on his having come in 
 his glory—the proper Hope of his church; (Jno. 14: 2, 3 ; 
 1 Thess. 3: 16, 17 ; Titus 2: 13,) and consequent on “the 
 first resurrection.” 
 
 The Lord and his church shall reign over redeemed Israel, 
 and the rescued earth, in the heavenlies; where the new 
 Jerusalem shall be in visible glory; and in manifest relation 
 to the Jerusalem on earth. (Isaiah 4: 5; 60: 1-3; Rev. 
 21 : 24-27.) The Empire of the Messiah shall be adminis¬ 
 tered by his, then, Vicar on earth, who shall be of the house 
 of David; and is called, “the Prince.” (Ezek. 46: 2; 48: 
 
70 
 
 WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 21, 22.) And in the place, where it was said unto the nation 
 of Israel, “You are, lo-ammi, not my people; there it shall 
 be said unto them, bii’nai Ebl-chah’y, (you are) the sons of 
 the living God.” (IIos. 1: 9, 10; Rom. 9: 4, 5;—11: 
 26-29) : for Israel also shall be born of God, and, so, have 
 eternal life. And, at the consummation of the plans of God, 
 in relation to the earth, they shall partake of the immortality 
 of Christ, with the church. Israel shall be saved in the 
 Lord, with an eternal salvation. Certain other nations shall 
 be saved with them, even Egypt and Assyria; (Isa. 19 : 23, 
 25 ;) and many individuals out of the other nations, shall also 
 be saved. But the nations, in general, will be ruled, only 
 by restraint. (Fs. 18: 44;—63: 3.) The Empire of the 
 Messiah over the nations of the Gentiles, will be a dominion 
 of restraint, and of subjugation by restraint. (Ps. 8 : 6 ;—• 
 110: 1, 2; 1 Cor. 15: 24-27 ; Heb. 2: 6-8.) And at the 
 end of the thousand years, the nations will rebel—by a 
 simultaneous insurrection, they will think to overthrow the 
 government of the Messiah, and regain the possession and 
 dominion of the earth. And to this they will be instigated 
 by Satan, who, at that time and for a little season, shall be 
 loosed out of his prison, in which he shall have been confined 
 during the thousand years. (Rev. 20 : 1-3, 7-9.) But Satan 
 is not yet confined. This fact relates intimately, to the subject 
 we are yet to pursue. 
 
 Satan is now, the prince of this world, (Jno. 12 : 31 ;—14: 
 30 ;—16 : 11,) and the God of this Age, ho Theos ton aidnos. 
 (2 Cor. 4 : 4.) He is the prince of the authority of the air, 
 or the aerial regions. (Epli. 2: 2.) The devil and his 
 angels are now the principalities and powers, the rulers of the 
 darkness of this Age; and their present place and province 
 is in the heavenlies, (e?i tois ej)ouraniois y ) whence they rale 
 the whole sphere of the moral darkness of this world. These 
 wicked spirits are in the heavenlies, as in their province, the 
 possession and occupancy of which they are yet permitted of 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 71 
 
 God to retain. Thence they descend and move about upon 
 the earth ; and are permitted—but under control and limita¬ 
 tions—to work their evil will. Against them, and not against 
 "flesh and blood,” the ministers of Christ especially, have to 
 wrestle, for the maintenance and defence of the truth; that 
 each faithful servant might be able to say, with Paul, " I have 
 kept the Faith :” and against them, all saints are called to 
 wrestle also, and to the same end ; and for this each and all 
 are provided with the whole armor of God, and with suitable 
 weapons for this holy war. (Eph. 6 : 10-19.) All are com¬ 
 manded to resist the devil, who as a roaring lion, walketh 
 about; but who cannot prevail, but must flee, when he is 
 resisted with “ the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of 
 God.” (James 4: 7 ; 1 Pet. 5 ; 8, 9.) In ancient prophecy, 
 those wicked spirits are called "the high ones that are on 
 high.” (Isa. 24 : 21.) 
 
 Satan is the accuser of the brethren ; who accuseth them, 
 day and night, before God. In ancient times, he accused 
 Job of serving God for earthly gain; and Job, and all that 
 he had, was delivered into the adversary’s hand—except that 
 the life of Job might not be touched. Among the Mighty 
 ones, the provincial Chiefs of the Universe, and at some place 
 of appointed official resort, Satan appeared before Jehovah; 
 there he accused Job, and there and then, he had the boldness 
 to say to Jehovah, "Put forth thine hand now, and touch all 
 that he hath, and (see) if he will not renounce thee to thy 
 face.” We "have heard of the endurance of Job, and have 
 seen the end of the Lord.” But men in general, have little, 
 or no, conception of the activity and power of Satan and his 
 rebellious host. And in ecclesiastical teaching, the most 
 marvelous errors prevail, respecting the devil and his angels. 
 Satan is therein represented, as a black spirit, (so to speak,) 
 who, together with his angels, is shut up securely in hell. 
 But he is at large, in the heavenlies; and with his evil host, 
 is most active for evil on the earth : and in the midst of the 
 
72 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 visible church, he “is transformed as an angel of light.” 
 (2 Cor. 11 : 13-15.) He assumed the mental disguise of a 
 warm and earnest philanthropy, and of a zeal for truth and 
 uprightness, in the midst of the garden of Eden, when he 
 ruined man, and calumniated God, by introducing and enforc¬ 
 ing the doctrine, that inherent immortality is the distinguish¬ 
 ing attribute of man. And he has long assumed and worn 
 the same mental disguise, in the midst of the visible church. 
 And yet, all the while, men are told and taught that the 
 devil and his angels are locked up securely in hell, and are in 
 torture there’ 
 
 As men, in general, have little, or no, conception of the 
 moral power of Satan for evil, so have they, no adequate con¬ 
 ception of his intellectual and physical power, for mischief on 
 the earth. While philosophers are groping their tardy and 
 tedious way among the arcana of Natural Science, the secrets, 
 after which they search, are intimately known to Satan. For 
 instance:—The Sciences of Electricity and Meteorology and 
 Animal Chemistry, and the theory of muscular contraction, 
 are all perfectly known to him ; and he is independent of all 
 mechanical contrivances and chemical appliances ; which men 
 have been slow to invent and discover, and of which they now 
 vauut themselves; exhibiting them in “The World’s Fairs,” 
 and extolling them as the glories of the age. And by his 
 own mere mental confidence, whenever God permit him, Satan 
 can subordinate the laws, and apply the forces of Electricity 
 and of Meteorology; and can change the conditions of Ani¬ 
 mal Chemistry ; and can cause muscular contraction ; and all 
 this he has done, that he might gratify his malice against man, 
 and especially against those who are beloved and accepted of 
 God. The history of Job, and the case of that woman whom 
 Satan had bound during eighteen years, establish all that we 
 have said, and suggest the probability of very much more. 
 (Job 1: 13-19 ; — 2: T ; Luke 13 : 16.) And as a Master in 
 “Mental and Moral Philosophy,” who can compare with the 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 73 
 
 devil ? The greatest man who occupies the Collegiate 
 Cathedra , is but a babe in knowledge, as compared with 
 him. He had thoroughly mastered the Science of the Human 
 Mind, before he whispered his blandishments into the ear of 
 the innocent woman, through the serpent’s form ; and he well 
 knew how to use the charms of rhetoric, and to apply the 
 power of “ moral suasion,” which was then powerful for evil, 
 as used against the truth and honor of God; even as it is 
 now. 
 
 Satan’s proficiency in Mental and Moral Science is evinced 
 in the experimental history of the saints of God—in all the 
 temptations which they endure. By his mere mental and evil 
 confidence he can touch the secret laws of mind ; and such 
 evil thoughts as he wishes to excite, instantly and involuntarily 
 arise. This he docs, besides his evil works in the children of 
 disobedience. He assails the saints from without; but he 
 works in the disbelieving and lawless ones, and exercises 
 their evil hearts, and intensifies the intellectual power of their 
 evil minds. 
 
 Satan is at large. He walks the earth and roams the 
 heavens ; but he is not omnipresent. Ubiquity is not an attri¬ 
 bute of his. Yet, satanic evil prevails over the face of the 
 habitable earth; and in every country where they sojourn, the 
 children of God are plied with temptations to evil, and are 
 sorely tried. Satan’s evil host of demons, do his wicked will. 
 They showed their malicious power in the days of the Lord 
 and his apostles-; but were constrained to submit to the power 
 of faith, in the word of “ the second manand to the power 
 of “ faith in his name,” as put forth by his embassadors whom 
 He had sent. 
 
 There is no reason for believing that the presence of demons, 
 in the midst of human Society, is more restricted, or that 
 their evil power is less active now, than in “ the days of the 
 Son of man” and of his apostles. But the effects of their 
 malicious powers can be otherwise accounted for now. The 
 
 7 
 
71 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 world is too wise to believe in demoniacal possessions and 
 “familiar spirits” now; and a “ soothsayer ” who had a 
 demon, a spirit of P) T thon ; and the healing of diseases by 
 incantations, &c., (Acts 16: 16-18,) would be called by gentle 
 and respectful names now. 
 
 Men fyave little, or no, conception of the intelligence and 
 power of demons; who can not only afflict and torture men, 
 through the corporeal organism, but can form a superhuman 
 and spiritual amalgam (so to speak) with the souls of men. 
 They are spirits—evil spirits ; and seven of them, yea many 
 of them, can thus combine with one human soul ; and can use 
 the mental organism of that soul for the purposes of super¬ 
 human phenomena, in the way of intelligence, and in various 
 other ways, even to the working of miracles on the earth. 
 (Luke 8 : 2, 30 ; Matth. 24 : 24.) And towards the close of 
 this Age, the governmental restraint of the Spirit of God will 
 be taken off from the powers of evil. It was so towards the 
 close of the first or Adamic Age. God had long restrained, 
 within certain limits, the moral evil of man, since the first 
 man disobeyed. But a day came on which Jehovah said, 
 “ My Spirit shall not always rule* among men ; for that he 
 also is flesh : yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty 
 years.” (Gen. 6 : 3.) And at the close of the third and 
 last, the Messianic Age, the restraint imposed on the world’s 
 evil during the thousand years will be taken off for a little 
 season. And towards the close of this present, the Noachic 
 Age, God, will to a great degree, take off the restraining 
 power of his Spirit from the nations of the world. Paul 
 wrote of the restraint put upon moral and spiritual evil in his 
 day ; but he showed that an hour would come when the in¬ 
 terposing power of restraint would be removed. And in 
 reference to that coming hour, he says, “And then shall that 
 
 * Yadon, the future of boon; from deen, to judge or rule; particu¬ 
 larly, in the way of restraiuing evil. 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 75 
 
 Wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with 
 the spirit (or breath, see Isa. 11 : 4,) of his mouth, and shall 
 destroy with the brightness of his coming.” In protestant, 
 ecclesiastical teaching, it is commonly said, that, “ The man 
 of sin, the son of perdition, that Wicked one, is popery and 
 the Pope. But at the same time it is taught that popery is 
 to be destroyed before the millennium, and that the thousand 
 years are to have passed away, before the Lord of glory shall 
 come again.” But “that Wicked one” is to be in full power 
 on the earth when “ the Lord himself- shall descend from 
 heaven and by the manifested splendor of whose majestic 
 presence (tee epiphaneia tees parousias autou) that Wicked 
 one shall be destroyed. But that Wicked one is yet to be 
 revealed ; and his parousia, his manifested presence and royal 
 state, shall be according to both the intellectual and the 
 physical energy of Satan ; in all power and signs, (seemeiois 
 miracles) and lying wonders, or wonders whereby his great 
 lie will be commended to the reception of the world. (2 
 Thess. 2 : 8, 9.) All that can fascinate the human intellect, 
 dazzle the imagination and gratify the evil heart of man, will 
 be displayed in him, and in the surroundings of hie presence 
 and sway. Such will be “ the antichrist;” who will not con¬ 
 fess Jesus Christ come in flesh ; (1 Jno. 4 : 3,) but will deny 
 that Jesus is the Christ —denying the Father and the Son.* 
 (1 Jno. 2: 22.) But the ruling spirit in all this spiritual 
 evil and phenomenal display, even Satan, will be transformed 
 as an angel of light, to the deceived heart of those who will 
 admire and worship the power so marvelously displayed. 
 And about that time, the devil and his angels shall be cast 
 out of the heavenlies, and restricted to the earth. Rev. 12 : 
 
 * “The Antichrist” will be the imperial Head of that two-fold system 
 of political and moral power; dramatically represented under the forms 
 and characteristics of “the beast” that comes up out of the sea; and 
 “ another beast that comes up out of the earth,” and is afterwards 
 called “ the false prophet.” Rev. 13 ch.—16 : 13. 
 
76 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 7-12.) This will be the first stage in the physical degrada¬ 
 tion of “that old* serpent, which is the devil and Satan.” 
 (Gen. 3 : 14.) This stage of degradation shall continue only 
 “ a short time;” and then the great adversary shall be cast 
 into the abyss and shall be confined there a thousand years; 
 and shall afterwards be loosed out of his prison for a little 
 season. (Rev. 20 : 1-3, 7.) 
 
 At the close of the Messianic administration, the wicked 
 dead shall be raised, and shall be judged. (Rev. 20 : 5, 
 11-15.) And we are now led to ask, what is the revealed 
 and final penalty of human sin, or the revealed destiny of 
 man, as man, and as a sinner against God ? To this ques¬ 
 tion, men have offered a reply, in the form of ecclesiastical 
 teaching; and God has furnished an answer, in the Scriptures 
 of Truth. Our immediate concern is with the reply of men. 
 
 From the various Schools of Theology in Christendom, the 
 decision has gone forth, that “ The destiny of men, who die in 
 their sins, is, immortality in endless death—a never-dying 
 death which is explained to be, “an everlasting life, in 
 living agony and ceaseless woe.” The doctrine thus an¬ 
 nounced, is taught and enforced in a variety of ways. The 
 substance of the teaching is this, viz. : 
 
 “ From the moment that each man dies, who dies in his 
 sins, his soul is consigned to a place and state of fire and 
 torture. Each soul has all its moral and mental faculties 
 unimpared and exceedingly active—the memory and con¬ 
 science being especially active and in full force. The sus¬ 
 ceptibility of suffering in the case of the wretched soul, is 
 exceedingly increased, as compared with its former state. In 
 the fiery dungeon to which the souls of sinners are consigned, 
 they are shut up, together with the devil and his angels, who 
 are therein tormented, and are the authorized tormentors of 
 human souls. A fierce tempest, and the raging billows of 
 divine wrath, toss and overwhelm and torture those miserable 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 77 
 
 souls ; without one momentary lull, that would allow one 
 instant of relief, or lessen the dreadful woe.” 
 
 “ Thousands and tens of thousands of human souls are daily 
 consigned to that world of fire and of living death. Millions 
 of them have been therein tortured for thousands of years 
 past: and hereafter all those damned souls shall be brought 
 forth to be tried and judged. When united to their former 
 bodies, those bodies shall be made immortal and incorrupti¬ 
 ble ; and shall be endued with a capacity of suffering, 
 unspeakably greater than that which pertained to them when 
 in their natural constitution and state—whatever degree of 
 torture, they may have been capable of enduring on earth. 
 Being thus re-embodied, they will be arraigned, and will be 
 judged according to their deeds. Being there, and then 
 found to be unworthy of heaven, and deserving of eternal 
 torture, the angry Judge, even Jesus Christ —without one 
 merciful feeling, and with fiery wrath—will drive them back 
 into the flaming hell out of which they had been brought, to 
 be tried and condemned There, in that furnace of fire, they 
 shall not be burnt up—shall never be consumed. Capital 
 punishment shall never be inflicted on them—they shall never 
 die, but shall live forever; and shall be tortured anew and 
 forever, with tortures exceedingly greater than those they 
 endured before—millions of them for thousands of years 
 before. And this inconceivable excess of torture (which the 
 new constitution, and the immortality, of their bodies, both 
 provides for, and secures) their angry Judge, Jesus Christ, 
 will unceasingly and fiercely inflict.” 
 
 “ The devil and his angels shall again be the immediate 
 associates of these immortal wretches, and will be their 
 ingenious tormentors. And God will have so constituted the 
 immortal bodies of the damned, and also, the fires of hell, that 
 the fiercest action of those fires shall not ever begin to burn 
 up those bodies. Those fires shall inflict the most inconceiv¬ 
 able torture, but they shall not shrivel a muscle, nor shrink a 
 
78 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 nerve ; but rather they shall be conservative in their nature 
 and effects, even as salt is preservative to animal substances 
 before any decay has begun. And God will so exert his 
 wrath against the souls of the damned, that while they are 
 ever being transfixed and agonized by its keen and tormenting 
 force, the immortal vigor of those souls shall not in the least 
 degree be lessened; neither shall their exceedingly keen 
 sensibilities, to anguish, ever begin to be blunted, or abate. 
 For, by the secret exercise of his omnipotence, God will ever 
 sustain that vigor and those -sensibilities ; in order that the 
 deathless anguish of those tormented souls might never, even 
 f or one moment, be decreased—while eternity rolls on.’ 7 
 
 “ As the inhabitants of that world of fire will hate God 
 with an inveterate enmity, they will still continue to sin 
 against him, and increasingly to rebel, and will curse and 
 blaspheme God to his face. Never, for one moment, will 
 they cower beneath his fiercest wrath : but knowing that they 
 are immortal and cannot be destroyed, they will stand up 
 boldly and defy the living God. And God will detest those 
 damned sinners with an implacable detestation, (though he 
 once, greatly loved those same sinners, when they were upon 
 the earth, and was continually doing them good,) and in his 
 infinite wrath, he will be their enemy, and will torture them 
 in proportion as they insult him. lie will resent every insult 
 offered to him, with instant and increasing anger. And thus, 
 according to the ratio of increased and increasing rebellion 
 and blasphemy, will be the fierceness of tormenting wrath ; 
 and according to the ratio of increased and increasing torture, 
 will be the increase of defiant blasphemies and insulting hate. 
 And so, defiant hatred, insult and blasphemy on the part of 
 men, and angry detestation and torturing activity on the part 
 of God, will forever continue, and forever increase—will be 
 forever rising, in the rage of impotent hatred on the part of 
 men, and in the fierceness of tormenting detestation on the 
 part of God.” 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 79 
 
 11 This immensity of lawless and defiant wickedness on the 
 one side, and of merciless torture on the other, shall take 
 place, and shall ever be transpiring, in the vicinity of the 
 paradise of God. It shall, indeed, take place in the “ bottom¬ 
 less pit ”■—where the damned shall be imprisoned with the 
 devil and his angels—but it shall take place in the vicinity of 
 heaven, and shall ever be open to the view of the blessed, 
 even as the paradise of God shall ever be within the view of 
 the damned in hell The design of this is two-fokl. First, 
 the place of human agony, and of divine tormenting fierce¬ 
 ness, shall be so situated, in order that the angels of God and 
 the glorified saints, might have a full and continuous view of 
 all that is transpiring therein ; and might have fellowship with 
 God and with his Son Jesus Christ, in the implacable detes¬ 
 tation and tormenting power that will be shown towards those 
 human sinners, whose ceaseless agonies they behold ; and, 
 also, in order that their own celestial joys and beatitude might 
 thereby, be intensified and made complete. And, secondly, 
 the .prison of hell will be placed in the vicinity of the para¬ 
 dise of God, in order that the tormented damned might have 
 a full and continuous view of the exultant blessedness of the 
 angels of God, and of the glorified saints; and that from the 
 abodes of the blessed, and the blessedness that is there 
 enjoyed, a distillation of burning bitterness may ever be 
 descending upon the souls of the damned, to intensify their 
 anguish and fill to overflowing their cup of manifold and un¬ 
 imaginable woes.” 
 
 “ And this scene of endless misery and ever-increasing 
 anguish will lie so near to the home of the glorified saints, 
 that individuals will be readily seen and recognized from both 
 sides of the gulf between. Glorified saints, in heaven, will 
 see and recognize some of their nearest and dearest friends 
 and relatives, in hell. They will look on and see them 
 writhing beneath endless tortures, and tossed upon the fiery 
 billows of eternal and unappeasable wrath. They will thus 
 
80 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 look down upon and recognize their own husbands, or wives, 
 or brothers, or sisters, or fathers, or mothers, or sons, or 
 daughters ; and their heart will not feel or know the senti¬ 
 ment of pity for them, in their woes. Nay, they will thus 
 look down and gaze upon the agonies of those who, on the 
 earth, were their dearest and best beloved ; not only with 
 pitiless indifference, but also with rejoicing and delight; and 
 will sing and praise God for the agonies which they behold ; 
 and to this end, they shall have been endued of God with a 
 suitable disposition of mind.” 
 
 “ After they have thus looked down and gazed, for millions 
 of ages, on the agonies of those who, on earth, were as dear 
 to them, as the apple of their eye—and were even more dearly 
 and tenderly loved—they will not even begin to feel the first 
 emotion of pity, on account of the agonies they behold. 
 Those on whom they will thus gaze, without the first kindling 
 of an incipient feeling of compassion, they could not endure 
 to see, when on earth, in one hour of pain or sorrow, without 
 the tenderest sympathy and love; but then, when they are in 
 heaven, they will rejoice bver their ceaseless and most excru¬ 
 ciating agonies ; and will praise God for such displays of his 
 relentless anger—his eternal and insatiable wrath. And 
 throughout the never-ending ages of eternity, the defiant 
 shrieks and howling blasphemies of the tormented damned, 
 shall mingle, in hellish discord, with the melodious anthems, 
 and jubilant Hallelujahs of the saved; and these shall 
 together enter into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth; who 
 will be as intensely occupied with the one, in the fierceness 
 of his unappeasable anger, as he will be with the other, in the 
 strength and the tenderness of his rejoicing and paternal 
 love.” 
 
 We have now given a sober and subdued statement of the 
 doctrine put forth, and the representations made, in the way 
 of ecclesiastical teaching, and as offering a reply to the ques¬ 
 tion, What is the revealed penalty of sin, or the final destiny 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 81 
 
 of man, as man ? From the Press and from the Pulpit, this 
 reply has, for centuries, gone forth. In every country in 
 Christendom, and in every city and hamlet, this teaching is 
 heard ; and is enforced with the appliances of a fervid elo¬ 
 quence, on the part of some, and with a vulgar ferocity on the 
 part of others. It is illustrated by means of a universal and 
 multiplying arithmetic, and by means of a sensuous repre¬ 
 sentation of the most varied and terrifying kind : and by such 
 means, it is burnt into the souls of the masses, as with a hot 
 iron ; the die of which is said to have been formed in heaven, 
 by the immediate appointment of God, for the especial use 
 of the “ambassadors for Christ.” 
 
 The “’God” of the representation which we have soberly 
 sketched, is the God of the masses of Christendom,-whom 
 they worship, or affect to worship, through dread, and whom 
 they seek to appease and conciliate by the observance of 
 ecclesiastical and religious forms, and “duties,” so called. 
 And the “Jesus Christ” of this representation, is said to be 
 the same Jesus, that came into the world, having his heart 
 filled wifti love to human sinners ; -and who died upon the 
 cross to save. He is represented as most ready and willing 
 to save sinners; but more generally, as willing to help those 
 who are willing to help themselves, by working for the salva¬ 
 tion of their own souls. But he is also represented as ready 
 to act the part of Eternal Torturer-in-Chief, towards all 
 sinners—myriads of myriads of sinners—who die in their sins. 
 And men are called upon to confide in him, and to love him. 
 Yea, he is ofttimes represented as saying to men, “Choose 
 between me and the world. I give you the right of choice. 
 Choose for yourselves ; choose freely; choose deliberately; 
 choose finally; but if you do not choose me, I will shut you 
 up in a furnace of ever-burning fire, and will torment you to 
 all eternity. You shall not die, but shall live forever , in 
 deathless agony and nameless woe.” And these and such 
 like representations are made, not only by coarse and ignoraut 
 
82 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 men, but by men of education and refinement—men of great 
 popularity and of collegiate and ecclesiastical renown. 
 
 The Lord Jesus is, in truth, the Judge of the quick and of 
 the dead. “ The Father judgeth no one, but hath committed 
 all judgment unto the Son.” And Jesus —the Righteous 
 Judge, who is the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever—. 
 has furnished an example of his mode of pronouncing judg¬ 
 ment on sinful and rebellious men. He did so, when he sat 
 upon the Mount of Olives, weeping over Jerusalem, while he 
 pronounced her dreadful doom, And as we contemplate him 
 there, and listen to the subdued tones of just retribution, as 
 uttered by him, and see the streaming sorrow flow from his 
 weeping eyes, we are reminded of the title of a discourse, 
 once founded on that record of the weeping Judge, viz. :— 
 “ The Redeemer’s Tears, wept over lost souls.” 
 
 But it is alleged, that the doctrine of the penalty of sin, as 
 set forth in ecclesiastical teaching, is founded on the work of 
 God in the human constitution, and on the word of God in 
 the Scriptures of truth. The former part of this allegation 
 relates to the doctrine of the inherent immortality of man. 
 That doctrine, we have weighed in the balances to which its 
 advocates have appealed, and its fallacy has thereby been 
 exposed. But, though it is not sustained by sound reason, 
 and is discountenanced by divine Revelation, yet its advocates 
 affirm, that, “ the doctrine of the immortality of the human 
 soul, is the foundation of all religion, both Natural and 
 Revealedand it is affirmed that that doctrine “ is the 
 foundation of the Christian Faith.” This assertion is very 
 commonly favored and entertained. But, have those by whom 
 the assertion is made, and by whom it is believed—have they 
 never read the testimony of the God-head, concerning the 
 foundation, divinely laid? Jehovah Adoh-nahy has said, 
 “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried 
 stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation : he that 
 believeth shall not make haste.” (Isa. 28: lGj I Pet. 2: 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 83 
 
 6-8.) And Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God, has 
 said, in reply to Peter’s confession of Him—and as in response 
 to the declaration of Jehovah, the Father—“And I say unto 
 thee, That thou art Peter; ( Petros , a part of a rock, ora 
 Rock-man,) and upon this, The Petra, this The Rock, will 
 I build my church ; and Hades’ gates shall not prevail against 
 it.” (Matth. 16: 18.) And the Holy Spirit, in Paul, haa 
 said, “ For other foundation can no one lay than that which 
 is laid, which is Christ Jesus.” (1 Cor. 3: 11.) The 
 God-man alone is the foundation. 
 
 But to return to the ecclesiastical doctrine of present and 
 future penalty and judgment: It is alleged, that certain prin¬ 
 ciples of divine jurisprudence, render it necessary that such 
 should be the proper penalty of sin. For instance; an alle¬ 
 gation is made to the following effect:— 
 
 I. “ Sin is infinite in its nature and desert; and even one 
 act of sin is deserving of an infinite penalty ; and this infinite 
 penalty, God must of necessity inflict on the finally evil man, 
 because that his justice is infinite ; and being infinite, must be 
 infinitely displayed in punishing impenitent sinners, on ac¬ 
 count of their sins. But, the infinity of sin does not arise 
 from the man, who is finite, but it is derived from God, against 
 whom the sin is committed ; because that God being infinite, 
 the infinity of sin is derived from Him.” 
 
 But, according to the premise, and the logic of the argu¬ 
 ment, obedience is an infinite good , because it is rendered to 
 God, who is infinite ; and it is therefore entitled, by right, to 
 an infinite reward. The man who obeys God, by even one 
 act of obedience, has acquired an infinity of moral worth and 
 merit; and he who obeys God by a number of acts of obedi¬ 
 ence, still increases or confirms his right and title to an infinite 
 reward : and this acquired right and title, God is bound to 
 respect, by conferring the reward which is due ; because that 
 it has been earned. God must of necessity confer an infinite 
 reward; because that, though the obedience was due to God, 
 
84 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 yet, having been rendered, it is an infinite good, by reason of 
 its relation to the infinity of God. Grace, mercy, and an 
 atonement of infinite worth and efficacy, are all unnecessary, 
 and Christ has died ( d~rean ) without any reason and to no 
 worthy end. (Gal. 2: 21.) 
 
 Moreover: The so-called “ Unitarian,” of that class who 
 profess to believe in the atonement of Jesus; while they deny 
 the Personal Deity of Jesus —such an one could, by the logic 
 of the above argument, show most readily that he is consistent 
 with himself, in professing to believe in the atonement of 
 Christ. He has only to reason thus :—“ Though Jesus was 
 only a creature, yet he was capable of making an atonement 
 of infinite worth; for he was obedient unto death ; and obe¬ 
 dience is an infinite good, and is entitled to an infinite reward : 
 and as, by the appointment of God, his obedience was ren¬ 
 dered on the behalf of others, so by his vicarious obedience 
 he has entitled others to an infinite reward, or has, at the least, 
 laid a basis on which God is manifestly just, in bestowing an 
 infinite reward, even on those who have no deserving at all, 
 but on whose behalf Jesus was obedient to death.” 
 
 Thus by means of the logic of the above argument, drawn 
 from the alleged infinity of sin, a polished weapon is put in 
 the hands of the adversaries of the Christian Faith ; and a 
 kind of reasoning is supplied, by which the delusion called 
 “ Universalism,” may also be defended ; at the same time that 
 the Deity of Jesus is denied. 
 
 The obedience of Jesus was , and is an infinite good- 
 ins one act of laying down his life on the cross, in obedience 
 to the commandment of the Father, was an infinite good ; but 
 that infinity of good, and of value, was derived from himself 
 —from what he is in himself —lie being essential God 
 and real man: and on the foundation of ms atonement, God 
 the Father is justified in justifying and giving eternal life to 
 sinners, who deserve to perish forever. 
 
 But, to look again at the argument of which the alleged 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 85 
 
 infinity of sin is tlie premise :—When men speak of “infinite 
 justice,” they know not wliat they say, nor wdiereof they 
 affirm. Justice is justice, neither more nor less, and does not 
 admit of the idea of comparison, or of degrees. The symbol 
 of justice is the even beam , of balances equally poised ; and 
 so justice and equity are convertible terms. The cardinal 
 principles of justice —of retributive justice —known and pro¬ 
 ceeded upon on earth, have been sanctioned and confirmed 
 from heaven: — “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, burning for 
 burning, w T ound for wound, stripe for stripe.” (Exod. 21 : 
 24, 25.) These familiar words, spoken to Israel at the foot 
 of Mount Sinai, embodied the axioms of justice, in the juris¬ 
 prudence of heaven, as made known and established on earth. 
 And the Lord from heaven has said, “ lie that is unjust in 
 the least, is unjust also in much.” Justice is violated by the 
 least departure from its principle of equity, and of honor 
 and right. Justice is justice , whether its administration be 
 on earth or in heaven—whether it be human or divine. Men 
 speak of the justice of God, as though it differed essentially, 
 in his future administration, from its entire history, in its 
 governmental administration during the past. 
 
 Divine justice is the justice of the infinite God; but its 
 administration and effects are limited to moral and legal 
 desert. And it w r ould seem that, men, perceiving the truth 
 of this, invented the theory of the infinity of sin : for if an 
 infinity of moral and legal desert could be shown, then, 
 indeed, an infinite retribution must of necessity ensue. But 
 the human sinner is finite, even as every creature is finite, 
 and the demerit of his sin is of and from himself alone; and 
 the legal desert of his sins is determined by the equity of God, 
 and is revealed in the word of God. And if there be a “Court 
 of Equity ” in the universe, v r e may be certain that it is for¬ 
 ever established in heaven, and is presided over by The 
 Righteous Judge. 
 
 II. The argument, we have just examined, is professedly 
 
 8 
 
86 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 drawn from the sin of man ; but there is another argument 
 which is professedly derived from the wrath of God. It is 
 presented in substance, thus :— 
 
 “ The wrath of God, being an attribute of his nature, is 
 eternal; and therefore must continue eternally, in active 
 force : but as this continuance, in active force, requires 
 objects of demerit, on which to act, the damned must live 
 forever, and must be forever in conscious misery; for other¬ 
 wise, the wrath of God would be without an object, and so 
 must cease to exist; or, in other words, if the damned in hell 
 were ever allowed to perish, or should ever be consumed by 
 the fire of God, then those sinners would thereby, be allowed 
 to escape the wrath of God ; the wrath of God would lose its 
 objects, “ without an appeasement;” and without an appease¬ 
 ment it must, nevertheless, cease to exist. But as the wrath 
 of God is an attribute of God, it is eternal, and therefore its 
 objects must live for ever.” 
 
 But all this is most unjustifiable and evil ; and it must 
 arise, in many cases at least, from an undetected confusion of 
 mind. The attributes of the nature or Being of God are 
 confounded with the attributes of his moral government over 
 the world. Divine wrath is not an attribute of the Being of 
 God ; neither is it an emotion in the mind of God. As He 
 has said, 11 Fury is not in me.” But divine wrath is the 
 attribute or necessary characteristic of the penal administra¬ 
 tion of the divine government. It is the aspect, and relation, 
 and active bearing of the divine government towards and 
 against sin, and sinners on account of sin. 
 
 God is essentially holy, and is “glorious in holiness:” but 
 his holiness does not consist in some one of his moral 
 attributes, nor in the entire assemblage of his moral attributes. 
 The holiness of God consists in the absolute and necessary 
 opposedness of all his moral perfections—of his essential 
 goodness and eternal excellence—to all actual, and all con¬ 
 ceivable moral evil or sin. And the wrath of God consists in 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 87 
 
 the adverse relation of his holiness towards moral evil, and 
 the beings in whom it is found : and the manifestations of 
 the wrath of God consist in the active and administrative 
 displays of his governmental holiness, either as revealed to the 
 minds of men, through his word, or in the way of dealing 
 with sinners according to their moral and legal desert. 
 
 Wrath is not an attribute of the Being of God. The 
 objects and subjects of his love and mercy and grace, were 
 “by nature, children of wrath —but God is immutable—his 
 personal attributes cannot change ; the thoughts of his heart 
 are ever the same. He is “without variableness or the 
 shadow of turning.” Neither is there, nor can there be, any 
 antagonism or variance in him, or between the attributes of 
 bis nature. But those who “ were by nature children of 
 wrath, even as others,” to them it is said, “ But God, who is 
 rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even 
 when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with 
 Christ—by grace you are saved.” But nothing of this could 
 be true if wrath were an attribute of God, or an emotion of 
 his mind. (See Eph. 2 : 4, 5 ; Isa. 54 : 7, 8, &c.) 
 
 The most awful and oppressive revelations of the wrath of 
 God were made to the mind of his only-begotten— his ah- 
 chad —the one object of his infinite love and confidence and 
 complacency. Both the garden and the cross bear witness 
 to this—the garden, where under a full mental apprehension 
 of the wrath of God, as’ due to man—“he sweat as it were 
 great drops of blood, falling to the ground ;” and on the 
 cross, when he cried out, “ My God, my God, why hast thou 
 forsaken me ?”—or, unto what hast thou abandoned me ? 
 And it should ever be kept in mind that the Son of God 
 came—not to procure the Father’s love, nor to affect any 
 change in his heart—but to make known and demonstrate the 
 Father’s eternal love ; and to lay a judicial basis for its 
 honorable and eternal display. He did not come to 
 “ appease ” an attribute of God’s nature, nor an angry 
 
83 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 emotion in the Father’s heart. He came to accomplish the 
 eternal purpose and grace of God, given us in him, before the 
 foundation of the world : yet he was called to enter experi¬ 
 mentally into a full estimate of the wrath of God, as due to 
 “ the sons of men.” 
 
 And it should be borne in mind that, “ The high and lofty 
 One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy,” when 
 speaking of the mental apprehension of his wrath, on the 
 part of Israelites who had learned the truth concerning his 
 wrath, through his holy law, and who were consequently of a 
 contrite and humble spirit; of them he says, that he dwells 
 with such, “to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive 
 the heart of the contrite ones.” And this is the reason which 
 he assigns :—“ For I will not contend forever, neither will I 
 be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the 
 souls which I have made.” (Isa. 57: 15, 16.) And in this 
 way, the Holy One of Israel has made known the truth, that 
 prolonged manifestations of his wrath, even to the minds of 
 men, (without any penal infliction whatever,) would cause 
 their souls to fail; or faint, or swoon — “gaii-tapii, to bo 
 covered, to be overwhelmed, and so to become insensible and 
 inert. 
 
 But, besides these several considerations, it must be ob¬ 
 served, that the thoughtless statement, that wrath is an 
 attribute of the Being of God, and is an emotion in the heart 
 of God—this strange conceit includes the astounding idea 
 that God was angry before the world began ; that fury was in 
 him, in the eternity of the past; that before either man or 
 angel was created, God was an angry God, and craved for 
 some suitable objects of his wrath.: and so this very evil 
 thought is included:—that, in the eternity of the past, the 
 social nature in the mystery of the God-head, was moved and 
 disturbed by the craving emotions of an infinite wrath. 
 
 III. But in teaching the doctrine of divine, insatiable 
 wrath—wrath that never can cease “ without an appeasement,” 
 
"WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 89 
 
 and that never can be appeased, bnt would be disappointed 
 by the utter destruction of its objects, beneath its own tortur¬ 
 ing displays—in teaching this doctrine, men adduce certain 
 texts of Holy Scripture, which they offer as “proof texts;” 
 and they gloss and construe those texts, by the pernicious 
 assumption, that, wrath is an attribute of the Being of God, 
 and an emotion in the heart of God ; and also that, immor¬ 
 tality is the distinguishing attribute of man. On these false 
 and evil premises those passages are construed, and are 
 persistently pressed, in polemic discourse. 
 
 If it were true, that, immortality is an essential attribute of 
 man, then indeed, it must be admitted and maintained that a 
 doctrine of endless life in ceaseless woe, is a doctrine of the 
 inspired Book. We say a doctrine, but dare not say the 
 doctrine which ecclesiastical teaching sets forth. But if it 
 were true, as it is manifestly false,-that man is an immortal 
 being, then it must be maintained—whatever kind or degree 
 of difficulty might seem to surround the subject, and might 
 actually oppress our minds—it must, we repeat, be maintained 
 that a doctrine of endless misery is a doctrine of the inspired 
 Book. For the soporific delusion, called “ Universalism,” 
 is based on a formal contradiction of the concurrent and 
 emphatic testimony of the Revelation which God has inspired. 
 It is a delusion of Satan, and may readily be traced up to the 
 bold, bad words of the tempter, when he said unto the woman, 
 
 V- 
 
 “No death! You shall not die” For it has a common 
 origin with the doctrine of the inherent immortality of man. 
 “ Universalism,” and the doctrine of “ man’s essential immor¬ 
 tality,” are twins; from the same evil parentage, that calum¬ 
 niated God in the Garden of Eden, and at the same time 
 effected the ruin of man. And it is unquestionable, that 
 many superior minds have been wrecked on the quicksands of 
 “ Universalism;” to which they have been steered by the 
 false and treacherous pilot, called “the immortality of man ;” 
 and affirmed to be the Basipisteds , the Royal Support of 
 
 8 * 
 
90 
 
 WHAT IS MAX ? 
 
 “the Faith” “the foundation of the Christian Religion”—* 
 “the foundation of all religion, both Natural and Revealed.” 
 
 The passages most commonly quoted, and which are con¬ 
 strued by the false assumptions which we have exposed, are 
 these, viz.:— 
 
 1. Mark 9: 48. “Where their worm dieth not, and the 
 fire is not quenched.” It is alleged, that, “This passage is 
 an evidence of the inherent immortality of man, and of the 
 doctrine of endless misery, as taught in the visible church.” 
 
 We must at once notice the dexterous device adopted, when 
 this and such like passages are adduced. First , the inherent 
 immortality of man is assumed ; then, this assumed, and false 
 principle is employed to interpret the text; and then, the 
 text is adduced to prove the immortality of man, and, as a 
 necessary conclusion, the doctrine of eternal life in agonizing 
 woe. This method of reasoning in a circle is the chief 
 resource of the advocates of the doctrine of eternal torture, 
 which we have described. 
 
 On the text itself—as recorded in Mark 9 ch.—we remark, 
 
 1. The disciples of the Lord Jesus—both real and nomi¬ 
 nal —were Jews, and were well acquainted with certain his¬ 
 torical facts, and with a proverbial phraseology founded 
 thereon, which Gentiles, and particularly, occidental Gentiles, 
 may need to learn and understand. Those Jews therefore, 
 were not likely to misunderstand the Lord, as certain Gentile 
 teachers have misconstrued his awful words. In his premoni¬ 
 tory teaching—as recorded in Mark 9 ch.—the Lord Jesus 
 instructed his professed disciples, concerning the purity and 
 incorruptness that are the proper characteristics of those who 
 truly serve and worship the living and holy God ; and he 
 warned them against being, by any means, ensnared into 
 lawless and unpardonable sin. lie taught them, that every¬ 
 thing that tended to ensnare them was to be cast from them, 
 though it might be to them, as men, useful as the hand, 
 serviceable as the foot, or precious as the eye; and he 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 91 
 
 forewarned them, that, unholy and lawless professors of his 
 name would be visited with condign punishment, which he 
 compared to an ignominious and destructive end ; the loath¬ 
 some and lurid image and instruments of which, were familiar 
 to their minds, lie reminded them of the valley of the son 
 of Hinnom, which is called, Gee-biien-JIinnom and Gee- 
 Hinnom, in the Hebrew, and Ge-enna or Gehenna, in the 
 Greek, and in the English Version is represented by the word 
 “ hell.” 
 
 Gee-Hinnom, or Gehenna, is the name of a glen outside of 
 the City of Jerusalem, and exposed to view from the adjacent 
 heights. And the awful words of the Lord—“Where their 
 worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched”—include a 
 two-fold reference, which Jews would well understand. He 
 refers to a matter of topography, and of history. In the 
 Valley of Hinnom, the heathen had, in ancient times, sacri¬ 
 ficed their children to Moloch, and subsequently, the Israelites 
 had committed the same inhuman and horrid crime. (Jer. 1 : 
 3-33) But when Josiah wrought a reformation in Judah, 
 he “defiled Tophet” or Gehenna, (see Jer. 19 : 6,) and made 
 it an abomination to the minds of the Jews, that they might 
 not resort thither, for the observance of idolatrous rites. (2 
 Kings 23 : 10.) History informs us that this glen was made 
 the scene of the most disgusting forms of animal decom¬ 
 position, and that the bodies of dead beasts, and of executed 
 malefactors, were cast into Gehenna, to fester and rot, and be 
 utterly consumed. But as the supply was continuous, so the 
 worm, bred out of putrescence, was always there, and in 
 view; and the fire, kindled by the City Authorities, was 
 always kept burning, and also in view. But we find sufficient 
 information in the scriptures of truth, for the defence of the 
 truth. 
 
 The historic facts and judicial relations of Gehenna were 
 familiar to the disciples of the Lord. They would also be 
 aware, that Isaiah had recorded a prediction, which is yet to 
 
92 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 be fulfilled, in that valley of slaughter: and to this prediction, 
 the Lord also, referred. (Isa. 66: 24.) This prophecy 
 relates to the time when the haughty, and martial, and 
 monarchic enemies of the Messiah shall be made a foot-stool 
 for his feet. (Ps. 110: 1; Heb. 1: 13.) When this has 
 taken place “all flesh” shall go up to Jerusalem to confess^ 
 and do homage to the true God, Jehovah. And thus “ saith 
 Jehovah, They shall go forth ( upon the heights, adjacent to 
 Gehenna,) and shall look upon the carcasses (peh-ger, dead , 
 putrifying, disgusting carcasses,) of the men who have 
 transgressed against me ; for their worm shall not die, 
 neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an 
 abhorring unto all flesh.” 
 
 To this predictive passage, the Lord refers, in Mark 9 cli. ; 
 and if the words of this passage prove the immortality of any 
 thing, it must be the immortality of loathsome worms, bred 
 out of putrefaction, and of dead carcasses, rotting in the sun, 
 preyed upon by the voracious worm, and being dissipated in 
 noxious vapor by the flaming fire. Many ecclesiastical 
 teachers may “be slow to believe that the “carcasses,” 
 mentioned in Isa. 66 : 24, mean “ dead bodies,” and that the 
 “ worm” mentioned means a loathsome crawling worm; for it 
 is evident, that, in many respects, they are “ slow of heart to 
 believe all that the prophets have spoken.” Nevertheless, 
 the truth of the prophecy stands and the prediction will yet 
 be fulfilled. 
 
 When the Lord addressed his disciples—as recorded in 
 Mark 9 : 13-48, he used proverbial language, derived from 
 historic and prophetic facts. And as all true figures are 
 founded in real facts, we must have respect to the facts 
 referred to by the Lord, if we would understand his awful 
 words. By the impressive figures of speech which he em¬ 
 ployed, he showed and illustrated the certain and ignominious 
 and destructive doom of all false Christians and apostates, at 
 the judgment of the great day : and he has shown that they 
 
WITAT IS MAN ? 
 
 93 
 
 shall be cast into that Gehenna, of which the topographic and 
 historic Gehenna is a most significant type; and that therein, 
 by the consuming activity of their own remorse, bred out of 
 tlieir own moral putrescence, and by the fire of divine wrath, 
 they shall be ignominiously and utterly destroyed. For God 
 “is able to destroy both soul and body, in Gehenna.” Men 
 may not believe this, but it is the word of Him who is “ The 
 Truth.” 
 
 But, the verse in Mark 9 : 49, must not be passed by 
 unnoticed; because, that, on it some ecclesiastical teachers 
 have fastened a most evil and flagrant conceit. They have 
 represented that, “ the verse teaches, that God will so consti¬ 
 tute the fire of hell, that it shall not begin to decompose the 
 bodies of the damned. However it may torture, it shall not 
 be a consuming fire: but it shall be conservative, in its 
 quality and effects; even as “salt” is conservative, when 
 applied to the flesh of animals recently slain. And God will 
 thus constitute the fire of hell, to preserve the bodies of the 
 damned ; for the express purpose of insuring the extreme of 
 unceasing and endless tortures, in the experience of the 
 damned, as the objects of his unappeasable wrath.” 
 
 The whole verse, as found in the English Version, reads 
 thus : “ For every one shall be salted with fire, and every 
 sacrifice shall be salted with salt.” But the word pas, in 
 the Greek, may mean, either every one person, or every one 
 thing: and the word for “fire,” is in the dative, puri; and 
 the real force of the passage is this :—“ For every one shall 
 be salted to or for the fire (that is of the altar) even every 
 sacrifice shall be salted with salt.” The Greek conjunction, 
 gar, “ For,” relates to the words of divine morality, whereby 
 the Lord had, just at that moment, enjoined the observance 
 of moral purity and incorrnptness, on those who bear his 
 name—purity and incorruptness at the cost of the “ hand ,” 
 and the “ foot, 11 and the “ eye.” And “salt ” was the type of 
 purity and incorruptness, as instituted of God. And to the 
 
94 
 
 WIIAT IS MAX ? 
 
 significancy of this type, the Lord refers ; and enjoins a life 
 of sacrificial purity and devotedness, worthy of the altar of 
 God. And the same devotedness is enjoined by the Holy 
 Spirit, in Paul; even that Christians should present their 
 bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God—their 
 reasonable service. (Rom. 12:1, 2.) And respecting every 
 typical sacrifice offered upon the altar of God, it had been 
 said of old, “ And every oblation of thy meat offering, slialt 
 thou season with salt; neither shalt thou snuffer the salt of the 
 covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: 
 with all thine offerings, thou shalt offer salt.” (Levit. 2 : 13.) 
 The min-cha, called here the “ meat-offering,” was the blood¬ 
 less offering, and signified, living devotedness to God ; and 
 commonly included the idea of gratitude to Him; when it was 
 the type of the spiritual devotedness of his saints; even that 
 which is enjoined by the Lord in the verse now in view; and 
 in which the holy fire of God’s altar, which caused the pure 
 offering to ascend to Him, is contrasted with the fire of his 
 wrath, that consumed the “ sin-offering,” out side the camp. 
 And in this way, the acceptance of the personal devotedness 
 of the saints, by the approving holiness of God ; is contrasted 
 with the consumption and utter destruction, of the persons 
 of hypocrites and apostates, by the unquenchable fire of Ge¬ 
 henna, which had been named the instant before. And so, 
 when the Lord had said “ For every one shall be salted for 
 the fire, even every sacrifice shall be salted with salt,” he 
 added these words : “ Salt is good ; but if the salt have lost 
 his saltness, wherewith will you season it ? Have salt in 
 yourselves, and have peace one with another.” But accord¬ 
 ing to the ecclesiastical teaching, now exposed, we are 
 required to understand the Lord as saying, that the fire ofi 
 hell “is good ;” and as commanding his disciples to have the 
 fire of hell in themselves; and so, to have peace, one with 
 another. This is but one of the many said corruptions of 
 Holy Scripture, invoiced in the doctrine under review; and 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 95 
 
 in its advocacy, on the part of even learned men; who, in 
 other respects, are wise and prudent men ; and many of them 
 worthy of high esteem and Christian love. 
 
 2. Isaiah 33: 14, is adduced. It reads thus: “ The 
 sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the 
 hypocrites; Who among us, (they exclaim,) shall dwell with 
 the devouring fire ? Who among us shall dwell with ever¬ 
 lasting burnings ?” This text is quoted to prove that all 
 men who die in their sins shall certainly dwell with the 
 tm-devouring fire of hell; and shall live for ever , with 
 everlasting burnings. But, the text is an exclamation of 
 terror, on the part of religious sinners and hypocrites—an 
 exclamation which evidently implies the impossibility of 
 dwelling with the devouring fire; and which expresses the 
 amazement and horror of those self-convicted hypocrites, at 
 the prospect of being utterly consumed. 
 
 3. Matthew 3 : 12, is quoted :—“ Whose fan is in his hand, 
 and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat 
 into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquench¬ 
 able fire.” This is a part of the testimony of John the 
 Baptist, concerning the Messiah, and the results of his coming 
 and his kingdom. It was addressed to religious hypocrites, 
 to those sinners in Zion, the Pharisees and Sadducees. The 
 former trusted in themselves that they were righteous and 
 despised others ; and the latter despised the hope of the truly 
 righteous, and lived wholly to themselves. To such, the 
 words of John were addressed; and his words contain an 
 allusion to oriental husbandry, when, at the time of harvest, 
 the husbandmen, having threshed the grain, gathered the 
 wheat into the garner, and burnt up the chaff with unquench¬ 
 able fire ; or, a fire which the chaff could not for a moment 
 resist. So, John calls the saints of the Lord, “his wheat,” 
 and the sinners in Zion he compares to dry, dead, chaff; fit 
 only to be consumed. But because the quality of the fire of 
 divine wrath is said to be asbestos, i. e. unquenchable, or 
 
96 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 irresistible—that which cannot be subdued and extinguished 
 by those upon whom it will act—some learned teachers of tire 
 church have concluded that therefore the quality of those 
 who are compared to chaff is, that they are unconsumable 
 and immortal. The logic of their exegesis is a humbling 
 indication of incompetency for “rightly dividing the word of 
 truth.” “ He will burn up the chaff.” 
 
 4. Matthew 5 : 25, 26, is relied upon for proving that 
 sinners when once cast into hell shall live there in excruci¬ 
 ating torture for evermore. The passage reads thus: “Agree 
 with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with 
 him, lest at any time tfie adversary deliver thee to the judge, 
 and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into 
 prison. Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come 
 out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.” 
 
 Now, if this passage refers to hell at all, it implies the 
 possibility of coming out thence; though a heavy penalty 
 may first have to be paid: and so it would favor the 
 purgatorian theory of one class of “ Universalists;” whom we 
 once heard a Bishop of the Church of Rome, refer to, and call 
 them, “our non-conforming brethren.” But, in what way is 
 it attempted to show that the passage refers to hell ? In this 
 way :—it is said, that, “ the adversary ” is the devil: and “ the 
 judge,” is God ; and “ the officer ” is death ; and “ tiie 
 prison ” is hell. And in this way, the learned teachers have 
 loosed the devil out of his prison, in which they had before 
 shut him up ; and they give us to understand that, he walks 
 in the way with men upon the earth; but that he is dangerous 
 company; and that God, the judge, sits ready upon the 
 judgment seat, to hear the “cause” of the devil; and is 
 very likely to decide in his favor, against the men whom he 
 vindictively delivers into “court;” and to consign to hell 
 those whom the devil wishes to have cast in there ; because 
 that they liaee not made an agreement with him . But this 
 is not all:—The Lord Jesus was instructing, and legislating 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 97 
 
 for, his professed disciples, when he uttered the words of the 
 above text. And, so, instructors of the church visible, would 
 have us to understand that He, there and then, gave a 
 commandment to His disciples, to be, characteristically, 
 agreeing with the devil (the word in the Greek text is 
 eunoon the present participle from eunoeo, to be well minded , 
 or favorably disposed towards another ,) and to have a 
 favorable disposition towards him ; lest at any time he should 
 deliver them up to God. But, it is very humiliating to find 
 that such evil thoughts should ever be involved in ecclesias¬ 
 tical discourse. In the passage that is so perverted, the 
 ‘Lord is instructing his disciples to avoid litigation ; and is 
 showing them that “ His commandments are not grievous;” 
 for that He is consulting their own interests and welfare, 
 while enjoining obedience to His yrill. (See also Luke 12 : 
 50, 59.) Truly, His service is perfect freedom—-His yoke is 
 easy, and His burden is light. 
 
 5. Matthew 25.: 46, is said to be sufficient of itself to 
 establish the doctrine of the immortality of man, and of the 
 eternity of torturing woe. It reads thus :—“ And these shall 
 go away into everlasting punishment, but the righte'ous into 
 eternal life.” 
 
 The entire passage to which this verse pertains should be 
 pondered, that the truth might be perceived—the whole scene 
 should be surveyed. The > period is that when “the King” 
 shall come again—when the enthronement of the Messiah 
 shall take place. In Matthew’s testimony, Jesus is presented, 
 throughout, in the official relation of “ The Kingj^—“ the 
 Heir” of Abraham’s land and of David’s throne; and the 
 Head of the Economy on earth, which is called “the King¬ 
 dom of Heaven,” or the dominion of the heavens; as pro¬ 
 visionally set up ; and which is to be established in power— 
 “ the Kingdom of Heaven,” in which up to the time of the 
 Lord’s return, are “ the children of the wicked one,” brought 
 in by the devil, among “the children of the Kingdom” intro- 
 
 9 
 
93 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 duced by the Son of man—“the wicked” among “the just.” 
 (Mattli. 13 : 31-43, 49, 50.) This provisional Kingdom of 
 heaven is called, among men, “ the visible church” and 
 “Christendom ;” and within the pale of the visible church are 
 “ the children of the wicked one”—“ the wicked,” intermingled 
 with “the children of the kingdom”—“the just:” and in the 
 scene now in view, the opposite classes are compared to 
 “ sheep,” which the Sheperd will own as His ; and to “ goats” 
 which have been brought into the fold by another; and which 
 the Shepherd, when he shall have come, will disown and 
 reject. 
 
 Both parties in the scene are professed Christians—the 
 true, and the false—the genuine, and the hypocrites. They 
 are, together, called, “all the nations.” These words are not 
 intended to mean, all mankind; but are designed to be com¬ 
 mensurate with the words in the apostolic commission, in 
 Matth. 28 : 18, 20, as it is said therein “ Go ye therefore and 
 disciple all the nations,” &c. ; and, as it is said in the Lord’s 
 own explanation of the parable of the wheat and the tares : 
 “ The field is the world :” nevertheless, it is “ the kingdom of 
 heaven,” that is then his instructive theme. 
 
 In the scene within view, all are professed Christians who 
 up to that time have been mingled together, like a company 
 of sheep, and of goats, within one and the same fold ; but are 
 then divided and separated into two contrastive groups, by 
 the hand of Him who searches the heart, and by whom 
 “actions are weighed.” The principle of discrimination, on 
 which the separation is made, is that of true and practical 
 love to Christ; as shown to him, in his needy “ brethren.” 
 But this principle of administrative decision is not applicable 
 to the case of the great mass of mankind. Hundreds of 
 millions of the human race have never heard of Christ: and 
 his “brethren” they have, therefore, never seen; and many 
 nations who may have heard of his name, have never pro¬ 
 fessed to love him, or to believe in him. 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 99 
 
 Every true Christian loves Christ, with a responsive and 
 grateful love ; and is taught of God to love his brethren, and 
 to love and serve Christ, in them. And every professed—• 
 but nominal —Christian professes (but hypocritically pro¬ 
 fesses) to love Christ. 
 
 Love to Christ and service to him, in his brethren, is not, 
 in any respect, the cause or reason of personal salvation—is 
 not the title of true Christians, to “ inherit the kingdom pre¬ 
 pared for them, from the foundation of the world :” but it is 
 the mark and characteristic of the heirs of the kingdom; and 
 is shown towards Christ, in the substantial forms of practical 
 beneficence towards his needy and afflicted brethren; because 
 they belong to him—this is the motive and intent of the 
 heart; though they may not rise up to the thought, that they 
 are feeding and clothing Christ, and showing hospitality to 
 him, and visiting and comforting him. And when the Lord 
 shall have come again—when “ the King shall sit upon the 
 throne of his glory”—he will openly approve and extol this 
 manifest token of genuine heirship ; and will as openly rebuke 
 and condemn the false-heartedness and hypocrisy of those 
 who professed to love him ; but never did love him at all. 
 They may have been among the most prominent in the visible 
 church, and the most zealous in supporting the externals of 
 “ religion,” as such persons speak ; and may have given much, 
 and have done much, that men call the fruit of “ zeal for 
 religion”— but , they have never loved Christ. 
 
 The false are mingled with the true , till the decisive hour 
 indicated in the passage within view. The hypocrites are, 
 ostensibly, heirs of the kingdom, and “ candidates for heaven 
 and glory,” in common with the saints; and, it may be, that 
 they deem themselves, and are deemed by others in a more 
 “hopeful state,” than many of the saints. But the Lord 
 searches the heart; and He is the Judge. And the predomi¬ 
 nant idea and fact in the passage, is that of being separated 
 and cut off from the flock, and the Kingdom of the Son of 
 
100 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 man : and this eternal rejection and excision of the hypo¬ 
 crites, is contrasted with the eternal * life of the righteous, 
 and the consummation of their eternal life, in the Kingdom 
 of their Father. This eternal excision is the “ eternal punish¬ 
 ment” of the text. 
 
 The Greek word, Jcolasin , which is translated, “ punish¬ 
 ment,” is derived from kolazo; the ideal meaning of which 
 is, to take from, to cut off; and hence to prune, or to cut off 
 unfruitful and worthless branches from a tree, which is, itself, 
 a good tree. And kolazo is the Greek equivalent of the 
 Hebrew, kah-rath, which means, to cut off, as a branch is 
 cut off, and to cut off by death ; and is used when it is said 
 “ That soul shall be cut off”—“that soul shall be cut off from 
 
 * In the usage of Holy Scripture, the words “eternal”—“for ever,” 
 and such like, derive their meaning and force from the objects or 
 subjects to which they are applied. Thus " goh-laiim in the Hebrew 
 is used when Jehovah says, “I lift up my hand to heaven and say, I 
 live forever;” (Deut. 32: 40,) and it is used when it is said of the 
 servant-man, (Exod. 21: 6,) who loved his master, &c.: “He shall 
 serve him forever.” And, aionios, in the Greek, the word rendered 
 “everlasting” and “eternal” is used, as a word of quality, to denote 
 the essentially eternal life, which the ransomed and regenerate now 
 have, in union with the risen Son of God; and the consummation of 
 that same life, when He shall come again. When applied to the doom 
 of the ungodly, it means irr ever sableness — eternal in the sense of never 
 to be reversed ; and when applied to the fire that destroyed Sodom and 
 Gomorrah, and to the fire of final judgment, it signifies the divine and 
 destructive energy of that fire of God. The word aion, “for ever,” in 
 its singular form, is very frequently translated, “world ;” as it is said, 
 “this world;” and the plural and duplicated forms of that word are 
 governed as to their meaning and intent, by the laws of usage which 
 are indicated above. Theological disputants have quoted Aristotle, to 
 show that the word aion means “always existing;” which, of course, is 
 the ideal meaning of the Avord. But the usage of Aristotle, who, as a 
 heathen philosopher, believed in the eternity of matter , and was an 
 Atheist, ought not to be preferred to the usage and authority of the 
 Holy Ghost; as given and asserted in the inspired Book. 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 101 
 
 Israel.” Even so, the false Christians shall be cut off from 
 the flock of Christ, and from every pretence to the kingdom, 
 of which they were ostensible heirs, in common with the true; 
 and their excision shall not be temporal ; but shall be eternal. 
 
 The word, kolasin, is found in one other place; namely, 
 in Jno. 4: 18; and is there represented by the word 
 “torment;” but this is not justifiable; for the word relates 
 to the children of'God, who are not yet “made perfect” in an 
 experimental knowledge of the love of God. They are not 
 tormented; but they are cut off from much experimental 
 blessedness, which properly pertains to them ; and which 
 they would possess if they were made perfect in love. They 
 are cut off from conscious communion with God, in the fullness 
 and unchangeableuess of his perfect love in Christ, his Son. 
 
 Even the common usage of the English word “ punishment” 
 does not, of necessity, include theddea of pain and anguish ; 
 and in the judicial usage of that word, the idea of torture is 
 not found. The fact, the 'principle , the idea, of torture, is 
 utterly excluded from the jurisprudence and forensic proceed¬ 
 ings of every humane and just government upon earth. But 
 the retributive principle of excision is adopted and set forth, 
 as being just and right. Thus a criminal is cut off from, or 
 loses, his property by being fined; or loses his liberty, and is 
 cut off from civil society by imprisonment; or loses life; 
 being cut off by death, in the way of “ capital punishment ”— 
 which is death. And “ shall mortal man be more just than 
 God ?” Yet, there are men, who would vehemently express 
 their detestation of torture and of the torturer , too, at an 
 “ indignation meeting” occasioned by any known departure 
 from the principles of loss^ and excision only; but who do 
 not hesitate—yea, rather, are zealous—to describe “ tiie 
 eternal God,” as an eternal torturer ; who, by enduing 
 the human objects of his fury with superhuman vigor, will 
 keep them alive forever, and torture them without ceasing 
 
 9* 
 
102 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 and without end. This is one of the evil fruits of the doctrine 
 of the inherent immortality of man. 
 
 Further: It should be noticed that the “ eternal punish¬ 
 ment” mentioned in Matth. 25 : 46, is not the whole doom of 
 the religious hypocrites to whom those words relate; but is 
 their eternal excision from the flock of Christ, in order to 
 their being cast into the fire of Gehenna—“the eternal fire, 
 prepared for the devil and his angels;” the “furnace of fire” 
 into which all ensnaring, and lawless professors shall be cast; 
 into which the wicked hypocrites shall be cast; and where 
 there shall be “ wailing and gnashing of teeth ;” (Matth. 13 : 
 42, 50,) the manifested remorse and agony of the disappointed 
 and terror-stricken, false-hearted professors of Christianity ; 
 who like the sinners and hypocrites of Zion (Isa. 33 : 14) will 
 be filled with unutterable anguish in the immediate prospect, 
 and the process , of being consumed, by the devouring fire; 
 of being destroyed forever —consumed like chaff. 
 
 6. Revelation 14: 11, is triumphantly adduced; particu¬ 
 larly the first clause:—“And the smoke of their torment 
 ascendeth up for ever and ever.” But, the entire paragraph 
 must be considered if there be any desire to learn and know 
 the truth. The passage reads thus: “And the third angel 
 followed them (those angels whom John had seen and heard 
 in vision immediately before) saying with a loud voice, “ If 
 any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his 
 mark in his forehead, or in his hand: the same shall drink 
 of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without 
 mixture into the cup of his indignation, and he shall be 
 tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy 
 angels and in the presence of the Lamb : And the smoke of 
 their torment ascendeth up forever and ever; and they have 
 no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his 
 
 IMAGE, AND WHOSOEVER RECEIVETH THE MARK OF HIS NAME.” 
 
 It is worthy of a passing remark ; that in ecclesiastical 
 teaching, it is usual to say that, “the Book of the Apocalypse 
 
WIIAT IS MAX ? 
 
 103 
 
 is a sealed Book.” It is called, of God, a "Revelation,” but 
 it is usual with many ecclesiastical teachers to call it, “ a sealed 
 Book and it is therefore the more remarkable, that they 
 should so readily and confidently appeal to its contents ; which, 
 they tell us, they cannot read, because that it is sealed up. 
 
 The Book is not sealed , but is a Revelation —a divine 
 drama, indeed, but a Revelation —a divine drama,, composed 
 very much on the principle of the ancient Grecian drama; to 
 answer a prophetic and specific end. The passage under 
 examination is a premonition, that “if any man ” commit a 
 certain enormous crime, which is distinctly specified; then 
 and in that case , a certain penal result shall certainly ensue. 
 This premonition is specific, and does not relate to the com¬ 
 mon ungodliness of men ; and, so the penalty of which men 
 are forewarned is not at all the common doom of ungodly 
 men, as such. The penalty specified, is to consist in certain 
 plagues, which are dramatically announced, as a forewarning, 
 and also a prediction of approaching facts. “ If any man 
 worship the beast —this is made the condition on the 
 presence of which the predicted penalty shall ensue ; and 
 moreover, the specified and enormous iniquity had not been 
 committed by any man, at the time of the vision which John 
 saw and heard : and therefore, the specified penalty is not the 
 doom of the damned in hell, either before, or after, the judg¬ 
 ment of the great day. 
 
 The words so commonly quoted :—“ And the smoke of 
 their torment* ascendetli up for ever and ever;”—are used 
 also in relation to that dramatic personage described as a 
 woman, and called, "Babylon the Great;” of whom it is said, 
 
 * The word represented by the English word “ torment ” is basanismos , 
 am^the verb translated, “tormented” is basanizo. The radical word is 
 basanos ; which means, literally, a stone found in Lydia, in Asia Minor, 
 by which gold was tried —a touch stone. The radical and true idea 
 represented by the above words is, that of putting to the test or proof; 
 and of being put to the test or proof. 
 
104 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 “And her smoke rose up for ever and ever:” (Rev. 19: 3,) 
 and, concerning her, it is previously said “And she shall be 
 utterly burned with lire ; for strong is the Lord God, who 
 judgeth her.” (Rev. 18:8.) A similar mention is made, or 
 a similar dramatic representation is found in Isa. 34: 9, 10, 
 in which the doom of the city of Botzra, in Idumea, is pro¬ 
 phetically described. The dramatic meaning of the ascending 
 “ smoke,”* is that of the evidence of a consuming process, 
 and a destructive result. The word “ smoke,” and its dra¬ 
 matic usage, in inspired prophecy, have been adopted from 
 the history of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. 
 (Gen. 19: 21, 28.) 
 
 Whatever may be the dramatic force of that which is said 
 concerning the “woman” called “Babylon the Great,” and of 
 that which is said concerning the worshipers of the beast, it 
 is evident that it transpires on the earth, and before the 
 coming of the Lord to reign over the earth. The most 
 probable evolution and fulfillment of Rev. 14 : 9-11, will be 
 found in the plagues that shall come upon the devotees or 
 worshipers of “the beast,” as described in Rev. 16th. But 
 even if the passage we have now examined, did teach the 
 conscious existence and endless misery of “any man ”—which 
 it does not—still, the “torment” so dramatically described, 
 would be the portion, only, of the worshipers of “ the beast;” 
 and from it, every human being would be exempt and secure, 
 who had not committed that specified and enormous crime. 
 And, therefore, the passage so triumphantly adduced, instead 
 of proving, could only disprove, the ecclesiastical doctrine, . 
 of the common penalty due to sinners, on account of their 
 common sins. It would indeed seem that, relatively,—or in 
 relation to an actual state of mind, the “ Revelation ” is, to 
 some persons, “a sealed Book;” but, they who teach, ought 
 
 * The smoke ascending “for ever,” or “for ever and ever” signifies 
 that the evidence of irrcverscible judgment shall be made manifest; and 
 shall be publicly and fully known. 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 105 
 
 to be able to understand and teach what God lias revealed, 
 and has “sent, and signified, to the churches;” seeing that 
 they claim to be “ ambassadors for Christ,” and to be acknowl¬ 
 edged as such, of all men. 
 
 7. The parable of Lazarus and the rich man, as recorded 
 in-Luke 16 : 19-31, is regarded as a strong tower ; whereunto 
 those who teach the doctrines of man’s inherent immortality, 
 and of present, and endless torture may continually resort, 
 and be safe in the possession of that which they hold. Even 
 if it could be made to appear that, this parable unveils the 
 unseen world, it could not be properly adduced, as an evidence 
 of the immortality of man; and of endless misery to be 
 inflicted after the judgment of the last day. It would rather 
 seem to favor the ecclesiastical doctrine of torture first, and 
 trial afterwards ; for the scene described is, parabolically, 
 laid down in days that have passed away thousands of years 
 ago. But the parable cannot have been intended of the Lord 
 to favor that doctrine; because that doctrine is manifestly 
 untrue. The Holy Spirit, in Peter, teaches, that the Lord 
 knows how “ to reserve the unjust unto the day of Judgment, 
 to be punished. (2 Pet. 2 : 9.) The Lord Jesus, and the 
 Holy Spirit, could not teach diverse and conflicting doctrines; 
 and so contradict, each other. Moreover; Abraham, and 
 Lazarus, and the rich man, are represented as being embodied : 
 but it could not have been the intention of the Lord to teach 
 this as a fact; for he could not countenance the pernicious 
 doctrine, that, “the resurrection is already past.” (See 2 
 * Tim. 2 : 18.) 
 
 The entire scene is laid,—not in Gehenna, but—in SJdol, 
 hades, or “hell.” It is described as lying in the “under 
 world,” the place of departed souls. Abraham and Lazarus' 
 are described as being in the same territory, or place, as the 
 rich man—Abraham and Lazarus on one side of a great chasm 
 or gulph, and the rich man on the other. But, in ecclesiasti¬ 
 cal teaching, it is stated that Abraham and Lazarus were in 
 
100 
 
 WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 heaven, because that it is said of the rich man that he “lifted 
 up his eyes ” and, in so doing, saw Abraham afar off. But, 
 even the words of the Lord, to his disciples, when near 
 Sychar may well suffice to correct this mistake ; “ Lift up your 
 eyes and look on the fields.” When occidentals would say 
 “ Open your eyes;” orientals would say “ Lift up your eyes.” 
 
 The entire scene of the parable is laid in Hades and in the 
 original, the definite article is used ; and so it is said of the 
 rich man : “ And in the hades he lifted up his eyes ” and this 
 is intended to imply that Abraham, with Lazarus in his 
 bosom, was there before the rich man had arrived ; and when 
 the rich man first saw Abraham, he (the rich man) was not 
 aware that there was a great gulph between them; for 
 Abraham informed him, particularly, of this. And, if any 
 object to the idea of the entire scene being laid in Hades, it 
 must be because they have not read, with attention, the 
 inspired Book, concerning the ancient saints, before the 
 Messiah had appeared. Down to that “ under world ” the 
 place of the detention of defunct souls—or, as one has 
 expressed it, “ of unclad ghosts,” the ancient saints expected 
 to go at death ; and by reason of this, they were, generally 
 speaking, in bondage all their life time, through fear of death : 
 and down into sh’ol or hades they went when they died. 
 Witness, Jacob* (Gen. 37 : 33-35,) and Job, (Ch. 10: 21, 22,) 
 
 * The word, sh’ol occurs, in tlie Hebrew text 64 times. It is 
 translated “grave,” 30 times—“bell,” 31 time; and 3 times, “ pit.” # 
 It is first used by Jacob, in Gen. 37 : 35. The noun is derived from the 
 verb, siiah - al , to ask, and also, to require, to crave. The Hebrews 
 thought and spoke of sh ’ ol , as ever craving for prey, and never saying, 
 “It is enough.” Hence they personified death, and sh’ol, and repre¬ 
 sented them as two hunters, laying snares, or arranging their cords to 
 catch their prey. This personification is very general, and is promi¬ 
 nently seen, in the psalms of David, in the writings of Paul, and in the 
 apocalypse. The word has, uniformly, one signification, in the Hebrew 
 Scriptures; and, hades is its equivalent in the Greek. 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 107 
 
 and Samuel, (1 Sam. 28: 15, 19,) and David, (Ps. 6 : 5, and 88 : 
 10-12,) and Hezekiah, (Isa. 38 : 18,) and others also. Down 
 into this “ under world,” the Lord Jesus himself went, when 
 he died upon the cross. (Ps. 16 : 10 ; Acts 2 : 31.) When 
 there, he was in active power ; for he is both God and man ; 
 and though he was put to death in the flesh, he was consti¬ 
 tuted living, in the Spirit; and, he had “ put away sin by 
 the sacrifice of himself.” He, there and then, quickened and 
 delivered the souls of his ancient saints, who had remained 
 there, held by the cords of death, insensible and inert; and 
 he “led captivity captive.” (Heb. 2: 14, 15; Ps. 68: 18; 
 Eph. 4, 8-10.) And into that prison house, no departed 
 saint has gone, since Jesus died and rose again. Since then, 
 the saints do not in reality die : but before that, the saints 
 died, and were held captive by death. 
 
 Now, to return to the parable :—-All the parties in hades 
 are represented, as being embodied and alive ; and not only 
 so, but also, as knowing, and remembering, and talking, and 
 reasoning, and as being cognizant of things on the earth. 
 But the Lord Jesus could not teach this as a matter of fact; 
 nor any part of it; for, he could not contradict the testimony 
 of all Hebrew Scripture ; which is quite to the contrary of all 
 this. He came not “ to destroy the law and the prophets, 
 but to fulfill.” And Job refers to Sh’ol or hades as “the 
 land of darkness ;” (Ch. 10: 21, 22;) and Samuel, and 
 David refer to it, as the place and state of silence ; (1 Sam. 
 2:9; Ps. 31 : 11.) And again, David speaks of sldol, as 
 the place and state in which there is no remembrance —not 
 even of God. (Ps. 6 : 5.) And Solomon says, that, “ there 
 is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in sh’ol.” 
 But wisdom and knowledge and device and reasoning and 
 speech, are, in the parable, ascribed not only to Abraham, 
 but also to the rich man. But whence and how has it come 
 to pass, that there are these irreconcilable differences and 
 diversities, between the teachings of all Hebrew Scripture, 
 
103 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 and wliat the parable is by so many supposed to teach ; and, 
 which, if construed in a certain way, the parable does seem 
 to teach; but which, as we have shown, it does not and 
 cannot teach,—how has this come to pass ? 
 
 All this misapprehension has arisen from two distinct 
 causes, viz. : First, from a previous and unjustifiable assump¬ 
 tion that the doctrine of man’s inherent immortality, and of 
 present and continuous and endless torture in hell, are 
 truths taught in the word of God ; and secondly, from a non¬ 
 acquaintance with the nature and design of oriental parables, 
 in general; the genius of parable, in itself considered, and the 
 bases and design of the parables of the Lord in particular. 
 For instance :—It is commonly assumed, that the parables of 
 the Lord were intended to illustrate his teaching, and bring 
 it down to the level of the commonest and most limited 
 understanding; whereas, they were really intended for a 
 purpose the very reverse; that is, they were intended to veil, 
 with the drapery of enigma and fiction, testimony and teach¬ 
 ing, which in their plain and literal forms, had been and still 
 were rejected and despised ; and they were intended to put to 
 the test, the wisdom of those who were wise in their own 
 conceits ; and to inflict judicial blindness on those who had 
 closed their eyes against the evidences of truth and of fact. 
 (Isa. 6: 9; Matth. 13: 10-15.) The same course had been 
 pursued of old in the midst of Israel, and the same reason was 
 then assigned. (See Ezek. 12 : 2 ; 20 : 49.) The disciples 
 of the Lord did not understand his parables, for they were 
 illiterate men, and their understanding had not then been 
 opened, as it afterwards was. (Luke 24: 45.) But the 
 Lord explained to them many of his parables, in private. 
 The chief priests and scribes being learned aud wise men, 
 (according to the flesh) sometimes understood the parables of 
 the Lord. They could look through the veil; and what they 
 perceived beneath it excited their anger and derisive scorn. 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 109 
 
 (Luke 20: 9-20; 16: 14.) And the teachers of the church 
 ought to understand the parables of Holy Scripture, if so be, 
 that they are in reality the “ ambassadors of Christ,” for He 
 said to his own called and ordained ambassadors, “ It is given 
 unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, 
 but to them it is not given.” And this he said, when they 
 asked him, why he spoke to the people in parables. The 
 Lord explained many of his parables to his own disciples; 
 and so, has furnished us with a clue to the understanding of 
 others; if indeed, it be given us to understand; and we be 
 not blinded by being wise in our own conceits, and for reject¬ 
 ing the plain teaching of the Lord. 
 
 In pursuing his judicious and judicial course towards the 
 scribes and pharisees and chief priests, the Lord Jesus took 
 up some of their own false conceits— fictions ofi the grossest 
 kind —and wrought them into his parables, for the purpose 
 of testing them, and convicting them of evil; and he thus met 
 them, on their own ground. 
 
 It was a gross fiction and pernicious falsehood in them to 
 say that they were “righteous,” (Luke 18 : 9,) so righteous 
 that they needed no repentance ; and that they were Jehovah’s 
 first-born, ever standing in moral nearness to him—the law¬ 
 ful heirs of his house, and of his kingdom ; and yet the Lord 
 took up all this gross and evil fiction and wrought it into his 
 parables, on the very same occasion on which he uttered the 
 parable of Lazarus and the rich man. (Luke 15 ch.) And 
 it was and is a gross fiction that money obtained by f raud , 
 and especially by pious and priestly fraud, can procure a 
 welcome into the kingdom of God, and “ into everlasting 
 habitations” therein ; and yet the Lord in his parables, on the 
 same occasion (Luke 16 : 1-13) took up even this most evil 
 conceit, and parabolically—but in truth, most ironically — 
 said, “And I say to you, Make to yourselves friends of the 
 mammon of unrighteousness; (“ the unrighteous mammon”) 
 
 10 
 
110 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 that when you fail (as the unjust steward had failed) they 
 may receive you into everlasting habitations.’ 7 * 
 
 The scribes and pharisees and chief priests sat in Moses’ 
 seat, (Matth. 23 : 2,) and were ostensibly and professedly the 
 stewards of God—stewards of the mysteries of his kingdom ; 
 and “it is required of stewards that a man be found faithful,” 
 and not fraudulent, as touching that which has been com¬ 
 mitted to his trust. But these scribes and pharisees and chief 
 priests were unfaithful, and were thoroughly practised in pious 
 and priestly frauds. They laid heavy burdens on the people, 
 it i3 true, and more especially on those who were not able to 
 gratify their love of “filthy lucre”—burdens which they them¬ 
 selves would not move with one of their fingers. (Matth. 23 : 
 4.) But they took away the key of knowledge from the 
 people, and hindered their inquiries after the truth. (Luke 
 11 : 52.) They made “ long prayers but this was “ a pre¬ 
 tence”—a pious fraud to cloak their covetousness—their “love 
 of money in the eagerness of which they devoured even 
 “widows’ houses.” But, those of their own covetous dispo¬ 
 sition, who were able and willing to pay them well, by 
 professedly devoting in part to “ the cause of religion ,” that 
 which they ought to have used in obedience to “ the command¬ 
 ment of God and part of which they kept for themselves ; 
 such ones, they let off lightly, and exempted them from actual 
 and social duties, and authorized their pious frauds. (Matth. 
 15 : 3-9.) Men might be covetous, eager money-lovers and 
 
 * It is marvellous, that any who are ecclesiastical teachers should not 
 perceive that the Lord is here speaking of money gained by fraud, 
 embezzlement and swindling—“ the unrighteous mammon.” If only 
 this had been perceived, the teaching and literature of the visible 
 church—as we charitably believe—would not have been disfigured as it 
 has been, (not to mention the dishonor done to the name of the 
 Lord) by representing, that the Lord Jesus is teaching Christians to 
 make a benevolent and religious use of their money, in order to procure 
 /or themselves , a welcome into heaven. 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 Ill 
 
 * 
 
 servants of mammon ; and might be keen and over-reaching in 
 the pursuit of gain ; and might defraud even their own needy 
 parents, so long as they “ cast into the treasury,” of which 
 these scribes and pharisees and chief priests were the 
 “stewards:” and out of which they first provided for them¬ 
 selves , and for the increase of their riches, and for the mainte¬ 
 nance of their worldly importance, and their domination over 
 the belief and conscience of the multitude, before whom they 
 arrogantly claimed to be the stewards, the true and faithful 
 stewards of the mysteries of God. And in this way they 
 became rich ; and in it all they most strikingly resembled the 
 “ unjust steward” of the parable : and that parable they 
 understood, and for them it was intended by the Lord. It 
 was spoken to the disciples, but it was spoken at the scribes 
 and pharisees and chief priests. And so it is said, “ And the 
 pharisees also, who were covetous,- (philarguroi, money-lovers) 
 heard all these things : and they derided him. They heard 
 the parables, and perceived their intent; and they scorned the 
 corrective wisdom and convicting truth, that lay beneath the 
 parabolic veil. 
 
 These pharisees trusted in their lineal descent from Abraham, 
 and in themselves, that they were righteous, and in their 
 wealth, as a manifest token of the divine approval ; and they 
 boasted themselves in the multitude of their riches: but none 
 of them could “ redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom 
 for him ; that he should still live for ever, and not see corrup¬ 
 tion.” (Ps. 49 : 6-9*.) And these facts the Lord Jesus 
 intended to teach, in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man ; 
 and to convict the pharisees of the worthlessness of the confi- 
 
 * The entire psalm should be pondered with care. And it should be 
 borne in mind, that all the parables contained in Luke, 15 ch. and 16 
 ch. were uttered on one and the same occasion, and that the same 
 parties heard the words of the whole; and the pharisees understood 
 what they heard, particularly the parable of the unjust steward, who 
 had grown rich by means of systematic fraud. 
 
112 
 
 WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 * 
 
 clence they rested on their lineal descent from Abraham, and 
 on the fact of their being rich men, in the nation that had 
 been placed of God under “the law,” and to which, “the 
 prophets” had been sent. 
 
 While these pharisees regarded a rich man, in the nation, 
 as one whom God had accepted, and, whom he highly approved, 
 they looked down upon a poor man in the nation—one 
 who was destitute and afflicted—as one whom God had for¬ 
 saken, and against whom his displeasure was, in this way 
 shown. One reason why they despised and rejected the Lord 
 Messiah was, because that he was poor, and a man of sorrows, 
 whose “visage was so marred more than any man, and his 
 form more than the sons of men.” They judged him, to be 
 “ stricken, smitten of God and afflicted :” (Isa. 53 : 4 ;) and 
 when their “ hour and the power of darkness ” had arrived, 
 the animus of their ways was according to these words : “ God 
 hath forsaken him, persecute and take him, for there is none 
 to deliver.” 
 
 We have thus shown the moral judgments of the pharisees, 
 which the Lord reversed and condemned in the parable of 
 Lazarus and the rich man. But whence was the drapery of 
 that parable derived ? Whence were derived the materials 
 out of which the Lord Jesus wove that parabolic veil ? They 
 were not derived from the Hebrew Scriptures, for they contra¬ 
 dict the testimony of Moses and the prophets—as we have 
 plainly shown. And as they did not pertain to facts, or a 
 revelation of facts, so neither were they originated by the Lord 
 Jesus; for he did not “come to destroy the law and the 
 prophets, but to fulfill;” and He is God, as well as man— 
 and God “ cannot lie — cannot deny himself .” But it is 
 written, “ He taketh the wise in their own craftiness :” and 
 again, “ The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they 
 are vain,” (Job 5: 13; Ps. 94: 11; 1 Cor. 3: 19, 20.) 
 And, as he had just before taken up the false conceits and 
 gross fictions of the pharisees, touching their self-righteous- 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 113 
 
 ness, and as to the making of a pious use of “the mammon of 
 unrighteousness,” and procuring thereby, a welcome into the 
 kingdom of God ; even so he now took up their false conceits 
 and gross fictions, concerning Sh’ol, hades or hell. 
 
 The pharisees had borrowed the conceits and fictions, which 
 form the parabolic veil, from the mythology of the heathen. 
 When the nation of the Jews had ceased to be superstitious 
 idolators, they became religious philosophers; and they 
 learned the ways of the heathen and adopted many of their 
 evil conceits. They learned concerning the Elysium and 
 Tartarus of the heathen mythology, and they reasoned them¬ 
 selves out of a belief in the testimony of Moses and the 
 prophets, concerning many things; and among others con¬ 
 cerning sh’ol or hell. They seem to have thought that the 
 God of Israel ought to have adjusted sh’ol, as the Elysium and 
 Tartarus of the gods of the heathen had been arranged; 
 instead of having made that “ under world ” to be the place 
 of death —of darkness and silence, where nothing is remem¬ 
 bered and nothing is known. And so they took it upon 
 themselves, to adjust and arrange the prison-house of the dead, 
 in accordance with heathen conceits. 
 
 They imagined two separate departments in sldol, separated 
 from each other by an impassable chasm or gulf. The one side 
 they called “Abraham’s bosom,”* and thought of it, as a place 
 of elysian repose and delight, to which the souls of the right¬ 
 eous— like themselves —went, at the hour of death ; and were 
 enjoying rest therein. But the other side they thought of as a 
 place of tartarian and tormenting flame; and to this they 
 consigned the souls of the wicked—those whom they judged 
 to be such—immediately after death ; there to be tormented 
 until the judgment day, which should precede the consum- 
 
 * It is familiarly known through Josephus, that these were the 
 religio-philosophic opinions of the Pharisees, and were the religious 
 belief of the people, whose minds were formed and governed by them. 
 
 10* 
 
114 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 mation of the kingdom of God. And besides all this, they 
 believed and taught the doctrine of metempsychosis or trans¬ 
 migration of souls, first taught by Pythagoras, about 540 
 years before the incarnation of the Lord. And so they 
 believed that it was only the perfectly righteous, who needed 
 no repentance, that went at death, to Abraham’s bosom ; 
 and that it was only the desperately and incorrigibly wicked 
 that went at death into the department of tormenting flame. 
 The souls of all others of the nation of Israel, they taught, 
 had another opportunity of becoming righteous, by transmi¬ 
 gration into other bodies; and were born a second time into 
 the world ; though it may be to suffer for sins committed in 
 the days of their former history upon the earth.* Such was 
 the theodicy which the pharisees approved. 
 
 They placed the perfectly righteous in Abraham’s bosom: 
 but in his parable, woven out of their own heathen conceits, 
 the Lord puts Lazarus there; who according to their moral 
 judgment, was an incorrigibly wicked man, whom God had 
 abandoned, even when he wms upon the earth. And they 
 placed the desperately evil and incorrigibly wicked, in the 
 department of tormenting flame : but in his parable, the Lord 
 put the “rich man” there; who according to them, w^as 
 thoroughly righteous, and one whom God highly approved. 
 In this way, he reversed and condemned their moral judg¬ 
 ment, for which purpose in part, he had taken up and used 
 their own vain and heathen conceits. But the Lord had still 
 another end in view. 
 
 He intended to expose the false confidence which the 
 pharisees rested on their lineal descent from Abraham ; on 
 their self-righteousness; and on their being prosperous and 
 rich. And for this purpose, he makes the rich man recognize 
 Abraham, and to claim a filial relationship to him, calling 
 
 * The disciples of the Lord had received this notion, as appears from 
 their question concerning the man who had been born blind. (Jno. 9: 2.) 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 115 
 
 him, “Father Abraham/ 7 and appealing to his paternal com¬ 
 passion for relief. He also makes Abraham acknowledge the 
 relationship, which the rich man claimed, and to call him, 
 “ Son,’ 7 — (telcnon, child, and dear child.) But, he makes 
 Abraham tell the rich man, that the acknowledged relation¬ 
 ship subsisting between them was not, and could not, be of 
 any avail to the rich man ; either for any personal relief or for 
 the saving advantage of those which were upon the earth, 
 (the brothers of the rich man ; which meant the pharisees, 
 themselves) and who neglected and despised what Moses and 
 the prophets had written, concerning sin, and righteousness, 
 and judgment; and concerning Him who was to come. He 
 makes Abraham to testify concerning Moses and the prophets, 
 and the suitableness and sufficiency of what they had written ; 
 and to say, that if their teaching were neglected and despised, 
 then, in that case, even the fact and the proof of the fact, of a 
 personal resurrection from the dead, could not be of any avail, 
 for the correction of inveterate unbelief. In this way, Abraham 
 is made to tell the rich man, that they, two, were irreversibly 
 separated ; and that none, who like himself despised the testi¬ 
 mony of the inspired Book, could ever be saved and enter, 
 into the kingdom of God; but at the day of judgment, would 
 and must be condemned. 
 
 Such is the true history, intent, and interpretation of the 
 parable of Lazarus and the rich man. And this the teachers 
 of the visible church ought to know. But, instead of teaching 
 the way of God in truth, they have built upon their false con¬ 
 ceptions of the origin and intent of this parable—(and thus 
 upon the gross fictions of the pharisees; and thus upon the 
 corrupt teachings of heathen mythology)—the ecclesiastical 
 doctrines of torture before trial; of the locality of hell in the 
 vicinity of heaven ; of the mutual recognition of persons who 
 are irreversibly separated from each other—the one being in 
 the paradise of God, and the other in a furnace of fire; and 
 of the anti-natural indifference and fiendish exultation of the 
 
116 
 
 WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 saints in heaven, over the writhing and eternal tortures of the 
 damned in hell. Such is the origin of these evil doctrines, 
 and of their being taught in the church. 
 
 As touching the ecclesiastical doctrine of torture before 
 trial, we ourglit perhaps, in justice, to notice that which is 
 offered as a justification of the procedure, thus attributed to 
 God. It is taught, that immediately that each sinner dies, he 
 appears before the bar of God, and is there tried and con¬ 
 demned to hell. But this teaching is not only untrue, but is 
 very evil; for it goes to represent the awful solemnities of the 
 day of judgment as a mere and merciless farce—a mere affair 
 of pompous and unmeaning parade ; and it contradicts the 
 plain teaching of the word of God, respecting dead sinners; 
 and particularly, that they are “reserved unto the day of 
 judgment to be punished ;” and that they shall come forth 
 unto “the resurrection of damnation,” in “the day of judg¬ 
 ment and perdition of ungodly men.” This and much more 
 of Holy Scripture is rejected and denied by the advocates of 
 the doctrines of the immortality of man, and of endless misery; 
 in their method of attempting to “ assert eternal Providence, 
 and vindicate the ways of God to man.” 
 
 But even in this untrue and unholy method of justifying 
 the conduct which they ascribe to God—namely, that o. 
 torture before trial, in the case of human sinners—they have 
 not attempted to show the justice of torturing the devil and 
 his angels before the day of decision has arrived. It is a 
 prominent part of the doctrine of present torment in hell, 
 that human souls are tormented in immediate association 
 with the devil and his angels, who are said to be shut up 
 in hell, being at the same time tormented and tormentors. 
 But the erroneousness of this has been fully shown in our 
 brief sketch of the revealed history of Satan and his host: 
 and even the awful words of the Lord concerning “ the eternal 
 tire prepared for the devil and his angels,” might suffice to 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 117 
 
 show to thoughtful men, that the judgment of God upon those 
 wicked spirits, is a future fact. 
 
 Eveu demons—who are the devil’s angels—have shown a 
 superior acquaintance with the principles of divine jurispru¬ 
 dence, than that which is shown in ecclesiastical teaching on 
 this subject. Demons, in the time of our Lord’s humiliation, 
 appealed to his justice, when they were apprehensive of 
 being put to the proof * and destroyed “before the time.” 
 (Matth. 8: 29 ; Mark 1: 24.) And they also “besought 
 him that he would not,” even “ command them to go into the 
 deep”—into the abusson, “the bottomless pit,” as this word 
 is generally translated—(Luke 8: 31,) the bottomless pit or 
 profound depth, in hades , in “ the heart of the earth,” where 
 the devil and his angels shall be confined a thousand years. 
 Thus even demons—the devil’s angels—might teach some 
 wise and learned men, important principles in relation to the 
 moral government of God, and his just and true ways, in 
 visiting iniquity, with the displays of his holy wrath. 
 
 The devil and his angels have never yet been in hell: but 
 there is another and a different class of angels of whom, Peter 
 and Jude have written. Concerning them, Peter says, that 
 they were “ cast down to hell”—to tartaros , the lowest depth 
 in the “ under world”—where they are left to themselves ; 
 “delivered into chains of darkness,” and “ reserved unto 
 judgment.” (2 Pet. 2 : 4.) And Jude testifies, that they are 
 “ reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the 
 judgment of the great day.” (Jude 6.) Therefore these 
 chained angels—held fast in chains of darkness, in the lowest 
 depth of hades —these cannot walk about upon the earth, 
 practising moral mischief and inflicting physical distress. 
 They cannot roam at large in the regions of space, which are 
 above the earth. It cannot possibly be this class of beings 
 
 * The word in the original, is basanisai. The origin and history of 
 this word will be shown as we proceed. 
 
118 
 
 WHAT IB MAN ? 
 
 of whom we are told, that they have their presence in the 
 heavenlies ; whence they descend to originate and promote 
 moral evil among men—to set up systematic antagonism to 
 the truths of the inspired Book, even in the midst of the 
 church ; and against whom the true servants of Christ are 
 called upon to wrestle—putting on the whole armor of God. 
 But all this, and much more, is true of Satan and his host, 
 concerning whose past and present residence and history, 
 so much that is erroneous is taught in the visible church. 
 And if, in these respects, certain ecclesiastical teachers have 
 greatly erred—not knowing the Scriptures, nor the justice of 
 God—it cannot be surprising if they have assigned to Satan 
 a destiny that is not assigned to him in the Scriptures of 
 truth. What then may be learned concerning the destiny of 
 Satan, in the inspired Book ? 
 
 We have shown that when the Lord Jesus shall come again, 
 to establish his predicted Empire over Israel as the Messiah, 
 and over the Gentile nations, through Israel, as the Second 
 Man, “ the Lord of the whole earth ;” then Satan shall be cast 
 into the abusson, which is sldol, hades or hell, and is called in 
 English “ the bottomless pit.” Into this prison Satan shall 
 then be cast for the first time, and shall be imprisoned during 
 a thousand years ; from which prison he shall be “ loosed for 
 a little season,” and will again, for a brief period work wick¬ 
 edness on the earth. (Rev. 20 : 2, 7, 8.) And when his iniquity 
 is full, then his final destiny shall overtake him, and the Scrip¬ 
 ture concerning his doom shall be fulfilled. We say, When 
 his iniquity is full. For there exists a principle of long- 
 suffering, and of equity in the jurisprudence of God, by reason 
 of which the moral judgment of God against sin “is not 
 speedily executed.” In the days of Abraham, it was a deci¬ 
 sion of God that the Amorities should be dispossessed of the 
 land which their very presence defiled, being the family of 
 Canaan, the accursed, (Gen. 9: 25-27.) and holding in posses¬ 
 sion the land which God had promised to Abraham and his 
 
119 
 
 * WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 seed. But in those days God informed Abraham that his seed 
 should not enter upon the possession of that land for 430 
 years, but should abide a long time in a strange land ; and 
 then should be delivered and brought back to the country in 
 which Abraham then was : and the reason which God assigned 
 for the delay was expressed in these words:—“For the 
 iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.” (Gen. 15 : 13-16.) 
 On the same principle of long-suffering, God had waited in the 
 days of Noah, before he destroyed the antediluvian world :* 
 (Gen. 6 : 3 ; 1 Pet. 3 : 20.) and it is again brought under 
 notice, in his judgment upon that extensive and manifold 
 system of national and ecclesiastical evil, dramatically repre¬ 
 sented by the woman who is first supported by a “ scarlet 
 colored beast,” and is afterwards destroyed by that beast and 
 his confederate kings. (Rev. 11 : 3-16.) Of that dramatic 
 woman it is said, when the day of her doom has arrived, “For 
 her sins have reached to heaven, and God hath remembered her 
 iniquities.” (Rev. 18 : 5.) And this principle of divine 
 government is known to Satan and his host, though it may be 
 disregarded in the visible church. We have shown that the 
 demons appealed to it, when they trembled in the presence of 
 Christ, and pleaded that 11 the time ” of their judgment had not 
 yet come. They could not raise any question as to the equity 
 of the judgment, when the time shall have arrived. 
 
 'The time of Satan’s judgment is after “the thousand years,” 
 and when his iniquity is full; and then shall he receive his 
 doom ; and his destiny shall be according to his desert , and 
 
 * When referring to the Noahic flood, Peter says, that the “ world 
 that then was perished.” (2 Pet. 3: 5, 6.) The Jcosmos , perished ; hut 
 the gee, remained. The antediluvian kosmos was the then order of 
 things; but the gee —which Peter distinguishes from the kosmos —was, 
 and is the abiding “earth.” “The world that then was, being over¬ 
 flowed with water perished. 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 perdition of ungodly men.” 
 
120 
 
 WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 * 
 
 in accordance with the dignity of God. A two-fold destiny 
 awaits the devil—the one, political, and the other, personal. 
 God has his eternal purpose, and Satan has his most evil 
 policy. The dramatic representation of the purpose and 
 scheme of God, is that of a glorious woman ; and the dramatic 
 representation of the personal policy and scheme of Satan, is 
 that of a “ great red dragon.” (Rev. 12: 1-3.) We are 
 taught to distinguish in our minds between the blessed God, 
 and the purpose of his manifold wisdom ; to which the idea 
 of maternity is attached. But Satan and his host are 
 involved in his own policy and plan : and in the doom of his 
 policy, his person and the persons of his host are involved. 
 But it is the personal policy of Satan, that the great red 
 dragon more especially represents, in Rev. 12 : 3. And it is 
 the great red dragon, that is caught and chained and cast into 
 the abyss, and is imprisoned there a thousand years; and is 
 then let loose ; and is afterwards cast into “ the lake of fire.” 
 The policy of Satan, as we have just remarked, involves his 
 person; and so the doom of his policy involves his personal 
 doom. But it is the political doom of the devil, or the devil 
 as politically considered, that is intended, and is dramatically 
 described, when it is said, ‘‘And the devil that deceived 
 them ( the nations') was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, 
 where the beast and the false prophet are; and they shall 
 be tormented day and night, for ever and ever.” (Rev. 20 : 
 10.) The passive verb, in the original, basanistheesontai , 
 is a plural verb, and so requires to be read, “ and they shall 
 be tormented or, as divested of the dramatic dress—“ and 
 
 * The dramatic force and design of this plural verb, basanistheesontai , 
 is not— they shall be tortured, as some men count torture. As we have 
 noticed befoi'e: that the verb, basanizo, and the noun, basamsmos , are 
 derived from basanos, the name of a gtone found in Lydia, in Asia 
 Minor, by which gold was tried— a touch stone. From the literal 
 meaning of basanos , came the metaphorical use of basanismos —that 
 which tests or puts to the proof. In the mind of a Roman Inquisitor—• 
 
WHAT :s MAN ? 
 
 121 
 
 they shall be put to the proof, unto the ages of the ages.” 
 That trinity of evil, called “the dragon,” and “the beast,” 
 and “ the false prophet,” shall be together, involved in the 
 same final doom. 
 
 But who, or what are the beast and the false prophet ? 
 What do they symbolize in the drama of the apocalypse ? 
 On the true ascertainment of this, very much depends, in 
 relation to the truth concerning the destiny described. They 
 are symbols of governmental and of moral polity and 
 power; and their origin and history must be sought after 
 and learned. Composite symbols of governmental attributes 
 and power are of very ancient date. They were first 
 
 both ancient and modern—both secular and ecclesiastical—this word, 
 and its verbs, came to mean torture, and torturing, to elicit evidence or 
 co extort a confession. But even in this there was an end proposed to 
 Ce obtained by means of the torture; and, so, an end to the torture 
 Itself. The torment inflicted was, professedly at least , a means to an 
 end; and not for the mere sake of tormenting —as the ways of God are 
 noAv represented to be—which representation is most evil, and a 
 calumny against the Lord. 
 
 In common discourse, the word basanismos, and its verbs came to 
 represent the ideas of painful toil, and great bodily affliction; just as 
 the word “martyr” is used to signify one who greatly suffers. But 
 the word, martyr is the English form of the Greek and Scriptural word 
 martur, which means a “witness.” But the common use of the word, 
 martyr, has arisen from the fact, that the witnesses of Christ have 
 suffered greatly, even to death: and in like manner, the words, basanos, 
 and basanismos, and the verbs derived therefrom, came to signify, in 
 common discourse, great suffering, and the infliction of torture; 
 because, that by the inquisitors of Greece, and Borne, men were 
 grievously tormented. But as the word martur, always means a wit¬ 
 ness, basanismos, and its verbs always retain their radical meaning, 
 when used in relation to the jurisprudence and penal administration of 
 God. The feminine symbol, called “Babylon the Great,” and the 
 masculine symbols, called “the beast and the false prophet,” are said 
 to be tormented ; that is, the systems of ecclesiastical, and of secular, 
 and moral polity and power, which those symbols represent, shall be 
 tested and put to the proof. 
 
122 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 instituted of God, in the cherubim that were entabernacled in 
 the garden of Eden, as the attendants of the sacred fire, to 
 keep the w&y to the tree of life, and to debar man, “ lest he 
 put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, 
 and live forever.” The cherubim represented the govern¬ 
 mental attributes of God ; and their forms were those of the 
 eagle, the bull, the lion and the man : and in after years they 
 were artistically reproduced and combined in the golden 
 cherubim, that formed a part of the mercy-seat in the most 
 holy place of the Mosaic tabernacle; and were the heraldic 
 supporters of the governmental glory of God—as the God 
 and King of the nation which he had redeemed. 
 
 The knowledge of the Edenic cherubim survived the 
 Noahic flood. Their forms were reproduced at Nineveh, as 
 symbols of human power and glory; claimed and asserted in 
 the way of despotic dominion : and those Ninevite symbols 
 have recently been exhumed. In a word : a perverted knowl¬ 
 edge of the Edenic cherubim, and of the sacred fire, is the 
 origin of the sensible images of idolatry , and of the armorial 
 bearings of heraldry; and also of astronomical signs. 
 
 The nations of the world, having impiously adopted and 
 perverted the symbols of the divine government over the 
 world, God has been pleased to make a dramatic and pro¬ 
 phetic use of such symbols as the nations have adopted and 
 revered ; and by means of those symbols, to express his esti¬ 
 mate of the policy and power of the nations of the world ; 
 and also to show what shall be the end of “ all rule and all 
 authority and power,” of which men are the claimants, and of 
 which Satan is the despotic Chief Prince. 
 
 The “ serpent ” also, and the “ dragon ”* are images of 
 
 The word drakon, in Greek, is remotely derived from derJco, which 
 means to see, to behold; and seems primarily, to denote keen perceptive¬ 
 ness and sagacity. The word ophis, a serpent, has the same ideal mean¬ 
 ing, but is derived from optomai. The Hebrew origin of the dramatic use 
 of the word, drakon in the Apocalypse may be dah-racii, the ideal 
 
WITAT IS MAX ? 
 
 123 
 
 idolatry, and forms of heraldry, and signs of mysterious 
 science : and “ the sacred fire ” of the oriental heathen is 
 worshiped with awe. But ‘'the serpent,” is the first name 
 of Satan; and was the form which he assumed when he intro¬ 
 duced and urged the doctrine of man’s inherent immortality; 
 calumniating God and working the ruin and destruction of 
 the first man and his race. And “the dragon” is a symbol 
 of Satan’s personal policy , in all his evil working among and 
 over the nations of the world. 
 
 Sulphur or “ brimstone ” was associated, in the minds of the 
 ancient nations with their ideas of “the sacred fire,” which 
 they worshiped as their chief administrative God. The Greeks 
 called brimstone, theion, from theios — divine. Among idola¬ 
 trous nations, “ brimstone,” which they called the divine 
 reality or virtue, was pre-eminently used in their religious 
 purifications: and to secure effectually this divine and puri¬ 
 fying virtue, they had its application accompanied by a blazing 
 torch—a burning torch, with the addition of brimstone, was 
 three times carried round the person who was to be religiously 
 purified and made clean. “ Fire and brimstone ” were thus 
 made the objects of human confidence and hope. And so 
 God has been pleased, dramatically to employ “fire and brim¬ 
 stone” to test “the beast and the false prophet;” and “the 
 dragon ” with them; and indeed to test and put to the proof, 
 all who have actively and lawlessly opposed themselves to his 
 truth and ways; both in the nation of Israel, and in the 
 visible church. Hypocrites and apostates shall hereafter be 
 put to the proof.* 
 
 meaning of which is, to tread, to tread upon; and so to oppress, and to 
 destroy. In the Welsh, the word for dragon, is draig, and signifies a 
 leader, a chief or sovereign; from dragiaw, to draw or lead along. In 
 its druidical and mythological meaning, this Welsh word dbatg, signifies 
 a procreative principle, a fiery serpent , a dragon, and a God—the supreme 
 God. Mythological and dramatic ideas of the dragon, were familiar to 
 the ancient nations of the East. 
 
 * The metaphoric and dramatic use of the words and ideas of 
 
124 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 It must also be borne in mind, that all worship not 
 rendered to the eternal Godhead, is worship offered to 
 devils —to Satan and his angels. Both Moses at the head of 
 Israel, and Paul in the midst of the church testify of this. 
 (Levit. It : t ; Deut, 32 : It; 1 Cor. 10 : 20.) All worship 
 that is not true and duteous worship, presented to the true 
 God, as ordained by Him—is offered up to devils, and is 
 accepted by them ; whether it be the bodily and ceremonial 
 worship of idols, and the offering of sacrifice to them ; or 
 whether it be the mental worship of Mammon, (Money) in 
 the devotion of the soul to the acquisition of wealth. Or if 
 it be 'power that is worshiped, instead of God, such worship 
 is offered to Satan; as it is said: “And all the world 
 wandered after the beast: and they worshiped the dragon 
 who gave power unto the beast.” 
 
 But who, or what is the beast? “The beast” is a com¬ 
 posite symbol of the secular polity and power of the Roman 
 world in the last stage of its history, as sketched on the pages 
 of inspired truth.” 
 
 We have said, that God has been pleased to employ, in the 
 tvay of prophetic and dramatic representation, the kind of 
 symbols that the men of the earth have arrogantly adopted as 
 the insignia of their glory and power. In this way He has 
 sketched the rise and fall of the Empires of the world. The 
 autocratic and absolute despotism of Babylon is represented 
 by the lion; the aristocratic despotism and ferocious prowess 
 of Medio-Persia by the bear; the military despotism of 
 Grecia, and its rapid conquests, and also its civilization—its 
 arts and sciences and philosophy—by the agile and cruel, but 
 
 brimstone and fire, does not by any means, interfere with the idea and 
 fact of literal fire to be employed of God, in the final destruction of the 
 ungodly, and the world. The testimony of Holy Scripture is quite 
 explicit on this subject. The dramatic fire shall put to the proof; but 
 the literal fire shall utterly destroy; and this shall be the end of all 
 things that are evil. 
 
WITAT IS MAN ? 
 
 125 
 
 elegant leopard; and the subduing and manifold power of 
 Rome is represented by a non-descript beast, having great 
 iron teeth, and ten horns, in and upon its head. (Dan. 7 : 
 1-8.) But “the beast” of the apocalypse is otherwise and 
 variously described. 
 
 The first time “ the beast ” is mentioned, he is spoken of as 
 ascending out of the abyss—the abusson, or profound depth. 
 (Rev. 11 : 7.) The signification of this is twofold : first, it 
 is designed to intimate, that the polity represented—in the 
 elements and exercise of its power—is not of God. It is from 
 beneath, and not from above. And secondly, it .is intended 
 to show, that the polity symbolized, had once appeared on the 
 stage of the Roman world; had also disappeared ; and shall 
 reappear : for whosoever and whatsoever is represented as 
 descending into, or ascending out of the abyss, had previously 
 performed a part upon the face of the earth. For the reasons 
 now intimated, “ the beast ” is spoken of as “ the beast that 
 was, and is not, and yet is, or shall be present .” (Rev. 17: 8.) 
 
 The formal rise and manifestation of a composite beast is 
 dramatically shown in Rev. 13 : 1-10. He is represented as 
 coming up out of the sea—which is the symbol of political and 
 revolutionary commotion. Besides having all the symbolic 
 characteristics of Babylon, Medio-Persia, Greece and Rome, 
 he has seven heads—which represent seven distinguishable 
 polities, or mutations of power. One of these heads is repre¬ 
 sented as having been mortally wounded, or slain, with a 
 sword ; but also as being healed. The seventh and last form 
 of Roman polity is in this way described. It has appeared, 
 and was slain with a sword : and it shall re-appear, in the full 
 activity and energy of vigorous life. And of this beast, as 
 restored to full vigor upon the earth, it is said, “ And the 
 dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great 
 authority.” The “great red dragon” is previously repre¬ 
 sented, as “ having seven heads and ten horns, and seven 
 
 diadems upon his heads.” Now the dragon is “that old 
 
 11 * 
 
126 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 serpent, called the Devil and Satan,” and by his seven 
 crowned heads, the fact is represented, that the seven successive 
 polities of the Roman Empire have been and are the seven-fold 
 policy of Satan, in his antagonism to the purpose, and the 
 truths of God. But “ the beast ” “ is an eighth, and is out 
 of the seven.” lie is the mature product and result of the 
 seven-fold policy of Satan—the great master-piece of the evil 
 wisdom and mighty power of the Devil. That, which at first 
 is shown as the slain, but miraculously healed, head of the 
 composite beast—Satan’s miracle of power—is subsequently 
 shown to be evolved in the manifestation of “the beast.” or 
 that out of which the distinctive character of “the beast ” is 
 evolved. (Rev. It : 11.) He ascendeth out of the abyss; 
 and he “goeth into perdition,”— eis apoleian, that is, unto 
 destruction—final and eternal destruction; but he is first 
 to be pul to the proof. 
 
 “ The false prophet” is, in the first instance called “another 
 beast,” which is represented as “coming up out of the earth.” 
 That is, he arises out of the ordered and settled state of things 
 in the Roman World, when revolutionary commotion shall 
 have subsided ; as the effect of the parousia, or manifested 
 presence of “ the first beastto whom Satan gives “ his 
 power, and his throne, and great authority.” This second 
 beast, “ the false prophet ” is the symbol of the moral polity 
 and power of the Roman World, in the last stage of its 
 history. It will be accredited of Satan, who will display in it, 
 most marvelous powers—miraculous powers, in imitation of 
 the powers of the Holy Ghost; as shown through Moses, and 
 the prophets, and the apostles of the Lord. But the world 
 will not know or believe that it is the great power and 
 authority of Satan. And this second beast will act in 
 subserviency to the first beast, and will exercise all his 
 authority in his presence; (Rev. 13: 11-11.) that is, the 
 moral polity or system will be sustained by the secular power, 
 
what is man ? 
 
 127 
 
 and will enforce the arrogant and blasphemous pretensions 
 and will of the secular power. 
 
 This second beast is first called “ the false prophet” in 
 Rev. 16 : 13, and lie is so called, because that, the moral 
 polity which is thus described will claim to be the mature 
 result of manly wisdom : but it will be the maturity of the 
 wisdom of the world and of Satan, (the prince of this world 
 and the God of this age) wisdom “without God,” and against 
 the will, and purpose, and truths, and saints of God ; and 
 therefore not fit to be represented by a feminine symbol — 
 “a woman.” The purpose and polity of God is symbolized 
 by a glorious woman. (Rev. 12 : 1.) But the moral policy 
 of Satan# is represented by a “beast,” who pretends to exer¬ 
 cise an innocent, lamb-like power; but, who utters and 
 enforces the sentiments and will of a dragon : and the symbol 
 being masculine , and representing that which claims to be the 
 maturity of manly wisdom, is called also, “the false prophet.” 
 
 Concerning “ the beast,” it is shown that he will obtain 
 the ascendency over the ruling powers of the Roman world : 
 “and these shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb 
 shall overcome them.” But before their combined powers 
 are directed in one united movement of hostility to “ the 
 Christ,” and against “them that are with him,” these ruling 
 powers, headed up by “the beast,” or having adopted the 
 policy called “ the beast”—these ruling powers will expose 
 that which is described as a wicked woman, even “Babylon 
 the Great.” They will also, confiscate her substance and 
 destroy her system. And the reason assigned, is this : “ For 
 God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will {teen gnomeen 
 autou, His policy) and to agree and give their kingdom, or 
 sovereignty, to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.” 
 They will be the executioners of the wrath of God, against 
 that abominable woman, who shall be utterly burnt with fire; 
 and concerning whom it is said, “And her smoke rose up for 
 ever and ever.” 
 
128 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 The great conflict between the ruling powers of the Roman 
 world—the horns of the beast, the product of his inward 
 energy, and instruments of this evil power—the great conflict, 
 between these hostile powers and the Lord, is described in 
 Rev. 19 : 11—21. In recording his vision, John first describes 
 the appearing of the Lord, as that of a veteran and majestic 
 warrior, upon a white horse, and followed by the armies of 
 heaven on white horses. (The raised, and changed, and 
 immortalized saints are thus described.) And then John says, 
 “ And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their 
 armies, gathered together to make war with him that sat on 
 the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken 
 and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before 
 him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark 
 of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These 
 both were cast alive into a lake of fire, burning with brim¬ 
 stone. .And the remnant (that is, the persons) were slain 
 with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which (sword) 
 proceedeth out of his mouth : and all the fowls were filled 
 with their flesh.” It must be thoughtfully observed that the 
 persons were slain on the earth, but the symbols were cast 
 into the lake of fire—“ were cast alive , into a lake of fire, 
 burning wdth brimstone.” 
 
 We have now arrived at a solution of the question, Who , 
 or what are the beast and the false prophet ? The process 
 may have seemed long and tedious to the reader, but it is the 
 only path along which we could arrive at the true solution ; 
 and this is necessary to the purpose in view. 
 
 In Daniel T : 11, the destiny of the Roman “ beast” is 
 spoken of thus : “ I beheld till the beast was slain, and his 
 body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.” Daniel 
 thus foresaw the ultimate end of ‘'the beast,” even as it is 
 foredeclared twdce in Rev. 11 : he shall “go unto destruc¬ 
 tion” — apoleian. But here in Rev. 19 : 20, an additional 
 truth is supplied, as compared with what Daniel beheld. John 
 
WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 129 
 
 saw the beast and the false prophet cast alive , into the lake 
 of fire; and they are represented as being still there and 
 alive, at the end of the thousand years, when Satan is let 
 loose out of his prison. And this is intended to teach, in 
 the way of dramatic representation, what is elsewhere taught 
 in a plain way, viz :—that during and throughout the thousand 
 years, it shall be left, as an open question, as to whether those 
 same systems of secular and moral power —represented by 
 the beast and the false prophet—will ever be able to rise up 
 again, and be re-established upon the earth. This is what 
 is meant; and so the beast and the false prophet are repre¬ 
 sented as alive, in an open pool or lake of fire, burning with 
 brimstone, upon the surface of the earth, and in the view of 
 all. And when Satan is let loose, the great experiment is 
 tried : for 11 he goes out to deceive the nations which are in 
 the four quarters of the earth and a general and simulta¬ 
 neous, insurrectionary movement is the immediate effect of his 
 wicked policy and power. 
 
 It is shown by the Holy Spirit, in Paul, that the Millen¬ 
 nial Empire of the Lord will be a sovereignty of restraint—■ 
 the restraint of evil during the thousand years, and the des¬ 
 truction of all evil, in the end. In Heb. 1 : 13 and 2 : 8, 
 Paul quotes from Ps. 8 : 6 and 110 : 1, 2; with this twofold 
 truth in view. The second verse of Ps. 110, should be 
 observed and pondered well;—“Jehovah shall send the rod 
 of thy strength out of Zion : rule thou in the midst of 
 
 _ s 
 
 thine enemies.” In Ps. 18, David represents the Messiah, 
 and therein he says, “ A people whom I have not known (or 
 previously acknowledged ) shall serve me : as soon as they 
 hear of me, they shall obey me : (such as Egypt and Assyria) 
 —the strangers (bh’nai-neii-chaiir, characteristically aliens 
 in heart) shall submit themselves to me —yield feigned 
 submission ; the original is from kah-chasii, to dissemble, 
 to enact a lie. And in Ps. G6, in which the mnjesty of 
 Messiah’s kingdom is the theme, it is said, “ Make a joyful 
 
130 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 noise unto God, all the earth : Sing forth the honor of his 
 name; make his praise glorious. Say unto God, How terri¬ 
 ble art thou in thy works ! through the greatness of thy power 
 shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee—yield 
 feigned submission. 
 
 All through the thousand years, the remembrance of the 
 polity and powers, called “ the beast and the false prophet,” 
 will be kept alive in the hearts of the dessembling nations ; 
 and they will in their hearts hate the dominion of the Son of 
 Man, who will in truth, “ rule them with an iron sceptre,” 
 (Ps 2,) in as far as restraining power is concerned : but his 
 laws will be holy, just and good ; and his administration will 
 be righteousness and beneficence and peace. Yet in their 
 hearts, the nations will hate his dominion, and count it a heavy 
 and galling yoke ; because their self-will is curbed, and the 
 evil of their hearts is restrained. They will long to be free 
 from the governmental yoke of the Messiah. But Satan will 
 then be confined, and man is a poor, weak thing, even for 
 evil, when not instigated and energized by the devil—he is 
 then a poor, fearful and cowardly thing. But at the end of 
 the millennium, Satan will be loosed out of his prison, and 
 immediately the evil courage of the nations will be revived ; 
 and they will rise up in united rebellion against the government 
 of Christ, which they have long hated, but of the power of 
 which, they were sore afraid. And then will the hour have 
 come, when, with the help of the devil, those nations will seek 
 to repossess the earth, and once more call it their own. Then 
 the question will be decided, as to whether, with the help of 
 Satan, the beast and the false prophet shall escape from the lake 
 of fire, and reappear, in power, on the earth. But in the 
 prophetic drama, it is said, concerning the insurrectionary and 
 rebellious nations, “ And fire came down from God out of 
 heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived 
 them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the 
 beast and the false prophet are, and they shall be put to the 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 131 
 
 proof day and night, unto the ages of the ages.” Instead of 
 an escape and a re-establishment on the part of the beast and 
 the false prophet, by the assistance of the devil, he himself is 
 cast into the same lake of fire with them, and to share their 
 doom ; and it shall not any longer be an open question , as to 
 whether moral evil shall reappear and become rampant on the 
 earth, or in any department of the universe of God. 
 
 Such is the intent of the passage in R>ev. 20 : 10. The 
 political destiny of Satan is therein dramatically described : 
 but his personal destiny is involved in the destruction of the 
 Roman beast, as foreseen by Daniel, in vision ; (Dan. 7 : 11.) 
 and as twice foredeclared, in plain words to John (Rev. 
 17: 8-11.) 
 
 The personal destiny of that old serpent, the calummiator 
 and adversary, was foredeclared in the garden of Eden, and in 
 significant words too—in that which is commonly called, “ the 
 first promise,” but is most erroneously so called. In the affair 
 of a promise , there must be the promiser and the promisee ; 
 but in the passage in Gen. 3 : 14, 15, God is the speaker, and 
 the serpent is the one addressed, and the subject of that which 
 is declared : “And Jehovah Eloheem said unto the serpent, 
 Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, 
 and above every beast of the field : upon thy belly shalt thou 
 go, and dust*shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I 
 will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy 
 seed and her seed ; it shall bruise (or crush) thy head, and 
 thou shalt bruise (or crush) his heel.” 
 
 Now, if teachers of the visible church have so erred, as to 
 call this curse by the name of “the first promise,” it is no 
 marvel that they have so greatly erred concerning the destiny 
 of Satan. The figurative words of the curse upon the devil, 
 are most significant words—every word is weighty :— 
 
 1. The devil is cursed above all cattle and every beast of 
 the field. Great as he was—in intellect, and evil, moral 
 
132 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 power, and physical might, lie shall be more debased than the 
 brute beasts. 
 
 2. He shall be physically degraded : this shall be fulfilled 
 when he is cast out of the heavenlies, and restricted for a 
 short time, to the surface of the earth:—‘‘upon thy belly 
 slialt thou go.” 
 
 3. He shall be most thoroughly subjugated; as when he 
 shall be seized and chained, and cast into the abyss, and there 
 imprisoned a thousand years :—“ dust slialt thou eatas it 
 is said of all, who rise up against “the second man,” the 
 Messiah: “His enemies shall lick the dust.” 
 
 4. His conflict with the Seed of the woman—his cruel hos¬ 
 tility to “the second man” is expressly foreshown: “thou 
 slialt crush his heel.” But that will be only a momentary 
 injury to him. But, “he shall crush thy head ” and that will 
 be fatal to thee —thou slialt be not only vanquished and 
 stunned in the conflict, but in the end thou slialt be slain—■ 
 ignominiously and utterly destroyed. 
 
 The degradation and the destiny of the devil, which was 
 thus foredeclared when the serpent was cursed, is shown to 
 be one great end, contemplated in the incarnation and myste¬ 
 rious death of the Son of God, as it is written, in plain words, 
 without any figure of speech : “ For as much, then, as the 
 children are partakers of flesh'and blood, he also himself 
 likewise partook of the same, that through death he might 
 Destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil.” 
 (Heb. 2: 14.) 
 
 We have shown how God has denounced the doom of the 
 devil: and he shall not escape—shall not survive the crushing 
 blow that shall come upon his head from the power of the 
 woman’s Seed. And we now turn back to those terrible 
 words: “ The eternal fire prepared for the devil and his 
 angels.” By that “eternal fire” the devil and his angels 
 shall be destroyed —as they know, and some of them have 
 shown that they know; and all who are cast into that eternal 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 133 
 
 fire shall also be destroyed, even as Sodom and Gomorrha 
 were destroyed. 
 
 The apostles, Jude and Peter, both tell us that the destruc¬ 
 tion of Sodom and Gomorrha is set forth, or recorded, for an 
 example. Jude describes the instrument of destruction—• 
 “the vengeance of eternal fire;” (Jude 7,) and Peter des¬ 
 cribes the result—“turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha 
 into ashes.” (2 Peter 2 : 6.) And in like manner, God 
 denounced the doom of the first man, saying, “ For dust 
 
 THOU ART, AND UNTO DUST SHALT THOU RETURN.” 
 
 The revealed penalty of human sin, and in this, the revealed 
 destiny of man, as a sinner, is that which we are more par¬ 
 ticularly called upon to make manifest, from the inspired 
 Book. 
 
 The premonition given of God to the first man, must be 
 again noticed here: “But of the tree of the knowledge of 
 good and evil, thou shall not eat of it; for in the day that 
 thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” The words of fore¬ 
 warning, we have explained, but must do so again : —motii 
 tamooth, to die , thou shalt die ; the infinitive preceding the 
 future. The grammatical rule has been shown, but it must 
 be repeated :—“ When the infinite precedes a finite verb of 
 the same sense, intensity and certainty are signified. But 
 if an infinitive follow, then, and in that case, continuation 
 and repetition are implied.” But in the clause, moth 
 tamooth, the infinitive precedes the future; and the true 
 meaning and force of the clause is this : “ For in the day 
 that thou eatest thereof, thou art fore-doomed to die : and 
 on some future day, thou shalt certainly and utterly die.” 
 
 But, in ecclesiastical teaching, the grammatical rule and 
 usage governing the above clause is falsified and reversed ; 
 and the ideas of continuation and repetition are arbitrarily 
 substited for those of intensity and certainty. And in this 
 way, an inexcusable solecism is introduced, and is ascribed to 
 
 the premonitory language of God. Jehovah Eloheem is 
 
 12 
 
 / 
 
134 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 represented as saying to the man, “ For on the very day on 
 which thou eatest thereof, thou shalt begin to die ; yea thou 
 shalt die and continue to die—be repeatedly and continuously, 
 and always dying.” And by means of this solecism, the 
 doctrine of three deaths has been introduced and is enforced ; 
 and for this purpose other solecisms are employed. The 
 three deaths said to have been threatened of God, are thus 
 described:—1. “Death spiritual; that is, thou shalt become 
 dead to God, and lose the favor of God.” But when 
 teachers of the visible church say, that man died spiritually , 
 on the day on which he sinned, they forget, or have not known, 
 that man was not spiritual at, and by, his creation. This is 
 taught by the Holy Spirit in Paul. (1 Cor. 15 : 46.) Man 
 was innocent and “very good,” but was not spiritual; he 
 became morally dead, (nekros) or in other words, he became 
 in moral condition a sinner. But it would not be necessary 
 that God should inform the man, that when he sinned, he 
 would be a sinner; and it was not possible that God should 
 threaten him, that He, the Holy God, would inflict sin upon 
 him as a part of his punishment. 2. “ Death temporal; that 
 is, on some future day thy body shall die—thy soul shall be 
 separated from thy body, and so thy body shall die.” But 
 according to this, the man was not to die at all , and death 
 is represented as being only a change in the mode of the 
 human existence. The man was still to lice , though his 
 mode of existence was changed. 3. “ Death eternal; that is, 
 thou shalt live forever in ceaseless, endless agonies, that cannot 
 be expressed; but which thou shalt forever feel—thou shalt 
 die a never-dying death, shalt be continually, always and 
 forever dying; but thou shalt live forever in the article and 
 agonies of death, with the unabated vigor of immortal life ; 
 for thou shalt never die at all.” 
 
 Now it must be perceived, that solecism and self-contradic¬ 
 tion cannot exceed what is here exposed, and which is often 
 found in the literature, and even in the psalmody of the visible 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 1 Q K 
 
 i oo 
 
 church. 11 God is his own interpreter, and Tie will make it 
 plain.” In the sentence pronounced, the force of the premo¬ 
 nition is clearly and fully shown :—“ In the sweat of thy face 
 shalt thou eat bread, till thou shalt return into the earth ; 
 for out of it wast thou taken ; for dust thou art, and unto 
 dust shalt thou return.” u The first man is out of the earth,” 
 and the final destiny of man—as man and a sinner—is to 
 return* into the earth, and to become, as though he had not 
 been. (Obad 16.) 
 
 The destiny of man, as denounced of God in the Garden of 
 Eden, is continuously shown in the concurrent teaching of 
 the inspired Book. We have examined the eight passages, 
 which are adduced to sustain the doctrine of everlasting life, 
 in ceaseless agonies; and have shown how thoughtlessly and 
 evilly they are misconstrued. And we could quote eight 
 hundred passages, in which the mortality of man, and the 
 infliction of a proper death, on man, as the just judgment of 
 God, are either expressed in words, or are expressly recog¬ 
 nized in various ways. A few selections will suffice. 
 
 It has been noticed by others, that in the legislation and 
 administration of Moses, there is no reference made to a 
 future, much less an immortal state, in the history of man. 
 In the penal language of Moses, the transgressor is spoken 
 of thus : “ That soul shall be cut off”—“shall be cut off from 
 Israeland God says—concerning him who would despise 
 the Messiah when he came—“ I will require it of him and 
 this the Holy Spirit in Peter, explains thus : 11 And it shall 
 come to pass that every soul, who will not hear that Prophet, 
 shall be destroyed from among the people.” (Acts 3 : 23.) 
 
 The common sayings of the Hebrews, are those of a people 
 who knew the truth of man’s mortality , and of the revealed 
 destiny of man, as a sinner against God. This is shown in 
 such instances as the words of Abigail to David, (1 Sam. 24: 
 
 * Notice Ps. 90: 3-6. 
 
136 
 
 WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 29,) and in the words of the wise woman of Tekoah. (2 
 Sam. 14 : 14.) And in the Book of Job, it is shown that 
 other ancient and oriental people expressed the same ideas, 
 in very expressive forms. 
 
 In the inspired poetry of the Hebrews, the mortality and 
 vanity of man, and the destructive penalty of sin, are promi¬ 
 nent elements, and denunciatory themes :—“ The wicked shall 
 perish and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of 
 lambs : they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume 
 away.” (Ps. 31: 20.) “ A brutish man knoweth not; 
 
 neither doth the fool understand this : When the wicked 
 spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do 
 flourish, it is that they shall be destroyed forever. But, 
 thou Jehovah most high, art forever more.” (Ps. 92 : 1, 8.) 
 And in contrast with the destruction of the wicked, the 
 psalmist praises God, saying, “ For thou hast delivered my 
 soul from death ;” (Ps. 56 : 13,) and again, “Bless the Lord, 
 O my soul—who redeemeth thy life from destruction ; who 
 crowneth thee with loving kindness;” (Ps. 103: 4,) and 
 again, “For with thee is the fountain of life.” (Ps. 36 : 9,) 
 “ There is but a moment in his anger: in his favor is life.” 
 (Ps. 30 : 5.) The sacred songs of the Temple service, were 
 the expressions of sacred and solemn truths, concerning man, 
 as man ; and were distinctive and animating strains concern¬ 
 ing “the ransomed of the Lord.” But the popular songs 
 and psalmody of Christendom are in striking and convicting 
 contrast with the poetry inspired of God, and sung to the 
 music of David’s harp, and afterwards in the Temple which 
 Solomon had reared. We speak in reference to the subject, 
 now more immediately in view. 
 
 The proverbial philosophy of the Hebrews abounds in 
 aphorisms, founded on the mortality of man, and on the 
 utter death which is the moral and legal desert, and the 
 revealed destiny of man, as a sinful creature. And in one 
 passage, there is a formal declaration, that there shall be no 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 137 
 
 future existence to the evil. In the passage to which we 
 refer, the word ah-ciiareeth is translated “reward.” (Prov. 
 24 : 20.) But it did not require the wisdom of Solomon, to 
 show that there shall be no reward for the ungodly man, 
 who dies in his sins. And besides, “the doctrine of rewards,” 
 in Holy Scripture, relates only to the saints of the Lord. 
 Salvation, eternal life, immortality, heaven and eternal glory 
 are not rewards of merit, but are gifts of grace. But to the 
 faithful, and devoted, and the maligned and persecuted, saints 
 
 and servants of the Lord, rewards of grace, superadded to 
 
 **> 
 
 salvation, are both promised and insured. But the ecclesias¬ 
 tical and popular “ doctrine of rewards and punishments,” is 
 heathenish in its modes of conception, and is a most evil 
 denial of the grace, and of the justice of God, as declared in 
 his own word. 
 
 It is admitted by ecclesiastical teachers, that the word, 
 ah-ciiareeth does not mean, a “ reward;” and its true 
 meaning and usage are admitted to be what they really are : 
 but it is said, “ But man is an immortal being, and so it 
 cannot mean in this passage, what it means everywhere else.” 
 And so, according to this, because that platonic expositors 
 have foisted the false doctrine of the inherent immortality of 
 man, into their expositions, therefore Solomon, to whom 
 great wisdom was given of God, was not sufficiently wise to 
 use, in this instance, a proper Hebrew word, but has allowed 
 us to conclude, that instead of uttering the words of wisdom, 
 he has made a very unwise remark. That is, in the plenitude 
 of his wisdom, he meant to inform us, that the just and Holy 
 God does not intend to reward ungodliness , with the bless¬ 
 ings of his approbation, in the beatitude and glory of heaven, 
 and within the radiance of his throne. Such expositors 
 should next undertake, to paint the diamond with brilliancy, 
 and to gild with glory, the meridian sun ! 
 
 The word ah-char, in its several grammatic relations, 
 means after and the adjective, ah-ciier, means another; 
 
 12 * 
 
138 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 and ah-chor, means behind; and tlie adjective, ah-charohn, 
 means hinder, and latter , and last , or that which is, and shall 
 be, after all the historic things in view, shall have passed 
 away ; and ah-chareeth, the word used by Solomon, means 
 hereafter, and those who shall be hereafter; and, also, 
 consummation in a future state. 
 
 Such is the ideal and grammatical meaning of these words 
 and their established usage in the Hebrew text; and taken 
 together, they are used about twelve hundred times. 
 
 In his proverbial philosophy, Solomon uses the word, ae- 
 ciiareeth, thus : “ My son, eat thou honey, because it is 
 good; and the honey comb, which is sweet to the taste : so 
 shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul ; when thou 
 hast found it, then there shall be a hereafter —a future state, 
 and consummation in a future state—and thy expectation 
 (literally, thy line* thy thread of existence) shall not be cut 
 off.” And, in contrast with this, he says, “ Fret not thyself 
 because of evil men ; neither be thou envious of the wicked ; 
 for there shall be no hereafter —no future state—to the evil 
 man ; the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.” And the 
 wise man has expresssd the same truth in another form, saying, 
 “ The expectation* (literally the line, the thread of exist¬ 
 ence) of the wicked shall perish.” (Prov. 10: 28.) 
 
 The denunciations of the prophets, abound with significant 
 figures, and dramatic representations, and literal statements— 
 all being expressive, and highly expressive of the legal and 
 moral desert of man, and the revealed penalty of sin. We 
 will merely indicate a few denunciations on the world, which 
 are expressed in plain words. For instance: Isaiah— 
 personating Israel, when they have become a saved nation, 
 and they speaking anticipatively of the destruction of the 
 
 * The original word is tik-vah, a thread or line ; yarn spun to a 
 length; a measuring line stretched out; from kaii-vah, to stretch; 
 stretched out; and also to wait, and remain. 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 139 
 
 wicked, who once tyrannized over them—says, “ They are 
 dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not 
 rise; (there shall be no resurrection from “ the second 
 death ”) therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and 
 made all their memory to perish.” (Isa. 26: 14.) Jeremiah, 
 when denouncing the Babylonian sinners, in the name of 
 Jehovah, and declaring their final doom, testifies, thus : 
 “ And they shall sleep a perpetual (“goh-lahm, an eternal ) 
 sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah 
 of hosts v ” (Jer. 51 : 39, 57.) And Obadiah testifies, con¬ 
 cerning ungodly men, that “ they shall be as though they had 
 not been.” (Obad. 16.) And Paul when preaching in the 
 Synagogue, at Antioch in Pisidia, sums up the denunciatory 
 testimony of the prophets, in these words : “ Behold, yc 
 despisers, and wonder, and perish.” Acts 13 : 41. 
 
 The apostles were “ ambassadors for Christ ”—“ the min¬ 
 isters of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.” 
 
 Paul, testifying of the doom of the ungodly, says of them : 
 “ Who shall be punished with eternal destruction from the 
 presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.” 
 (2 Thess. 1 : 9.) The manner in which the intent and force 
 of this testimony is sought to be set aside, is as unreasonable 
 as it is contrary to the concurrent teachings of the inspired 
 Book. The passage is said to denounce “an eternal banish¬ 
 ment from the presence of the Loyd.” But in this evil gloss, 
 there is both a disregard to the idiomatic usage of Holy 
 Scripture, and a denial of the actual and moral position of 
 ungodly men. In the usage of the Bible, particularly in the 
 history of Israel, all blessing, and all judgment, is said to 
 come from the Lord, and “from the presence of the Lord.” 
 This usage may be said to have commenced when the taber¬ 
 nacle had been reared in the wilderness, and Jehovah was 
 made known, as dwelling in the most holy place, within the 
 veil, “ between the cherubim.” And the first instance relates 
 to the destruction of the lives of Nadab and Abihu, the sons 
 
140 
 
 WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 of Aaron, who had offered “strange fire ” before .Jehovah 
 “ And there went out a fire from Jehovah, and devoured 
 them ; and they died before—in the presence of—Jehovah,” 
 (Levit. 10 : 1, 2.) Concerning the rebellious man in Israel, 
 it was said, “ That soul shall be cut off from my presence : 
 I am Jehovah.” (Levit. 22 : 3.) And David when antici¬ 
 pating. the. glorious parousia, the majestic and manifested 
 presence of the Lord, of which Paul is testifying, says “ Our 
 God shall come, and shall not keep silence ; a fire shall 
 devour before him , and it shall be very tempestuous round 
 about him,” (Ps. 50 : 3.) 
 
 The blessings of divine goodness and grace are also spoken 
 of as coming 11 from the presence of the LordL Hence 
 Peter, when preaching Jesus, to the Jews, after having testi¬ 
 fied of their recent rejection of him, he exhorts them saying, 
 “ Repent ye therefore unto the blotting out of your sins ; and 
 that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of 
 the Lord.” Acts 3 : 19-21. 
 
 This established usage ought to suffice to show the true 
 meaning of Paul, when he says of ungodly men, “ Who shall 
 be punished with eternal destruction, from the presence of 
 the Lord, and from the glory of his power.’” Besides,—what 
 is said about “ banishment from the presence of God,” is not 
 only unscriptural, but is unreasonable also. Man as a sinner 
 is not in moral nearness to God, and has not been since the 
 moment when the first man first sinned; from that moment, 
 man as man, has been morally, out of the presence of God, 
 and far from God. But physically and locally, man never 
 can be out of the presence of God, while he has an existence 
 in the universe of God : “ If I ascend up into heaven, thou 
 art there : if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there.” 
 Man cannot be banished from the personal presence of God, 
 in any other way, than by being really and utterly destroyed. 
 And as the presence of God pervades the universe; though 
 heaven is his throne, the immensity of space is his dwelling : 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 141 
 
 and the psalmist David has testified that God cannot tolerate 
 the abiding presence of evil in his universe, or within his uni¬ 
 versal presence : “ For thou art not a God, that hath pleasure 
 in wickedness; neither shall evil dwell with thee.” But, if the 
 ecclesiastical teaching on this subject, were not utterly false, 
 it would follow, that God must have pleasure in wickedness, 
 or he would not keep wicked men in existence for ever; for 
 no other purpose, and to no other end, than that they should 
 do wickedly, and that he should torture them for so doing ; 
 and thus find eternal employment in the gratification of an 
 insatiable detestation and wrath. 
 
 But there is yet another way in which the destructive edge 
 of Paul’s testimony i^ sought to be destroyed :—It is said 
 that, “Paul does not speak of the destruction* of personal 
 being , but of personal well-being .” This is the extreme of 
 perversion. Has man—considered as man, and as a sinner—• 
 
 * In this way it is admitted, that “ destruction,” means destruction : 
 but it is commonly asserted, that “death,” means misery, and “des¬ 
 truction,” means misery, and to “ perish,” means to be made miserable; 
 and in this way, it is (though not intentionally) made to appear, that 
 the Divine Author of inspiration, was very deficient and unwise, in 
 the selection of penal and denunciatory terms; and must needs be 
 corrected by learned teachers of the visible church. But, even they, 
 themselves, use those words, in their grammatical and proper meaning, 
 at all times when they are not referring to the penalty of sin, and the 
 final doom of sinners. And the most keen and biting sarcasm has been 
 —unintentionally—inserted in the acknowledged Standards of the 
 English language ; in which, after the grammatical and true meaning 
 of all such terms as the above, has been given, it is added, that in the 
 theological or ecclesiastical meaning of such terms, they mean so and 
 so ; that is they mean just the reverse. But, suppose we test the 
 ecclesiastical use, thus : “ The last enemy, death, shall be destroyed :” 
 then, all the other enemies had been destroyed before the destruction 
 of death: but—say certain teachers of the visible church—to be des¬ 
 troyed, means to be made miserable ; and so, the last enemy, death, is to 
 be made miserable : and as, ecclesiastically, the word “ death ” means 
 misery; even so, the last enemy, misery, shall be made miserable,” 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 142 
 
 has he ever been in a state of well-being since the first man, 
 first sinned ? Is man, who is in a state of enmity to God, and 
 is a child of wrath—who is a vassal of Satan, a slave of sin, 
 and a victim of death—is he in a state of well-being now 1 } 
 And can that be destroyed, which has no existence at all ? 
 
 Peter also, testifying of the evil ways, and the eternal 
 destiny of ungodly men, in the visible church, says of them, 
 “But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and 
 destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; 
 and shall utterly perish in their own corruption.” (2 Pet. 2: 
 12.) And John testifies, saying, “For this purpose the Son 
 of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of 
 the devil.” (1 Jno. 3: 8.) But the'works of the devil are 
 sin, suffering, and death ; and the works of the devil cannot 
 ever be destroyed, while wicked men, and the devil and his 
 angels exist. And in ecclesiastical teaching, it is asserted 
 and maintained, that the works of the devil are never, never 
 to be destroyed, but are to be conserved by means of the 
 very fire of hell, and enshrined for ever in a glowing temple 
 of tormenting flame. It is marvelous that men are not afraid, 
 thus to reply against God ! 
 
 The Lord Jesus has spoken words that ought to sink down 
 into the heart of every one, who professedly bears his name. 
 He said to his disciples—and through them to “ all who pro¬ 
 fess and call themselves Christians ”—“ And fear not them 
 who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather 
 fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in 
 Gehenna.” (Matth. 10 : 28.) But the force of these admoni¬ 
 tory and awful words, is rendered nugatory, in as far as an 
 experimental effect is concerned ; for ecclesiastical leaders 
 teach, that “ God is not able to destroy the soul of man.” 
 They admit, that as a question of physical power or omnipo¬ 
 tence, and, abstractedly speaking, it may be said, that God is 
 able to destroy the soul: and in this way, they—or very many 
 of them at least—are involved in the admission, that God 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 143 
 
 can destroy myriads of portions of his own immortal life ; 
 for, they teach, that “ the soul of every man is a portion 
 of the life of the Lord God.” But the admission, that, 
 abstractedly speaking, God is able to destroy these myriads of 
 myriads of portions of his own immortal life, is not more 
 self-contradictory than is their doctrine, that these same in¬ 
 numerable myriads of portions of the life of God, have, from 
 the dawn of reason at least, a heart and mind which is enmity 
 to God; and that, to all eternity, God intends to hate and to 
 torture these innumerable parts of his own immortal life. 
 
 Ecclesiastical teachers admit, that, abstractedly speaking, 
 God is able to destroy the soul in Gehenna; but they main¬ 
 tain, that, morally speaking, God is not able to destroy the 
 soul.* * They teach and maintain, that by reason of his own 
 essential attributes, and of the eternal principles of his moral 
 government, and of his own express Revelation, God is not 
 able to destroy the soul—that the destruction of the soul is 
 a moral and eternal impossibility with God. And in this 
 way, they represent the weighty and awful words of the Lord, 
 
 * Ecclesiastical teachers have also, another way of undertaking to 
 show that the soul of man cannot be destroyed: They say, that “if the 
 soul were destroyed it would be annihilated, and, that not any thing that 
 God has created is annihilated; and, that God has made it manifest in 
 his works, that he does not intend to annihilate any thing that he has 
 made.” But “the body” will be destroyed. They admit that “this 
 body,” at least, can be destroyed; yet it is not annihilated—not one atom 
 of which it is composed, is annihilated. But, they say, “the soul is a 
 simple substance, and so, it cannot be destroyed without being annihi¬ 
 lated.” Granted, that the soul is a simple substance —a simple immaterial 
 substance—but, the soul is a real entity, a real and constituted personal 
 being; and as a real substance, it has personal properties and powers, 
 
 * of which it may be judicially deprived: and these personal attributes 
 may be destroyed, without involving any annihilation of the simple sub¬ 
 stance of the soul. But, if the soul be deprived of its personal attri¬ 
 butes, it is then, as a personal soul, destroyed; even, as, by a corres¬ 
 ponding process, the body is destroyed. Destruction is not annihilation. 
 
144 
 
 WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 to be no more than light and airy words, having no basis in 
 truth and in fact; and intended only to produce a salutary 
 alarm, by means of a “pious fraud.” This was Origen’s 
 expressed opinion of all those Scriptures that declare “ eternal 
 judgment”—“eternal destruction from the presence of the 
 Lord ;” for Origen was a “ Restorationist,” and may be called 
 the Father of “ Universalism,” which was a part of his theory 
 concerning the immortality of man. 
 
 God “is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” 
 And the Lord Jesus has spoken other weighty, and awful 
 words to the same effect. He has put them in the form of a 
 question, and has asked, “ What is a man profited, if he shall 
 gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? or what shall 
 a man give in exchange for his soul ? (Matth. 16 : 26.) And 
 in order that every one should be without excuse, who might 
 seek to wrest his words from their true meaning and intent, 
 the phraseology of his momentous teaching is varied, in the 
 record of Luke, 9 : 25, “ For what is a man advantaged, if he 
 gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away ?” 
 The intent and meaning of the Lord is thus placed beyond 
 the reach of a justifiable question, when he speaks of a man, 
 as losing “his own soul.” The man’s own soul is the man’s 
 personal self — “himself” is “his own soul:” and the 
 words here rendered “lose himself,” are eauton de apolesas 
 —destroy himself \ and the phrase rendered “or be cast away,” 
 is ee zeemiotheis, from zeemia* damage, loss; and this from 
 zeemioo ; and being a passive verb, it means, to be deprived, 
 to be punished with loss —to be punished with the loss of 
 himself, of “ms own soul.” 
 
 But in the teaching of the visible church, it is roundly 
 asserted, and persistently affirmed, that “a man never can 
 possibly lose his own soul” Yet the weighty and awful 
 
 * The word translated “lose” in Matth. 16: 26, is zeemiothee, from 
 the same radical word, and having the same radical meaning and intent. 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 145 
 
 words of the Lord Jesus, are frequently taken, as a motto, on 
 which, apparently , to hang a discourse. The kind of dis¬ 
 course, which, is made to seem to hang on these awful words, 
 is in part derived from the platonic philosophy, and in part 
 from the tartarian mythology. This two-fold doctrine is 
 described, first, as that of “ the worth of the soul, by reason 
 of its essential immortality, and therefore its eternal, conscious 
 existence in the universe of God and secondly, as the 
 “ eternal torment of the soul, if the man should ever find 
 himself in hell.And in this way, it is most broadly and 
 systematically denied, that any man ever can “lose his own 
 soil” The manner in which the meaning and intent of the 
 words of the Lord Jesus are explained away, must cause every 
 one who understands and reveres the teaching of the Lord, 
 and trembles at his word, to feel sad and sorrowful indeed. 
 The, so called, “ loss of the soul,” according to ecclesiastical 
 teaching, is said to be “ the loss of the favor of God”—and 
 “the loss of heaven.” Ecclesiastical teachers are well aware 
 that the subject of the text is loss, entire and eternal loss. 
 But they have decided, that this actual, entire and eternal loss, 
 cannot possibly be the loss, by a man, of his own soul : and 
 they would fain have us believe, that He in whom the favor 
 of God, with “ all the fullness of the Godhead dwelleth bodily” 
 —that He knew not how to speak correctly of “ the favor of 
 God,” but must needs call it a man’s “ own soul.” They 
 would have us believe, that He who came down from heaven 
 did not know how to speak of heaven—not even how to give 
 it a proper name ; but from sheer inability, must needs call it 
 a man’s “ own soul.” In this process for rendering nugatory 
 the words of the Lord, it seems to be assumed, that man at 
 present, stands in the favor of God, and is in the possession 
 of the same, and that he has now a title to heaven, though he 
 be not in actual possession of that blessed place : for even in 
 the advocacy of such strange doctrine, it is not asserted that, 
 a man can, literally and judicially lose, that which he has 
 
 13 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 146 
 
 not in possession, and which he has not even an ostensible 
 right or title, to have and to hold.* 
 
 But a man has a soul , a real, conscious entity, which is 
 “ himself ”—“ his own soul :” and if he lose his soul, he 
 will lose it entirely and forever—never more to be found at 
 all. “ What” then, “ is a man profited if he shall gain the 
 whole world, and lose his own soul ? or what shall a man give 
 in exchange for his soul ?” These are weightly words, full of 
 awful meaning; and they give g4'eat force to the exhortation : 
 “ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. 
 If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in 
 him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh and 
 the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, 
 but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the 
 lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth 
 eorever.” (1 Jno. 2: 15-17.) 
 
 Through the manifold teaching of the inspired Book, we 
 have shown God’s estimate of man, the moral and legal desert 
 of sin, and the revealed destiny of man, as man and a sinner 
 against God. But while the common destiny of the ungodly 
 is “ death,” even “ the second death while the revealed and 
 final penalty of sin is “ eternal judgment”—a proper and an 
 eternal death—it must be shown, that God has a principle of 
 
 * The Jews are spoken of as “ the children of the kingdomand as 
 being “cast out,” by reason of their unbelief, and their rejection of 
 Christ; but they were the ostensible heirs of the kingdom, in that they 
 were the lineal descendants of Abraham. And false Christians—hypo* 
 crites—are ostensible heirs of the celestial kingdom; and they are des¬ 
 cribed in Matth. 25: 46, as cut off from the flock of Christ, and from 
 all hope of, and all pretence to, the kingdom prepared from the founda¬ 
 tion of the world. But a man cannot possibly lose —by an actual and 
 judicial deprivation—that which he has not at any time possessed, and 
 to which, he never had even any seeming right or title whatever. But, 
 man who is a sinner, has not even a presumptive title to the favor of 
 Cod, and is not even an “ heir presumptive ” of heaven. 
 
WET AT IS MAN ? 
 
 147 
 
 r 
 
 righteousness, on which to proceed against different classes of 
 sinful men :— 
 
 “As many as have sinned without law, shall also perish 
 without law.” This concise declaration includes the myriads 
 of mankind—the world before the flood, and the world, as the 
 world, ever since the days of the flood. “ There shall be a 
 resurrection, both of the just and of the unjust.” But, for 
 the countless myriads of the human race—to whom God has 
 not given law, but whom he has suffered “ to walk in their own 
 ways,” (Acts 14 : 16,) and who are distinctively described as 
 being “without law,” (Rom. 2 : 12; 1 Cor. 9: 21,)—for 
 them, there shall be no formal process of law at all. God has 
 not placed them under a revealed standard of obedience, and 
 so there is no formal standard of procedure against them :— 
 they “shall perish without law.” The “indignation and 
 wrath, tribulation and anguish” mentioned in the same 
 chapter, is not to them at all. But they shall perish : for, 
 though “ without law,” they are sinners, and “ the wages of 
 sin is death.” 
 
 “ As many as have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the 
 law.” This just decision includes distinctively, the nation of 
 Israel, from the hour in which “the law” was announced from 
 the summit of Mount Sinai—even all who have lived and died 
 under the Mosaic law, as a legal covenant—a covenant of 
 works. They will have stood under a revealed standard of 
 obedience, and they “ shall be judged by the law.” The sanc¬ 
 tions of that divine law are that “The man which doeth these 
 things, shall live by them;” and “Cursed is everyone that 
 continueth not in all things which are written in the book of 
 the law to do them. ” And all who have received that law, 
 and having broken it, when they come forth to be judged, they 
 “ shall be judged by the law.” That law is “holy, just and 
 good,” and by its revealed and eternal principles of holiness, 
 justice and goodness they shall be judged. 
 
 As many as have despised and rejected the Lord Jesus, the 
 
148 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 Christ, the Son of the living God—as many as saw, and 
 heard, and despised him, when he was on earth—shall be 
 judged by the principles enunciated in “ Moses and the pro¬ 
 phets,” touching the promised Messiah, and the penalty of 
 despising and rejecting him. Even as God has said, concern¬ 
 ing every one who would not hear “that prophet.” (Dent. 
 18 : 15-19 ; Acts 3 : 22, 23.) And, as the Lord Jesus him¬ 
 self declared, saying, “ Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall 
 be broken : but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him 
 to powder.” (Matth. 21 : 42-44.) 
 
 And, as many as have heard and understood “ the Gospel 
 of the Grace of God,” and have despised and rejected it—- 
 whether from irreligious indifference, or from religious legal¬ 
 ism—as many as, from any cause have intelligently and 
 deliberately despised and rejected the Gospel of the Son of 
 God, shall be judged by the Gospel; as the Lord has said : 
 “ He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one 
 that judgeth him : the word that I have spoken, the same 
 shall judge him in the last day.” 
 
 All who have falsely professed to believe in, and to love, 
 Christ—(and the variety of this class is shown to be great)— 
 all hypocrites , and all apostates, will be judged by the 
 revealed standard of Christian obedience, and of responsibility 
 to “ Christ the Lord ;” that is, by the laws of Christ, as 
 recorded in Matth. 5 ch., 6 ch., and 1 ch. All who have 
 falsely, and from whatever reason or motive—all who have 
 falsely professed and claimed to be the “servants” or minis¬ 
 ters of Christ, will be judged by the revealed standard of 
 ministerial fidelity, devotedness and responsibility to Him. 
 (Matth. 25: 24-30; 1 Cor. 4:2; Heb. 13: L7.) All whose 
 characteristic description is symbolized by “the chaff,” and 
 “the tares,” and “the goats”—all such shall be proceeded 
 against and judged according to those awful declarations, 
 which are so commonly quoted, and as commonly miscon¬ 
 strued and misapplied: for, it is to such as answer to those 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 149 
 
 figurative descriptions, that the said passages do most directly 
 and specifically relate. The “indignation and wrath, tribu¬ 
 lation and anguish,” foretold, and the alarm and consternation, 
 and “the wailing and gnashing of teeth,” fore-described, and 
 the terrible words of “ The King,”—“ Depart from me, ye 
 cursed, into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his 
 angels :”—all this fearful and “fiery indignation,” is made 
 known in direct and specific relation to the desert and destiny 
 of the false-hearted, the deceivers and deceived, the traitors 
 and deniers of the Lord, and of his “ grace and truth,” who 
 are found in “ the kingdom of heaven” or have obtained a 
 name and a standing among the confessors and followers of 
 “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” But in the case 
 and experience of such, the discriminating righteousness of 
 God will be made manifest, even as it is shown in the para¬ 
 bolic allusion of the Lord to the treatment of oriental slaves. 
 (Luke 12: 48.) The ignorant will not suffer as will the 
 learned ; the deceived will not experience the anguish of the 
 deceivers; those who have been betrayed into a denial of the 
 grace and truth of Christ, will not be inwardly torn by the 
 tribulation of those by whom they have been misled and 
 betrayed. Each one will suffer in the process * of “ eternal 
 judgment,” in exact and precise proportion to his intelligence, 
 and his individual criminality, as judged by the testimony 
 which God has given of his Son, and of his grace, and of his 
 will: and the distinctive sufferings of each individual will 
 arise from himself. God will indeed, “ show his wrath,” 
 and will reveal it clearly to the souls of these miserable 
 
 * It should be thoughtfully observed, that while the revealed and 
 common “wages of sin is death,” the precursory symptoms (if we may 
 so speak) of “the second death,” will be as various in intensity and 
 degree, as is the guiltiness of individuals before God, and which will 
 then be known and felt, in the presence of the Omniscient Judge. It 
 is in the experimental preliminaries and process of personal destruction 
 that the described anguish will be felt. 
 
 13 * 
 
150 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 sinners, but their inward apprehension, and experimental 
 estimate of divine wrath, will be in accordance with the laws 
 and records of memory and of conscience, in the case of each ; 
 and the acuteness and the extent of the anguish of each will 
 be determined by the elements and the extent of their own 
 inward remorse. And each, in his own distinctive degree, 
 shall prove, that in the laws and constitution of his own 
 personal being, and in the governmental principles by which 
 he is judged, a just provision has been made, for the full 
 vindication of the eternal principles of divine holiness and 
 righteousness and goodness and truth. Each, and all, shall 
 know and feel that God is “just and right.” 
 
 All shall feel the pulsations of precious but forfeited life. 
 In the hearts of all, the strong and irrepressible love of life 
 will pulsate. The souls of all will still, and ardently, thirst for 
 immortality. But in the destructive destiny of all, it shall 
 be proved, that God “ is able to destroy both soul and body 
 in hell.” “ For the wmges of sin is death,” and the just God 
 has decreed, that the ungodly “shall be destroyed forever.” 
 
 All evil shall be destroyed —All evil beings and evil 
 things and evil principles shall perish. All moral and all 
 physical evil shall cease and be no more. The end of evil 
 shall surely come, And at “the end,” (1 Cor. 15: 24-28,) 
 “ the Christ shall deliver up the sovereignty to God, even 
 the Father.” The governmental design for which he became 
 the Messiah, the King of Israel, the Lord of the whole earth, 
 will then have been realized. The eternal purpose of God 
 the Father, for which the Son became “ the second mau”— 
 and for which the Holy Spirit came down to act on his behalf 
 —will then have been accomplished. “ The church of the 
 first-born, registered in heaven” will have been immortalized 
 and glorified, a thousand years. “ All Israel” will then have 
 been saved ; and other nations, and men out of other nations, 
 will then have been saved, with Israel, and incorporated with 
 them, in Eternal life—in immortality. For Jesus, the second 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 151 
 
 man, the Messiah, “ must reign, till he hath” consummated 
 the purposes of grace, and till he hath “ put all enemies under 
 his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” 
 
 We are taught in Holy Scripture, to distinguish between 
 the act of God the Father, in having put all things under the 
 Son, as having become man; and the procedure of the Son 
 in putting, and in having put, all enemies under his own feet. 
 The Father has put all things under the Son, as the second 
 man, and in the way of subjugation to him. The millennial 
 administration of the Son will be, in its history a sovereignty 
 of the restraint of evil; and of the destruction of evil, in the 
 end. Every enemy shall be trodden down beneath his feet. 
 Death and Hades, shown in dramatic representation as two 
 persons, are cast into “ the lake of fire,” to signify their final 
 and utter end. And when the last enemy shall have been 
 destroyed, then no one enemy shall remain. The Uni verse 
 of God shall then have been freed and purified from the 
 presence of evil, for the restricted course and period of evil 
 shall have passed away, as a dark, but brief episode, in the 
 history of the permissive and governmental will of God. 
 The millennial administration of the Lord shall have passed as 
 a “ day and then shall the Son return to the Father the 
 delegated power and dominion, which had been entrusted to 
 him, as man. 
 
 The first man Adam had the lordship of the earth entrusted 
 to him, and ho betrayed his trust, by delivering up to Satan 
 the dominion, with which the Creator had invested him. 
 Hebuchadnezzer had imperial domination over the nations, 
 entrusted to him (Dan. 2 : 3T, 38,) and he delivered that 
 over to Satan. (Luke 4 : 6.) But “the second man” came 
 in humiliation, and was fully proved, and was found faithful. 
 He magnified the Supremacy of God, by a perfect homage 
 and obedience; and showed himself worthy to be entrusted 
 with all authority and power. And when he comes again, he 
 will assert the Supremacy of God—acting still in his Father’s 
 
152 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 name—by restraining the evil that is in the universe. And 
 in the end, lie will vindicate the Supremacy of God, by the 
 destruction of all evil beings, and all evil things; and by the 
 consummation of all good, even eternal good. And then, in 
 the view of the conserved universe, he will voluntarily and 
 lovingly take the place of subordination to the Father, at the 
 Head of the Universe ; and in that place of eternal honor and 
 glory his church shall be one with Him. A thousand years 
 before that, the desire of his heart, once expressed to the 
 Father from the earth, shall have been gratified; (Jno. Fl : 
 20-24,) and then, by the all possessing, all permeating 
 presence of the Holy Spirit in “ his body, the church”—as 
 the bond of oneness with him, the Head, and with the Father 
 in him—the glory of the church shall have been consummated 
 at the head of the universe and the desire of the heart of 
 Jesus shall be fully and forever sufficed. 
 
 The Supremacy of God shall remain unquestioned , forever. 
 “ God shall be all in all#” The eternal Jubilee of the 
 universe shall have come, and shall be celebrated with due and 
 exalted and exultant solemnities, through the height and 
 depth and length and breadth of the whole creation and 
 empire of God. Thanksgiving and the voice of melody and 
 the incense of praise will ascend unceasingly and forever to 
 God the Father, through his beloved Son. The melodious 
 anthems of the angels will blend, in responsive and blessed 
 harmony with the more melodious anthems of the sons of God. 
 All the mind and hearI of the universe will be one. 
 And suns and systems and firmaments will roll on, exulting in 
 their appointed orbits and spheres, while the immensity of 
 space thrills and reverberates with the triumphal shout:— 
 “ Halleluiah ! Halleluiah ! Halleluiah ! The Lord 
 God omnipotent reigneth ! Halleluiah! Amen.” The 
 eternal idea of the Godhead shall then have been realized 
 and embodied; and the response from the eternal throne 
 will be :—“ It is done.” 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 153 
 
 We have borne testimony to the truth, and have counted 
 the cost; and have, even, already learned, in measure, the 
 meaning of those words of the Lord Jesus, to two of his dis¬ 
 ciples : “You shall indeed drink of my cup.” We have drank 
 a portion of “the wormwood and the gall,” and may yet have 
 to drink still deeper draughts, than have hitherto been re¬ 
 ceived, into our heart and soul. But, by the grace of God, 
 we have borne witness to the truth, and now willingly leave 
 the rest to Him who has declared that his word shall not re¬ 
 turn to Him void, saying, “ It shall accomplish that which 
 
 I PLEASE, AND SHALL PROSPER IN THE THING WHERETO I 
 
 have sent it.” And our heart’s desire and prayer to God, 
 for all true Christians, is, that the Lord may open “their 
 understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures,” 
 and that they might, with spiritual intelligence, honor God in 
 their hearts, and say—without a reserved question or thought 
 .—“ He is the Rock: His work is perfect: a God of truth, 
 and without iniquity, just and right is He.” And may they— 
 in this way, and in all other ways of grace—realize those mer¬ 
 ciful words of the Lord Jesus: “You shall know the truth, 
 and the truth shall make you free.” 
 
 To all the children of God, who are scattered abroad, we 
 now say, “ This is the record, that God hath given to us 
 eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son 
 hath life ;—he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life.” 
 (I Jno. 5: 11, 12.) “Christ is our life.” Paul was “an 
 apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, according to the 
 promise oe life which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim. 1 : 1.) 
 He was “ a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, 
 according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging 
 of the truth, which is according to godliness; in hope of 
 eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before 
 the world began.” (Titus 1 : 1, 2.) 
 
 The truth concerning “eternal life,” in the Son of God, and 
 the hope of consummated eternal life, at his appearing, and in 
 
154 
 
 WHAT IS MAX ? 
 
 fellowship of immortality and glory with Him, is the sum anrl 
 substance of the Christian Revelation, respecting the saints of 
 God. It is both the essence and form of “ the words of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ,” and of “the doctrine which is according 
 to godliness.” 
 
 The elements, and the form , and the 'power of true godli¬ 
 ness, are embraced by the doctrine of eternal life and embo¬ 
 died immortality in union with the risen and glorified “second 
 man”—“the last Adam”—“the Christ, the Son of the living 
 God.” 
 
 True humility is an element of godliness. It is a spiritual 
 habit of mind, formed and maintained through the exercise of 
 self-judgment, in the realized presence of God; and it consists 
 in a just estimate of ourselves, in strict accordance with God’s 
 revealed estimate of man—both as a creature and as a sinner. 
 
 The conviction of our original nothingness, as entertained 
 in the realized presence of the self-existent Godhead, is a 
 prime element in spiritual humility ; and so, also, is the con¬ 
 viction of our moral worthlessness, in the felt presence of the 
 moral perfections, the eternal excellencies of the Godhead. 
 And a scriptural conviction of our own natural mortality , is 
 well suited to repress every feeling and thought that is of the 
 nature of pride, and to induce a deep and abiding humility of 
 mind, and, in this respect, to fit us for walking humbly with 
 our God. And the conviction of our real, our revealed, 
 moral and legal demerit, as those who, by nature, are only fit 
 to die and perish, and who deserve to be destroyed forever— 
 the conviction of the truth of this will confirm the mental 
 habit of humility before God. 
 
 True gratitude is an element of godliness. It is the spon¬ 
 taneous response of our new hearts to “the love of God, which 
 is in Christ Jesus.” And true humility, as consisting of the 
 elements before described, is essential to the existence and ac¬ 
 tivity of spiritual gratitude towards the Godhead, even to the 
 Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. An experi- 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 155 
 
 mental knowledge that, notwithstanding our original nothing¬ 
 ness, and our innate, moral worthlessness, and absolute mor¬ 
 tality, and our personal and exceeding sinfulness, we are the 
 objects of the eternal love of the Godhead—that the Father 
 loves us, in his Son, and as he loves his Son, (Juo. 17 ; 23 ;) 
 that the Son loves us, and gave himself for us—loves us, and 
 has washed us from our sins in his own blood ; and that the 
 Holy Ghost loves us, and quickened us, when we were dead in 
 trespasses and sins ; and has sealed us unto the day of redemp¬ 
 tion, and dwells in us, as the Spirit of sonship, and the power 
 of our new and spiritual life—an experimental knowledge of 
 all this is suited to originate and sustain within our new hearts 
 the purest and deepest gratitude, to the Father, and to the 
 Sou, and to the Holy Ghost. 
 
 With this experimental knowledge of the eternal, unchange¬ 
 able love of the Godhead, a just appreciation of the manner, 
 and of the blessings of divine love will be formed and 
 entertained. We shall feel grateful to God, for our original 
 creation, in the first man Adam ; for the goodness and mercy 
 of God, in the continued existence of the human race, after 
 sin had entered into the world; for our individual birth and 
 being; for the patient mercy of our God towards us, and his 
 preserving care over us, when we knew him not, and sinned 
 daily against Him; and for the grace that sought us, and 
 found us, and drew us to Christ. 
 
 Moreover, as instructed in the truth of life, eternal life, 
 only in Christ, we are able to judge correctly of the inex¬ 
 pressible value, to ourselves, of our own souls. And while 
 we inwardly tremble at the mere thought of losing our own 
 souls—at the mere thought of being “ destroyed for ever,” of 
 being destroyed, “ both soul and body in hell ”—we learn to 
 estimate, as becomes us, the preciousness of our redemption 
 to God, by the precious blood of Christ. And with grateful 
 adoration, we will, each, say to Him, “ Thou hast delivered 
 mg soul from death and with the melody of gratitude in 
 
156 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 our hearts—softer and sweeter than the melody of David’s 
 harp—we will each chant to Him, in David’s words :—“ My 
 lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee, and my soul 
 which thou hast redeemed.” 
 
 And, besides these truthful reflections and grateful senti¬ 
 ments in respect to our own souls; we learn to entertain a 
 scriptural estimate of 11 the gift of God,” which is “ eternal 
 life” We learn to think correctly of the spiritual nature, 
 and unspeakable excellency, and heavenly capabilities, of 
 eternal life. We know it to be, in us, “that which is born 
 of the Spirit,” and, “ is spirit ” —the communicable life of 
 the Father —the resurrection life of the son, which we now 
 have in immediate and indissoluble union with him; and by 
 the gift and possession of which we are now “ the sons of 
 God,” and shall assuredly “live for ever.” And we learn, 
 that it is by virtue of the possession of this unspeakable gift 
 of God, we are capacitated for the indwelling presence of the 
 Holy Spirit, who is the strength of our inward life, the vigor 
 of our inner man, and by whom we have present communion 
 with the Father, and the Son ; and realize, in faith, the 
 experimental, and the anticipated, blessings of the “ great 
 salvation.” And we are caused truly to understand that this 
 same spiritual and eternal life, in union with Christ glorified, 
 is our fundamental meetness “for the inheritance of the saints 
 in light ”—the embryo of our immortality and incorrupti¬ 
 bility ; when Christ our life shall appear, and we also shall 
 appear with hkn in glory ; and shall experimentally know the 
 eternal reality of being “filled with all the fullness of God,” 
 and of living for ever in God. And by virtue of this true 
 knowledge of our spiritual and celestial and divine relations, 
 and hopes; and an equally scriptural acquaintance with our 
 own nothingness, and worthlessness, and mortality, and 
 desert; we consciously possess the most active and vigorous 
 principles of a spiritual and manly gratitude to the Father, 
 and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 157 
 
 True reverence for God is an element of godliness. Spir¬ 
 itual and filial reverence is the effect of a true acquaintance 
 with God, and with his ways ; and is in contrast with legal 
 and servile dread, which is the effect of a non acquaintance 
 with God, and of gloomy and guilty—and, it may be, of 
 unjust—apprehensions of Him. True reverence is known 
 and felt and cultivated towards the great and good and 
 glorious God. 
 
 Through a knowledge of the original creation of man—of 
 the soul of man— out of nonentity , our mind and heart is 
 impressed, deeply, with the truth of the eternal, self-existence 
 of the Godhead. And through an acquaintance with the 
 ways of God, in the human creation, we are supplied with 
 elevated conceptions of the wisdom, power, and beneficence 
 of God. And through this kind and degree of spiritual 
 understanding, we are inspired with the sentiments of intelli¬ 
 gent and devout reverence for God. 
 
 A truthful and enlightened impression of the mysterious¬ 
 ness of the ways of God, in the original creation of man (and 
 of all things) is conducive to spiritual reverence. While 
 meditating on the actual, and divinely recorded, work of crea¬ 
 tion, our minds are consciously in the region of mystery—in 
 the region in which true faith delights to meditate, and to 
 adore. All the distinctive truths and realities of the Chris¬ 
 tian Faith are mysteries, having their foundation in the great 
 Mystery of godliness—God manifested in flesh; and having 
 their origin in the eternal Mystery—the triune Godhead, The 
 Three, The Indivisible, The One. And while meditating 
 on the manner of divine wisdom and power and beneficence 
 in the human creation—and perceiving their harmony with all 
 that God has revealed of himself, and his ways—we are filled 
 with holy reverence ; and, veiling the face of mere human 
 reason, we bow the head and adore, saying, “ even so, Father: 
 for so it seemed good in thy sight.” 
 
 A true knowledge of the holiness and righteousness of God, 
 
158 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 is conducive to spiritual reverence. By reason of the holiness 
 of God, the man whom he created and made was, of necessity, 
 innocent and “very good.” For God could not create an 
 intelligent and moral being, who was not in harmony with 
 his own essential innocency and goodness—God “cannot deny 
 himself.” For the same reason, the unimpaired possession of 
 innocency and goodness in man, was necessary to his perpetual 
 existence, as man, and a creature of God: and therefore, 
 • when man, by his own voluntary act of disobedience, had 
 destroyed his own innocency and goodness, and had thus des¬ 
 troyed his own well-being, the holiness of God could not 
 permit him to live forever: and, as God had forewarned him 
 that death should be the penalty of disobedience, the truth 
 of God required that he should die ; and the justice of God 
 demanded and (in the sentence pronounced) declared that 
 man, the disobedient , should revert to the elemental atoms of 
 which he had been created and made. We justly apprehend 
 the truth of this, and we worship with awe—we reverence and 
 adore; bearing in mind that, as it is written, “Our God is a 
 consuming fire.” 
 
 Complacency or delight in God, is an element of godliness. 
 But, in order to a spiritual delight in God, his own essential 
 characteristics must be truly known : for, complacency in God 
 is the response of our new heart to his revealed excellencies 
 and ways. 
 
 “God is glorious in holiness.” His holiness consists in the 
 essential goodness of his nature, and in the essential opposed¬ 
 ness of his moral perfections, to all actual, and to all con¬ 
 ceivable moral evil, or sin. God is possessed of infinite power ; 
 but he cannot do any one thing that is not perfectly holy, just, 
 and good. He cannot do any evil, by reason of the goodness, 
 and the love of goodness that is in him; and by reason of the 
 opposedness of his own essential goodness to moral evil. 
 And as it is impossible with God to do evil or wrong, and as 
 he cannot permit evil to tarry for ever in .his sight—we learn 
 
WHAT IS MAX ? 
 
 159 
 
 to delight in Him according to the inner man.—Our “new 
 man ” basks in the brightness of his holiness, with unspeakable 
 delight. 
 
 God is “glorious in holiness.” In wisdom, all his works 
 were made. In the heavens, and in the earth, God created 
 intelligent and moral beings—whom of necessity, he created, 
 good, “ very good ;” but whom he foresaw would by their own 
 disobedience, render themselves unfit for perpetual existence ; 
 being no longer meet for the wise and holy and benevolent 
 design of a created and perpetuated moral universe. The 
 foresight of God and his governmental decisions had not, and 
 could not possibly have, any conceivable influence of causation 
 in the origin and history of their foreseen disobedience ; and 
 the consequent unfitness of the disobedient to live for ever: 
 but by means of the just penalty of sin, in their future and 
 final destruction, the holiness and just wrath of God will be 
 shown—the destructive opposedness of his essential good¬ 
 ness and holiness to all moral evil will then be fully and 
 finally shown. The great lesson of the holiness, and just 
 wrath of God, will then have been fully and maturely learned, 
 by the conserved angelic hosts, and by the ransomed and im¬ 
 mortalized from among men. All who shall then live, shall 
 live for ever; in holy, joyous, and glorious life; and with' 
 supreme complacency in the eternal Godhead, they will per¬ 
 petuate the ancient ascription of thoughtful adoration :—“0 
 Lord, who is like unto thee ?—Glorious in holiness, fearful in 
 praises, doing wonders!” And we, now, through, a true 
 acquaintance with the doctrine of life and immortality only 
 in the Son of God, have our hearts attuned to that same 
 admiring and adoring praise. 
 
 “ God is light.” Truth and holiness are the essential quali¬ 
 ties and characteristics of his mind. “God is love.” Per¬ 
 fect and immutable love is the essential quality and character¬ 
 istic of his heart. The holiness of God is the holiness of 
 love; the justice of God is the justice of love; even as the 
 
160 
 
 WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 goodness and mercifulness of God .is the goodness and inerci 
 fulness of love. All the moral perfections of God—all his 
 eternal excellencies—are founded in love. His governmental 
 laws and administration are, in all respects, founded in love ; 
 and his sovereign purposes are the purposes of perfect love: 
 “for God is love.” The true knowledge of this blessed 
 reality in God, and in all his ways, inspires the heart of the 
 believer with ineffable delight in God. 
 
 The living God is “the God of all grace.” This essential 
 quality in God must, of necessity, be made manifest—this 
 brightest letter in his eternal name must be shown to angels, 
 and principalities, and powers. But, the creation of the uni¬ 
 verse, and the beneficence of God, as shown towards unfallen, 
 intelligent, and moral beings, could not possibly be, or become, 
 a manifestation of his grace and “ the exceeding riches of his 
 grace.” The wisdom of God is shown in the work of creation ; 
 but his manifold wisdom is shown, in the ways and the work 
 of his grace. In the inscrutable wisdom of God, the fact of 
 moral evil in the universe has been permitted to take place, 
 and for a season to transpire ; but, in the manifold wisdom of 
 God, that real, but temporary evil, is made the occasion of 
 the evolutions of his eternal counsel, for the production of the 
 greatest and highest good , and for its universal and eternal 
 establishment when all the permitted evil shall have been 
 brought to its final and predetermined end. The celestial 
 hosts are now learning through “the Church”—through the 
 perfect ways, and the unfolding mysteries of redemption and 
 eternal life—the manifold wisdom of God; and their delight 
 in God rises in proportion as they thus increase in the know¬ 
 ledge of God; as he is made known through the manner of 
 his love. And in the ages to come God will show to them 
 “the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness towards 
 us in Christ Jesus.” And their complacency in God shall be 
 consummated, when they have seen the end of all evil, and 
 have learned the manner in which God,.“who commanded the 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 161 
 
 light to shine out of darkness,” has evolved the revelation, 
 and the accomplishment of his eternal purpose of grace out 
 of all that permitted evil; and has made that very evil sub¬ 
 servient to the manifestation of all the perfections of the God¬ 
 head, in the person, and work, and moral triumphs of the 
 Son ; and in having, thus, raised us up from the depths of 
 sin and ruin, and from the deserved depths of hell and de¬ 
 struction, to the highest possible state and degree of moral 
 excellency and dignity, in union of life and immortality with 
 the Son of God; and in having established us in the nearest 
 conceivable relation to the eternal Godhead, and in the glory 
 and honor proper to the “ many sons” of God. The com¬ 
 placency of the celestial hosts, in God and in his ways, will 
 then be consummated. And our own delight in God will now 
 be real, and spiritual, and habitual, and will rise in intensity 
 and practical power, as we now learn God, through the Scrip¬ 
 tures of truth, and by the light and teachings of the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 Filial confidence in God is an element of godliness. And, 
 as we learn, and become acquainted with God—in the revealed 
 principles, and decisions, and administration of his holiness, 
 justice, and truth ; as these are made known in his estimate 
 of man, and in the revealed desert and final penalty of sin—■ 
 our confidence in Him will be unclouded, serene, and firm. 
 We will say, in our inmost heart, “This God is our God”—. 
 “This holy, just, and good God is our Father, who is in 
 heaven.” 
 
 In all the circumstances, and through all the vicissitudes of 
 our history on earth, our heart will confide in Him. In his 
 exceeding great and precious promises, our confidence will be 
 supreme. And, as we learn the lessons of his inviolable holi¬ 
 ness, and justice, and goodness, and truth; and, at the same 
 time, learn his perfect love, and the exceeding riches of his 
 grace, and his mercy that endureth forever; we will trust the 
 Lord, and bless the Lord, at all times; and his praise will 
 
 14 
 
162 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 be continually in our mouth. Under the dark clouds of 
 mystery, that may, at any time, enshroud his paternal per¬ 
 missions of affliction and distress, we will still trust in Him, 
 with an unyielding and unquestioning trust. Being acquainted 
 with God, in his unchangeable perfections, and in his invio¬ 
 lable promises, and being persuaded that what He has 
 promised, He is able also to perform, our filial confidence in 
 Him will indeed be supreme ; and in the darkest hour, we 
 shall be able to express our confidence in Him, even as Job 
 did of old :—“Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” 
 
 Exalted views of the Lord Jesus, enter essentially into the 
 experimental basis of godliness. And the true knowledge 
 that Christ is, indeed, “ our life,” will and must exalt him 
 greatly in our hearts. Knowing that he emptied himself of 
 his immensity and majesty and glory, and became man, that 
 we might have life, through him, and in him : knowing that, 
 as “ the second man,” he encountered our great adversary the 
 devil, in moral conflict; and stood fast under all his tempta¬ 
 tions ; and triumphed on the cross—and all, to rescue us, with 
 all his own chosen ones, from the grasp of him that had the 
 power of death; and that he died upon the cross to redeem 
 our souls from death—our life, from destruction ; and that he 
 rose from the dead, having effectuated immortality for us; 
 and that therefore, because he lives, we shall also live: 
 knowing that he is very God and real man, and that “ in him 
 was life”—even in eternity, as also when he came into the 
 world; yea, that he is “the life;” but that the communi¬ 
 cation of that same eternal life to us, could be effected only 
 through the mystery, first, of his incarnation, and then, of his 
 death on the cross, and his resurrection, no more to die : 
 knowing that, from the first man Adam we have inherited no 
 real and abiding life ; but only a forfeited existence, under 
 the power of sin and death ; and that in the Lord from 
 heaven, the second man, the last Adam, the life-giving Spirit, 
 we have righteousness, and life—eternal and glorious life/ 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 163 
 
 and that we owe our immortality to Jesus: knowing all 
 these blessed truths and realities, we will highly exalt Jesus 
 in our hearts, and in our songs of thanksgiving and praise, 
 and of supreme worship to him—to Him who died, that we 
 should never die —to Him who lives, that we should ever live 
 —to Him “who only hath immortality,” but who has taken 
 us into communion, of immortality, with himself: knowing 
 all these blessed truths and realities, we shall know and feel, 
 that we have not worthily honored and exalted the blessed 
 name of Jesus ; until we have wreathed it around with the 
 amaranth of immortal honor —won by himself alone : and 
 have fastened it on the frontispiece of our confessed faith and 
 hope in Him; with a band of golden letters, in which these 
 words may be seen and read of all men:—“W e owe our 
 IMMORTALITY TO JESUS ! We HAVE NO IMMORTALITY, OR 
 REAL LIFE, OUT OF JESUS ClIRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING 
 
 God ! 
 
 Personal holiness is essential to personal godliness. Per¬ 
 sonal holiness consists in an inward and practical separation 
 from sin—in a confirmed, inward habit of opposedness to, and 
 detestation of, all moral evil; especially of that which is in 
 our own natural hearts. And a true understanding of the 
 two-fold declaration of the Holy Spirit, that, “the wages of 
 sin is death ; but the gift of God is eternal life, through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord,” does truly exercise our heart and 
 conscience, in the knowledge of holiness, and of sin. Many 
 deep lessons concerning holiness, and concerning sin, are 
 learned in this department of the School of God; even as we 
 are taught that, sin, considered in its active and positive 
 manifestations, is contrariety to the expressed will of God. 
 In its own nature, sin is a violation, and a state and conse¬ 
 quence of the violation of the mental and moral laws of 
 personal and constitutional existence, which God originally 
 created and made. In its nature, workings, and effects, sin is 
 opposed to the wise, and holy, and beneficent will, and object 
 
164 
 
 WHAT IS MAX ? 
 
 of God, in the creation of an intelligent and moral existence. 
 It is, in like manner, and to the same degree, opposed to the 
 honor and maintenance of the moral government of God. 
 For the very presence of sin in the universe, calls in question 
 the moral perfections, the eternal excellencies of God ; and 
 disputes his rightful dominion, and sovereignty—his supre¬ 
 macy, as God. 
 
 The inherent evil of sin is thus seen to consist in a radical 
 contrariety to the eternal excellencies and glory of God ; and 
 to his wise, and holy, and beneficent designs in the creation 
 and the sustainment of an intelligent and moral universe. 
 And we learn, that because the thrice holy God cannot allow 
 his moral designs to be contravened and annulled, and “can¬ 
 not deny himself,” therefore he cannot permit a sinful and 
 disobedient creature to live forever, within the confines of his 
 moral empire, and to be a perpetual contradiction to his will 
 and to himself. 
 
 These considerations cannot fail to produce and sustain a 
 just and extensive conviction of the exceeding sinfulness of 
 sin, and to confirm the believer in Jesus in the inward habit 
 of holiness; even the holiness without which no man shall see 
 the Lord. And, as thus instructed, the saint of the Lord will 
 hearken with reverent and devout regard to the command of 
 our God and Heavenly Father : “ Be ye holy, for I am holy 
 and the heart which is thus confirmed in the inwiard habit of 
 holiness will be very susceptible of the effect intended in the 
 inspired appeal: “What fruit had you in those things, 
 whereof you are now ashamed ? for the end of those things 
 is death” 
 
 Moreover, through a true acquaintance with the doctrine of 
 life only in Christ, and that we have in us a new and holy 
 nature—engendered within us by the Holy Spirit, and “is 
 spirit”—we are enabled to entertain the moral judgment of 
 God concerning “the flesh.” We both know and feel the 
 truth of those weighty words: “I know that in me, that is, in 
 
WIIAT IS MAN ? 
 
 165 
 
 my flesh, dwelleth no good thing.” And to be well instructed 
 as to the innate evil of the flesh, and the consequent necessity 
 for its destruction, according to the judgment of God, is a 
 prime requisite for repressing its more insidious workings, be¬ 
 sides all the grosser forms of its inveterate evil; and apart 
 from such an inward and continuous and successful moral con¬ 
 flict, personal holiness is not and cannot be sustained. And, 
 through the same doctrine, we are informed and instructed, 
 in respect to the essential and immutable moral goodness of 
 the new and heavenly and divine nature of which we are made 
 partakers by actual regeneration ; being thus made, in very 
 deed, “sons of God.” And, in this way, we have a commun¬ 
 ity of mind with the Divine Logos, the living Word, which, 
 in discriminating between our innate evil and our imparted 
 good , is exceedingly “ powerful, and is keener than any two- 
 edged sword ; piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul 
 and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of 
 the thoughts and intents of the heart.” And in this way 
 only are we made truly acquainted with the moral contrarieties 
 and active antagonism of “the flesh” and of “ the spirit;” as 
 it is written, “For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the 
 spirit against the flesh : and these are contrary the one to the 
 other: in order that you might not do the things that you 
 would.”* We are made aware that the tendency and aim of 
 the flesh—“the old man”—is to hinder us from walking stead¬ 
 fastly in the way of holiness; in conscious conformity to the 
 will of God concerning us in Christ Jesus; and that the tend¬ 
 ency and aim of the spirit—“the new man”—is to detect and 
 repress the motions of sin in the flesh ; so that we should 
 walk in the light, as God is in the light; and thus have con¬ 
 scious fellowship with him; realizing in our heart and con¬ 
 science that “the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us 
 from all sin.” And the value of this instruction is most known 
 
 * The above is the true rendering; of the last clause in the verse. 
 
 14* 
 
166 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 and felt by us in the exercise of self-judgment before God- in 
 the practice of introspection, whereby we reflect upon our own 
 consciousness of the presence and activities of the two con¬ 
 trary and antagonistic natures within us; as constituting our 
 present and personal existence, while in this body, in which 
 the innate sin of our natural being still abides. And without 
 this exercise of self-judgment, this spiritual introspection be¬ 
 fore God, we cannot maintain an inward and successful moral 
 conflict with evil ; and excepting this be maintained, we can¬ 
 not be found in the habit of “perfecting holiness in the fear 
 of the Lord and of doing the things that are pleasing to our 
 Father who is in heaven—doing the will of God from the heart. 
 
 “ Unfeigned love of the brethren” is an element of godli¬ 
 ness. “We know that we have passed from death unto life, 
 because we love the brethren.” 
 
 But in order to the possession of this knowledge, as it was 
 possessed by the apostle John, we must needs have com¬ 
 munion with the mind of God, as to who and what “the 
 brethren” are, and in what relations they stand towards us, 
 and we towards them in the Spirit and in Christ. Not that 
 we must even think of discerning the heart of another; but 
 we must learn to think of the brethren, even of all the children 
 of God, in communion of mind and heart with the Father, 
 and with the Son ; or we cannot love them according to God ; 
 and with an intelligence that will avail us, as it availed John, 
 and the children of God in his day. 
 
 Brotherly love is spiritual and not natural. The brother¬ 
 hood of all saints is wholly in the spirit or new man, and not 
 at all in the flesh or old man. It is most true, that true 
 believers are “taught of God”— intuitively taught of God— 
 “to love one another:” but we are instructed and trained in 
 this, as well as in every other principle and form of godliness, 
 through the truth: and so we are exhorted to “ consider one 
 another to provoke unto love and unto good works.” And 
 for thus considei'ing one another, we are supplied with the 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 167 
 
 needful light and facilities through the doctrine of life, even 
 eternal life, in the Son of God. By means of this clearly 
 revealed and comprehensive doctrine we are enabled to think 
 of the brethren, even of all saints, as the subjects, with us, of 
 one common redemption from the power of sin and death, 
 by the precious blood of Christ. We know, that, in common, 
 we owe the redemption of out' souls from death —and thus, 
 the conservation of our once forfeited existence—to the infin¬ 
 ite value and efficacy of the redeeming blood of the Son of 
 God. And a true consideration of this, will always supply 
 mighty motives for “ unfeigned love of the brethren ;” and it 
 will habitually dispose our hearts to give heed to that related 
 word of exhortation : “ See that ye love one another with a 
 pure heart fervently.” For in this way, we are habitually 
 reminded that each one has been purchased with the same 
 inestimable price; that the redeeming value and efficacy of 
 the precious blood of Christ is, alike, upon each one, securing 
 him to an eternal, immortal existence; and that each one is 
 an integral part of the acquired possession—the peculiar 
 treasure—of Christ Jesus ; for which he gave himself, when 
 he laid down his life upon the cross, in obedience to the com¬ 
 mandment of the Father ; and that he might take it up again. 
 
 Moreover: the true knowledge and understanding of our 
 common redemption from the power of sin and death, includes 
 an acquaintance with our being, together, made “ accepted in 
 the Beloved.” We therefore learn to reckon ourselves, and 
 each other, “ to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord.” And thus considering one 
 another, as “accepted in the Beloved”—standing always before 
 God in his beloved Son—and always viewed of God in his 
 risen and glorified Son—in the spotless purity and moral 
 loveliness of Christ; and made to be “ the righteousness of 
 of God in him;” we are enabled to think of each other, and 
 to *feel towards each other, not according to that which is of 
 the flesh—of the first man, “the earthy;” but according to 
 
163 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 that which we are, alike and together, in Christ, the second 
 man, the last Adam, the Heavenly, the Divine; and, so, to 
 have a just appreciation of each other, in accordance with the 
 mind of our Father who is in heaven. 
 
 But more : the consideration of our spiritual and divine 
 generation is suited and intended to occupy and interest our 
 hearts in each other ; teaching us, truly and intelligently, to 
 ‘‘love the brotherhood.” And, on this subject, the true, 
 Scriptural doctrine of life and immortality in the risen Son of 
 God, includes and supplies the true teaching of the Holy 
 Scriptures concerning our being in reality “born of God.” 
 While it unfolds to us the truth concerning the moral and 
 immutable perfections of God, as determining the nature and 
 character of all his acts, and ways ; it also teaches us the 
 reality, and the manner, of our being made partakers of the 
 emanative and communicable life of God; and that all the 
 moral qualities of this new, spiritual, celestial, divine nature, 
 are in accordance—and immutably in accordance—with the 
 moral perfections of the eternal Godhead. We are thus 
 instructed concerning the essential and unchangeable moral 
 goodness of “that which is born of the Spirit,” and “is 
 spirit;” and which is the new constituent of personal being, 
 in “every one who is born of the Spirit.” The eyes of our 
 understanding being, thus, enlightened, we perceive and feel, 
 the depth of meaning, and the force of application, which are 
 in that divine declaration : “ He that loveth Him that begat, 
 loveth him also that is begotten of Him.” This divine 
 declaration is known to be founded in the divine reality of 
 our new and spiritual nature ; and to include a three-fold 
 motive, for the cultivation and exercise of true and spiritual 
 love. We who truly love God, love them also who are 
 begotten of God. And we love them because of the exceed¬ 
 ingly near, and filial relation to God our Heavenly Father.in 
 which both we and our brethren in Christ really stand;—- 
 because of the peculiar and everlasting love of the Godhead 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 169 
 
 in which this peculiar and eternal relationship originated, and 
 with which every child of God is alike loved, of the Father, 
 and the Son, and the Holy Spirit;—and because of the 
 intrinsic, moral and spiritual, excellencies of the new nature, 
 which is in every one who is born of the Spirit; even, every 
 good thing which is in us in Christ Jesus; though the mani¬ 
 festation thereof may now be greatly hindered and obscured. 
 And while thus considering “ the brethren” as being “not 
 in the flesh, but in the spirit,” we learn to cultivate and 
 exercise towards them the love that delights in God, and 
 therefore delights in the true offspring of God—the sons of 
 the living God—the incorruptible God. 
 
 Benevolence and kindliness towards all men is an element 
 of godliness. The true and manifest exercise of this 
 spiritual virtue glorifies our Father who is in heaven : for 
 it is the reflection and resemblance of his own benevolent and 
 merciful disposition and ways, towards all men, as his 
 creatures; notwithstanding their manifold evil, and sins 
 against him. It is indeed true of God, that “ he hateth 
 nothing that he has made :” and the truth of this is taught 
 most clearly and impressively in the doctrine of life and 
 immortality only, in the risen Son of God. By means of this 
 true and godly.doctrine we are enabled to consider, correctly, 
 the conduct and ways of God towards all men, as his creatures 
 upon the earth ; and to think with truth of their natural 
 relations to the Creator and the Preserver of men. 
 
 God hates sin with an infinite abhorence ; for his holiness 
 is essentially and infinitely opposed to all moral evil: but he 
 does not—and by virtue of his own essential goodness, he 
 cannot—hate the persons in whom the sin is, and in whos.e 
 history it transpires. God has shown in his word that it is 
 not his good pleasure to give eternal life to all men—to make 
 all men immortal. The reason why he gives eternal life to 
 the particular persons whom he has given to his Son, He, the 
 
 Sovereign of the Universe, has not disclosed ; nor does 
 
 15 
 
170 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 Gabriel ask the reason why. He saves one, and does not 
 save another ; but the archangel, Michael, would not presume 
 to question God, on the secret things that belong only to 
 Him. But, though He has not purposed to give eternal life 
 and immortality to all men ; arid multitudes of the human 
 race must in the end pey'ish, and be no more; yet, the 
 benevolence of God towards the human race remains unques- - 
 tionable from the first. When man ceased to regard God 
 with the duteous love of a creature, God did not, and could 
 not, cease to regard man with the benevolence of the Creator. 
 Man when he sinned, renounced his innocency, but God did 
 not and could not, renounce the mercifulness of his nature. 
 God is essentially good and merciful : and even in his ways 
 of justice and judgment, this is made manifest to the holy 
 angels : but men upon the earth have thought otherwise ; 
 and therefore “have not spoken of God the thing that is 
 right.’’ No thought nor feeling exists, or can exist, in the 
 mind and heart of God, that bears the most remote resem¬ 
 blance to the thoughts and feelings of human enmity, 
 retaliation, and revenge. His own essential and glorious 
 holiness renders that an eternal impossibility with Him. 
 And the eternal majesty and dignity of God, forbid that 
 any such thought should be entertained in relation to Him. 
 
 With God there is no variableness, neither shadow of 
 turning: and the reality and endurance of his goodness and 
 mercy towards all men has been, and is now being, abundantly 
 proved. “ The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.”— 
 
 “ God is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his 
 works.” Our Father who is in heaven “ is kind to the 
 unthankful and to the evil.” And “his mercy endureth for 
 ever.” And this acquaintance with God into which we are 
 led through the doctrine of life in Christ Jesus, capacitates us 
 to imitate—inwardly, and in manifest conduct—the benevo¬ 
 lence and mercifulness of our Father who is in heaven; and, 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 171 
 
 so, to make manifest that we are liis sons, by resembling him, 
 in his merciful heart and ways. 
 
 Being thus enlightened and instructed in the true know¬ 
 ledge of God, we will seek to do good towards all men ; in 
 our Heavenly Father’s own ways of doing good. We will 
 love all men with a pure and disinterested good will. And 
 we will yield a true and cheerful obedience to the command¬ 
 ment of the Lord :—“ Love your enemies, bless them that 
 curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them 
 who despitefully use you and persecute you ; that you may be 
 ( manifestly ) the children of your Father who is in heaven.” 
 
 The cardinal principles or true elements of godliness have 
 now been described ; and they are seen to be included in, and 
 inculcated by means of, the doctrine of “life in Christ Jesus” 
 — of immortality, only in the risen Son of God. And being 
 instructed in that central truth of the Christian Revelation — 
 the truth that stands on the very centre of the Divine Rock, 
 on which the Church of the living God is built—we know that 
 we are instructed “ according to the faith of God’s elect, and 
 the acknowledging of the truth which is according to godliness.” 
 
 There are other considerations embraced, and presented to 
 our view :— 
 
 The grand, spiritual motor of all godliness is love to the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. And true love to Jesus is inspired and 
 energized through a true and holy consideration of Who and 
 What He is, in Himself; and of what he became, and what 
 he endured, and what he overcame, and what he effectuated 
 for us. And the true doctrine of life and immortality and 
 incorruptibility, only in Him, embraces, essentially, all that is 
 true concerning Himself, and the humiliation to which he 
 condescended out of the absoluteness of supreme Godhead, 
 and concerning the work which the Father gave him to do, 
 and which he finished on the earth ; and then returned into 
 the glory he had with the Father before the world was ; in 
 essential co-equality and unity with the Father, and the Holy 
 
172 
 
 WHAT IS MAX ? 
 
 Ghost. We glory in confessing Him very God and read 
 man : and we are not able to conceive of Him as the 
 Depository and Giver of eternal life—as the Holder and 
 Author of immortality, save only as He is truly and essenti¬ 
 ally God. And the exalted and grateful views of Jesus 
 which have already been shown to be embraced in the 
 doctrine now in view; may well inspire our hearts with true 
 and ardent love to Him—His person and atonement and 
 grace and glory being habitually in view ; and contemplated, 
 in the exercise of a spiritual understanding and a living faith. 
 
 The grand motor of godliness is love to Christ. And by 
 means of the true doctrine of “ life in Christ,” we learn that 
 the eternal life which we have in him, is his own communicable 
 life; and that, by virtue of its impartation, Christ liveth in 
 us, and we live in him ; for He is “ our life,” and our life is 
 hid with him in God. And an acquaintance with this truth 
 teaches us how to manifest love to Christ—to 'The King. 
 Love to Christ is not a mere inoperative sentiment; however 
 that sentiment may be garnished with the flowers of poetry ; 
 or with the rhetoric of devout romance. Love to Christ is a 
 principle of action and of conduct; and we well know that 
 the kind offices and bestowments of our love, extend not to 
 him, save only as they extend to the saints that are on the 
 earth—the excellent in whom is all his delight, and in whom 
 he truly lives; and in whom he walks the earth ; and in the 
 case of many of whom, “The King” is “an hungered,” and is 
 “thirsty,” and is “a stranger,” and is “unclad,” and is “sick,” 
 and is “in prison.” Now when we have learned that all this 
 is not an affair of mere metaphor or doubtful words; but that 
 Christ does truly, and inwardly, live in those whom “he is 
 not ashamed to call his brethren;” we have learned how to 
 love Christ and to manifest love to Him, according to his 
 own will. 
 
 And while the grand motor of godliness is love to Christ, 
 the very substance of godliness is the life of Christ in us— 
 
WIIAT IS MAX ? 
 
 ■t 
 
 I iO 
 
 his own fruitful and fruit-bearing life. Without Christ, as 
 abiding in us, and we abiding in him—Christ really abiding 
 in us, and we consciously abiding in him—we are not able 
 to “bring forth fruit unto God even, “the fruit of the 
 Spirit;” which is the fruit of the resurrection life of Christ in 
 us: and apart from the true doctrine of life in the Son of 
 God, we are not, and cannot be, well instructed in the mystery 
 of our real, and vital and indissoluble union with Him. who is 
 risen from the dead. 
 
 The real embodiment and true form of godliness is the 
 imitation of Jesus Christ. But, in order to our really imi¬ 
 tating him, we must first learn and know and realize, in 
 faith, our own true dignity , as sons and heirs of God—“ heirs 
 of God and joint heirs with Christand concerning this, our 
 proper dignity, we are instructed through the true doctrine of 
 eternal life in the risen Son of God. 
 
 The example of the Lord Jesus—and which he has left for 
 our imitation—consists in voluntary condescension and humil¬ 
 iation ; and in self-sacrificing devotedness to the will and the 
 glory of God. But the certain knowledge of our personal 
 dignity, and of our immortal and glorious destiny also, is 
 necessary to our really imitating Christ; to which course of 
 imitation we are commanded in these words :—“ Let this same 
 mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus : Who, being 
 in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with 
 God ; but made himself of no reputation (emptied himself) 
 and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the 
 likeness of men; and being found in fashion as man, he 
 humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the 
 death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted 
 him, and given him a name which is above every name: that 
 in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of (those) in 
 heaven, and in earth, and under the earth.” 
 
 In this way, we are commanded to cultivate and practise 
 the imitation of Jesus Christ. The particulars of such imita- 
 
WIT AT IS MAN ? 
 
 J 74 
 
 lion pervade the Christian Revelation, in various forms of 
 exhortation and command. But before us now, is the all- 
 inclusive standard and model of the practical life and conduct 
 of the children of God—the saints of the Lord. And through 
 a real acquaintance with our true dignity, as the begotten, 
 and inwardly acknowledged, sons of God ; and a correspond¬ 
 ing acquaintance with our insured destiny, as joint heirs with 
 Jesus, the Christ; we are capacitated to study, and to 
 imitate the example which our Lord and Saviour has left us, 
 that we should walk in his steps—in holiness, in righteousness 
 and in love. 
 
 The resources of godliness consist in the fullness that 
 dwells in Christ. He is our living and righteous and immor¬ 
 tal Head: and “ in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the 
 Godhead bodily : and we are complete in Him, who is the 
 Head of all principality and power.” We are complete in 
 him, because that he has redeemed us from the power of sin 
 and death—has redeemed us to God by his blood; and 
 because we are made to be “the righteousness of God in 
 him;” and because that God has given us eternal life in 
 him ; and we live, yet not we, but Christ liveth in us. And 
 hence the resources of godliness are made ours, “According 
 as his divine power hath given to us all things that pertain 
 unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him who 
 hath called us to glory and virtue.” And knowing and 
 realizing this, we are enabled and inspired to say, “ Blessed 
 be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath 
 blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in 
 Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the 
 foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without 
 blame before him in love.” 
 
 The power of godliness is the Spirit of God, as dwelling 
 in those who are born of him. Our body is the temple of 
 the Holy Ghost. He dwells in us, the gift of the Father’s 
 love to us, in the Son. In ancient times God dwelt in the 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 175 
 
 tabernacle which Moses had erected; and, afterwards in the 
 temple which Solomon had reared. But before he conde¬ 
 scended to dwell* therein, the blood of the slain sacrifice was 
 applied. The sacrificial and typical blood must interpose 
 between the inward presence of the Holy God and that taber¬ 
 nacle which had been reared by sinful men ; and therefore 
 that sacrificial blood was ceremonially applied. 
 
 The materials of which the tabernacle was made were 
 things indifferent ; and the model of the tabernacle was 
 designed of God, and was shown to Moses on the Mount; but 
 by the touch of sinful men all was defiled ; and hence the 
 typical blood must interpose. So, also, in respect to our 
 mortal body; the model thereof was originally designed of 
 God ; and by the power of God alone, w 7 as the human body 
 first formed ; and, this mortal body as to its organism, is the 
 result—or, a proximate result—of the formative laws and 
 activities which God at the first ordained. The material of 
 the body is a thing indifferent; but the body, itself is defiled 
 by sin ; and, therefore, it is only as placed under the power of 
 the precious blood of Christ, that it can be used in the service 
 of God at all. But that precious and redeeming blood has 
 been applied to us —to our souls, of which the body is the 
 manifestation : and, so, even our “body is for the Lord and 
 we are enabled by the Holy Spirit to present our body a living 
 sacrifice to God, holy and well pleasing to him ; and to do so 
 is our reasonable service. And in another relation our body 
 is the temple of the Holy Ghost. The blood of atonement, 
 with its infinite value and efficacy, has interposed, and does 
 interpose; and, so, the Holy God can and does dwell in us. 
 But our body is only the outward form of the temple of the 
 true Divinity who dwells within, even the Holy Spirit. Our 
 body is the hieron* or temple circumstantial, and not the 
 naon* the temple proper. Even our ransomed and quickened 
 
 * Hieron is the Greek word used to signify the “ temple,” as includ- 
 
 15 * 
 
176 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 soul pertains, at present, rather to the hieron than to the naon. 
 Our soul is indeed brought fully under the power of “ the 
 blood:” for it is thereby delivered from death, and redeemed 
 to God ; and, so, it answers to the “ holy place” into which the 
 priests might enter; but it is not now the “ most holy,” though 
 it will be identical with the “ most holy” hereafter. The naon 
 or temple proper of the Holy Ghost is that in us which is born 
 of God ; this is the most holy or holy of holies, in the person 
 of the saint; and excepting this were first engendered in us, 
 the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us at all. It is our new 
 and inner man that is the temple proper of the Spirit of God. 
 And concerning this we are most clearly informed and in¬ 
 structed by means of the doctrine of life in the risen Son of 
 God—of Christ living in us : for the new man is the commu¬ 
 nicable life of God which we now have in union and commu¬ 
 nion with his own blessed Son. 
 
 The Spirit of God, in us, is the proper vigor of the inner 
 man. He is our only power of spiritual worship, and of 
 victory over moral evil, both within and around us ; and of 
 all evangelical obedience, and of ability to call God “ Abba, 
 Father,” and to live and walk in conscious communion with 
 the Father and the Son ; and that so walking in the light, we 
 should know the mind and will of God, who has been pleased 
 to unite us to himself in life and in love , in the fellowship of 
 his own Son. Liee—light and love, are the proper char¬ 
 acteristics of the sons of God. 
 
 The pleasures of godliness are many and great. But those 
 pleasures can be known and realized only in the spirit, and as 
 
 ing especially the outward buildings, and the courts, and even the 
 sacred inclosure ; and is the substantive form of the adjective heiros, 
 sacred, sanctified, made holy: but naos, naon , is the Greek word for 
 “ temple,” in the sense of the inward, and most holy place, the dwelling 
 place of God. These two words are used distinctively in the word of 
 God, as touching the ideas represented, but in the use of each, the ideal 
 meaning of the other is included. 
 
WITAT IS MAN ? 
 
 177 
 
 we walk in the spirit: for they pertain only to the spirit or 
 “ new man,” and not at all to the flesh or “ old man.” The 
 old man hates the yoke of Christ, and would fain be rid of its 
 restraints : but the new man loves that “ easy ” and love- 
 lined yoke ; and counts, “light” as gossamer the burden which 
 the meek and lowly Jesus lays on him. The new man, in 
 the saint responds to the words of Jesus, which he spake to 
 the Father, saying, “ I delight to do thy will 0 my God : yea, 
 thy law is within my heart.” The pleasures of godliness are 
 pure, and serene, and heavenly and divine. They cannot be 
 expressed or shown by any of the indices of natural pleasure; 
 being too refined and elevated to be shown by symbolic ges¬ 
 ture, or by stentorian voice. They cannot be described and 
 must be realized to be known and understood, yet it may be 
 said, that the pleasures of godliness are realized in a conscious 
 elevation in the spirit, and in Christ, when we have, by the 
 grace of God, overcome evil in ourselves, in the way of inward 
 moral conflict and victory, and when we have overcome evil 
 in another by manifesting and doing good; and, so also, at 
 all times when we have the testimony of the Holy Spirit, 
 witnessing with our spirit, that we please God. The. pleas¬ 
 ures of godliness are known and felt when the name of God is 
 hallowed and honored by ourself, and by others in our sight 
 or to the knowledge of our minds. But many of those holy 
 and heavenly pleasures are anticipative; and so, we pray, 
 saying, “ Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy 
 name : thy kingdom come : thy will be done, on earth, as it is 
 done in heaven.” AVe desire earnestly that man and Satan’s 
 misrule shall cease ; and that the loud wail of the groaning 
 creation shall no more be heard ; and that all iniquity shall stop 
 its mouth ; and that the empire of righteousness and peace 
 shall be established over the whole earth ; even all this, and 
 much more, we desire to see accomplished by the coming 
 again of our Lord and Saviour, to receive us unto himself, 
 and convey us into that peculiar place, which he has gone to 
 
178 
 
 WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 make ready for us—the place proper to “the sons,” in the 
 Father’s holise—that where he is there we should be also. 
 We shall then be entirely holy and righteous; and being 
 perfected in eternal life, we shall also be perfected in eternal 
 light and eternal love. And the beatitude of heaven, which 
 we most earnestly desire, and most pleasurably anticipate, 
 will arise from our perfect conformity to the moral excellen¬ 
 cies or eternal perfections of God. Being predestinated to 
 be conformed to the image of his Son, we shall in all respects 
 —save, essential Deity —be like him ; and so, shall we be 
 capacitated for seeing him as he is.” 
 
 Many of the pleasures of godliness are highly anticipative ; 
 and are known, at present, in the way of antedating in our 
 heart the ineffable delight and blessedness that will possess 
 and fill and dilate the vigorous heart of our immortal and 
 glorified being—and to which all the angels of God will fully 
 respond—when the last question, touching the essential good¬ 
 ness, and moral glory, and absolute supremacy of our God, 
 shall have been raised and put to silence forever;—when the 
 last sin against our Heavenly Father shall have been com¬ 
 mitted; and its memorial caused to perish forever ;—when the 
 last groan shall have been uttered, and the last sigh shall 
 have been heard, in the universe, and both shall have been 
 hushed forever, in the silence of eternal death ;—in a word ;— 
 when the last enemy shall have been destroyed. 
 
 Then and not till then, will the pleasures of godliness be 
 consummated. “ Then shall we see, and hear and know, all 
 we desired and hoped below.” Then, in the fellowship of 
 the good and blest, and in the fellowship of Jesus, the Lord 
 and Giver of Life, we shall not only roam amid the unfad¬ 
 ing delights of the paradise of God ; but, from the grand 
 celestial Observatory of the “ Father’s house,” we shall con¬ 
 template the Universe—the new heavens and the new earth— 
 and meditate on the complete realization and embodiment of 
 the eternal idea of the Godhead, in a universe, pure and 
 
WHAT IS MAN ? 
 
 173 
 
 perfect, and radiant with the moral glory of God. Then 
 with the buoyancy of immortality in our being, we shall be 
 superior to the physical laws of the Universe ; and be able to 
 visit at pleasure the remotest provinces of the creation of 
 God. The secrets of the universe will be all unbarred to us ; 
 and its problems we shall readily solve. Every object we 
 behold will be fair and beautiful, and blessed : and every 
 sound we hear will be the voice of gladness, and praise, and 
 glorious exultation. In the fellowship of the Son of God we 
 shall preside over the universe of holy and loving and rejoic¬ 
 ing and immortal intelligences. And, while suns, and 
 systems, and firmaments revolve around the throne of God— 
 their common centre from which they all depend—and as we 
 behold their ceaseless revolutions ; it will be one part of our 
 blessedness, to recite the truth, that, “Jesus made them 
 all.” But our still more blessed employ will be to celebrate 
 the achievements of the manifold wisdom of our God, and 
 the immortal triumphs of the exceeding riches of his grace. 
 We shall then know Jesus even as we are known of Him; 
 for we shall have a perfect community of knowledge with Him. 
 We shall “have the mind of Christ”—and shall be “filled 
 with all the fullness of God.” —Glory be to the Father, 
 
 AND TO THE SON, AND TO THE HOLY GHOST, AS IT WAS IN THE 
 BEGINNING IS NOW AND EVER SHALL BE, WORLD WITHOUT END. 
 
 Amen I 
 

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