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VINDICATION *i ¦ OF THE
HONOR OF GOD:
IN A
SCRIPTURAL REFUTATION
OF THE
DOCTRINES O F
ETERNAL MISERY,
AND
UNIVERSAL SALVATION.
With an engraved Plan of Jerusalem and its Neigh-
' : bourhood, including the Valley of Hinnom.

Su perdition has been the main caufe of the growth of Atheifm — and the
moft etfettual method we can purfue, to prevent this fatal mifchief, is to
take care" to defcribe Rdigion, juft as it is in itfelf, truly amiable and divine ;
to baniflj'from it every thing weak and trivial, every thing gloomy and ter
rifying ; that it may appear in a light honorable to the great Creator, and
friendly to all his creatures.
Foster.

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tPRICE FOUR SHILLINGS.]

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Price 6d,

The Author hopes that, his diftance from the Prefs will
apologize for the following
ERRATA.
)Page 36, 1. 22, after never, read to be.
,  4&, 1. 12, after it, dele the comma.
.  53, 1. ult. of the note, for iw read/j.
 60, 1. 16, dele general.
— — ic6; l.vit.-Kii'kffoflife.
— — it 2, 1. 1 4, zhtr'zu/iere , read by.
 134, 1. 2j» for iM'efi tia& uttor.
 : J&6, 1. ><lti deltjie.-
 162, 1. ia, dele near, and dele line Jl.
¦  204, 1; s, dele fernic6l6n itid read a'dorhta**
¦  200,, 1. 5, for they.proye, read it proves.
*¦— »- '211, 1. ul6.forM£ij]!eao,»#.. x *
— — - a 6, 1. j 3, for^l^read of. , ,
 219, I.22, ladjlaie of great.
— — 220, 1. 4, read opprejfor.
 r 327, 1. 24, read the offender.
+u— 229,1. 82,, after i<7 a® a-dafntmai .- J.
' — " S89> ?• 3> *tid that they. . ' : ,.,'. , ..__,.>
 S43, 1. n, forever, read «W.
•  254, 1. 23, for but, read and.
-  263^ I.25. for the Apojllc's, read his.
•*»— * 2<%, 1. ult for tr) read it. ¦
— 966, 1. ult. njA'prth.. , '{"•'A ' •',;.•
— 270,' after line 15, add. By which e^Kcattotf 4^8oWft6t>^p'ear
tnilthejinalfalvalion of all men, wasanypart ofthe Apoftle's.me»(nhjji
bn that he was referring only to the circumftance, that the Gentiles as well
as the Jews were to be brought into the church, and have the Gofpel preach d
tu them.

INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE.

T HAVE ventured, in this little Traft, to go out ofthe
common footpath ; and have very little doubt but I
fhall be reckoned a trefpaffei: for doing fo. I expect to
be loaded with condemnations, ahd that by two defcrip-
tions of people — the one, who reading the title only,
will be fo difgufted at the doftrine I have advanced,
that they will think it the part of a good Chriftian to
condemn it, without reading it — the other, fcaree a
grain more candid, will, fit down to it with fo much ran
cour againft what they will call the new fcheme, and
prejudice in favor of the: popular one, that the argu
ments of a Cicero would .appear paltry and ridiculous.
A third defcription of people ought not however to
, efcape. my notice ; nor fhould I neglect the refpe£t which
is due to them. I mean thofe pious, and well difpofed
Chriftians, who have a juft eftiination of the value of
truth, and gladly embrace it wherever they find it ; but
who' are alfo extremely fearful ;of innovations, and are
apt to' ftartle1 at every .thing, which carries the face of
novelty. I can only .entreat thefe to fufpend their judg
ments, till they have given ,the matter a candid and
impartial - examination : ahd : beg of them, that where
they prove me erroneous, ' they will rather impute it to
an error in rny judgment, or to my zeal for the honor
B of

2 INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE.
of God and religion ; than to any defign to corrupt
the'-frufh, or to -rriiftead -my ielowscreattrres.
In particular. I would rEcommpnd jJiem to .contem
plate upon the avowed opinion of mankind,, and theur
own peculiar opinion,, as to the benevolence and good
nefs of God— and then determine, whether the idea of
eternal torment 'isftiitalDle to ihdfeftii§hi8nn halted
notions which they entertain of him, who beyond all
controverfy,, hfupremely good •, — and this may probably
incline'fchem cnut-raffily and implicitly Wcohtetata <Sr
AieSglicVlttoe: ptodfs 1 'hfflv3elaiitocsed,^n.id6fensefl8£>the:
an^eraslchaift&eraif "fiDcL .-.'jij ¦ '.Im'.
-• 'ffifa6prejndfces>rtoe'imbiteffatt^ $ti-
juktieratii, that k.TrbqMines TOn^^rs^dirtrffiy'-mertiiehHb
^st> BhefiretsBr'tof tdrem-jiandinfleeE-JlManyiha^e toib&tfsfi ,
«hra>^'i^feTwiiolellives.i^v etottiiis* sbtfckwft Rpifrdffi&t
»-3istsa're»fiaHi»odiiBid -to theLjpsinci£leRr,*»fe Kdteftfe^mceair
-ysntK, «md IthSyraate >asi^kditellb'affimiktM^4!lt»a;'<6W
teatuj^jJilhlit.'iMsapBejkiiiicfeiiB k»flly>difceiJfli&Jk wlfb-
-^mrshetiAdMabamuB-iatte^i^-i^i^ttlthls fiadfelt%,
.«hfltwe>«&e^BBnidyiea41 -ahat in iimMies^akiA^ WMtih
<ihvticei*tte Jdwntotiiefitate'SJHpwJnoerieB^hi^t^ate JpfS-
<judice-^and ask> .often fee- rotten '•wialeaiSf : tind >&^M.-.
^¦eely^dtaffetod.fieir opinions whieh they .b.ave : rMy m
^implicit feiJhiaiinj; iarad +ssibkii Jhawe iio -feufif&tti&Hv-ita
tr-utfw Theiieis'A3fc.t^cf*»kta«a^%="^(hS«h fuMfts'
'>feetwBen *he imra andoHk'iBpiiiiglasj which ^gi-v^s;hte«n
alffliBftMvinrfblBpKedil^fotoif&r'^iigm. Th'ePmiftfr$fcfc
-Ss .'c^tei^ffliatt^ffoytbBgetryi^f^jgtoaSted by pgejtfdS^
iJfetsia'Uifelifh'fcjr, and tdlfriegjiril'tri e?e*y fyftem "tfifttp
"does not lesa^Ijr islly«fithrks:flwn. ideas and opinions
— tandfuch perfons wH^pijohSbly-fhlnk fhdt'-tne Author
shad b^er fol^ e^roHed uvtfeft Jduties ef -his -profef fion,

I.S'TR'OJMJ.QTrOBr'^ D,ISCOURS^., 3
tfion,.tha^rin theologiqiajlid^qi-ufitions*. As-tUffaf^nti-
ments muft, hQwe^eft hp- the effect either of- intereft,
pre#^ffion,. or fplegn^fh&U- appeaj fop, the^tryth, Df,
njy arguments to.tha ffsyfrof inankind,. who ha^re .emerr.
g^:£«8n.the ignorance w^igh waits upon prejudice,
¦Rfbo? have refolutiqntenpughj wthit^f for themselves, .
¦vnho, arc confequentiy. letyp?& of. andi fearcher-s after.
iMfijoRfFAL TRUEHj. aadt'^^q^know.hgw amiable and
«xcellent it is ! — and to th%t, great and. glorious God,
whofe tender, mercies- s^ciov€^«Jl his works, I fubmit
the. event. '
T*hs generaJ..opjniDn;is, not only that tl»q evfirlafting,
¦torture q£ the impenitent,. forms.-a,pa^t of, Good's, moft.
^mi^)le and glorious charaAer ; but ..that, while, the-
• wickedr fhall. labour under? the. dreadful} weight, of, their..
miftay, Qodjwfli' rjejpicQ-qt it^ and. triumph. over, them*.,
"]»hjjftt.wh6 t»t^r.tejm> .tfegfe-fentiments, .would do. well'
* What danger may te incurred from adapting opinions not ftriftly 0 r-
iitom)^, the Author-is well aware— heis avjare-tKat, in cafes of this kind,
ius.-. fin vain foribmaato fjwjyjthatihi* »z><a< will protefl him. That
•if heJs.gjijlty.oi nojopeq ,vjtesf fecret) ojaes wjllbe imputed, to him, that
his enquiries will be called vafn, curious., anc\fo?bidden ftudies. That
pride arid ambition will be faid~ to be the fecret fprings of them:
Tb&rdfea rch ajler tritthi, wiHbe- called • a dove •oftrwveLly, Ttet the doubjingi
¦ofr^fragle text will hefecpticifn ; tbe 4$njaJro£ a#, argujm^nt, a,jr«^afiTi
ting of the faith. That to fay what the, fenptures haver faid, and in the
very fame words too, if.not explained in the common way, will be blaf-
phemy ; and the moll' finceie concern for the honor of-1 Almighty God,
downright; Athtifm. Tfeat,«e^thmgJik%Si.ar-doesmill<hj^s; 3. wrong:
turn£)ve}»,tpiti. A'%* (rf; memory ftudl be, midewUfuI Vf evarieatipn. ; ;
a miftake in„citaiion, ffirgay.anjl corruption. That sm_ error in pan inci
dental point of learning fhajl be a good proof that he knows nothing.
That every inaccurate expreffibn fliallbe •prelfeckintcfa crime ; anjl'thau
anyJiftle. **armth.of.' te»»per.flialH»e'aggr*atediinto pride. and pof«iveT
nefs.into- a contempt o£ a^qrity,, and, HJrm<ioners," B'f">P, Harc'j-
Aijjicjiliies' which attend, the. Study ifr Scripture in the. way of private
Judgment, p.,20,ii.
B2 to

4 INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE.
to come to a little ferious reflection — the charge they
exhibit againft the God of love is moft weighty, and
it becomes every one, who prefumes to impute fuch a
conduct to him, to be well convinced that his faith is
built upon fubftantial foundations. If God be fo jealous
of his name, jhat he will not hold him guiltlefs who
ufes k vainly, what guilt muft he incur who dares fo
boldly impeach the facred character of God, as the de
fenders of this doctrine do ?
Confider, Reader, that it is the duty and intereft of
every man to examine thoroughly whether his faith is
well founded or not ; efpecially in matters of fo much
moment as the doctrine of eternal torment is— if you
iee this controverfy in its true light, you will be convin.
ced that it is grofsly abfurd and wicked, to contend for
the doctrine of eternal torments, without being firft
fatisfied, from your own researches, that it is the
TRUTH. A man in thefe circumftances will fee how
dangerous it is to charge God (who is emphatically def
cribed as LOVE itfelf) with being the author of eter*
tial torment and despair ! He finds the two charac-.
ters incompatible — he fays, if God be love, and that
he is " all nature cries aloud, through all her works,"
he cannot take pleafure in making eternally miserable
the work of his own hands.
If, then, the common opinion of the Divine difpen
fations lays the foundation for fuch a paradox (of un
bounded love and inexorable cruelty) in the Di
vine character — it is certainly right to controvert fo
ftrange a paradox, and, if poffible, to fupport the con-
fiftency of the Divine character. And this may per
haps be effectually done, by enquiring whether the
common opinion, concerning the eternal ftate of the
impeni-.

introductory discourse. 5
impenitent part of mankind, be a doctrine taught in
the fcriptures or not.
Let us, however, firft enquire into the great objection
which may probably be made to this enquiry. It may,
perhaps, be urged, that, while we are endeavouring to
vindicate the character of God, we undermine the
• foundation of religion and morality.
To which it may be anfwered, that let the opinions
of men on this point be what they may, no fuch con
jectures fhould prevail with us to conceal any part of
divine TRUTH. If we once admit the idea of divine
infpiration, or if we merely believe that the books of
the Old and New Teftament were intended as directions
for us in points of faith, we fhall be fatisfied that there
would, on the one hand, be nothing omitted which would
be neceffary to be believed : and on the other, that
nothing would be introduced which is either improper
or unneceffary to be inculcated and known. Upon either
plan, we cannot fuppofe that any thing is omitted, with
out imputing to God a want of care : nor can we fay
that any thing is declared which ought not to be pub
licly known (and that though the doctrine I contend
for be taught in the fcriptures, it fhould be carefully
concealed from the vulgar), without we mean to coun
tenance the moft atrocious maxims of prieftcraft *, or
* I fhall here take the liberty to tranfcribe a few words of the excellent
and ingenious Ray on this fubjeft, '* Origen," fays he, " though he be of
« opinion, that thefe threatenings fignify only temporary pains ; yet he
" faith, That fuch myfteries are to be fealed up and concealed from the
«( vulgar, left wicked men fhould rufli into fin with all' fury andlicen.
" tioufnefs, if this bridle were taken off, who by the opinion and fear of
" eternal and endlefs punifhments can fcaree be deterred and reftrained
" from it. To this (fays Ray) I anfwer, that it feems indecorous and un-
*' fuitable to the perfon and majefty of •God, to make ufe of fuch forry
*f and weak means to bring about his ends, as grave men can -hardly con-
" defcend to." Ray op the Digblution, p. 227. fet

6' IN!TIV©,B,qC1TfOR.Y, DrI.SCQ-U,RS^.
le£up:Qur own- wifcktin. as ftiperior, tp. the. wifdflUX, oft
God. Some- of th&. moft- cpnfpicuous; and amiabler truth,? of
tbffc Gofpel .q£ Jefus. Chnift> either are notr,feen,atal},( -cu;.
dojnofc appeal in.tli.siE ijeajf.bs^utfc andj excellency to. Ik-.
igt]lgiojus< minds,: and a$> we- fee, that men frequently
ftumble even where thft-\«a#,i&.alear and, unincumbered^
wq fhould. majsg it-' a peculiar, duty to. tr^ce out, 1&e
plain and"cG,afrj$gnt tr#th^ inftead of, throwing, difficul
ties mthe- way. Haw fap the doctrine of etennaf, tor-.
Ttimtsrs h*s. been: injurious, to^ the caufe; of Qhristj-
Jssn.?' is- too. well knoSra, Qne of.tlijs moft, pointed'
at^iiinents ofthe- De-ift againft the dQQroneof Chijift,
and. rejwesled; religion,/ is. the ayfterity;' and crueltjf
\ri$ich.hfif4es in God's inflicting berbethaj, MIS.EJiX.
on. matsMnd >. and its incpafiftsncy ; with, the; bene-*
^olentr nature; of him who j is> fiiprqmely good. I'fty,
- this; is one ofi the fundamental, objections ufed, bj^
Daifts agsaftiii Chrriftianity. Nay» it. ft&nds, # the,. ver,yr
hpod- of their a?gum«nts;, it:isJampng,thq,fii?ftand;greftfr
oanfes of tahgjc infidelity. And, as- this is the cafe, I
fhould be*, gladto. knp;wx whether religion will, not in
this, inftance bs.-mose en^hifllly ferved* bjj- expungiifg^
this point fromp among: the doctrines; of Chiuflwnjky,.
than, by retaimng. it I , I am perfuaded; tbat thp e^or*
which have crept into Chriftianity, have been the real
oaitjej.qi, Deifm ; and that teaching the true and' genuine
Gofpgli of JrfuSrClwftj, , iither only r^ional and, probable
method of cumng it Chraftaanity- itifelf. is. the moft
excellent and rational fcheme- that can be conceited'}
but. degenerate priefts, and getuliuit enthufia.fts% have,
made:, it * jumble of, inconfiftencies, asd, tjpntra^c-
tions.
As

INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. '*[
'As "therefore che 4k>ctf i«e of itttrnfil Kism "ticrefe
ntit 'reprefent the character and 'government of "the
Btr^itetiie ''Being in -Ihe beft dr rnbft «arri?3bte Tight, ft*
far it ;isX}nimical to the caufe- of ^Chrirtiahity.
Alhtfitatibn'-of phMfliments-is tfferitial to -good rgtjw
^rnneiYt^Wlrere^utii&mehts -are ntot^^^
'beyflnu *he- due bound's df juftice, and are calculated to
fubferve tlhe general good, there is 'the -beft govern-
<meiit. TBtit'wlfere^'rttttfhmentsaTeprotracted, lehgth-
nened- out, £andexercifea-witfh ¦ cruelty, thereis Ty*amry
"and ^bad gcttfcrnment— an'd avhere 'they are rendered
permanent and flafting, there is ftfe-wsrft'gdvewini'gnt.
=Can_,we fuppofe Sie% -"that the "Wdrft goVefttn«Wt tto
earth, that government, for inftance^1 x^hdfe 'ptrriffli-
tnents are Hit 'tortrjres of anfnqirifitidrr; "where "the
tyrant 'etidefavefrs^o' preferve' iffe<nV$ie*wretdied -object
<df -£is Viftjgeaftce/ that he imay -£st&<3k' his tfrtteitids
-upon "him. ^ttn -we,! 'fay, ftippofe, 'that -fuch a go-
^vt^rmaent 'andfucli a- Character, ¦atfe>ffiteibefr and moft
'peffisct-refrrefentation of that Being, who is hxfimte in
^?fdlom, ^d"tfk6?e <i*hole -character is:lbvb *-
Th ^llufrfeHi-regtilated -gOTetefrrehts,- what 'ate -the
•ends -to Tie -dbtakied T>y pumflfrfrefits? *Phetiftitis late
'two, and etaly -two. %i kjfer pmiifltmcT'rtsi the end is
to reclaim- find : offender, and -deter Others, by the ex-
sample of his v punifhment, Yr<rjm*-ccrmmitthigi!Kke of
fences. In capital punifhmerits, where the wtetrh is
-beyond iihe poffibility -df cbeireg benefited by ieffer pu-
"¦hiflirHent-s— &ere the end'©f thepuniflrmehtisy to put
Ca ftop to the -wickednefs of she object-; amd to hold out
- an -ex-ample <of vindictive 'wrath to others, who 'Jhall
purfue the fame courfe^— But can either *of thefe ends
* See Burn's Letter to Cr. Chandler, p. n. be

8 INTRODUCTORY discourse.
be anfwered in that mode of punifhment, which the
doctrine of eternal misery afcribes to the Divine Being ?
Everlafling torment can anfwer no end refpecting the
object himfelf — he will never be benefited by it, and
is beyond the reach of mercy. It can afford no warn
ing or example to others ; becaufe the whole human
fpecies, who are not in that condemnation, will be
beyond the poffibility of falling into it. "Will it put an
end to the wickednefs of the perfon thus fuffering the
vengeance of eternal wrath ? Far from it, for he is fup
pofed to be preferved, not barely in a ftate of everlafi
ing mifery, but alfo in a ftate of perpetual tranfgrejftohy
adding fin to fin, and to eternity blalpheming the
Author of his being.
Perhaps it will be faid that the end God has in view
. in thefe punifhments, is the fatisfaction of his divine
juftice, and the glorifying of his eternal name. They
who think fo, would do well to confider whether that
mode of punifhment: inftead of fatisfying divine juftice,
will not be increafing the immenfe debt, and making that
which was already miferably bad, everlaftingly worfe;
Can juftice be, fatisfied by being continually injured,
infulted, and provoked ? or God be* glorified by, the
higheft degrees of wickednefs and mifery that rational
beings are- capable of, and that to eternity?
I contend, therefore, that there would be no injury
done to the Divine character by expunging that doc
trine, nor any damage to the profeffion of Chrifti-
anity : but that it would rather tend to exalt our ideas
of the ever bleffed God, and to give to Chriftianity
fuch amiable colours, as would make it at once the
faith and admiration of all the world. It

INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE^ <J
It is certainly proper to enquire, whether the do&rine
I contend for does indeed break in upon the facred
ejaims of morality ? It is right to enquire how far a de
nial of the popular doctrine would affect the moral
conduct of mankind j and whether it would or would
not loofen the obligations to virtue, if men were con
vinced that their future punifhments fhould terminate
in deftruction ? And I am perfuaded, that the enquiry
would end in a demonftration, that thofe claim? and
that conduct cannot in the remoteft degree be affected
by fuch a conviction, fo as to receive any injury from
it : if the true nature of morality, and the means by
which men are led to virtuous actions, be taken intd
the confideration;
Every action has fome appendages, which make it
either virtuous or vicious — and in general the motives
from which actions arife ; ory in other words, the ends
a man has in view, are the beft criteria of their nature.
It is not every action that produces a good effect, that
is therefore virtuous ; nor is the mifchief which an ac
tion produces, that which in every cafe conftitutes it
morally vicious ; we fee daily inftances of much mifchief
being effected by means which were directed to very
laudable ends, and much good, by actions which are in
themfelves ftrongly tinctured with evil. It is the mo-*
tive or inducement to actions whieh conftitutes the true
nature of them< And in this way it will appear, that
every action which has the appearance of good, is not
therefore good.
The motives of men to actions apparently virtuous,
are widely different. Men are prompted to actions
which carry the appearance of benevolence and virtue
by various caufes — fome through motives of mere felf
C inter? ft ;

JO INTRODUCTORY DI SCOU ftfi£.
intereft j fome through pride and oftentatioftj and others
through a fear df puiiifliment. &6W it inuft be plain*
ta every 6ne, that although thefe corrupt motives
prdducc actions having the appearance of virtue,
yet they are fiot in their nature virtuous action* •,
becaufe they do not fpring from proper motives and In-
ducemenfs. As the cafe ftands between man fcnd man,, every man
is bound ta promote the happ'irieft of others, not merely
becaufe a general happinefs will add to his own fecurity
and peace ; but becaufe all men are the offspring of thS
one Great Parent of the univerfe -y becaufe there is art ,
Intrinfic value in happinefs which makes It the object of
every one's defire ; and becaufe, like the Great Parent,
he takes pleafure in fatisfying that defire— 4his motive
the Apoftle Paul calls' ayctin, Love, i Cdr^ viii. for it
proceeds from Love, and differs as widely from that
frigid monfter commonly called Charity as though they
were too oppofite extremes — a man may give his body-
to be burnt, and all his goods to feed the poor, and
yet be without that diffufiVe 1/ovCj which not only
wifhes for, but labours to promote universal happi
ness. And as the matter ftands between the Creator and
his creatures, we muft, if we will form a proper judg
ment of our mordl actions, remember, that obedience.
is due to God, in that he is a Being whofe nature and
perfections are every way worthy of the moft confum-
mate efteem and adoration, and from whom all receiv
ed their beings, and the innumerable bleffings they en
joy — whence it will follow, that obedience to his will
and laws fhould proceed from principles of gratitude
' * and

INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. Jl
and love *, If thefe, under the direction of a found
judgment, are the fprings to our actions, our actions are
virtuous, they are really good, and favour of genuine
morality. Let us then examine the objections by this
rule, and we fhall fee whether the doctrine of eternal
torment is propitious to the caufe of virtue and reli
gion or not,
If an apprehenfion and dread of being eternally doom
ed to mifery in the fociety of infernal fpirits, can have
any influence on the actions of mankind, that influence
mult arife from impreffions of fear; Mid thefe impreffions
are of a flavifh nature, and inconfiftent with virtuous
pinciples and practices : th?t obedience which proceeds
from a dread of punifhment, is not the obedience of a ge
nerous or grateful mind, but flavifh and unacceptable-
pod loves a willing miind, and accepts that only, as aber
dience to his will, wliich is the work of faith and the
, labour of love— of courfe to nourifh and encourage
fuch fears, for the purpofe of obtaining obedience to
{he will of God (which is all that can be intended by
* If it be faid "That a roan may commjt his neighbour to the flames frpm
rnotives of love to God," this is no objection to the account I have given.
pf the nature of moral virtue, for this very good reafon, that no one e,ver
did fuch an aft from fuch a motive : fo fay the Scriptures, " Ifa man fay he
loves Gpd, and hateth his brother, he ij *. liar," i John iv. xx. The
love of God has indeed been the ojlenfible motive for the deftruQion of
Hereticks ; but a criminal love of eafe, and the fafety of benefices have
been with many the real mptives. To prevent the peace of the Church
being 4$urbed, has. bj:en the pretence ; but the fecurity of its wealth grid
dignities tp its prefent poffeflbrs has been with many the objeft. Others
have no doubt done this, thinking they *Ud God* fep/ifie ; but .thi* is 21
motive not lefs injurious to virtue, fox this fervice, of God was nothing
h:& than a hope of obtaining his favor, by exterminating his fuppofed
enemies. It arofe out of falfe conceptions of God and his moraj. govern
ment : conceptions^ which were probably created by the very d,f£brin£
I am opoofing,
' ¦ ¦ ¦ V c % the

12 INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE.
the objection), is doing rather" a differvice, than adding
•any ftrength to the caufe of morality and religion.
Befides, if the motives of men were to be tried, and
their principles examined^ it would be found that the
fear of future punifhments does not fo much deter of
fenders, as the fear of prefent punifhment by the laws cf
civil fociety. And one would think, if men needed the
-fear of future punifhments to drive them to obedience,
the dread of utter and irreparable PERDITION
would be quite fufficient for the purpofe*.
Among the moft notorious and abandoned offenders,
we find no bridle fo effectually checks them — no curb
fo powerfully controuls them, as a .fear; of punifhmen^
by the temporal laws they are fubject to. Men look at
future, diftant, and unfeen punifhments with a carelefs
eye : and it has always been found, that the fear of pre
fent punifhment, fo far as fear can operate, operates
more forcibly to reftrain or reform vicious men, than
any other confideration whatever ^-this ftrikes them
With terror — this fills the mind with guilt and feaE-—
this gives them anxious days and reftlefs nights. I dare
appeal to the obfervation of men in general-}-, whether
* This was confidered as fufficiently terrible by the Heathens, if we
•^iay believe Seneca. After pajnting the diftreffes which arife in the roind,
on account pf the future deftination of mankind., he fays, " Nay, taking it
for granted that there will be a reward and a punifhtrient, they are yet
more afraid of annihilatitn than. of Hell itfelf." Sfneca of a Happy Life.
-r This was the opinion of a divine of the Church of England,
who wrote a' book upon the nature and place of Hell, " Every light
affliction, which is but for a moment,' is far more dreadful than everlafi
ing torments; for whilft men look on the things of the other world
through the'vaftand obfcure -medium of this, 'they not only lofe of their
magnitude, but ina'rriannerdifappear and dwindle into nothing." Swindeni
See alfo Lucas's Serm. p. 308. the

INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE; 13
the mind of a thief, or murderer, is not more racked
and difquieted by the fear of the gallows, than by the
tremendous threatenings of punifhment in the world to
come — and whether more atrocious offences have not
been avoided, through the dread of detection and punifh
ment here, • than through fear of the wrath of God
to be executed by his Own immediate hand hereafter.
But this matter may be carried ftill further ; for the
fact is, that the doctrine of eternal torment. is not only
infufficient to produce virtuous actions, but it is at
tended with very ferious and affecting confequenees,
injurious to the caufe of virtue ; one of which is, that,
by reafon of the extreme magnitude of the punifh
ment, and its inconfiftency with men's received ideas
concerning God's great love and benevolence, they
are led to difbelieve that there is any punifhment at all
after this life, and are thereby greatly encouraged in
their finful courfes. Upon this ground it is a very
common thing to hear men cry out, " God is a mer-
<? ciful God — he will not punifh us in hell-^he will not
(f torment us for ever^-God never created man in his
V own image tcj damn him." The received notion
concerning eternal torment fo clafhes with men's ideas
of God's benevolence, and fo direftly thwarts every idea
they have of his goodnefs, that they muft either give
up his goodnefs and benevolence, or difbelieve what
they are taught concerning eternal misery. And when
wicked minds are driven to this alternative, which way
will they lean ? Will not felf-love, will not love of
their lufts, will not thofe propenfities which are
packed by confirmed habits have moft weight with
them ,? and will npt that plan which beft fuits the pre fent

14 INTRC^DUCffORY DISCOURSE,
fent purpofes of their depraved appetites prevail with
them, and, have its, full effeft, to deftroy from their
minds all fear of punifhment, and of courfe to preventt
all the good, whieh a dread of God's indign»tSffln
againft fin might otherwife poffibly produce ? '-('
They will, I fay, difbelieve all future punifhment,
becaufe they know of no medium between eternal toi^
ment and abfolute forgiveness : whereas, if the true
punifhment pf fin were propofed tp the belief of man
kind, its confiftency with God's character, and the na
ture of things, would induce a ready and firm belief of
it : and in that cafe, whatever influence the expecta
tion of punifhment could in its nature have, would havg
its full effect in the world, by the certainty men would
have pf its future exiftence, and by the confequent
firmnefs and conftancy pf their faith.
But putting the cafe, that there are. many men who,
in the purfuit of wicked practices, do really take the
other alternative ', and (through the ftrong prejudices
of education) believe that God will fo punifh finners as;
the common opinion teaches us : yet we have already
feen that fuch a faith can have no" virtuous influence
on their minds. ..
It is a maxim well attefted, and I believe univerfally
credited, that men are more readily led to obedience
and virtue by the generous motives of love and gra-<
titude, than driven to them by the fear of punifhment.
But in order to create thefe generous affections, thefe
refined motives, the object of obedience muft he viewed
in an amiable light ; for if the objeft of obedience be
viewed as deformed in its nature, or as tyrannical and ,
cruel in its actions and demands, the effect and influ
ence of fuch a faith will by no means" be favorable to
' the

INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE^ i$
tlie moral behaviour of thofe who fo believe. If a
man has wrong conceptions of the moral character of
God, if he views the Supreme Being as inexorable and
tyrannical, as capricious and partial, or as requiring
obedience *, under the fanction of unrelenting cruelty,
we can expect from fuch an one but flcnder portions
of virtue ; but may expect that, having, imbibed vicious
habits, and viewing God as his enemy, his faith and
his actions will be of a Colour, and that he will eaft off
the love and the fear of God together.
I admit that there is no objection to the doctrine
co&taified ift thefe fheets fo plaufible, as that ofthe in
fluence a denial of eternal torments may have upon
the Morals of mankind : and it certainly may, at firft
fight, appear to be. objectionable on that head. From
what has however been already remarked, it appears
that there is no danger to the moral conduct of our
fellow-creatures, if we expunge this article from the
Chriftian Creed. Nay, if any thing appears with un
clouded certainty, this I think does, that the rejecting
this doctrine will tend greatly to promote- the caufe
both of virtue and happinefs. When men are delivered
from the impenetrable gloom which covers their minds
who believe that doctrine — when they are delivered
from the perplexing doubts that doctrine raifes to the
truth of religion in general, and to the benevolence;
of God in , particular, they will no doubt be roufed
from a ftate of fullen inaction, or of active guilt, to
* " The ftate of every king confills more affufedly in theime of the
" fubjeft towards their prince, than in the dread of laws made with
" rigorous pains ; ahd laws made for the prefervation of the comrnon-
" wealth, without great penalties, are more often ebeyed and V.p-pt,
" than laws made with extreme jpunimments." Preamble to Stat. 1 Mar.
Jl 01. ex. admiration

l6 Itff ftODUCTDRY DISCOURSE;
admiration and love ofthe Divine goodnefs, to a fted-
faft belief in the Chriftian revelation and to a grateful.
return of obedience to the ever bleffed God.
It is for want of that firm affent to and conviction of
the truth of the Chriftian revelation which the true
doctrine infpires, and which idea* of eternal torment
are calculated to deprefs and fmother, that we fee fo
much evil practifed by profeffing Chriftians, and fo
little good. Remove that dreadful bar from your Creed^
and you will fee faith clothed with certainty ; religion-
and virtue reign triumphant ; and vice, with all its de
formities and all its miferies, take its flight to the re
gions of eternal darknefs.
The two characters we have defcribed as injured by
the doctrine of eternal torments, and which include by
far the greateft part of the Chriftian world, are,
i . Thofe who difbelieve that doctrine, and in that difbe-
lief reject all ideas of future punifhment, and are fatif-
fied with the chance that God will not punifh them
however juftly they may merit it. And, 2. Thofe who
believe that doiftrine, but whofe faith has no influence
upon their conduct morally good. To -which we may,
add, that this want of virtuous influence in the doc
trine of Eternal Torment, arifes either from its natural
incapacity to produce fuch an effect, or from the fear of
it being extinguifhed by habits of indifference, and the
love of wickednefs. Thefe are facts which we might go
on further to fupport, but this labour may be very pro
fitably fpared by appealing to the Scriptures, and then
to the common experience and underftanding of learned
and eminent Proteftants, as vouchers or teftimonials in
fupport of them : by which it will appear, that in their
fober and difpaffionate moments, they were all con
vinced

INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. l"j
winced that the fear of eternal mifery has not any in
fluence upon the minds of finners, which works any
moral good; Among others, take for example the
following inftances :
" He that cometh to God muft believe that he is— >a
" xewarder of thein that diligently feek him. Heb. xi. 6
**! The goodnefs of God leadeth to repentance. Rom. ii. 4.
" Beloved, if God fo loved us, We ought alfo to love"
** one another. 1 John iv. ii. There is no fear in
" love, ven 1 8» We love him, becaufe be firft loved
*' us, ver. iQi
" No repentance can be lafting that relies upon any
'" thing but the love of God ; for temporal motives
" may ceafe, and contrary contingencies may arife,
*' and fear of Hell may be expelled by natural or ac-
" quired hardneffes, and is always the leaft when we
" have moft need of it, and moft caufe for it 5 for the
" more habitual our fins are, the more cauterized our
il confcience is ; the lefs is the fear of Hell, and yet
« our danger is much the greater." Taylor's Holy Liv.
op. 188, 202,203, and Holy Dying, p. 154, 155. He tells
us that the office of faith is to believe nothing of God
but what is honorable and excellent, that only being.
able t6 produce love to God. Holy Living, p. 1 88*
" Many prefume upon fuch mercy in God as they
" will never find. Thoufands and ten thoufands carve
" and difpofe out the mercy of God at their own plea-
" fure, write their own pardons in what terms they
" think fit," Flavel, vol. i. p. 627.
" If they, dare not put their thoughts into words, and
11 fay of Hell and the dreadful fufferings of the damn-
" ed as Gaulderinus the Jefuit did, tunc credam cum illuc
" verier 0, I will believe it when I fee it ; yet their hearts
D *' and

l8 INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE
« and lives are of the fame complexion with thefo
" mens words." Id. 629.
« By ignorance and felf-deceit men are put beyond
" fears, though the danger be the greater — this is the
«« life the generality of the World do live, a life of car-
*' nal feeurity, vain hope, and falfe joy." Id. p. 395.
" He(God)isfUpremely^»a^} and though thinofallh?9
« perfections may feem the leaft fuited to make us dread
'« him, yet whofoever judgeth fo is mueh miftaken, for,
" indeed, there is not any onequalityoi theDivine nature
" fo adapted to ftrike us with an ingenuous fear, with the
« fear of a child towards a parent, as this 3 andof fuch
u efficacy to deter ua from fin, and to make us avoid iii-
« curring his juft difpleafure." Jortin, vol. L p. 308.
" In all his (the Chriftian's) moral duties he waits not
" for the literal commandment, love and gratitude ar«
t( furer guides than the letter of the law. Difhe/s Serm.
" p. 1 20* — His heart is abforbed in the glorious privi-
" leges of his Chriftian profeffion, which gives colour
" to every action of his life." Md.
" Charity mefrns love-c-if this truly evangelical pritt-
" ciple was really adopted, the law would not- need even
" to fend out its mandates, and require either faith of
" obedience i both faith and obedience would foreftall
" the command* When the fon loves his parent',! he
" not only believes in and acknowledges his authority,
ic ahd fubmlts to his commands — but watehes the m<>
" tion of his countenance, and the very turn of his
" eye, that he may difeern beforehand what would be
*' agreeable, and have the pleafure of anticipating his
" will. This nobleft and moft comprehenfive of priri*
" ciples, therefore, is chofen by the God ©flove, to be
" the

INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE, lh
*' tbe fh'mipk tf ebe&eneem the Gofpel." Id. 27a. See
jilfo p. i68.
" When love is excited by the higheft favors, as
•" well as nourifhed by the greateft excellence, it is im-.
" pwffible to make any addition of pow^r dr principle."
M 2^2.
" The religion of God, We fed, has Iove for its
«* dbject-^fhe religion of man is of another kind,
" regards nat the amendment of the hestrt fo much,
** as ftriking the imagination ; its final object is fear,
«« &c4" Id. p, 282,
f« When man makes a religion, its principle is fiat j
** btot God adopts the principle df lave, whenever he
** dictates a religion." Id. p. 284.
« Eedr aland will not teach a man his duty, and hold
*c him to it for any long time : for^ when that is re*
*' moVed^ nature will break loofe and do Bke itfelf."
Tilktfdn. " It is natural to enquire; — vrbat rules are proper to
" be obferved, in order to obtain a right knowledge of
« Gdd, and present thofe hurtful errors which fruf-
*.* irate the ve*y defign of Chriftianity, and are indeed
" fabveTfive of all religion ? And fiVfti in general,
f{ we muft remove from him every thing that implies
?'- limitation or weaknefs ; every appearance both
" of natural and moral defect j and attribute to
f him all real perfections, in their higheft d«greer-r-
*' the chief error we are capable of committing here,
« is, afcribing to him imperfections and blemifhes un-
« der the notion of excellencies; 5 for the fake of exalt?
" ing his power and dominion^ reprefenting, him as
« arbitrary ; for the glory of his juftice, making him
f* fevere and rigorous ; and giving fueh accounts of
D 2 " Wa

30 INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE.
«? his goodnefs, as are a reproach to his wifdom, by
« their encouraging vice, and, confequently, fubvert,
*f ing the main end of his moral government." Fofler,s
iPjfc. 264.
This fame author, p. 194, diftinguifhes between a
fervice fpringing from fear, and from the refined and
generous motives of an affectionate ejleem and gratitude
---and fpeaks of mens views of God, as furrounded
with horrors, as rendering them defperate and incorri
gible. And again, in his introduction, p. 19, fpeaking of
fuperftition as the main caufe of the growth of Atheifm,
he obferves, that the moft effectual method of preventing
this mifchief is to defcribe religion as it is, truly amiable
and divine ; to banifh from it every' thing gloomy and
terrifying, that it may appear in a light honorable to the
great Creator, zndfricndfy to all his creatures,
" There is an uncommon propenfity in the human
mind to confider religion in a gloomy and fuperftitious
light. This wretched abufe of heaven's indulgent bounty
tp man, has ferved to corrupt the purity pf religion, and
to injure its interefts, more dian any other caufe. It has
frightened many from its duties,and deterred bthersfrom
examining its doctrines. It has made fome enthufiafts,
. and more, perhaps, hypocrites." Hewleffs Serm. p. 56,
Johnfon, 1788.
(' Happy the heart where graces reign,
" Where lave infpires the breaft :
*' Love is the brighteft of the train,
" And ftrengthens all the reft.
fe Knowledge, aias ! 'tis all in vain,
'? And all in vain our fear ;
f Our ftubborn fins will fight and reign,
f* If love be abfent there." WATT8.

VINDICATION, &c,

OF all the do&rines which come within
the human obfervation, no one has a
ftronger claim upon our attention, than the
PUTURf STATE OF THE IMPENITENT
s» art of mankind. In examining it, all
ideas and imaginations, founded in the
prejudices of education, mould be laid afide,
and an appeal fhould be made to the doc
trines taught by Chrift and his apoftles.
In order to attain to a right underftand
ing of this important fubject, it appears ta
be prudent, that we fhould, in the firfi place, point

( 22 )
point out, what the received dodrine con*
ceroing the future punifhment of the wicked,
js : and in the fecond place, examine that
doctrine with the language of the holy fcrip
tures. It is well known, that the generally re^
ceived opinion amongft Chriftians concern
ing future funijhments, whether \x\ the Re
formed, Greek, or La.tin church, is, that
there will exjft a place or ftate^ of torment,
where the devils and the condemned part of
mankind, fhall be perpetually facked and
tortured, wit^ the moft excruciating mi,
feries. Thofe, indeed, who believe this to be the
general fa<5fc, are divided in opinion as tp
fjbe fp'ecies or nature of that. torture ^thS
one party infifting, that it will confifi of .th*
moft dreadfuf terrors and rackings .of con?
fcience: and the other, that not only theiy
minds and confciences will be exercifed with;
tfie utmoft dread, terror, and difmayj but
that their whole perfons will be fubje<5t-
ed to the torments of the moft acute fire
and brimftone: in which, tliey will ever
Be burning, bat never burned up or de-
ftroyed. -That"*' they fhall incur intolerable pains

( n )
pains and miferies, Without eafe or refpit^
without hope or remedy, without any end ;
that they fhall for ever, not only be excluded
from God's prefence and fkvour, be deprived
of all reft,; comfort and joy* but detruded
into utmoft Wretchedhefs j a ftate more dark
and difmal, more forlorn and difconfolate
than we can imagine ; which not the fharpeft
pains of body, nor the bittereft anxiety of
mind, any of us ever felt, can m any mea
fure represent ; wherein their bodies fhall bd
affli&ed continually with a fulphureous flame,
not fcorchjng the fkin only, but piercing the
inmoft finews ; their fouls iuceflantly bit and
gnawed upon by a worm (the worm of bit*
ter remorfe for their perverfenefs and folly j
of horrid d«fpair ever to get out of this fad
eftate) ; under which vexations ioexpreffible,
always enduring- the pangs of death, always
dying, they fhall never die*."
" Here lies the mifery, they will be to-day
as yefterday, and for ever; as in the beginning,
fo all along, and for ever; always the fame,
if not increafing: This is the iwe of woe.

Barrow on the Creed, p. 311. the

( 24 )
tbe hell of hel/f that it is is)6e ahd hell f of

ever*.

Thefe fhort quotations may fuffice for £
reprefentation of the orthodox opinion, con
cerning the future ftate of the impenitent i
while we admire how it is, that this de
fcription of the character and conduct of
the Supreme Legiflator, can be the charac
ter and conduct of him, who is the loving
Father of mankind, whofe tender mercies are
over all his works, and who, in the view bf
his fuperlative goodnefs, is defcribed as
LOVE itself— God is LovE-f*.
To be without the poffibility of error,
belongs only to him, whofe wifdom and'
power unite in producing, by the moft in
fallible caufes, the moft perfect and defirable
effects. To the Divine wifdom we muft
therefore ultimately refer ourfelves, for the
only certain knowledge we can obtain of fuch
things, as are not within the immediate
bounds of our own obfervation and expe
rience. That in the real and true punifhment of
* Vennings, Sin the Plague of Plagues, p. 89.
f 1 John. iv. &. fin,

C 25 )
fin, according to the Chriftian fyftem, there
will be fenfible and corporal pain, is cer
tainly true : and that this pain will be the
moft excruciating and tormenting, cannot be
doubted — The very materials of this punifh
ment intimate that the pain will be moft
dreadful and unfpeakable — " they fhall be
" eaft into fire and brimstone" — things
eminently fuited to create the moft acute
torture. Hence the fcriptures reprefent them
as " weeping and'gnafhing their teeth,"
through their extreme torture and diftrefs;
and as the fubjecis of much "'tribulation and
anguifh" — So that it feems they fhall fuffer
inconceivable pain, both in mind and in
body. — And it is equally true, that their pu
nifhment will be eternal — " They fhall be
" punifhed with everlafiing deftruction" —
" They fhall be eaft into everlafiing fire" —
'« They fhall arife to fhame and everlafting
" contempt" — «' The fmoke of their tor-
*' ment fhall afeend for ever and- ever."
Thus far truth recognizes the common opi
nion: but the great queftion is,
Do THE SCRIPTURES TEACH THAT THE
WICKED SHALL FOR EVER POSSESS. CONSCI
OUS EXISTENCE, AND THAT THEY SHALL
E FOR

( 26 )
FOR EVER ENDURE EXCRUCIATING TOR
MENT? OR DO THEY NOT TEACH, THAT
THEY SHALL FINALLY BE DESTROYED
BY THAT DREADFUL FIRE INTO WHICH
THEY WILL BE CAST ?
In order to anfwer this great queftion,
it will be neceffary to confider the import of
feveral words and phrafes, whieh are in the
fcriptures made ufe of, to defcribe the final
ftate of the impenitent ; as the words, pu
nifhment — death — lofs of life, — deJlru5Hon~
hell fire, and others. We will begin with the
word PUNISHMENT. /
This word occurs in feveral places of the
New Teftament. — We will firft take notice
of Matt. xxv. 46. " Thefe (the wicked).
fhall go away into everlafting punifhment. ,y
This word punifhment is of exterifive fig-
n-ification, and includes in its meaning
every thing that can be inflicted by way of
penalty — whatever is impofed upon another
by way of penalty or fine, for an offence
againft any given rule, is a punishment.
Indeed, popular teaching, and the prejudices
of education, have given this word a differ ent

( 27 )
ent turn to what its fimple and proper mean
ing is. Men, when they read that the un
godly fhall be everlaftingly punified, take it
for granted, that they fhall be fubjed: to
everlafiing and fenfible torture. — But this is
by no means the idea which the word
fhould convey; it means only that they
fhall be everlaftingly fubjected to fuch a ftate
as their crimes deferve ; and it is not necef
fary to everlafiing punifhment that the fub
ject of that punifhment fhould everlaftingly
live. The word fignifies the execution ofafen-
Unce of law — the actual confummation of legal
fonbtions ; and equally applies itfelf to ever
lafiing misery, or everlafiing perdition.
If the penalty upon violators of the law
be everlafiing deflruSlion and perdition, this
is denominated properly theirPUNisHMENT.
— If it be everlafiing forrow and mifery, this
word is properly ufed to defcribe it ; the word
in itfelf intimating nothing more than that
offenders fhall be punifhed, that a penalty
fhall be inflicted, and leaves it undetermined
what the nature of that punifhment will be ;
whether of the body, or of the mind, or of
both. The word is a genus which includes
in itfelf every fpecies oi penalty, whether it
E 2 be

( 2$ )
be corporal, pecuniary, or otherwife. And.
in this view punifhments may be confidered
either, as pofitive*-, which is the inflicfing
direct and actual pains ;;, or negative,
whereby the delinquents^ are excluded from,
honors, dignities, or life itfelf. So th&tj the
great point to be attended to when we. meet
with this word is, the nature or f pedes, of
punifhment : and, this rfule obferved, will
lead us to a full view of the ufe of the wordl
in the prefent paffage. The words fromj
ver. 31 . which immediately, precede thofe I.
have quoted, are a brief declaration of the
proceedings of that great day, when all na-t
tions fhall be gathered- together, and when
• the final ftate, both of the juft and of the
unjuft, fhall be determined, The formen
fhall be called to inherit, the kingdom God
has prepared for them, ver. 34.; and the
latter fhall be eaft into everlafiing -fire,,
ver. 41.
* Thus the, Romans had two forts. of capital punifh
ments,; the one, the putting a man to death, which
they teimed ultimum fupplicium-Tar\d disfranchifing, or
the. lofs of freedom, which they, called capitis diminutio-
nem. The fchpolmen have diftinguifhed the torments
of hell, into the bcena damn/, and poena fenfus,
The

( 29 )
The punifh^nent, therefore, of which our
IpPrd fpeaks in the words we are confider
ing, fhall be executed upon the unbelieving
and impenitent by fire, ver. 41. This
word, fire, needs no far-fetched comments,
it defcribes an element whofe powers men
are pretty well acquainted with — the natural
idea they entertain of its operations is, that
whatever is eaft into it, fhall be burned * by
it; they know of no other, nor indeed is
there any other. We may therefore fafely
conclude, that that everlafiing punifhment,
into which the wicked, fhall go, will not
be an, eternal ftate of mifery. and defpair, but
a ftate of PERDITION— of complete and
final DESTRUCTION by fire. This, \
fay, is the natural and unartful imprefliorit
the word makes upon us, and. thus, by the
univerfal concurrence of mankind, it is un-
underftood in all other cafes.
If, however, untoward prejudice fhould
think this remark inconclufive, as it does
indeed every remark which does npt exa&ly,
tally with its prepoffeflioraa; we fhallfjndfa
*¦ See, Heb. x. 27. "Fiery indignation,, which- fhall de*
jf/our the adverfaries." very

( 30 )
Very ample confirmation of it, and which
will evince its propriety beyond doubt or
contradi&ion, if we attend to the oppofition
which occurs in this very verfe (v. 46.) ; for,
by attending to what is oppofed to this pu
nifhment, we fhall be beft able to difcover
what the nature of it is. We are told then,
that " thefe (the wicked) fhall go away
into everlafiing punishment, but the
righteous into life eternal." Here, we
find, that everlafiing life is oppofed to
everlafiing punishment; and what is the
plain ¦, the undeniable inference from, and
undifguifed import of fuch an oppofition?
Is it not, that the punifhment of the wicked
fhall confift in a denial or deprivation of l i Fe ?
Both the ftates here defcribed, are faid to be
eternal; the one is eternal life, the other
eternal punifhment : and it is moft natural to
fuppofe, that as the phrafe, eternal life, cer
tainly means the enjoyment of active ex-
i-ftence; the other phrafe, eternal punifh
ment, means the lofs of that exiftence. —
Unlefs we carry this oppofition, or contra
riety of ftates, in our ideas, we fhall not be
able to conceive, with what propriety eternal hfe

( 3i )
life can, in this place, be attributed to the
faints exclufively.
If the wicked are to poffefs active and
fenfitive exifience for ever, they will be as
properly the fubjects of eternal life as the
faints : and in that cafe to contradiftin-
guifh the faints, as thofe who are to
poffefs life, from the wicked, who are alfo
to poffefs life (though it fhould be a mi-
ferable life) would be impertinent indeed.
Great ftrefs has been laid on the word
xo\ot<ng, becaufe it has been confidered, as
teaching, that the fubjects of it, are ex-
pofed to actual mifery. To which I would
anfwer, that if it fhould be admitted, the
word does in its original meaning * import
the infliction of pofitive torment ; yet let it
be in this place, once for all, obferved, that
words do not always fignify what their
original import is, and efpecially words
which defcribe caufes and effects -j-, where
the meaning of one is frequently tranf-
* It is derived from xohafy, punlo.
f They fhall fear, where no fear is ; that is, they
fhall be afraid where there is no danger. ferred

( 32 )
ferred to the other. We are not therefore to
be directed in our fcriptural refearehes, fo
much by the original meaning, or etymon
of words, as by the fenfe in which they
were generally underftood at the time. And
if this be admitted, I am perfuaded it will
alfo be admitted, that there is ho transfer bf
meanings more eafy and probable than that
punifhment fhould be denominated piaik:
the very nature of a punifhment, as the ex*
ecution of a legal fentence, fuppofes the in
fliction of pain ; becaufe it is frequently
attended with pain, always with lofs : and
thus it was, that pain firft entered into the
idea of punifhment, and has made them in
many inftances fynonymous or convertible
terms*. The ftate upon which the wicked
fhall enter, or to which they fhall be fub-
jected, after fentence is paffed upon them,
* It is notorious, that in the Englifh language,
pain, penalty, and punifhment, are convertible terms—
in our law books in particular, the meaning is the fame,
where the fandtion of a law is, upon pain of fuch a for
feiture, under fuch a penalty, or where the party is made
liable to fuch a punijhment : nay, the word xohxcn which,
in the paffage before us, is tranflated punijhment, is
I John iv. 1 8. tranflated tortnent. let

( 3i 1
let it be what it may, will be their pain or
punifhment i i. e. the execution of the fentence
of the law againft them.
The obfervations made upon this paffage
are precifely verified, in the exprefs lan
guage and conftruction of the next paffage
we fhall confider, where this word punifh
ment is ufed, which is 2 Theff. i. 9. where,
fpeaking of the great day of God's wrath,
and of the revelation of his righteous judg
ments againft the wicked, the apoftle fays,
*' Jefus fhall be revealed in flaming fire,
taking vengeance on them that know not
God, and that obferve not the gofpel of our
Lord Jefus Chrift; who fhall be punifhed
with everlafiing deftruction, from the pre
fence of the Lord, and from the glory of
his power." It has been obferved, that the
word punifhment, is a general term, which
in itfelf indicates nothing more than the ex
ecution of a fentence of law, and requires
fome more fpecial and indicative words to
afcertain the true fenfe of it. This remark
is eflablifhed by this paffage: the Apoftle
Paul here ufes the word punifhment as a
genus, and immediately paffes on to the
F fpecies

{ 34 )
fptcks of punifhment — ". They fhall be pti*
mfhed," fays the apoftle.-^-If we afk.what
the nature of their punifhment fhall be ? lie
tells us, it 'fhall confift in their " defiru&ion"
If we afk,. what fhall be the duration of this
punifh'mentr by deftrudHon ? we are told, it
fhall be "everlafiing.™ If we afk, how it
fhall be effected ? he telJs us, it fhall be by
"fire." If we, laftly, afk, from whence this
fire "fhall proceed? we are told, it fhaE
proceed ' ' from? tbe prefence of the Lordly
and from his glorious power."' This ever
lafiing (punifhment of deftruction by fire, is,
then, if we may beKeve the apoflle, the true
punifhment of fin.
It has indeed been the opinion of fome
men, that this punifhment fhall confift in
a denial of the prefence of God, becaufe it
fays, "they fhall be punifhed with deftruc
tion from the prefence of the Lord." But
this is a grofs miftake i the word cctto,, tranf
lated from, fignifies but of; as though the:
means of deftruction proceeded,, or came
forth from the Lord, as Matt. ii. i.
" There came wife men {omo) from Tor* out
of) the Eaft ;" fee alfo Matt. iii. 13. Matt.
vii. 4. and many other places .. The,

i 3S )
The w&rd Tr^oa-airw^ here rendered prefence,
tweaks alfo " perfon," and fo might be
rendered " out of the perfon pf the Lord."
The very fame form of expreffion through
out is ufed, Acts, iii. 19. cxtto Trpotrunra th
Kupiv; *' "\Vhea the times of refrefhing fhall
come from the prefence (or perfon) of the
f^ord," which certainly means, that thofe
refrefhings fhall proceed frpm the Lord. So
alfo it muft be in this cafe, if we attend to
the apoftle 's declaration, ver. 7. and 8. where
he tells us, that " the Lord Jefus fhall be
revealed in flaming fire, See." Agreeable to
this conftruction, we aifo read, " that the
pricked one fhall be eonfumed with the breath
of his mouth, and fhall be defrayed with
the brightnefs {iTFi^uvna, manifeft atiqn J of
Jiis (7r«^ouo-<«f, prefence) coming.
Befides, the text not only fays, that they
ihall be punifhed with deftruction, which fhalj
proceed from the prefence of the Lord, but
alfo, that it fhall be effe&ed by the glory
of his power, or his glorious power. Now
when we are told, that they fhall be defiroyed
from the power of God, are we not naturally
led to fuppofe, that the deftruction fhall
ifjfue from or be effected by that power ?— r
F 3 Finally,

( 36 )
Finally, if we refer to Levit. x. 2. and"
Numb. xvi. 25- there wilT'beno room left
to doubt concerning the true meaning of
thefe words. In the firft of thefe paffages,
it is faid, " And there went- out fire from
the Lord, and devoured them :" the other is
exactly like it, " And there came out a
fire from the Lord,, and confumed the two
hundred arid fifty men that offered in-
cenfe." It may perhaps be alfo urged, that a punifh
ment which is to be completed in the total de
ftruction of the wicked , cannot poffibly be call
ed an everlasting punifhment; that they •
cannot be punifhed afterthey are defiroyed. To
which I anfwer, that it is termed everlafiing
punifhment with great propriety, confider it in
what point of view you will — Confider the
word punifhment as meaning merely the exe-i
cution of the fentence of the law, and it is evert
la/ling, becaufe thofe who are fubjedted to it,
are never redeemed from it — Confider it as the
act of Divine power by which they are defiroy
ed, and it is fo called, on account of its end
lefs effects, juft as the fire oy which the cities
of Sodom and Gomorrah were confurned, is

( 37 )
is called an eternal fire, Jude vii.* becaufe
it brought perpetual and irrecoverable ruin
and deftruction upon thofe cities. And in
deed it does not appear at all neceffary that
they fhould remain for ever alive, in order

* A comparifon of this paffage with 2 Pet. ii. 6. will
Uluftrate this matter.

PETER.
For if God fpared not
the angels that finned,
but eaft them down to
hell, and delivered them
into chains of darknefs,
to be referved unto judg
ment — and fpared not
the old world — and turn
ing the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah into ajlies,
condemned them with an
overthrow, making them
an example unto thofe
that after fhould live un
godly, Thus we fee, that" what Jude calls an eternal fire,
Peter defcribes as a turning into ajhes : and if this is call
ed an eternal fire, becaufe of its everlafiing effecls, why
may not the punifhment of the wicked at the great day,
be termed eternal, from the fame reafon, namely, its
endlefs effects ? to

JUDE.
And the angels which
kept not their firft eftate,
but left their own ha
bitation he hath referved
in everlafiing chains, un
der darknefs, unto the
judgment of the great
day. Even as Sodom and
Gomorrah, and the cities
about them, are fet forth
as an example, fufFering
the vengeance of eternal
fire.

( 3"8 )
to their being everlaftingly punifhed*. — If
they are to be defiroyed, and that deftruc
tion is to .be their punifhment ; fo long as
they remain unrefined from that deftruc
tion, fo long the punifhment remains-^
and of courfe, as their deftruction will be
eternal, fo will their punifhment be. Let
us for a moment, take it for granted, that
the punifhment of the law is, a deprivation
of all life and fenfation, in the abfolute de
ftruction of finners ; and then let it be confi-
* The learned Judge Blackftone, in his Commen*
taries, vol. iv. page 189, fays, that felf-nvurder wa?
punifhed by the Athenian law -with cutting off the hand
jvhich committed the defperate deed.
The author of a Difcourfe of the Rife and Power of
Parliaments, ufes the following expreffion— " The pu->
nifhment infiicled on field's de fie"
Did any one ever doubt that differing ^nd anato
mizing a murderer according to our criminal laws, might
properly be denominated a part of his punijhtnent ? Or,
that driving a ftake through the body of a felodefe
might be called a puni/hment ?
And yet, in all thefe cafes, the fubjecT: of punifhment
is not fuppofed to be alive, but a&ually dead; and we
fpeak of thefe things as punifhments, without any ap-
prehenfion that we are breaking in upon the rules of
common fenfe, or the proper ufe of language. dered

t 39 )
dered, whether this puhifhment might not,
without any juft imputation of ignorance
or impropriety, be called an everlafiing pu
nifhment :*-*- tbe punifhrtyent . k deftruBion,
and the deflruetion eternal; and this being
the fact, it follows that the punifhment is
eternal. Befides this, it might be enquired, and
with great fuccefs too, why utter perdition
fhould be fo conftantly applied in the fcrip
tures to the future ftate of the wicked, if
they are to live for ever, any mo«pe than eter
nal punifhment be fometimes ufed to defcribe
the abfolute deftruction of the wicked ? Is
there not as great an impropriety in faying,
that the wicked fhall be defiroyed, fhall utterly
perifh, fhall die, fhall never fee life, if they
are, notwithftanding thefe declarations, in
fact, to ex ft, to live for ever — as there is in
faying, that they fhall be evertaftingly p.u-
nifhed, if they are to be in fact utterly defiroy
ed? The true anfwer would be, that there is
much more impropriety in the former than
in the latter — Nay, there would be very lit
tle danger in refting the whole caufe on this
fingle iffue; for nothing can be much plainer,
than that it is utterly 'inconfiftent with truths and

( 4° )
and the nature of things, that it fhould be
faid of one, who fhall be in a ftate of life and
active exifience for ever, that he fhall never
fee life : that he fhall perifh : that he fhall
die : and that it is perfectly confiftent with
truth, and the reafon and nature of things,
to fay of one who fhall be punifhed, and
whofe punifhment fhall be final and ever
lasting death, deftruction, and perdition, that
his punifhment is everlasting, that it
fhall have no end.
Again, as a man may be tormented with
out being defiroyed ; but cannot be defiroyed-
without fome degree of torment — why fhould
we not, of thefe two, adopt that which is leaft
exceptionable; and admit, that it is more
reafonable to call the deftruction a torment,
or punifhment, than to call the torment a
deftruction ? If there be indeed a difparity
in the two cafes, why fhould we not take
that which has the leaft difficulty? and, in
truth, there is not only a difparity, but a
moft fignificant one; the one cafe, that is,
deftruction being attended with torment, is
fqua,red to every day's experience, and to the
common fenfe and underftanding of mankind; but

( 4* )
but the other cafe, that torment ufually ends
in deftruction, is noti
We all know, that pains, miferies, and
torments, may be endured, can in their own
nature be endured, are every day endured,
without extinguishing the vital flame, with
out effecting a diffolution of the frame,
efpecially a diffolution of it which fhall
never be again reftored: and, on the other
hand, nothing is more familiar to us, no
thing is more natural to our ideas, than that
deftruction is accompanied with pains, mi
feries, and torments : nay, we cannot fepa
rate the' ideas ; we may therefore contend
(as the writers of the New Teftament, and
even our Lord himfelf, in defcribing the fu
ture ftate or portion of the wicked, defcribes
it as a ftate of death, defirubtion, perdition* ;
but yet fometimes fpeak of it as a ftate of
torment) that the future ftate ofthe impenitent
of mankind, will be a ftate of abfolute defiruc-
* See tliis reafoning fu«pported by comparing Mark,
i. 24. and Ltike, iv. 34. where demoniacs are reprefented
as calling upon Jefus not to defiroy them, with Matt. viii.
29. where they are made to call upon him no't to tor
ment them.
G tion.

( 42 )
tion and perdition ; and that the word tor
ment is fometimes ufed, becaufe the thing
meant by the word, ufually, if not always,
attends upon deftrucf ion. ' ¦ - . \
Laftly, as has been before obferved, if
the wicked are to live fpr ever in a ftate of
torment, where is the propriety of attribute
ing eternal life, exclusively and emphatically
to the righteous, as the fcriptures fo point
edly and repeatedly do ? Thus Matt. x. 39.
«« He that findeth his LIFE fhall lose IT;
and he that lofeth his, LIFE for my fake, fhall
find IT." Chap. xvi. 25. " Whofoeve?
will fave his LIFE, fhall lo-se IT ; and who
foever will lofe his LIFE for my fake, fhall
find IT : for what is a man profited^ if he
fhall gain the whole world and lofe his own
4/u%7?» LIFE ? or what fhall a man give in
exchange for his, ipu%ij, LIFE?" Chap, xviii.
8. " It is better for thee to enter into LIFE
halt and maimed, than — to be eaft into
everlafiing fire." So alfo Mark, ix. 43. 45.
Matt. xix. 17. " If thou wilt enter into
LIFE, keep, the commandments." Luke, ix.
24. " Whofoever will save his LIFE fhall
lose IT; but whofoever will lose his
LIFE for my fake, the fame fhall save IT."
Chap.

( 43 )
Chap. x. 28. ?« This do, and thou fhalt
LIVE." John iii. 36. " He that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting LIFE; and he
that believeth not the Son fliallnot fee LIFE."
Chap. iv. 36. " He that reapeth — gather-
eth fruit, unto LIFE eternal." Chap. v.
24, 25. "He that believeth on him that fent
me hath everlasting LIFE; (ven 291.)
(hall come forth, they that have done good,
unto the refurrection of XIFE : (ver. 40.) Ye
will not come to me, that ye might have
LIFE." Chap. vi. 40. " This is the will
of him that fent me, that every one which
feeth the Son, and believeth on him, may
have everlasting LIFE: (ver. 47.) He
that believeth on me hath everlasting
LIFE: (ver. 57.) He fhall LIVE for ever."
Chap. viii. 51 . "Ifa man keep my faying, he
fhall never fee DEATH." Chap. x. 10. " lam
come that they might have LIFE, and that
they might have it more abundantly : (ver. 28.)
I give unto them eternal LIFE; and they
fhall never PERISH." Chap. xvii. 2. " That
he fhpuld give eternal LIFE to as many
as thou haft given him." Chap. xx. 31,
*' That believing, ye might have LIFE."
• Rom. v. 17. "For if by one man's pf-
• ' G 2 fence

( 44 )
fence death reigned by one; hpw much more
they which receive abundance of grace, and
of the gift of righteoufnefs, fhall reign in
LIFE by one, Jefus Chrift: (ver, 21.) That
as fin hath reigned unto death, even fo might
grace reign through righteoufnefs unto eternal
LIFE by Jefus Chrift our Lord." Chap.
vi. 8, " If we be dead with Chrift, we be
lieve that we fhall alfo LIVE with him. (ver,
23.) The gift of God is eternal LIFE."
Chap. viii. 13, " If ye through tlie fpirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, ye fhalj
LIVE." Chap. x. 5. " The man whici*
doeth thofe things fhall LIVE by them."
2 Cor. v. 4, " That mortality migh$
be fwallowed up of LIFE,1*
Gal. iii. 12. " Th? man that doth theiB
(hall LIVE in them."
1 Tim. iv. 8. " Godlinefs is profitable
unto all things, having promife of the life
that now is, and of THAT which, is to come*K
James, i. 12. *' He fhall receive the
crown of LIFE."
1 Peter, iii. 7. " And as being heirs to
gether of the grace of LIFE."
1 John, ii. 17. " He that doth the will of
God, ABIDETH for ever." Chap. iv. 9,
«In

( 45 )
*' In this was manifefted the love of God
towards us, becaufe that God fent his only-
begotten Son into the world, that we might
LIVE through him." Chap. v. 12. " He
that hath the Son hath LIFE."
Rev. ii. 7. " To him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the tree of LIFE:
(ver. 10.) Be thou faithful unto death, and I
will give thee a crown of LIFE: (ver. 11.)
He that overcometh fhall not be hiirt by the-
second DEATH." Chap. xxi. 6. " I will
give unto him that is athirft, of the fountain
pf the water of LIFE freely." Chap. xxii. 14.
*' Bleffed are they that do his commandments,
that they may have a right to thetreeof LIFE;"
I fay if it be true, that the wicked fhall
live for ever ; which is not true, if the fcrip
tures are true ; it would be little lefs than a
direct falfehood thus to reprefent the righte
ous as the exclufive inheritors of eternal life
and incorruption. But as our Lord himfelf
and his apoftles have repeatedly fhewn,
that the righteous only, fhall poffefs ever-
Jafting life, or exiftence : we muft either
difclaim their authority, or believe that tlie
wicked fhall be everlaftingly DESTROYED. DEATH,

( 46 )

D E A T H.

HAVING made thefe obfervations upon
the word punishment, and, the na
ture of it, it feems to be a neceffary ftep, in
the further profecution of this enquiry, that
particular attention fhould be paidto the curfe
denounced againft Adam, if he fhould break
the law God had given him.
The offence of Adam was the firft, and
was a peculiar act of ingratitude againft God:
and therefore it is not unreafonable^, to con*
* Let it not he prefumed from this obfervation, thqt
the Author is a believer in the popular do£lrine of ori
ginal sin.— He, on the contrary, confiders that doc
trine as a libel againft the Supreme Being ; as directly
Oppofed to the whole fyftem of Revelation ; as no part
of Chriftianity; and the- teaching it, as a principal
means of preventing the progrefs of true religion in the
world. fide? ,

( 47 )
fider it as a crime of no ordinary magni
tude. " The Supreme Being, having created man,
and imparted to him active exiftence, by
breathing into his noftrils the breath of life,
enjoined obedience to his will, under the
awful fanction, " That in the day he fhould
offend, he fhould furely die:" or more per
fectly and emphatically, as the Hebrew words
import, (mon mo moriendo morieris), " dying
thou fhalt die." It has been argued from
this denunciation, that man was created with
a capability of immortal life: that he was
fo formed as to be capable of avoiding the
power of defirutlion for ever. But, that
the offence once committed, his confti
tution fhould be changed, and he fhould from
that moment become fubject to diffolution. If
this be fair reafoning, then the words, " dy-
" ing thou fhalt die," evidently import, that
this change fhould take place at the very
moment when his tranfgreflion fhould be
committed — and that from a ftate of im
mortality, he fhould be reduced to a ftate of
mortality j to a ftate of fubjedtion to death :
which fubjeition to death fhould continue upon

( 48 )
Upon him, till the curfe fhould be completed
in his deftruction.
I know it is alledged, that the word death,
fhould be underftood in a figurative or me*
taphorical fenfe; but what authority there is
for this declaration, it is not eafy to difcovert
this is plain, that in the paffagcs Where the
punifhment of fin is defcribed, this word.
can only be underftood in a true, proper, and
literal fenfe. I fear the idea of a figura*
tive law would be confidered as highly chi
merical and abfurd ; and I do not fee how it,
is lefs fo, that a literal law (that part of it,
I mean, which is mandatory or imperative)
fhould have a metaphorical or figurative fen
tence denounced againft the violators of it.
Indeed, if we attend to the language of '
the divine Writers, we fhall find them fup-
porting a plain and manifest diftinction in
their ufe of the word Death, when it is to
be underftood literally, and when otherwife,
for when they intend, that the word fhould be
underftood in a full, proper, and literal fenfe,
importing an extinction of life, it is ufed ab-
fohtely, without any qualification, reftriction,
er limitation— -thus— " The wages of Sin is

death."

( 49 )
death." — " This is the fecond death'."—
*« The foul that finneth fhall DIE.*" But
when the word death is to be underftood ill
an improper fenfe, it isr always ufed with
words, which determine ahd fix the intention
of the writer, as " Dead -to the law". —
*c Dead in fins" — Dead whilft floe liveth,''
&c. and whenever this fort of death is in
tended, it is not faid, that I recollect, to pafs
upon men by way of fentence or punifhment;
but is confidered merely as a collateral effect
of fin: whereas, when the fecond death is
fpoken of abfolutely, it is confidered as paff-
ing upon men by way of punifhment; thus,
*' The wages of fin is death" — " The foul
that finneth fhall die." — And a true and pro
per death muft be intended in thofe places,
if we attend to our Lord's negative defcrip
tion of that ftate, when he fays, John, iii. %S.
" they shall not see LiFE."Thephrafes,
death in fin, and of perfons being dead while
they live, are defcriptions ofthe ftate of wicked
men: of men under the condemnation ofthe
* And it is reprefented as a sleep,, asr a ftate pf
DARKNESS  SILENCE — FORGETFULNESS — INACTIVI
TY — corruption — insensibility-— terms that im
ply a total abfence of eveiy perception. Wakefield.
H law:

( 5° )
law : the law threatens death, and every of
fender (being under its fentence) is ohrafxi*
ous to death, is in a condemnable ftate ; but
upon repentance and reformation, is reftore4
to the rank of an immortal. — Like the pro
digal fon, he wis dead^ but is alive*; he is
delivered from condemnation -f; and paffed
from death unto life J.
Some divines -indeed contend, that therf
is nothing intimated in the fentence againft
Adam, which we are now confidering, but
the natural death of the body, and that it did
not affect man's fuperior and fpiritual nature.
But this objection is very readily anfwered;,
by an appeal to the hiftory of this matter as
recorded by Mofes, whofe language clearly
fhews, that the full and proper punifhment
of fin, is difcovered in that fentence, and
that that punifhment fhould be, that in the
day he fhould eat of the fruit, " dying HE
fhould DIE," without any exception or li
mitation ; whence it feems to follow, that
this threatened death of Adam, was to con-
fift in the utter extinction of all the vital
functions— and unlefs we fo underftand the
words, we fhall be led into a great difficulty
* Luke, ch. xv. ver. ult. •f John, ch. 3. ver. 24.
'\:'i John, ch. iii, ver. 14. and

( 5* >
and abfurdity, whieh is, that the Supreme
Being, when pronouncing the fandtion of his
law, declared only a part, and that the moft
infignificant part of that fanction, namely,
the firft death of the^ body, when a future
and more terrible judgment was to await
them, which he concealed. — Can it be pre-
fumed, that the righteous Governor 6f the
world, would (under the circumftances of
man's fifuation) withhold from his know
ledge, any part ofthe fanction of his laws —
any part ofthe punifhment he fhould fuffer if
he difobeyed them? Can it be conceived,
that he would reveal to him a part, and not
declare the whole of it ? If we fay that God
did act thus inconfiftently, we impute to
him that which does not belong to his cha
racter f — He is a God of love and of truth,
both of which perfections engaged him to de
clare, what punifhment might be expected,
upon a breach of his law.
It is alfo alledged, that Adam did not die a
natural death on the day he offended ; and that
this is a circumftance which proves that fome
other death was intended than that I contend
for : but if we carefully examine this part
of facred hiftory, we fhall certainly find,
that the threat and the execution of it are not
H 2 at

( 5* )
at variance, upon the principles T avow. —
The voice of the law is, " In the day that
thpu eateft thereof, dying thou fhalt die."—
Here the legiflator does not ufe the word death
metaphorically, but in fuch a way as points
out a pproper death and deftruction ; and we are to
underftand by the words, not that Adam fhouljl
on- that very day return to his original dull,
but that he fhou)d then become fubject to
death, expreffed by the term did dying; and
that he fhould continue in that ftate of fub-
jection, to death, till he fhould actually fuffer
it, expreffed by the term nran " , thou fhalt
die-." and the Supreme Being, in exact cor-
refpondence with this account, is reprefented
as paffing fentence upon Adam, agreeable to
the fanction of his law; " Becaufe (faith he)
thou haft hearkened to the voice of thy
wife,. &c. in the fvveat of thy face ftialt
thou eat bread, till thou return unto the
ground, for out of it waft thou taken; for
duft thou waft*, and unto dust fhalt thou
* Our prefent tranflation has it art — the unlearned
reader fhould be informed, that the verb is not at all in
the original Hebrew; but is fupplied by the tranflators:
and the pajl verb, here, feems to be moft fuitable tb the
fubject.
I RETURN."

( 53 >
Return." By the phrafe " dying he fhould
die," then, we are to underftand, that the
offence once committed, he fhould become
fubject to death and perdition* : and as he was
" formed of the duft ofthe ground," his death
fhould confift in his return to that priftine ftate
of dust again.
It is alfo objected, that if this be true,
what becomes of the immaterial foul ? — Did
that return to duft? Is it not faid, that
man was made a living foul ? and had not the
foul life as well as the body ? — Thefe are cer
tainly material queftions, and I will endea-
to give faithful anfwers to them: and in
order to it, we will more minutely trace the
hiftory of man's creation. — God, whofe
infinite wifdom and power are manifefted to
us in the works of creation and providence,
was pleafed to erect the world in which we
* We do not die as a punifhment for Adam's fin;
but as a natural confequence of it; he became mortal,
and thofe who fpring from him muft be mortal alfo:
this 1 take to be the meaning of 1 Cor. xv. 21, 22. com
pared with ver. 48, 49. ofthe fame chapter. — Thofe be
gotten by Adam bare his image, they were mortal: but
thofe who are begotten again to a living hope by the re-
furredtion of Jefus Chrift from the- dead, bear the image
of Chrift; they are immortal, as he was, live:

( 54 )
live : and having progreffively finifhed that
work, he on the fifth and fixth days created
and gave life to the innumerable tribes of
terreflrial, aerial, and aquatic exiftences— and
to complete his great defign at length created
MAN. We are told, Gen. ch. ii. Ver. 7.
that " the Lord God formed man of the
duft of the ground, breathed into his nof-
trils the breath of life, and man became i
living foul ;" by which words it feems, thai
man was not created of nothing; but that
he was formed of the pre-exifting earth;
as 1 Cor. xv. " the firft man is ofthe earth,
earthy." — In his creation, the particles of
earth received a new-and different mode of
exiftence — that is, they became a frame or
hody, organized, and fitted in all refpects for
the enjoyment of feparate life and action.
Having thus firft in order of nature formed
man, with all the requifites for vital and
percipient exiftence, God, " breathed into
bis noftrils the breath of life, and man be
came a living foul ;" which words indicate,
that that frame which God had before made,
was originally inert, but perfectly fitted for
action, and that by breathing into its noftrils.
the breath of life, he fet all the powers of
adtion

( 55 )
action to work,, and having thus informed
it with life, " MAN became a living frame."
This is the fimple and unartful account
the fcriptures give us of the creation of man;-
and it follows from it, that man is a. cer
tain, identical, living, rational agent — we
hear nothing of diftinct and different fub-
ilances, or of divers and feparate vitalitys;
but that he is one, entire, living creature,
the work of Almighty God, formed of the
duft of the ground.
In the Mofaic account of the creation of
man, fome, it is true, have pretended to dif-
cover, that man poffeffes two diftinct natures j
the- one material, the other immaterial; the
one mortal, the other immortal ; the one al
together fenfual, the other altogether ra
tional. On thefe points, let that hiftory be ex
amined. — We fhall then fee whether fuch
doctrines axe really taught there or not. — The
original words are,
vsxn nm oman-p "isy oiNrrnK a>nbit rnn» -i»>»i
sirrr WD& aiNn »rm o»n nowi
" And the Lord "God formed man of the
duft of the ground, and breathed into his
noftrils, .the breath of life; and man be
came a living foul" It

• ( 56 ' )
It is faid, that by non«n-p isy- " the dufl;
of the ground" is meant the body: that by
n>n tysj "a living foul" is meant the animal
and fenfitive part, or perhaps the immaterial..
foul: and by t=i»n 'nwa " the breath of life,"
at any rate, the fpirit, immaterial foul, or
rational mind, is intended.
Thefe are the vulgar mifconceptions of
this paffage. As to the firft of them,
rnymrrp isy " the duft of the ground/' it is
plain that it does not mean the body, but
the materials of which man was formed, ,
" And the Lord God formed MAN of the
duft of the ground." — It does not fay, that
the duft of the ground was the body, nor
even that the body, difcriminately, was made
ofthe duft; but in general terms afferts, that
" MAN was formed of the duft," compre-
he'ndinghis whole being. So ch. iii. ver. 19.
God fays to Adam, " In the fweat of thy face
fhalt thou eat bread, till thou return into the
ground, for out of it waft thou taken; for
dufi thou waft, and unto duft fhalt thou
return:*" not thy body, but thou waft
made
* The apoftle Paul in his Second Epiftle to Timothy,
and in his Epiftle to the Philippians, has two very ftrikiiig
allufions

( 57 )
made ofthe earth, and thou fhalt return to
the earth — not a part of thee, but thou thy
felf fhalt return to duft.
Neither can we conceive that the n»rt iwdj
means the immaterial, rational foul, as dif-
tinguifhed from the material body, without
we are willing to afcribe the fame diftinction
to beafts, fifties, and reptiles; feeing the
fame exact form of expreffion, is ufed of
them: thus Gen. ch. i. ver. 20, 21. " Let
the waters, bring forth abundantly the mov
ing creature that hath life"n»n s^J. "And God
created— every living creature," rvrrn wsj^d.
" And God faid, let the earth bring forth
the living creature" n»n»si. Alfo, Gen. ii.
19. " And whatfoever Adam called every
living creature 7m »si that was the name
thereof:" and Gen. ch. vii. ver. 23. "And
allufions to the original formation of man, and to the
t/ue nature of death. — He. calls death an analyfis—
w For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of
my departure «m*AtKre«s is at hand" — and *' I am in a
ftrait betwixt two, having a defire to depart m<tiwran and
to be with Chrift;" by which expreffions, I conceive he
would give us to underftand, that in death, man is
revived, into, or returns to his primary or elemental,
parts. I every

( 58 )
every wn a*D3 living fubfiance was defiroyed,
&c." See alfo Ezek. xlvii. 9. And accord*
ingly Paul, 1 Cor. xv. 45. declares that the
firft man Adam was made e/? into a living foul,
a living animal, uq t|/y%^ t^ua-av. where
it is evident that MAN is fpoken of gene
rally; and not any diftinct nature of, or part
of man in particular. It is fo wn a $/vx,tKo»
natural body (or body poffeffed of animal
life) ; it is raifed a fpiritual body (/'. e. a body
immortalized) ; there is a natural body
(that is, the body fown), and there is a fpiri
tual body (that is, the body raifed); andfoit
is written, the firft MAN, Adam, was made
a living foul, &c. And fo far is the form of
expreffion ufed by Mofes from being caU
culated to ferve the common hypothefisi
that the Hebrew a>s: never in any one in
ftance fignifies an immaterial fubfiance ; but
frequently a dead body. See Lev. xix. 28.
Numb. v. 2. ch. vi. n. ch. ix. 6, 7. 10.
Hag. ii. 13.
And as infuperable are the difficulties which
attend the notion, that the immaterial foul,
or in fact any diftinction in man fimilar to
it, is intended4by the expreffion o»rr noiw the
¦breath of life: for it is clear from the form of

( 59 )
of the expreffion, and from the whole
tenor of fcripture, that by breathing into
Adam's noftrils the breath of life, was in
tended the communication of life and action,
by fetting the functions of refpiration to
work. That this is the meaning of the
phrafe, is demonflrable by an appeal to
Gen. ch. vii. ver. 21, 22. where it appears,
that in the brute creation, life is communi
cated by this infpiration of the Almighty :
the breath of life, therefore, is the means of
life common to all living creatures, rational
and irrational : " and all flefh that moved
upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle,
and of beafts, and of every creeping thing
that creepeth upon the earth, and every man.
All in whofe nofirils was the breath of life
o»rr nD»J of all in the dry land died." So
ver. 15. See Job, xxxiii. 4.
And as the powers of life and refpiration
came originally from God, the Author of
life; fo the departure of the breath, or a
ceafing of thofe powers, is the final period of
life. Thus, Acts, ch. v. ver. 5. " Ananias
hearing thefe words, fell down and gave up
the ghoft." So Mark, xv. 37. " And Jefus
cried with a loud voice and breathed out his
I 2 fpirit^

( 60 y
fpirit, or breath." So Matt, xxvii. 50.
John xix. 30. &c.
Hence alfo it is, that the "fpirit or breath.
is faid to return to God that gave it. — Hence
that language, " into thy hands I cpmmend
my fpirit or breath." — fi.nd hence men are
exhorted to " commit to God the, keeping
of their lives, 1 Pet. iv. 19. — See Rev. xi. 11,
— And hence thofe remarkable exprefiions.
Job, xii. 10. " In whofe hands is the, breath,
of all mankind." Dan. v. 23. " The God/
in whofe hands thy breath is."
I hope this digreffion will not prove un
profitable; I fhall conclude what I have
to fay on this head, by adding the follow
ing general obfervations :
1. That the fcriptures never teach us,
that man poffeffes a body and a foul, of
diftinct natures and properties.
2. That the fcriptures never tell us, that
man poffeffes two lives- — the life of the body,
and the life of the foul.
3. That the fcriptures wherever a man is
apparently fpoken of, as fuch a compound
being, confifting of body, foul, and fpirit,
pr as pofleffing a foul or fpirit, does npt
mean that he poffeffes diftinct natures aod
vitali-

( 61 )
vitalitys; but it is a kind of emphatical
language, ufed for the purpofe of expreffing,
with more energy and fignificancy, the whole
pf man, and is chiefly ufed where the devo
tion of a man's felf to God is recommend
ed, or fpoken of. In this fenfe it is ufed,
Deut. vi. .5. " Thou fhalt love the Lord thy
God, with all thine heart, and with all thy
foul, and with all thy might," quoted by
pur Lord, Matt. xxii. 27' "Thou fhalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy mind:" where we may
obferve, that if the diftinct mention of foul
and body in any inftance points out fepa
rate and independant exiftences, it will by
the fame mode of reafoning follow, that the
might of a man, and his heart are diftinct
natures and vitalitys. So again, 1 Theff. v.
23. " And I pray God your whole fpirit,
and foul, and body, be preferved blamelefs,
&c." the fame obfervation may be made upon
thefe words; and it may be added, that if
the Apoftle meant to point out to us in thefe
words the diftinct natures and vitalitys of the
foul and body, or of the fpirit and body, he
meant to teach the fame of them all; that js,
pfbody, foul, and fpirit; and fo we fhall find

( 62 )
find in man three diftinct natures and vita-*
litys — thefe paffages therefore cannot be
made to prove enough for the common opi--
nion, without making them prove a vaft deal
too much. — See alfo Heb. x. 23. " Let us
draw near with a true heart, in full affurance
of faith, having our hearts fprinkled from an
evil confcience, and our bodies wafhed with
pure water.'* — If this word heart had been
foul, it might have been urged, according to
the common mode of reafoning, as a very
cogent proof for the opinion I am contending
againft — but as it is not, it is to.be, hoped,
that thofe paffages which feem. to make a
diftinction between the foul and body of
man, will not be produced to prove their
diftinct natures, without this be alfo pro-:
duced to prove, that the body and heart, are
alfo of divers natures, and' poffefs diftindfc
and incommunicable- properties.
I am perfuaded that a thorough inveftiga-
tion of this doctrine will not only fhew, that
the fcripture account of the origin of man,
gives us no reafon to believe, that man is
compofed of a material body, and an imma
terial foul; but it will alfo convince us, that
the fentence denounced againft Adam was a
fentence

( «3 )
fentence of death, in the ftrict fenfe of fhe
word, not as a fpiritual death, not as a fe'j
paration of foul and body, not as a death of
the body the foul remaining ftill alive ; but
as it means the ceffation of all animal mo
tion, and of all the functions of animal life;
as it means the utter extinction of all our
percipient and intellectual powers, a com
plete decompofition and refolution of the
conflituent parts of man, which fhould re
duce him to his original dust. — " Duft
thou wafi, and unto duft fhalt thou return."
And it will alfo convince us, that as death
was the threatened punifhment againft Adam*
it will alfo be the punifhment ofhis offend
ing pofierity.
We need not, however, reft this part of
the fubject upon this kind of evidence — The
fcriptures are every where full of declara
tions, that the final death of the wicked ia
the proper and natural punifhment of their
fins — that God can and will deftroy ^ not the
body only, but that he will take away the
poffibility of a future refurrection, by de-
ftroying the life itfelf.
Thus Rom. i. 32. " They which do. fuch
things are worthy of death,"
Rom.

( 64 )
Rom. vi. 1 6. 23. "A fin unto death—
the wages of fin is death."
James, i. 15. " Sin, when it is finifhed;
bringeth forth death."
Matt. x. 28. God — is able to deftroy^
both body and fpul, tyuxy life, in hell,
yUvvoc, Gehenna ;
As it had been the cuftom to deftroy bodies
in the fire of Gehenna (a valley fo called
near Jerufalem) ; fp God is able to deftroy^
not only the body, but withal to extinguish
the life itfelf; agreeable to the declaration
in Acts, Every foul which wijl not hear
that prophet fhall be defiroyed.
John, iii. 36. "He that believeth riot on
the Son, SHALL NOT SEE LIFE."—
Here the phrafe is varied— we are firft in
formed, that fin brings forth death, then, that
the lives of finners fhall be defiroyed — ap4
here it is declared, that they fhall not fee life^
2 Cor;, ii. 16. " Savor pf death unto
death." , , .., , ...
Heb. x. 39. ".We are not of them who
draw back unto perdition, but of thenr that
believe to the faving of the foul, ipv^tj, life."
". 1 John, : iii. 14. "He that loveth not his
brother, abideth in death,"
Rev. xx. j 5. " Whofoever was not found
written

( 65 )
written in the book of life was call into
the lake of fire."
And finally, the apoftle Paul, in his
Epiftle to the Romans, ch. vi. 21. with
an eye, I doubt not, as well to the law
given by Mofes, as to the great conftitution
of nature, " That evil and death are the
followers of fin," affures us, that " the
end of thefe things is death;" thait is,
the confummation of evil is destruc
tion." It might be reafonably fuppofed, that thefe
numerous declarations of fcripture, would
be fufficient to affure thofe who would be
confidered as believers in the gofpel of Jefus
Chrift, that not eternal torment, but eternal
death, is the doctrine taught in that gofpel,
as the future ftate or portion of impenitent
finners : but fo it is, that thefe evident proofs
of the point I contend for, do not influence
the minds of Chriftians as they might be ex
pected to do : — the fact is, that men are, from
their early infancy, brought up in the belief
of the doctrine of eternal torment, and going
through the fcriptures biaffed by this preju
dice, they either pafs over thefe paffages with
K o

( 66 )
out regarding them at all, or interpret them
tipon the principles eflablifhed by its advo
cates, and confider them merely as metapho
rical expreffions, conveying ideas in the
higheft oppofition to their ufual and ac«
fcnowledged import.
Let thofe who value themfelves for having
efcaped vulgar prejudices, confider the plaio
and unforced meaning of the words, whieh
the divine writers employ in the inftanees
before us-^-they will find that death* as \t
means the privation of life* is the true pu
nifhment of fin : and confequently, that
the eternal ftate of the wicked, fhall be un*
accompanied either hy fenfation or per-.
eeption. And if they accurately examine $he fob*
ject, they will find, that it is no objection tq
the probability or poffibility of the fcheme I
contend for, that annihilation is an impaflk*
ble act : they will find, that by life, the fcrip-*
tures do not mean merely exiftence ; but that
which acts as well as exifts : and this is the
philofophical as well as the fcriptural idea
of life ; for action or motion is the princi
pal thing that belongs to the idea of life.
That

( 67 )
That which has active exiftence may be liable
to be divefted of action, though not of ex
iftence; but being divefted of action it be
comes properly dead: and this confideration
makes it clear, that death is not fo much the
privation of exiftence, as it is the privation
of action and fenfation.

Ka SECOND

( 68 )

SECOND DEATH.

BY introducing all the paffages in the
New Teftament which appear to relate
to this fubject, we fhall be able, the better
to form a judgment, than by the confidera-
tion of any one text in particular, whether
thofe paffages which reprefent the future
ftate of impenitent finners, as a ftate of death,
deftruction, or perdition, are to be under
ftood figuratively ; or whether thofe which
are fuppofed to reprefent that ftate, as a ftate
of never-ceafing mifery, are not rather mif-
underftood, or are highly figurative expref-
fions. Let us for the prefent, go on to enquire
into the import of a phrafe, not very fre
quently

( 69 )
quently, but very pointedly ufed, which is1*
" the Second death." It is firft ufed,
Rev. ch. ii. — Jefus Chrift, in his direc
tions to John, as to what he fhould write to
the angel of the church of Smyrna, in the
the tenth verfe fays, ' ' Be thou faithful unto
death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
He that hath an ear to hear,, let him hear
what the Spirit faith unto the churches. He
that overcometh fhall not be hurt of the
fecond death," — The admonition contained
in thefe words, and the fubfequent declara
tion, give us the full force of this phrafe, the
fecond death, and make a clear diftinction
between the firfi and the fecond death:
" Be thou faithful unto death, and I will
give thee a crown of life — he that over
cometh fhall not be hurt of the fecond
death." As though he had faid — be bold
in the caufe you have efpoufed — perfevere
in your faithfulnefs unto DEATH, and your
toils, your labours, and your fufferings, fhall
be crowned with eternal existence;
for he that overcometh fhall not utterly pe
rifh, he fhall not the fecond time be fubject-
ed to diffolution — he fhall die indeed once ;
but

( 7° )
but he fhall be raifed again unto eternal life;
he fhall not die any more for ever.
We will now attend to the reafon and
propriety of this phrafe, <f The fecond
death." — It appears to be called the fecund
death, in reference to the firft death — the
word fecond is a relative term, and the
punifhment of the impenitent is thus de
nominated, becaufe of its fimilarity to
that death which takes place when mor
tal men are firft, from a ftate of life and
active exiftence, refolved into their firft
principles. There feems to be the higheft
reafon to think, that the fecond death is of
the fame nature, and has the fame proper
ties as the firft death (otherwife the connec
tion between the relative terms firfi and fecond
will ceafe) ; and as the firft death, is a diflb-
lution of the parts, and effects the privation
of all vital and animal functions and fenfa
tions, the fecond death is in all probability
of the fame kind, though in a more com
plete and perfect degree.
The phrafe is repeated, Rev. xx. 6-
"*' Bleffed and holy is he that hath part in
the firft refurrection, on fuch the fecond
death hath no power/' And

( 7' )
And again, in the 14th and 15th verfes
of the fame chapter, in which is reprefented
a vifion, as it were, of the day of judgment
*— " the fmall and great were feen to fland
before God, and the books were opened,
and they were judged out of the things
written in the books, according to their
works ; and the fea gave up the dead which
were in it, and death and hell delivered up
the dead which were in them — and death and
hell were eaft into the lake of fire, this is
the fecond death; and whofoever was not
found written in the book of life, was eaft
into the lake of fire." By the word hell
(«&??)» which is faid to have delivered up the
dead which were in it, we are to underftand
the grave; the fea and the grave, are the
general receivers of the dead, and thefe are
faid to have delivered them up at the refur
rection, to the judgment of God. " And
death and hell, and all who were not found
written in the Lamb's book of life, were
cafl into the lake of fire, which is the fecond
death:" this reprefents to us in very awful
colours the grand and tremendous confum-
mation of things concerning mankind; \\hex\
thofe who fhall have obeyed the truth will be

( 7* )
be clothed with immortal life, and the
wicked and impenitent fhall undergo a fe-
cond dissolution*, from which they are
never to be redeemed — and that a complete
victory may be obtained by the bleffed Jefus
over all his enemies, we are taught, that
DEATH itfelf is to be defiroyed, agreeable
to the apoftle's declaration, i Cor. xv. 26.
" For he muft reign till he has put all his
enemies under his feet, the laft enemy that
fhall be defiroyed is DEATH."— And again,
Hof. xiii. 1 4. " O death ! I will be thy plagues ;
Q grave! I will be thy deftruction."
It is neceffary that in this place we fhould
attend to the oppofition here made of life
and death — the book of life, and the fecond
death : do not thefe oppofitions evidently
inculcate this idea, that the future ftate of
* If this were not fufficiently plain from the force of
the expreffion itfelf, " the fecond death," we might
call in affiftance from the Jews, who, as Dr. Hammond
fays, ufe the phrafe proverbially, to fignify final, utter,
irreverfible destruction. So in the Jerufalem Targum,
Deut. xxxiii. 6, Let Reuben live, and let him not die
the fecond death, by which the wicked die in the life to
come : " where, fays the Do&or, whatever be fignified
among them by the world to come, it feems to denote
fuch a death, from which there is no releafe." the

( 11 )
the Pbedient fhall be a ftate of living exiftence,
and of the impenitent a ftate of deftruction
and perdition ? The words are plain and
empfoatieal," and teach us, that the fecond
death is a denial of immortality, and the
execution of irremediable deftruction.
I cannot Pttrit makinfg art obfervation in
this place, upon Dr. Hammond's opinion
concerning death and hell being eaft into the
lake of fire. — " Death being a privative
*' thing," fays this learned man, " the deftruc-
" tion of that rteceffarily infers, not only
" a pofitive refurrection, but confequent to it,
' ' an undying fta-fe— The deftroy ing of death
" is the commencing of this endlefs mifer-
" able life, therefore proved to be endlefs^
" becaufe death is defiroyed, and fo life
" comes univerfally; and fo to continue
" eternally inftead of it : for elfe death and
" hades fhould return to have their being
"again, which it was decreed they fhould
" not, and therefore they are faid to be eaft
" into the lake of fire.*" If
* In order to fupport the common opinion, it is by
fome taken for granted, that the day of judgment fuc-
L ceed%

( 74 )
If 'this learned man had proved, that pre
vious to the cafting of death and the grave
into the lake of fire, the wicked werevcon-
figned to their place or ftate of actual mifery,
and that this a£t of deftrOying death is to,
take place while wicked men are yet livings
and fuff'ering the fentence of mifery never to
end ; then would there have been fome ap-;
pearance of argument in favor of the . poli-
tion: but this, which is the thing to be
proved, is taken for granted. He ought'
alfo to have fhewn, that when death itfelf
is to be hereafter defiroyed, none of the hu
man race fhall be in a ftate of death; but
ceeds the deftruction ofthe world by fire — rThus, Wall,
author of the Hiftory of Infant Baptifm, " After all
this (/'. e. the conflagration of the world) the general
judgment will be ." And if this could be well fupported,
it might be confidered as having fome weight againft the
hypethefis I am Contending for. But nothing is more
manifeft than that the fcriptures teach no fuch thing,
but the contrary; for the deftruction of tlie world by fire
is always in fcripture limited to the day of judgment:
and is uniformly reprefented as fucceeding to the refur
rection of the dead : and that the end of things here, is
consummated by the deftruction of the world by fire:
whereas, if the other pofltion were true, the world would
be deftroy ed before the refurrection of the dead. this

( 75 )
this he has not proved, nor do the words in
queftion prove or indicate any fuch thing :
on the contrary, when compared with other
paffages, they fhew, that antecedent to this
defirubtion of death, thofe who were to
remain for ever in a ftate of deftruction,
were already defiroyed: and fo the deftruction
of death, was predicated of thofe only, who
were refcued from its power, who were
then living : and to whom Jefus Chrift, in
the days of his flefh, -had promifed, that they
fhould not fee death for ever. — John viii. 51.
" Verily, verily, I fay unto you, if a man
keep my faying, 9was70" * p) 9-ewpijinj sis. tov
Mtavtx, he fhall not fee death for ever."
And that the deftruction of death is pre
dicated of the righteous only, is very clear
if we follow John in his vifion continued in
the 2 1 ft chapter of the Revelations; for
there he fpeaks of the extinction of death,
as referred to thdfe only who fhould never
forrow, or have pain any more. " And I faw
" a new heaven, &c. — and I heard a great
*' voice in heaven, faying, Behold the taber-
*' nacle of God is with men, &c. And God
" fhall wipe away all tears from their eyes :
*' and there fhall be no more death, neither
L 2 " for-

< 7* ) .
" forrew, nor crying, neither fliall there be
" any more pain, &c."
And thus it will appear, that future everm
la/ling life, is the great gift of God, and
the exclufive privilege and portion , of the
faints ; as Paul alfo intimates, in that noble.
Epinicion or Song of Triumph, as Mr- Locke
calls it, with which he completes his hift
tory of the refurrection of the dead — lf For
*f this corruptible, muft put on incorruption,
" and this mortal muft put on immortality,
'* then fhall be brought to pafs, the faying
" that is written, death is fmalloiprJ up in
ff victory! O Death, where is thy fling!
" O Grave, where is thy victory ! The. fling
l( of death is fin, and the ftrength of fin, is
"the law: but thanks be to God which
" giveth us the victory, thrpugh our Lord
" Jefus Chrift."
From this circumftance, it follows, that
the deftruction of death, is to be confir
dered as the great gofpel bleffing; as that
which infures the poffeffion of the eternal
inheritance. In this view of the matter,
the learned author's obfervations do but ill
fuit the true meaning of the words— He
makes that deftruction of death, the greateft curfe

( 77 ) .
curfe that ever befel mankind, nay, the very
eonfummation of all curfes, nothing lefs
than "the commencing of an endlefs, mi-
" ferable life."
Having affigned obvious reafons for re
jecting the Doctor's expofition, let us now
endeavour to make a little good ufe of his
error, by directing his words againft his
own fyftem ; that fyftem which ftill does fo
much difhonor to Cod and his truth. He
confiders the cafling of death into the lake
of fire, as words which, in their fimple and
unforced eonftruetion, point out the deftruc
tion of death. — He tells us, it was decreed,
that death and hades fhould never return to
nave their being again, and, " therefore,"
fays he, " they are faid to be eaft into the
lake of fire;" by which words he fhews,
that he confidered the deftruction of death,
fo as that it fhould never return into being
again, as the natural and neceffary effect of
its being eaft into the lake of fire;
" therefore" fays he, " they are faid to be
" eaft into the lake of fire."
This obfervation of Dr. Hammond
(which no doubt unadvifedly efcaped from
him) fo well fuits the purpofe of further illuf-

( 78 )
illuflrating the fubject before us, and is fo
pertinent to the queftion in hand, that I fhall
ufe it as a demonftrative proof or argument
that the wicked, in their punifhment, fhall
be fo defiroyed, as never to return into being
again. And here I do not mean to reft
my conclufions, merely upon Dr. Ham
mond's opinion of the matter, as it is his
opinion ; but as it is the obvious truth : for
it is moft certainly true, and on all hands
acknowledged, that death and hell are faid
to be eaft into the lake of fire, for the pur-
pofe of their final and irreverfible deftruc
tion !
Taking this obfervation of the Doctor's
for the truth, it will follow, that if the ut
ter and irreverfible deftruction of death and
hades, is the natural effect or confequence of
their being eaft into the lake oi fire*, then,
alfo, the utter and irreverfible deftruction of
wicked men, will , be the natural effect or
confequence of their being eaft into that
fire. * The phrafes " lake of fire," and " lake of fire and
brimftone," may probably be taken from the lake Af-
phaltites, which is a lake burning with fire and brim
ftone. — Vide Le Clerc, on Rev. xix. 20.
Hammond's

( 79 )
Hammond's reafoning ftands thus :
Whatever is eaft into the fire, is utterly
defiroyed ;
But Death and Hades fhall be eaft into
the fire ;
Therefore Death and Hades fhall be ut
terly defiroyed.
And thus, upon the fame principles, I reafon:
Whatever is eaft into the fire, is utterly
defiroyed ;
But wicked men fhall be eaft into the
fire ;
Therefore wicked men fhall be utterly de
firoyed. And how excellently does this view of
the matter harmonize with the laft paffage,
where the phrafe, " the fecond death," is
ufed! — Rev. xxi. 8. — " The fearful and
" unbelieving, and the abominable, and
" murderers, and whoremongers, and for-
"' cerers, and idolaters, and all liars fhall
" have their part in the lake which burneth
" with fire and brimftone : which is the
"fecond death," /. e. fays this fame Dr.
Ham^

( &> >
Hammond, " utter irreverfible deftruction,
fuch as fell on Sodom, called uluviov vrup, eter
nal fire, utterly corrfttrrfptrve."-— It feems
clear, that Dr. Hammond in one place, give*
a turn to words and fentences, whieh he
not only denies to them in another, but
which are ' fatal to the caufe he would
fupport*: — he feenis however to have been
convinced, that fire, becaufe it is utterly con-
fumpfiv'e, may, for that reafon, wifhout
impropriety,- be ealkd an eternal fire ; or in.
other words, that a fire may be reprefented as
an eternal fire, when we are to underftand by
the expreffion, a fire utterly confumptive.

* He wrote in defence of Eternal Torments. .

LOSS

( 8i )

LOSS of LIFE.

TH E greateft and moft important of all
the dodtrines of the gofpel, and which
all others fubferve, is, that thofe who are
obedient to that gofpel, fhall he faved. — From
this caufe the fongs of the redeemed in
heaven, are reprefented as afcriptions of
salvation to Chrift, who hath redeem
ed them. This falvation, which hath been
revealed to us in the life and death of
Jefus Chrift, is in fcripture fpoken of as
confifting ultimately in redemption from a
ftate of DEATH, and in the grant of IN
CORRUPTION and IMMORTALITY;
while thofe who are not partakers of thaX. fal
vation, fhall be ultimately devoted to a ftate
of UTTER PERDITION. M That

( 82 )
That this is the uniform language of
fcripture, I fhall further endeavour to fhew,
by ^"pca1mg~to -the patfages-where eternal
life, is attributed exclufively to the obedient;
or which declare the lofs of future life to the
imperfitent-ianH diYobecnenl; or, laftry, which
furnifh a direct and pofitive antithefis, of the
future ftate _pf the righteous and of the
wicked. Let us then, in the firft place, attend to
fuch p^jfjfages'aisfeew <l that a future ahd eter
nal Rfe is the peculiar and excluftve privi
lege of the obedient;" aSid if it fhall appear
rfhat the falvation, which, is by Jefus Cteift,
is a falvation from 'death, by a future reftp-.
ration to life; it will follow ia oft 'eafily
and pertinently, that the (ftate of ^on^re-
demption 'or damnation, is a -ftate of tde&eh
*ahd deftruction, and not a ftate pf ^@r-
petual tormdnt.-1— And what trttih I WPald
rafk, does more corifpicuoufly ifhine in iffoe
holy fcriptures than thi&, that God -h&tih
given -unto his people et'errtdl liiEe, and -that
this life is in his Son? upon a diligent
'-anti candid examinatiP'n, it will appear, -lfe*t
no doctrine contained in' -fcripture, -is *i@fe
frequently or more fully 'declared, i. As

f ^ )
i . As io fuck ptqffige-s as refrefent a future
eternal life, as the peeuMar privilege of
the obedient.
Matt, yix, 17. "Jefus faid, If tljou wilt
enter into LIFE, keep the commandments."
Ver. 29.*' Every one that hath forfaken houfes ,
&e.-rrfhall inherit everlasting LIFE."
Luke, ix. $6. " The Son of Man is not
come to defiroy men's LIVES, but to save
them." Chap. x. 2B. " This dp and thou fhalt
LIVE." , Chap, xviii. 30. " Who fhall receive—
in the world to come LIFE everlasting."
John, iv. 36. " And he that reapeth re
ceiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto eter
nal LIFE."
Chap. v. 24. " He that heareth my word,
and believeth on him that font me, hath
everlasting LIFE." Ver. 29. " They
fhall come forth, they that have done good
unto the refurrection of LIFE."
Chap. vi. 27. " Labour for the meat
which endureth unto Everlasting LIFE."
Ver. 33. "The bread of God is he which
eometh down from heaven, and giveth
LIFE unto the world," Ver. 40. " This
M 2 is

( 84 )
is the will of him that fent me, that every
one which feeth the Son and believeth on
him, may have everlasting LIFE."
Ver. 47. " Verily I fay unto you, he that
believeth on me hath everlasting LIFE."
Ver. 51. "I am the living bread which came
down from heaven, if any man eat of this
bread he fhall LIVE for ever."
Chap. viii. 12. " Jefus faid — he that fol»
loweth me fhall not walk in darknefs, but
fhall have the light of LIFE."
Chap. x. 10. " I am come that they
might have LIFE."
Chap. xi. 26. "He that believeth in me
fhall never DIE."
Chap. xii. 25. "He that hateth his life
in this world, fhall keep it unto LIFE eter

nal."

Chap, xiv. 6. " Jefus faith — I am the
way, and the truth, and the LIFE."
Chap. xvii. 2. " That he fhould, give
eternal LIFE to as many as thou haft
given him."
Chap. xx. 31. " Thefe things are written,
that ye might believe that Jefus is the Chrift,
the Son of God, and that believing ye might
have LIFE through his name." Ads,

( 85 )
Acts, iii. 15. " And killed the Prince of
LIFE." Chap. xi. 18. " They glorified God,
faying, then hath God alfo to the Gen
tiles granted repentance unto LIFE."
Chap. xiii. 46. " Seeing ye put it from
you, and judge yourfelves unworthy of
everlasting LIFE." — Ver. 48. " And as
many as were ordained (difpofed) to eter
nal LIFE believed."
Rom. ii. 7. " He will render to them
who by patient continuance in well doing,
feek for glory, and honour, and IMMOR
TALITY— eternal LIFE."
Chap. v. 17. " They which receive abun
dance of grace and of the gift of righteouf
nefs, fhall reign in LIFE." Ver. 18. " The
free gift came upon all men unto juftification
of LIFE." Ver. 21 . " That grace might reign
throughrighteoufnefsunto eternal LIFE."
Chap. vi. 22, 23. " But now being made
free from fin, and become fervants to God,
ye have your fruit unto holinefs, and the end
everlasting LIFE: for the gift of God
is eternal LIFE."
Chap. viii. 2. " The law of the fpirit of
LIFE." Ver. 6. «« To be fpiritually minded is

( 86 >;
is LIFE." /. e. as chap. vi. 22. next pre
ceding, " The end of holinefs is eternal*
LIFE.'1 ''¦
Chap, viii.: 1 3. " If ye, through the fpirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, yc fhall
LIVE." 2 Cor. ii. 16. " To the other the favor of
LIFE." Chap. v. 4. ** We groan— that mortality.
might be fwallowed up of LIFE."
Chap. xii. 15. . " I will very gladly fpend
and be fpent for you- — -wrap ruv $v%fiiv. «V***#
for your LIVES."
Gal. iii. 11,12. " The juft fhall live bjr
faith— the man that doeth them fhall LIVE
in them". Ver. 21. "If there had been a
law given, which could have given LIFE."
Chap. vi. 8. " He that foweth to the fpi
rit, fhall of the fpirit reap LIFE everla$t-»

INC."

Phil. ii. 16. " Holding forth the word
of LIFE."
Col. iii. 3, 4. " Your LIFE is hid with
Chrift in God—" Chrift is our LIFE." /See
I Theff. v. 10.
1 Theff. iv. 17. " And fo fhall w<e eyer.
BE with the Lord." . 1 Theff.

( 8? )
i Theff. v, 9, 10. " God feathr appointed
-us to 'Obtain SALVATION — who died for
us .that — we fhould LIVE together with
him." See CoL iii. 3,4.
1 Tim. i. 16. "A pattern to them which
Should JieBeafeer believe on hbca. tp LIFE
EVERLASTING. ""
Chap, iv, H. " Godlinefs is profitable
unto all things, having promife of the life
-that now is, and of that (LIFE) whieh is

to come;"

Chap^vi. 12. 19. " Lay hold on eternal
LIFE — that they may lay hold on eternal
LIFE." .1 Tim. i. 1. ~" Paul an apoftle of Jefus
Chrift, by the will of God, according to the
ipraraife:ofiLIFE, which is in Chrift Jefus."
Ver. 10. " Who hath brought LIFE and
^MMORTALirr to light."
Chap. iL 10. " That they mayjdbfcain the
SALVATION which is in Chrift Jefus,
¦ With ETiER'NAL glory/"
Tit. i. -2. *' In Ihope of eternal
oLIFilvi&c." 1
;Cbap/ iii. 7. " That .being juftified by
his:grace, we'fhouldbe made heirs according
to the hope of eternal LIFE." Heb.

( 88 )
Heb. v. 9. " Being made perfect he
became the author of eternal SALVA
TION, &c."
Chap. ix. 12, 15. " Having obtained
eternal REDEMPTION for us— that
they might receive the promife of eternal
INHERITANCE." Chap. x. 34, 35, 36. 39. " Ye have
in heaven a better and an enduring fubh
fiance — Your confidence hath great recom
pence of reward — We are of them that be
lieve to the saving of the (foul) tj/u^?
LIFE." Chap. xii. 9. " Shall we not be in fub-
jection unto the Father of fpirits, and
LIVE." James, i. 12. " When he is tried he fhall
receive the crown of LIFE."
Ver. 21. " The word which is able to
fave your (fouls) ^vX<is, LIVES."
Chap, v, 20. " He which converteth a
finner from the error of his way fhall fave
a (foul, 4"W) LIFE from DEATH."
1 Pet. i. 3. " Begotten us again to
a lively, hope, by the refurrection of Jefus
Chrift from the dead, to an inheritance IN-

( 89 )
INCORRUPTIBLE and undented, and that
FADETH NOT AWAY." Ver. 9. "Receiv
ing the end of your faith, the falvation of your
fouls, <rury\p(a.v xJ/u^mv, the SAlvAtion of your.
LIVES." See Rom. vi. 22. and Gal. vi. 8.
Chap. ii. 25. " You are now returned
Unto the Shepherd and Bifhop of your fouls,
il*u%wi/, LIVES — the fame ufe of the word
lives, chap. iv. 19.
Chap. iii. 7. " Heirs together of the ¦
grace (or gift) of LIFE."
Chap. v. 10. " The God of all grace*
who hath called us unto his ETERNAL
glory, &c."
I Pet. i. 1 1 . " An entrance fhall be mi-
niftered unto you abundantly into the EVER
LASTING kingdom, &c."
I John, ii. 17. 25. " He that doeth the
will of God, ABIDETH FOR EVER."—
" This is the promife that he hath promifed
us, eternal LIFE."
Chap. iii. 14, 15* "We know that we
have paffed from death unto LIFE" — /. <?.
we are no longer under the condemnation of
eternal death, but are heirs of the promife of
life, as appears by the next verfe— f{ Ye
N know

( 99 )
know that no murderer hath eternal LIFE
abiding in him."
Chap. iv. 9- " God fent his Only begot
ten Son into the world, that We might LIVE
through him. — ver. 14. The Father fent the
Son to be the Saviour ofthe world."
Chap. v. 11, 12, 13. 20. "God hath
given to us eternal LIFE — he that hath
the Son hath LIFE — that ye may know that.
ye have eternal LIFE — we are in him
that is true, in his Son Jefus Chrift- — This
is the true God*, and eternal LIFE."
Jude, 21. " Looking for the mercy of our
Lord Jefus Chrift, unto eternal LIFE."
Rev. ii, 7. _" To him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the tree of LIFE;"
Chap. xx. 15. " Whofoever was not
found written in the book of LIFE, was.
eaft into the lake of fire." So chap. xxi. 27*
* That is, we are in the true God through Chrift—
the Son hath given us an underftanding that we nfcty
know him that is true : and we are in him that is true,.
«, by or through his Son Jefus Chrift. — This true one*
in whom we fo are hy Chrift, is the true God and eter
nal life. So, ver. ii. God hath given us eternal life, and
this life is in his Son—we have it of God, in, ei, by, or
through his Son,
The

{ 9* )
The numerous paffages juft cited evident
ly fhew, that eternal life belongs exclufively
to the obedient : their number, and the va
riety of expreffions ufed in them to exprefs
the fame glorious fact, cannot well be ex
plained away— left, howeyer, it fhould be
attempted, it is to be obferved, that, befides
-this cloud of witneffes which fpeak affirma-
-tively to ,this point, there are many .other
-paflages .which teach the fame doctrine in
-negative terms : a circumftance which will
render the. evidence adduced, ftill more dif
ficult to be explained away.
Luke, xx. 36. " Neither can they DIE
any more."
John, iii. 15. " God fo loved the world,
.that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whoever believeth in him fhould not PE
RISH." iChap. vi. 50. " That a man may eat
thereof and not DIE."
Chap. viii. 51 . " If a man keep my fay
ing, he fhall never fee death ^fiv<x\ov £ pj
JSb«pif0-i7 af tov .mmva., shall not fee
DEATH for ever."
Chap. x. ,28. " They (my (beep) fhall
N 2 , never

( 9* )
never perifh : kui ov (Ay dvoXuvjoct sis tov muiia^
shall not PERISH for ever."
And fpeaking of the future ftate of the
obedient, the apoftle, i Cor. xv. 54. reprc
fents death as swallowed up in vidtory
—ver. 26. That it is to be destroyed
—2 Cor. v. 4. To be swallowed up of
LIFE-^2 Tim. i. 10. To be abolished-?-
Rev. xxi. 4. To be no more. And the fu
ture ftate of the righteous is called immor
tality, Rom. ii. 7. — a ftate of incor
ruption, 1 Cor. xv. 52. — and which
fadeth not away, 1 Pet. i. 4.
2. Let us now attend to fuch paffages as
declare the deftruction or lofs of future life to
the wicked.
Matt. x. 28. ^9. " Fear him who is
able to deftrey both body and life, t|/u%ij, in,
hell, in u^s"
Matt. xvi. 25. " He that findeth his,
LIFE, SHALL LOSE IT."
Chap. xvi. 26. " What is a man profited,
if he gain the whole world and lose his
own, fyvxii LIFE ? or what fhall a man give
in exchange for his, fyvxrj, LIFE ?"
Luke, ix. 24. v Whofoever will fave his;
LIFE, shall lose it. See chap. xvii. 3^.
Johl*,(

( 93 )
John, iii* 36. " He that believeth not the
Son shall not * fee LIFE."
John, vi. 53. " Ye have NO LIFE in
you." John, xii. 25. " He that loveth his LIFE

shall lose it."

Rom. i. ver. ult. " Who knowing the
judgment of God, that they which commit
fuch things are worthy of DEATFI."
Rom. vi. 16. " His fervants ye are, whe
ther of fin unto DEATH."
V Chap. vi. 21. 23. " The end of thofe
things is DEATH — the wages of fin is
DEATH."
* I know it will bealledged, that to fee life, figni
fies to enjoy life : and that this paffage merely teaches
'that the obedient fhall enjoy life ; but that the dif-
jjbedient fhall poffefs life without the enjoyment of it-r-
Thjs, however, I take upon me to controvert; becaufe
this is not the obvious fenfe of the phrafeology, and
becaufe it appears from other paffages, where this fame
form of expreffion is ufed, that it fignifies, the being fub-
je&ed or devoted to the ftate or condition fpoken of,
thus :
Luke, ii. 26. " And it was revealed unto him by th,e
Holy Ghoft, th^t he [Simeon] fhould not see death,
before he had feen the Lord's Chrift."
; John, viii. 51. " Verily, verily, I fay unto you, if
anjan keep-piy faying, he fhall never see death?

( 94 )
Chap. vii. 5. " The motions of fin bring .
forth fruit unto DEATH."
Chap. viii. 6. "To be carnally minded
is DEATH." 2 >Cor. ii. r6. " To the one we are the
favor of death unto DEATH."
James, i. 15s. " Sin when it is finifhed
bringeth forth DEATH."
1 John, iii. 14. " He that loveth not his
brother abideth in DEATH."
3. As to fuch paffages as contain a direfa
antithefis of the fiate of the righteous and
the wicked.
Matt. vii. 13, 14. " Enter ye in at the
flrait gate ; for wide is the gate and broad is
the way that leadeth to the destruction,
hs tov uvrohtiav, &c. becaufe flrait is the
gate and narrow is the way, which leadeth
to the life, 'stg Tyy faw,. and few therebe
that find it."
Chap. x. 28, 39. " Fear not them which
kill the body, but are not able to kill the life,
^ivxWf °ut rather fear him which is able
to defiroy both life, iJm^ijV, and bocty in hell
• — He that findeth his life, 4/u^"» fhall lofe it:
?ind he that lofeth his life, tyvxrjv, for my fake
fhall find it.*' Matt.

( 95 )
MaR* Xvi. 25, %6. arid Mark viii. 35. 37.
r* Whofoever will fave his life, $v%vj», fhall
hfe it; but whofoever fhall lofe his life, tf/wj^V,
for my fake and the gofpel, the fame fhall
fave it — for what fhall it profit a man, if
he fhall gain the whole world and lofe his
ewn life, ^x^ ? or what a man give in ex
change for his life."
Matt, xviii. 8. "It is better for thee tp
enter into life halt, &c. than, having two
hands or two feet, to be eaft into everlafiing
fire." Luke, ix/24, 25. " For whofoever will
fave his life fhall lofe it ; but whofoever fhall
lofe his life for my fake, the fame {hall fave it}
for what is a man advantaged, if be gain the
whole world and lofe himfelf"
Chap. xvii. 3^. " Whofoever fhall feek
to fave his life fhall lofe it, and whofoever
fhall lofe his life fhall preferve it."
John, iii. 15. " That whofoever believ
eth in him fhall not perifh, BUT have eter~
nal life."
John, v. 29. *' Unto the refurrection of
fife — unto the refurrection of damnation."—*
So ver. 24, 25. John*

( 96 )
John, x. 28. "And I give unto then!
vt ernai life, and they fhall never perifh"
John, xii. 25. " He that loveth his' lif<$
Jhall lofe it, and he that hateth his life in this
world Jhall keep it unto life, eternal"
Rom. ii. 7. 12. " To them who feek for
glory, and honor, and immortality, eternal
life ; but to them who are contentious, &c*
indignation and wrath — for as many as'
have finned without law fhall alfo perifh^
&c." Chap. v. 21. " That as fin hath reigned
unto death, even fo might grace reign to
eternal life"
. »;Chap. vi. 21, 22, 23. " The end of thefe
things is death — and the end everlafiing life-
fox the wages of fin is death, but the gift of
God is eternal life"
Rorji. viii. 6. "To be carnally minded
is death ; but to be fpiritually minded is life
• — Ver. 13. If ye live after the flefh ye fhall
di£; MsKXsts d^o9v^o-»eiv, ye Jhall hereafter die:
but if ye mortify the deeds of the body, ye
Jhall live."
, 1 Cor. i. 18; "Them thzA perijh  -us
which are faved." 2 Cor.

( 97 )
2 Cor. n\ 15, 16. " Them that are faved
-rthem that perifh — to the one the favor of
death unto DEATH— to the other the favor
of life unto LIFE."
" 'Gal.' vi. 8; " Reap corruption — reap
life everlafiing"
Phil. i. 28. " To them an evident token
of perdition, but to you of falvation"
2 Theff. ii. 10. "In them that perifh—'
that they might he faved "
Heb. x. 39. " We are not of them who
draw back unto perdition ; but of them that
believe to the faving of the, tyv^s, Ife."
James, i. 12. " He fhall receive the crown
of life — Sin when it is finifhed bringeth forth
death" So ver. 21.
James, iv. 12. " There is one lawgiver,
who is able to fave and to deftroy "
1 John v. 12. " He that hath the Son
hath Ife — he that hath not the Son of God
hath not life"
Rev. xx. 14. " The fecond death — the
book of life."
To this collection of paffages, we may
add this observation, that there is not only
. an antithefis very frequently employed in the
Q fame

( 98 )
fame verfe or fentence, or in the ; fam§ ijm,
mediate connexion ; but there is alfo an op
pofition of the one ftate to the (other* vifibjfc
in the general affirmative and, negative pbsrafe-.
ology of the fcripture* as may be feen in the
inftances already adduced, but perhaps none
are. more remarkable than the following.
John, iv. 14. chap.^vi. 51. "He thftt
eateth of this bread fhall live for ever"
John, vi. 49, jo. " Should not die*
[a,yj -air o§ envy.
•*s John, viii. 51. ,4" Ifa man keep my fay
ing he fhall not fee death for ever, Savctjov ts
¦fiq Se&'p'/jjri? s-is tov aiuvu."
John, x. 28. " They fhall not perifh for
ever, "<^ ov y.y cc7ToXtav]oii sis tov uitot/a."
- John, xi. 25, 26. " I am the refurrection
and the LIFE, he that believeth in me
though he may die, kccv dcn-o§ou>y\, yet fliall he
live-, and whosoever liveth and believeth
in me, jhall not die for ever, a py wKoQxvy tig

Tov aioivti.

1 John, ii. 17. " He that doeth thewill
of God abideth for ever"
Now, if with all the modes of expreffion
which have been adduced, wherein, in fuch
great

( 99 )
great variety of terms; the fame glorious
doctrine of immortal life to the obedient
is taught, |ye eontraft the geqeral language
of fcripture refpecting the, wicked, it will
be feen, by the ufe of expreffions equally
various and emphatical, that the wicked
fhall DIE, fhall PERISH, fhall be DE.-
STROYED, and that FOR EVER, and we
fhall be led to a conviction, that the fcrip
tures contain a fubftantial and confpicuous
difplay of thefe momentous truths, that
" the wages of fin is DEATH, and that
the gift of God is eternal LIFE."
And the doctrine of exclufive immorta
lity to believers appears not to be a merely
fpeculative opinion ; but was clearly the hope
of the firft Chriftians, a doctrine which they
uniformly acted upon ; this feems to be im
plied in the language the apoftle Paul ufes
in the Second Epiftle to the Corinthians,
chap. v. " For we know" fays the apoftle,
" that if our earthly houfe of this taber
nacle were diffolved, we have a building
of God, an houfe not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens. For in' this we
groan earneftly, defiring to be clothed upon
O 2 with

( ioo )
with our houfe which is from heaven : if {o
he (or feeing that) being clothed we fhall
not be found naked. For we that are in a
tabernacle do grdftn being burthened : not
for that we would be unclothedi but clothed
upon, that mortality may be fmalloised
up of life."

DESTRUC-

( wx )

DESTRUCTION and PERDITION.

AMONG the many paffages of fcrip
ture, wherein the idea of defiruclion
is contained, which have already been exhi
bited ; there are fome in which a particular
emphafis is laid upon thefe words, deftruc
tion and perdition — they therefore deferve a
particular confideration.
Matt. x. 28. " Fear not them which kill
the body, but are not able to kilLthe foulj
but rather fear him which is able to deftroy
both foul and body in hell." Kxi tyvxy ^
;<r>/*«— and chap. xvi. 25, 26. " For who fo-
2 ever

( IOZ )
ever will fave his life fhall lofe it, and who-*
foever will lofe his life for my fake, fhall
find it; for what is a man profited if he
fhall gain the whole world and lofe his own
foul, &c." If the fpirit of oUr Lord's dif-
courfe in thefe places be attended to, it will
appear very plain, that nothing lefs is in
tended by the deftruction of body arid foul in
hell, than the total deftruction of the man
himfelf. This muft neceffarily be the cafe,
in order to fupport the contraft. which is
made of the power of man, with the power
of God ; the one being reprefented as capa
ble of effecting events of fo muft greater
magnitude than the other; the one as fry
ing "power to kill the body, but not to deftroy
it j much lefs to scftect 'the future life of
the difciples of Chrift, wh'ich is promifed to
them. The other, as the Author of life, who
not 'dnly can kill, but can and will deftroy
that very LIFE itfelf :"' and fo as to prevetft
for ever the 'pbfTrbrlity of 'a reftoraitibh df it.
'It is as if he had faid, " Fear -not maii,
whofe utihoft power can 'drily reach to the
killing of you j to the fubjecting you to the
firft death; who has no power to'exting«ri$i your

( x<>3 )
^ouf beings; who cannot deftroy or take
away the rj/o;^, the life* } for when he has
killed you and h^s done his utmoft, the life
returns to God the fountain of life ; and the
. poWer of reftpring it again is with him;
but rather fear him who not only can bring
4 natural death upon you, in fitch a.way>
and at fuch time as he pleafes ; but can de
firoy, or utterly extinguifh. your LIFE itfelf,
and leave you without the pofiibility of re
ftoration." Two or three things are remarkable in
thefe paffages:
i. The diftinction made between the
power of man, and the power pf Ged.— 2.
The difference to be obferved in the ufe
of the, terms kill and deftroy. — 3. The diftinc
tion made between the body and the life.—
4. The phrafe, deftruction of life. — 5. The
.allufion to the place of deftru&ion.
1 . The firft of thefe I have already made
fome obfervations upon.
* The expreffion is fimilar to Mark, iii. 4. and cer
tainly means the life, in the common acceptation of that
term, and not the foul, as we generally underftand that
word. " Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days;
or to do evil ? to fave, $*•&> Iff, or to kill ?"
2. The

( 104 )
2. The difference obferved in the ufe of
the terms kill and deftroy ; where we may
obferve, that the word tranflated to kill, means
killing in the moft fimple fenfe of the word;
Whereas the word a7roAXup, or u7roXXvu, here
ufed, fignifies deftruction, and that in a very
emphatical fenfe! — " The fimple word
oXXv/ai, fignifies to defiroy; the compound;
therefore, muft needs fignify more, even.
utterly to defiroy, that the very name thereof;
may perifh" — This is is the opinion of one
who was no friend to the doctrine I contend
for. See Symson's Concord, v. To defiroy.1-
3. The diftinction between the body and
Ife.- — Here we may obferve a want of inge
nuity in the Englifh tranflators, who have
fometimes rendered the Greek if/u%^v, foul,
and fometimes life, in the fame verfe and
connexion, as beft ferved their preconceived
opinions. Thus, for inftance, in thefe verfes,
the fame Greek word is rendered life and
foul; which makes the fenfe confufed:
whereas if we reject this groundlefs and ar->
bitrary liberty, which the tranflators have
taken, we fhall perhaps fee, that the words
in queftion, teach a doctrine which does npt
very well accord with the common opinion. Tin

( 105 )
The true rendering of the words chap. xvi.
feems to be " For whofoever will fave his
life fhall lofe it, and whofoever will lofe his
life for my fake {hall find it : for what is a
man profited, if he fllall gain the whole
World, and lofeth his own life; or what
fhall a man give in exchange for his life."
And in this view of the words, it is ex
tremely plain, that by the lofs, of life, is
intended, the total extinction of life, or the
lofs of a man's self in utter, perdition. 
-That St. Luke underftood this to be our
Lord's meaning, evidently appears, by the
way in which he quotes his declaration,
chap. ix. 25. " What is a man advantaged,
if he gain the whole, world, .and lofe HIMr
SELF," exvjov h amX-eras — And that thefe
declarations refer to the love of life in this
world, and the lofs of it in the future world,
we may affure ourfelves, by appealing to St.
John's recital of this difcourfe of our Lord,
wheife he fays,. " He that hateth his life
in this world, fhall, keep it unto life eter
nal" .Agreeably ro this defcription of the words
of our Lord, the Son of Man is reprefented,
in this fame chapter of Luke's gofpel, ver. 56.
P as

( 106 )
.as come, not to defiroy menV lives ; but to
fave them : /. e. the end of his coming was
• Tr
that he "might fave the lives of men— he
came to preach the glad tidings of falvation
from death, and to demonftrate it by his
own resurrection.
4. The peculiarity of the phrafe, defini
tion rf life. — The terms, deftruction of life,
may probably flartle thbfe who have beeri
unufed to them; what (they Will fay) do
you mean by " deftroyirig fhe life ?"— what
is the life that it can be defiroyed ? Is it any
thing diftinct from the man, that he may be
killed, and yet the life preferved ; that men
may die, and yet their lives be faved?
Thefe are certainly important queftions ;
and the moft obvious anfwer to them is, that
however ftrange the phrafeology is, it is the
lahguage of fcripture— the fcriptures do in
the plaineft terms fpeak of the deftruction of
life, andof the lofs of it, Mark, viii. 35. 37.;
and we, in common parlance, ufe tlie terms
" taking away of life," which is no lefsexeep*
tionable than to fpeak of the deftruction of it.
If, however, we cannot fatisfadlorily account
for the propriety of the expreffion, and af-
certain what is meant by the life in this ufe of

( i°7 )
Qf. the- $erm, as xontradiftinguifhed from the
bpdyi yet we may be fatisfied, either that
it is an emphatical mode of expreffion, calcu
lated tp imprefs ideas of utter and irreparable
deftruction ; or that it points to the deftruc
tion of fome principle of vitality in the form
ation of human bodies, which we are not
fully acquainted with. I hope the candid
reader will excufe me, if I hazard a conjec
ture, that it has fome reference to the doc
trine of Sperms. This doctrine will, at any
rate, ferve to illuftrate the meaning of our
Lprd ; as he certainly intended by the ufe of
the expreffion, to reprefent the 'complete
deftruction of all that was vital in man.
The celebrated Mademoifelle de la Sarre,
was particularly zealous for this doctrine,
and ^s her ideas have fomething both enter
taining and inftructive, I fhall here take the
liberty of introducing a fhort abftract of her
notions, on the fubject. " I am of opinion,
fays this celebrated woman, that in the
beginning God formed all the fperms of
whatever has life, whether fuch life be ve
getative, fenfitive, or animal. That though
thofe fperms are fo fmall as not to be difp
P 2 cerned

e ios )
eefried by a human eye, they are, nevertheV
lefs, fd furprifingly united together, that their
connexion Cannot be untied by meeting with
heterogeneous bodies, let their agitation be
ever fo great ; fo that although^ the faid fperms
fhould be Corripdfed of parts 'out of parts*
according to the fchool' phrafeology, they1 are1
neverthelefs unperifhable ; becaufetheir tex
ture or'CPrnbination is fuch, that all the joint
motions of nature Would not be fiimoiefrf
to effect its diffolution. ¦' Life and Adven
tures of Mademoifelle de la-Sarre. «'jli*-
" AIL the promifes that- are made "us in
the gofpel (fhe goes on to obferve), feem to
centre in the refurrection — The firft queftion
to be decided is, what can be that proper
felf, which makes me known, even by' thofe
who have not feen me for twenty years be
fore, this exterior own-felf ftill the fame ?
am I ftill the fame perfon ? I 'afk* no lefs a.
queftion. He who had not feen me for two
years before, now fees nothing in me of what
he then faw; although 'ftill the fame." —
After mentioning certain experiments,1 and
making- certain obfervations, ' to fhew-1 the
changes that happen in the human frame, by
the

( I09 )
trie evaporation of fome, and fupply of other
particles of matter of which it is formed,
fhe obferves, in anfwer to the queftion pro
pofed, that fhe certainly is not the fame felf,
if by her proper felf be meant no more than
an affemblage of particles of matter which
compofe the body, inafmuch as this matter
is no more thefame.
• " If," fays fhe, " there be nothing fixed or
fteady in this compofition, nothing can con
stitute its effence; for certainly, whatever
makes the effence of a being, fubfifts toge
ther with it, and cannot be loft, unlefs fuch
being is defiroyed at the fame time. If, then,
my whole body is fubject to a perpetual
change, it cannot be that felf which I en
quire for, and which is, properly fpeaking,
the true and real effence. Let me fee whe
ther I can find any thing fixed or fteady in
prganical bodies.
- f This continual revolution of particles,
which I lofe by evaporation, and which are
in the mean time fupplied by others that oc- '
cupy the ifame'fpace, take the fame configu
rations, ; and anfwer the fame end that
the others did, cannot be the work of
chance. There muft be fome fixed and per
manent

( XI O )
manent principles, which diftribute thofe
new parts of matter, and difpofe them al
ways in fuch order and uniformity: other-
wife, men would change figure and 'mien; at,
every inftant, and would not be diftinguifhed
from others for any long time. J f matter
changes at every inftarit, there muft ibe
within us fome being or other, which fup-;
ports it in it's true form." — She then contends
that every ( organical body, has, a fperm for
its principle; that this fperm is fixed arid
imperifhable, becaufe « it is full proof againft
the ihock§ and conouffions of bodies, of
which fhe. gives fome inftance?.
" I have not," fays flie, " flarted this opi
nion as a fimple fupppfition ; for I have con
firmed the validity of it by divers experi
ments, and even by a fight of thofe very
fperms in the juices of the fpermatic vefleh
of animals — and I infift, that if men are en
gendered from fperm, th^t this fperm is un-
perifhable, and conftitutes the fixed principle
of every rational individual ; and this being
the cafe, it will not be furprifing, if it fhould
retake or reaffume once more a human
figure." Id. p. 145, &c. Twill

{ MI )
I will only add, that if there be fuch
fperms, and ifthey are unperifhable, by any
of the ordinary operations of nature (and
that this is the cafe, is, I think, more than
probable) ; the idea will wonderfully exem
plify the declaration of our Lord, that
though men can kill the body, and are not
able to kill the life ; yet that God can deftroy
both the body and the life. — Paul, i Cor. xv^
36. when treating of the refurrection, had
certainly fomething of this nature in his eye,
when he compares death to the diffolution of
feed fown, and reprefents the man raifed as
the living plant.
5 . The apoftle's allufion to the place of
deftruction, Gehenna, yssvva. — It is fometimes
expreffed to be sis ty,v ysswxv tS vj-upos, that
is, literally, in the fire of the valley of Hinnom «
This, as will be fhewn, was a place near
Jerufalem, where children were facrificed
to the god Moloch, and where the filth of
the city was confumed, a fire being con
ftantly kept there for that purpofe. — 'The
fire of Gehenna, is therefore a figurative ex
preffion for the general conflagration, in
'which it feems the wicked fhall be defiroy
ed. — Fire is in its nature beyond any otherthing

( H2 )
thirig we are acquainted with, calculated td
feparate the parts of bodies : and although
the vital principle in man may be incapable;
of deftruction of refolution, by ordinary fire*
yet the pdwer pf God operating .with that
fire, may (and we are, affured it will) pro
duce that effect. — Hell fire, /* e. the, fire, pf
Gehenna, and everlafiing fire, are frequently,
in the fcriptures, oppofed tp life and ever"
lafiing life; which fhews, that to be eaft into
Gehenna, or into the fire of Gehenna, or
into everlafiing fire, are terms fynonimous to
death or deftruction. — See particularly Matt*
xviii. where a diligent comparifon of the
8th and 9th with the 14th verfe, it will, be
found, that the word perdition is actually
fubftituted for the terms everlafiing fire.
Again, our Lord, Matt. vii. 13. in very
dernonftfative terms, fpeaks of the future
ftate of the wicked as a ftate of deftruction,
"Broad is the gate, that leadeth to. tig Tty
miruiXsiuv, to the destruction a" — and he
oppofes this word deftruction to life;
ver. 14- " Narrow is the way which leadeth
sif Tip "Cuvpi to the life."— An oppofition
fo emphatical, that it removes every, doubt
as to the meaning of the terms. Again,

( tlj )
Again, i Theff. v. 3. " Wheh they fhall
lay, peace and fafety, then fudden destruc
tion cometh upon them." — This word de
finition, in this place, is rendered remark
ably appofite to the prefent purpofe, as it is
oppofed, not to life, but to other more ex
planatory terms, viz. the being, that is
continuing, for ever with the Lord, chap*
iv. 1 "jr. denominated here, ver. iOi " Liv*
ing with him"
Thus, alfo, James, iv. 12. " There is
one lawgiver, who is able both to fave and
"to destroy;" — Where the word fave has
a reference to our refurrection from the
dead, and being invefted with immorTali-
TY-^and that thofe expreffions concerning
God being able to deftroy, really mean, that
he will deftroy, is evident, if we attend to
the general tenor of the fcriptures. See among
many other inftances, the following paffages :
2 Cor. ii. 15. " For we are unto God a
fweet favor of Chrift in them that axe faved,
and in them that perish. To the one, the
favor of death unto death, &c."
1 Cor. iii. 17. "If any man defile the
temple of God, him fhall God destroy."
Q_ 2 Cor.

( "4 )
2 Cor. ii. 12. ," Thefe are made tp be'
taken and destroyed — they fhall utter
ly perish in their own corruption." See
ver. i .
i Tim. vi. g. " Foolifh. and hurtful lufts,
which drown men in destruction and ¦ ¦ i
PERDITION." Rom. ii. 12. " As many as have. finned
without law, fhall alfo' perish, &e."
2 Pet. iii. 7, 9. " The day of judgment and
perdition of ungodly men." — "The Lord
is not willing that any fhould perish."
1 Cor. i- 18. " The preaching of the
crofs is to them that perish, foolifhnefs."
Rom. ix. 22. " Veffels of wrath fitted
(that is, by their evil works prepared) far
destruction." Phil. iii. 19.. "Whofe end is destruc

tion."

2 Theff. i. 9. " Who fhall be punifhed
with everlafiing destruction." — Ver. 10.
" In thofe that perish."
Gal. vi. 8. "He that foweth to his flefh,.
fhall of the flefh reap corruption."
Heb. x. 27. compared with chap. xii. 29*
** A certain fearful looking for of judgment,
» ' and

( "5 )
and fiery indignation, ' which fhall devour
the adverfaries." — " For our God is a con
suming fire."
Heb. x. 39. " We are not of thofe who
draw back unto perdition."
Thefe paffages fpeak of fome among man
kind, who mall perish, who fhall be de
stroyed, who fhall be fubjected to cor
ruption, who fhall be devoured, who fhall
be consumed. — Thefe, no doubt, are the
wicked and difobedient: and this deftruction,
perdition, or corruption, we have already ob
ferved, is to be effected by fire.
The elernent of fire is calculated to fepa
rate the cdnftituent parts of things: man,
therefore,1 when he fhall be -eaft into the fire
of Gehenna; will probably have his component
parts torn afunder and difperfed, fo that they
will mix- with the common mafs of inani
mate matter, and his identity utterly anni
hilated : herice it is, that God executing
judgment, is defcribed as a consuming'
fire. ' • 'iV'' *
And that by the deftruction and perdition
ef the ungodly, the apoftle Paul underftdod
irreverfible deftruction, : the extinction '''of
.Animal life and identity, never to be reftored.,
Cl.2 : i«

( n6 )
is to be gathered from his declaration,:
i Cor. xv. 1 8. where having been fpeaking
of the refurrection of the dead, and arguing
for a general refurredtion, from the refur
rection of Chrift, he goe? on to fay, that " If
the dead rife not, then is not Chrift raifed :
andif Chrift be not raifed, your faith (fays he)
is vain ; ye are yet in your fins —Then they
alfo which are fallen afleep in Chrift are.
perished;" that is, "iftherebenorefurrec*
tion of the dead, then thofe who died in the,
faithpf Chrift^re perifhed, their beings are ex*
tinct , they fh^ll never be reftored to life again,
they aie utterly gone for ever." This paffage
fixes the idea of the terms deftruftion and
perdition, and teaches us, that thefe words,
when applied to men, mean that they fhall
be exterminated ; that they fhall never re
turn again into exiftence : they have fuffered a
total extinction of all vital principles and ani-.
mal functions, without the profpect or.pof-
fibility of a refurrection.
I will finifh thefe affirmative proofs of the;
cfo&jrine I contend for, by oppofing to the
ftate of the wicked here defcribed, certain
jaflages where the future ftate of the righte ous.
I

( "7 )
ous is defcribed as an eternal inherit
ance Or KINGDOM.
An inheritance to be enjoyed at fome fu
ture period, is frequently fpoken of as the
reward, or rather as the deftination of the
obedient: thus, Col. i. 12, 13. " The Fa-<-
ther hath made us meet to be partakers of the
inheritance of the faints in life— he hath
tranflated us into the kingdom of the Son of
his love."
•So Adts, xxvi. 1 8. " That they may re
ceive forgivenefs of fins, and inheritance
among them which are fanctified."
Eph. i, 1 1. "In whom we have obtain
ed an inheritance "
Chap, v, 5. " No whoremonger, &c.
hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Chrift
and of God."
Heb. ix. 1 5. " That they which are called
Blight receive the promife of eternal inherit-'

ance."

1 Pet. 1. 3, 4. " Bleffed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift, which, ac
cording to his abundant mercy, hathj begot
ten us again unto a lively hope, by the re
furrection of Jefus Chrift from the dead, to
an

( n;8 )
an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled,
and that fadeth not away." '
" This is fometimes called a kingdom.
2 Theff. i. v. " That ye might be count
ed worthy of the kingdom of God."
Luke, xii. 32. ¦" It is the Father's good
pleafure to give you the kingdom."
Luke, xxii. 29. " I appoint unto you a
kingdom?' Matt. xxv. 34. " Come ye bleffed of
my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for
you." ,2 Pet. i. 10, 11. " Tf ye do thefe things
ye fhall never fail: for fo an entrance fhall
be miniflered unto you abundantly into th»'
everlafiing kingdom of our Xord and Saviour
Jefus Chrift."
We fee that the difciples of Jefus: Chrfl!
have promifed to them, an inheritance' or
kingdom, and that it is an everlafiing king
dom, a kingdom that will never fail: an in
heritance incorruptible, and which fadeth
not away. This period of their exiftence is
diftinguifhed from the prefent ftate of things¥
the one being in fcripture reprefented, as
** the life that now is," in oppofition to the
Jife " which is to come;" 1 Tim. iv. 8. —
The

( "9^1
The One as " this ' prefent time, or this
world ;" thedtiher as " the world to come,"—
Luke, xviii. 30.- Mark, 10. 30. Eph. i..
21. — in which "' tliey can die no more.'*
Luke, xx. 36.
On this part of the fubject it need only
be obferved, that it will be difficult to affign
to the difobe'dient an exiftence of equal dura
tion with that predicated of the obedient,
without being guilty of violence to thefe
paffages, which fo emphatically import,
that the obedient fhall inherit a kingdom,
the chief excellence of which is defcribed to
confift in its being everlasting, un
fading, and incorruptible; and the
fubjects of it, " as never failing," as " dy
ing no more."
I conceive, that in every inftance, in the
fcriptures, in which it appears to be the di
rect view and intention of the writer, to re
veal not merely a ftate of future eternal hap
pinefs, but a ftate of future eternal exiftence,
as the reward or portion of thofe who obey
the will of God; in fo many inftances,
we have the ftrongeft poffible reafon to
conclude, that the oppofite ftate, that is,
the

( «0 )
the ftate of the difobedient, is a ftate of
non-exifience : and that it would, of itfelf, be
fufficient evidence of that fact, were there
none other of a direct and pofitive nature. It
has, however, been feen, that this other fort
of evidence is abundant and complete ; and if
any of my readers fhould ftill doubt, whether
to reveal a future ftate of eternal exiftence was
ever the direct intention of the divine writers,
I would have him compare, and attentively
confider, the following paffages — Matt, xix*
17. " If thou wilt enter into life, keep
the commandments." — John, viii. 51 . " Ve
rily, verily, I fay unto you, if a man keep
my fayings, he fhall never fee death:*" and,
1 John, ii. 17. " The world paffetb away,
and the lull thereof: but he that doeth the
will of God abideth for ever." John, x.
27, 28. " I give unto them (my fheep) eter
nal life, and they fhall never perifh^"
John, xi. 25, 26. " I am the refurrection and
the life : he that believeth in me, though he
* dwakw ov i*y Stafno-i) ei; to» aiara, " Shall not fee death
for ever." /. e. fhall not die eternally.
-J- o« pi cmoTwfiat ut tm aimx, « Shall not perifh for
ever." /. e, fhall not everlaftingly perifh, as the wicked
fhall. were

( 12 1 )
Were dead*, yet fhall he live. And whofoever
liveth and believeth in me fhall neVer dief."
I have long remarked j that there is no
fcriptural truth, that is not clearly and re
peatedly inculcated— The TRUTHS con
tained in the New Teftament, which are
neceffary for us to know, are not obfcurely
hinted at; do not depend upon equivocal
expreffions ; are not contained in one or two
folitary paffages ; are not left to be extracted
by the doubtful procefs of furmife, con-
jecturei and inference ; but are taught fully,
explicitly, and repeatedly. — The writers of
the New Teftament, make the great truths
ofthe gofpel the general burthen of their
fong; and every page abounds with thofe
principles, which form the grand fyftem of
the Chriftian revelation. — Thefe obferva
tions were never more amply verified, than
they are in this defence of the righteous cha
racter of God.
* Kow <Mro9«»») " though he die."
•j* Ou un aircQmti «; to» awm, " he fhall not die for ever."
R Suppofea

( 122 )
Sup'pofed Objections from the Scriptures ,
anfwered.
I think I may now venture to affirm, that
it appears by the cleareft declarations of Holy
Writ, that the finally impenitent, fhall not
,be perpetually tormented, but -everlafiing
destroyed.'' We will now examine the
moft popular and moft forcible objections
which are made againft this fcheme;
Let us then confider thofe paffages whicft ''
"are adduced from fcripture againft the doc
trine of utter deftruction : for, if the holy
fcriptures clearly and irrefragably fhew, that
the conftruction I have put upon the feveral
paffages, which have been the fubject of de
liberation, is fallacious; it is no doubt our
duty, while we profefs to receive the fcrip
tures as the records of divine truth, to fub
mit our judgments to their authority; at
leaft in all cafes where they are not fouhd
to oppofe the obvious principles of reafon
and common fenfe, . if any fuch fhould be
found; and therefore, whenever a man's
refearches have convinced him, that the
fcriptures do uniformly declare, that the
WICKED*

( i«3 )
WICKED fhall be raifed tp immortality:
that after the refurrection they fhall never die
—or affirmatively, that they fhall live for
e ver— "that they fhall poffefs everlafiing life-
it cannot be expected, that, believing the
fcriptures, he can be fatisfied with the illuf-
trations of them which have been given : —
for my own part, I have, with the moft ri
gid attention, canvaffed the whole pf the
New Teftament, in fearch of the popular
doctrine; but have hitherto found no one
paffage, wherein it is exprefsly taught—
and but one, from which fuch a doctrine
may, at the firft glance, be deduced: which
js Rev. xx. io. " And the Devil that de
ceived them was call into the. lake of fire
and brimftone, where the Beaft and the falfe
Prophet are, and fhall be tormented day and
night forever."
And if this paffage does ever fo clearly,
directly, and unequivocally, teach the doc
trine of the immortality of the wicked, I
will then contend, that one paffage only, be
the language of it ever fo exprefs, and full
to the point in difpute, ought not to decide
;th? queftion againft the general tenor of
R 2 fcrip.

( I24 )
fcripture : and that not only, for the very
good reafon, that the evidence of a hundred
credible witneffes, has more intrinfic credibi
lity in it, than the evidence of one credible
witnefs; but for this other reafon, viz. that
there is no important doctrine of fcripture
whatever, which is taught in one paffage
only ; but every fuch doctrine is repeatedly
inculcated : and, as it will not be admitted^
that the fcriptures do really contradict in
one part, what they declare in another, we
may be allowed to contend, that the one
folitary, contradicting paffage, is an inter
polation, or corrupted — or that it is mifc.
tranflated, or mifunderftood.
It muft be acknowledged, that in its firft
appearance, this paffage bears the marks of
a formidable objection, to what I have ad
vanced; but upon a more minute inflection,
we fhall find it not at all hoftile to the great
and important truth I have endeavoured to
eftablifh. In order to make this appear,
we muft recollect, that this paffage is pro
phetical — and if prophetical, we fhall not
hefitate to believe, that it is couched, as pro
phecies frequently are, in hyperbolical terms;

( i*5 )
in terms not literally trjue, and therefore not
eafily underftood ; a hoft. of Chriftian writers
might be brought to convince us of the
truth of this obfervation. I fhall only quote
Mr. Lowman, who in the preface to his
book on the Revelations, ufes thefe words — •
" The obfcurity of prophetic writings, fuch
** as the Apocalypfe, or Book of Revelations,.
" is no wonder, when we confider the na-
f< ture and defign of prophecy, and the ftyle
" and manner of expreffion ufed in it. We
" are not to expedl that prophecies fhould
"be as eafily underftood, as the doctrines
" or precepts of the gofpel, delivered in eafy
-l expreffion, plain argument, and the com-
?' mon familiar modes of fpeech."
We need not go far to prove, that the
paffage now before us is prophetical, and
that it does not exprefs literally, what we are
to underftand by it. It is generally fuppofed,
that it points to the final ftate of the difobe-
dient among mankind, and the eternity of
the torments they fhall fuftain. In my opi^-
nion, thofe who thus think, labour under
great difficulties. — In eternity, we know
that there is neither day nor night. — The ad
vocates for the common opinion will admit this,

( i?6 )
this, and that thefe words, day and
are ufed in a metaphorical ox figurative, fenfe j
and yet fo ineonfiftent are they, that they
would have us believe, that all the- reft of
the paffage, which feems to teach the doc^
trine of future eternal torments, is to be un
derftood literally. But this is an averment
which will npt be admitted. It will, neve*
be allowed, tha^t in the fame verfe of the
feripture, a m^n may confider juft fo much,
of it, as fuits his purpofe in a figurative
fenfe;. and the remainder of it, becaufe it beft
fuits his purpofe literally.
The words day and night are not the only
metaphorical terms in this pafiage; the word,
" Beaft," is of the fame defcription, — -It canr
not be fuppofed that a literal beaft was
intended ; and if a literal beaft was not
fpoken of, this word, beaft, muft be ufed to
direct us to: the character of thofe who are
fpoken of — "Thefe," fays, the apoftle, "are
as natural brute beafts, made to be taken an^
cfeftroyed." In this view of things, we fhall find, that
the words, *' they fhall be tormented; day
¦and night for ever and ever," are nothing
¦more, than bold: prophetical expreffiotw, which

( I27 )
Which do not admit of a literal conftruction.
We are aflured, as I before obferved, that
in eternity there will be neither day nor
night — that with the lapfe* of time, day and
night will ceafe: •* He hath compaffed
the Waters With bounds, until the day and
night come to an end." Job, xxvi. ro. —
And if the diffolution of this world, fhall
put a period to the diftin&ions of day and
night, I join in opinion with thofe I am
oppofing, that thefe terms, day and night,
are ufed metaphorically in this place — but
ftill the queftion occurs, what does the me
taphor teach us? The anfwer is, that by
" day and night," is meant continually; .and
by the phrafe, " for ever and ever," et-er-
naHy. If, then, they are to be tormented
continually and eternally, it will be aflced, do
not thefe words prove the eternity of hell tor
ments ? I conceive that they do not : I con
ceive that there ftill lies hid, in the words at
large, a fenfe which does not contradict the
general tenor of fcripture.

* " Time nrfhes to eternity,
« tEager in his embrace to *&%
" His parent and his tomb."

We

( 128 )
We have already feen that a part of the1 vetfe'
is figurative ; we fhall perhaps fee anon, that
the word torment, which is confidered. as
the principal word in queftion, in this place,
is alfo ufed in a figurative; fenfe; and that it
refers rather to the final deftruction of the
wicked, than to their perpetual mifery.
If we turn back to chap. 14. we fhali
find expreffions very fimilar to thefe under
confideratiqn, and by a gradual procefs and
illuftration, we may, perhaps, be able to get
at the true meaning of this paffage— it is
there faid, that thofe •" who worfhip the
" Beaft fhall be tormented, with fire and
" brimftpne, in the prefence of the, holy
" angels, and in the prefence of the Lamb,
" and the fmoke of their torment afcendeth
" up for ever and ever, and they have no
"reft day nor night." — The meaning, of
thefe phrafes feerns to be, that they who wor
fhip the Beaft, fhall, in the day of general
judgment, be tormented by that fire, which
fhall proceed from, the : glorious power, of
God j and fhall be fo totally defiroyed, that
they fhall never more be capable of exiftence
or redemption from death. And this expofi- tion

( 120- )
tion" of the words is not fanciful, or without
fubftaritial foundation.
f Have already obferved, that prophecies
are delivered in words hard to be under
ftood; that the expreffions are figurative,
bold, and often hyperbolical — this might be
inftanced in a thoufand places; of which
take the following fpeciinens : Ifa. xiii; -8,
9, &c. chap, xxxiv. 9/, 10, 11. Ezek. xxvi.
1-4, 19, 21, &c. &c. From which paflages
I will' felect one, which, is very much to
the prefent purpofe"(Ifa. xxxiv. 9, 10, 11.)
Where the prophet' defcribing the ftate of
Idumaea, declares, that it is " the day ofthe
" Lord's: vengeance; and the. year of recom-
" penfe for the conttoverfy of Sion : that the
" ftreams' thereof (of Bozrah and Idumasa)
" ftiallbe fumed into" pitch, and the duft
" thereof into brim fione, and the land
" thereof fhall become burning pitch— that
" it fhall not be quenched night or day ; the
" fmoke thereof fhall go up forever: from
*' generation to generation it fhall be wafle;
" none fhall pafs through it for ever and

" everi"

If the re'ader will candidly investigate
thefe paffages, and alfo Rev. xiv. and com-
S pare

( 130 )
pare them together, he . will difcover a
great fimilarity in them, and perhaps.
will be inclined to think, that the words
in the Book of Revelation were bor
rowed from the hyperbolical expreffions of
Ifaiah*. Ifaiah. — " It fhall not be quenched nights
nor day — the fmoke thereof
fhall go up for ever."
Rev. 14.--" They fhall have no reft dayi
nor night— the fmoke of their
torment afcendeth up for ever
and ever."
Chap. xx. — " They fhall be tormented day
and night for ever and ever."
Here we fee, that the prophet Ifaiah,
when fpeaking of the final, abfolute, and
irreverfible deftruction of Bozrah and Edom, .
defcribes it by very lofty and figurative ex-
* Mr. Lowman, in his note upon the firft verfe of the
Book of Revelation, makes no fcruple to fay, " that the
phirafes of this book are chiefly taken from the prophets:"
and Pfochenius, a good critic, in his Diatribe de Ling.'
Griec. N. T. Puritate, has thefe words: " Apparet
itaque jam manifefte ftilura Novi Federis referre ftilum
Veteris Teftamenti." prefiions :

( i3i )
preffions : as that the fire with which they
fhould be defiroyed fhould not be quenched,
night nor day — and that the fmoke thereof fhould
go up for ever. — Now thefe very expreffions,
nighi and day— fmoke — and the everlafiing af
cenfion of it, are adopted in one of the paf
fages we have quoted from the Book of Reve
lation; and the terms day and night, and ex
preffions of eternity, are adopted in the other :
the variations amongft them are merely, that
Ifaiah fpeaks of the fire as unquenchable ; and
the Book of Revelation fpeaks of torment,
which the prophet Ifaiah does not.— -But if the
declaration in Ifaiah, that the fmoke fhall af
eend for ever and ever, is to be confidered as a
prophetical declaration of abfolute and com
plete destruction; why fhould not the
declaration in the Book of Revelation, that
the fmoke of their torments fhall fo afeend,
be confidered as a declaration, of the abfo
lute deftruction and perdition of the wicked?
An objection may, perhaps, be made on ac
count of the word torment — it will, perhaps,
be faid, that there is a vaft difference between
the fmoke afcending, and the fmoke of tor
ment afcending^ — I confefs I can fee no dif*
ference that affects the argument in hand—
S 2 the

(¦ J32 )
the point in queftion is, as to the eternity ol
the thing .fpoken pf : /. e. ^whether in either
ca^e, the fmoke fha;fl aSfually ascend for evser ,?
no matter what that fmoke is called; whether
fmoke firnply, or, the fmoke of torment, fee
ing that the eternal afcenfion of both is
equally fpoken of. Smoke is the emblem
of diffolution, and terms expreffrve pf eter
nity are added in thofe places, to fhew, that
that diffolution fhall be final, fhall be ever-?
lading. — That the WQr.ds from Ifaiah are to
be fo underftood, I believe all cornmenta;
tors are agreed; I fhall therefore contend,
that the words in the Revelation mean the
fame thing — The argument appears to rpe to
fland t^ius : the prophet Ifaiah reprefent? the
deftruction of a country, by the emblem of
fmoke; and the cdmplejenefs of that de-.
ftruCtion, by declaring, that the fmoke flialj
always afeend — the paffage in the Book of
Revelation, chap. xiv. reprefents the final
deftru^ion of the wprfhippers of the E(eafl,
by the like emblem of fmoke ; and the cpm-
j^tenefs. of that deftruction, by c^claring, tljat
the .fmoke fhal,l always afeend — but as the
fmoke. of which Ifaiah fReaks, did foon ceafe
pleted,

( 133 )
pleted, it may be fairly argued, that the
fmoke of which John the Divine fpeaks, fhall
¦ceafe to afeend, fo fpon as the deftruction,
of which it is the emblem, fliq.ll be effected.
^— Nor does the term torment, pfed in the
Book of Revelation, affeft this reafoning
at all; for, if the deftruction fhall be ac
companied with pain and mifery, the fmoke
may, with the utmoft propriety, be called,
the fpioke of their torment.— And then, as it
is clear, by comparing thefe paffages, that
the fmoke fhall not actually evermore afeend;
that fmoke being denominated the fmoke of
their torment, it will follow, that their tor
ments fhall not actually continue for ever.
If the declaration, that the fmoke of
their torment fhall afeend for ever and ever,
points out fo clearly utter perdition ; I fhall
not hefitate to conclude, that we muft, in
the fame way, underftand, that other ex
preffion, (Rev. ch. xx.) " That they fhall
be tormented day and night for ever and
ever." It will anfwer no purpofe to ob
ject, tha£ in thus faying, we contradict the
paffage, which fays, they fhall be tormented—
feeing that the fame objection may be made
againft the common expofitipn of the words from

( J34 )
from Ifaiah, as much as that expofition con*
tradicts (as reafon and experience alfo do)
the prophet's declaration, that the fire was
unquenchable, and that the fmoke ascends
for ever. Both paffages contain intimations
of facts which were not to exift, in the liteT
ral fenfe of the words ; but, couched under
thofe literal terms, we are taught the im-r
portant truths, that Bozrah fhould be utterly
defiroyed, and that the wicked fhall here
after confume as fmoke, Pfal. xxxvii. 20.
And this paffage in the Pfalms, that the
wicked fhall confume as fmoke, among many
other paffages *, fhews, that in prophetical
language, fmoke denotes the diffolution ofthe
fubject to which it is applied — and fo the
fmoke afcending for ever, clearly denotes,
that they fhall remain for ever ix\ that ftate
of diffolution— they fhall be tormented ; that
torment fhall he fucceeded by their diffolu
tion; and fo the fmoke, the emblem of their
diffolution, is faid to afeend for ever, in or
der to denote their utmoft diffolution. Juft
as the deftruction pf the city of Babylon is
* See Ifa. li, 6. " The heavens fhall vapifh away
LifcE smoke," and others, painted

( »3S )
painted in this fame Book of Revelation,
ch. xviii. 21. " Thus with violence, &c."
ver. 22, 23, 24. and chap. xix. to ver. 3.
" And again they faid, Alleluia — and her
fmoke rofe up for ever and ever."
Nor is it ftrange, that in prophetic lan
guage, thofe who fhall be everlaftingly de
stroyed, are reprefented as perpetually
tormented — feeing their punifhment fhall
confift of torments, to be confummated in
everlafiing deftruction: and therefore it is,
that that everlafiing deftruction is figuratively
termed, everlafiing torment, it being the effect
and confummatioh of that torment: juft in
the fame way as the refurrection of our
bleffed Lord, is termed a " loofing of the
" pains or forrows of death."— And again,
" For David fpeaking concerning him, fays,
" I forefaw the Lord always before my face,
" for he is at my right hand, that I fhould
" not be moved. Therefore did my heart
" rejoice, and my tongue was glad ; more-
*' over alfo my flefh jhall reft in hope: be-
u caufe thou wilt- not leave my foul in hell
" (aJijff the grave), nor fuffer thine holy One
" to fee corruption." — Here we find two
remarkable expreffions, which will ferve to
illuf-

( *$¦ y
iliufirate this fubject— we are told of thi
pains or forrows of death, and' of the hopi
of a dead body. — 'Now forrow ahd hope to a
dead body are literally as incongruous, as
torment is, and one as far from being literally
true as trie other. Nay, if it might be faid
figuratively of our Saviour's fiate of death,
that it was a ftate of forrow, -ox thai it was a
ftate of hope, when the writer only meant the
forrow he endured, and the. hope he enjoyed^
when he Was put to death; it fure ly may,
with no lefs propriety be alledged, that the
ftate of deftruction to which the wicked fhall'
be configned, isa ftate of torment; confider
ing the writer as taking into his view, the'
torment whichl fhall attend the a£t" of their"
deftrtfction.- The phrafes appeared me ma-^
nifeftly to import", that- as" our Lord" would
die in full hope of God's raifirig Kim from
the dead, his' flefh, although' dead, would,
as it were, reft in hope— -and that' as' the
wicked fhall be defiroyed in the fullering
of excruciating torments, and are toteman
for ever in that deftruction, they are faid to
be tormented for ever.
Again, if the final ftate t)f things is here
reprefented, we fhairfee, upon" a' fair 'arid'
candid

( '37 )
6andid examination of the matter, be led to
draw a conclufion diametrically oppofite to
the inference which has been made, in fup
port ofthe common opinion. Rev. xx. 12—
15. " And I faw the dead, fmall and great,
ftand before God; and the books were
opened : and another book was opened,
which is the book of life: and the dead
were judged out of thofe things which were
written in the books, according to their
works : and the fea gave up the dead which
were in it, and death and hell delivered up
the dead which were in them ; and they were
judged every man according to his works.
And death and hell were eaft into the lake of
fire, this is the fecond death." Obferve here,
that the refurrection of the dead, the trial,
the method of proceeding to judgment, and
the execution of the fentence, are all dif-
tinctly pointed out — and (we are told that)
death and hell [or the grave] delivered up
the dead which were in them — and death
- and hell [or the grave] were cafi into the lake
tf fire. — Now, if the word Hades (tranflated
hell) fignifies hell, in the common fenfe
of that term; I would afk, what is meant by
its being eaft into the lake of fire ? Is not the
T lake

( 138 )
lake Of fire, hell ? and is hell eaft into itfelf J
or are there more hells than one ? — and for
what purpofe is hell faid to be eaft into the
lake of fire, taking Hades here to mean the
grave ? to be tormented, or to be defiroyed ?
If it be faid, that it is in order to its being
tormented : I would afk, how death, or hell,
or the grave, is to be tormented ? If it be
faid, that it is in order to its deftruction,
then the point in queftion is brought to a
erifis ; for then it will follow, that deftruc
tion, is the end for which all others are call
into this lake : and fo we may carry it to
thofe who Ver. 10. are faid to be eaft into it:
and that the destrucion of death and the
grave are intended, is very clear, not only
from the pofitive declaration here, that "this
is the second death" — but from parallel
paffages, as Hof. xiii. 14. " O death I will
be thy plagues, O grave, I will be thy de
struction;" and 1 Cor. xv. 26. " The
laft enemy that fhall be destroyed is

DEATH."

But let it be obferved, how incompetent
this paffage is to the proof in queftion on
another ground. This paffage, let it prove
what it may, as to the future exiftence of
torment,

( 139 )
torment, and the eternity of it; let it be ad
mitted, that it points out eternal mifery and
defpair in their fulleft extent : it can never
prove that the condemned part of mankind
fhall be the fubjects of that torment and
defpair ; for it is moft clear, that mankind are
not the fubjects of this declaration. The whole
verfe runs thus, " And the DEVIL that de
ceived them was eaft into the lake of fire and
brimftone, where the Beaft and the falfe
Prophet are, and fhall be tormented day and
night for ever and ever." If, therefore, the
paffage points out the eternity of torment in
hell, it concerns not mankind, but the Devil;
for it is the devil of whom the text predi
cates, that he fhall be tormented day and
night for ever and ever. So that I fay,
whatever the text may be fuppofed to prove,
concerning everlafiing torments, it will not,
nor can it, by all the art and fophiftry of
man, if we pay any regard to the clear and
inconteftible conftruction of it, be accommo
dated to the future fituation of mankind.
This mighty bulwark then, of the abettors
of eternal torment muft either be made to
vanifh into air — or be confidered as a cogent
T a proof,

( H° )
proof, that the wicked fhall not be everlaft
ingly tormented, but utterly destroyed.
Finally, it may not be improper to intro
duce here, what Dr. Hammond has obferved
upon this word torment. See his note pn
Matt. viii. 6. " Bu<rim%s<r&xi does not always
fignify torment or a fharp pain ; for here the
palfy is not fuch— but any great, difaffection
or difeafe of body, or commonly any pu
nishment." Apply this obfervation to the
prefent cafe, and this eternal tprment will
be an eternal punifhment, and fo we fhalj
fave even the devils from eternal mifery — and
if devils are rational agents, who that is ac
tuated by the love which Chriftianity in-
fpires, would not rejoice at it ?

HELL.

( ' w )

H E L JU

THERE are three words in the New
Teftament, tranflated Hell, which are
Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus: and thefe
deferve a diftinct confideration. I will pre-*
face my obfervations on this part of the fub
ject, by obferving, that although it is a fact,
that" there are thefe three words in the New
Teftament which we have tranflated Hell jj
yet I will venture to ailedge, that there is
not in the fcriptures any word to be found,
which is defcriptive ofthe place of Hell, and
its torments, as it is ufually underftood——
which circumftance, duly confidered, is fuffi
cient to lead a thinking mind to conjecture,
'• that the eternal rackings and tortures of the
1 popu-f

( H2 )
popular hell, are more probably terricula-
menta, to frighten men into obedience, than
cFefcriptions of tortures, which fhall be really
inflicted by the Supreme Being, on impe
nitent finners.
This fort of language, Will very probably
raife an alarm in the breafts of many of my
readers ; but that thefe alarms may be fome-
what abated, jt fhould be obferved^ that we
have annexed ideas to the term Hell, which
the holy fcriptures do by no means warrant. — -
That this is the cafe as to the Hebrew fcrip
tures, take what Leigh fays in his Critica
Sacra, verb. xo\$ , " All learned Hebricians
Jknow" (fays this author) " that Sheol,
(which anfwers to al%s\ is more properfor the
grave than hell, and that the Hebrews have
no proper name for hell, as we take hell."
And Dr. Fulke fays, •* That neither in the
Hebrew, Greek, nor Latin, there is any
word proper for hell (as we take hell) for
the place of punifhment of the ungodly*."
Language of this nature may flartle and in
flame the hot-brained zealot; but it wiU be
* See Fttlkfs Defence, p. 13, 87, 89, duly

( H3 )
duly regarded and confidered by the intelli
gent and candid part of mankind.
We cannot, I think, more amply difplay
this general want of infernal language in our
fcriptures, than may be done by producing
the words of one, who, in the eftablifh-
ment of his religion, really taught, that the
torments of the damned fhould be perpetual i
for by this means we may poffibly perceive
a difference which will fanctify the obferva
tions I have made. — I mean a few quotations
from the Alcoran of Mahomet. They are
thefe: edit. Lond. 1649, 8vo. "Such as
fhall be impious, and conceal my command
ments, fhall burn eternally in the fire of
hell," p. 4. — " Such as were entangled in
the fin of their gains, fhall for ever remain
in the fire of hell," p. 7. — " The wicked
that fhall die in their impiety fhall be eter
nally curfed of God — they fhall never be
. eafed in their torments, and fhall be with
out end deprived qf protection " p. 14..
" They fhall be eternally confined in the fire
of hell," p. 15. — " They fhall eternally dwell
in the fire of hell," p. 40.—" They fhall
be punifhed in the fire of hell — I will caufe them

( 144 )
them to burn, and change their burned fkiri
into a * new, Jkin, that they may fuffer the
more," p. $i>- — " Shall dwell eternally in
-hell fire," p. 95. — " It fhall be faid to the
wicked at the day of judgment, tafte eternal
torments" 'p. 132. — " They, fhall be confined
in the fire of hell." p. 138.—" They fhall
have yokes upon their necks, and fhall re
main eternally in the fire of hell ; they fhall
precipitate themfelves into eternal pains,"
p. 154. — " They fhall be precipitated into
hell, and drink of water full of corruption,
urine, -and blood; death fhall appear on all
fides before their eyes — they Jhall not die in
that mifery, they fhall fuffer yet greater
pain," p. 159. — " They fliall abide eternally
in the fire of hell," p. 160. — " Mijery Jhall \
perpetually purfue them," p. 168. — " We
have eflablifhed hell for a perpetual prifon
of Infidels," p. 174.—" The Infidels fhall
* The Bagavadam ofthe Indians fays, that "tbe
bodies of the damned, being formed of a certain fubtle
matter, though reduced to atoms by their torments,
fhall reunite like quickfilver." See Bagavadam, an
Indian canonical work, tranflated into French, and
printed at Paris, 1788. be

( '45 )
be ertGoimpafled •whhfiatnes efhelk they fhall
have Jhitts of fin •; boiling water fhall flow
in upon their heads ; the fire fhall burn what
vsr m their bellies., and fhall roaft-.theif fkin;
they fhall be beaten with clubs of ironr when
fhey think to go out of this fife, they JhaU
enter further into it, and be eterniiUy-tor-T
tnenfed," p. 204.—" I will fill hell With the
wicked, and paradife with the rightedUs— -
thus fhall men be rewarded and cbafUfed ac
cording to their works* Taifte ( O ye wicked ! )
the pains that ye have deferved' in refufing
to believe — this day which ye have' found ;
we leave you in the miferies due to yduf in
credulity; tafte the eternal torments that ye
have merited through your impiety. Such
as through his fpiritual' grace fhall enjdy the"
houfe of eternity,1 fhall be free from all pain,
and the Infidels fhall -be eaft headlong into
fhe fire of hell. They Jhall not die in thofe.
torments, and tbeir torture Jhall never" be af-
Juaged," p. 270. " The tree of hell cometh
©ut of the bottom of hell, it rifeth high, and
the branches themfelves refemble the heads
of devils; the damned fhall eat of the fruit?
thereof, they fhall drink boiling water, and
U hell

( H6 )
hell fhall be the place df their habitation,"
p. 277. — " It fhall be faid unto them,' go,
enter into hell, ye fhalli abide there eternally,"
p. 289; and 294, 296, 297. — " They fhall
be' eternally damned," p. 302. — " The
wicked fhall remain eternally in the fire of
hell; 'they Jhall not be eafed in their miferies^,
and fhall be dumb with defpair; we do no
injuftice to them, they drew mifchief on
themfelves, through their difobedience; they
fhall demand of the keeper of the fire, will
thy Lord never deliver us from thefe pains?
He fhall anfwer, ye fhall abide there eter
nally," p. 307. — " The fire of hell fhall be
your habitation; none fhall deliver you—
they Jhall never get out of this fire, neither
be able to repent," p. 312. — " Hell is the
place prepared for the feduced, there Jhall
they remain eternally ; they fhall find there is
no reft, neither drink, but of boiling and
moft flinking water— your pains fhallbe aug
mented, and pains upon pains," p. 373.—
" He fhall be dragged by v the hair into the
fire of hell, and the devils fhall call them
headlong into fames eternal," p. 386.-^- Ablheb

( »47 )
" Ablheb* loft his hand; God chaftifed him,
his riches fhall not fave him, he fhall burn in
eternal flames, with his wife that carrieth
wood upon her neck," p. 392.

* It feems that the wife of this poor Ablheb had
thrown ftones in contempt in the way of this pfeudo-
prophet.— Behold what a malignant fpirit Mahomet
had— how unlike that of the meek and holy Jefus!
" Father forgive them, they know not what they do."

U2 HADES,

( 148 )

— ^¦y -"jig-

n ,.,.,

H A P E S.

LET us firft enquire into the meaning of
the word xli\s> which isone of the words
our tranflators have rendered flip//— the en
quiry will probably fatisfy us, that it fignifies
the grave, or rather the fiate of the dead, and
is ufed in the fame exact fenfe as the Sheol
ofthe Hebrews is*. it
* Sheol fignifies the underground parts of the earth,
otherwife called the nether or lower parts of the earth ;
the earth beneath in oppofition to the earth above,
where men and animals live. In Sheol are the founda-
tiorv&'ot the, mountains, Dety;. x^xii. 22. Into Sheol men
"A pene-

( H9 )
It may be well, in this inftance, to refer to
the learned Dr. Hammond, who, p. 53, in
penetrate by digging into the earth, Amos, ix. 2. Into
Sheol the roots of trees do ftrike down, which are faid
to have been comforted, or revived [as with manna] when
God eaft down the Affyrians to hell, or Sheol, Ezek.
xxxi. 16, Into Sheol Korah, Dathan, and Abiram
went down alive, when the earth opened and f wallowed:
them up, Numb. xvi. 30, 33. Jonah was in the belly
or midft of Sheol; not as he was in the belly ofthe
whale ; but as he was carried by the whale into the midft
or depths pf the fea, Jonah, ii. 2, 3. In' Sheol the
body is corrupted and confumed by worms, Joh, xvii.
I3? 14. Pfal. xvi. 10. xlix. 14. Ifa. xiv. 11. They
that reft together in the duft, are faid to go down to the
bars or ftrong gates of Sheol, Job, xvii. 16, In Sheol
there is no knowledge, nor can any praife God or give
him thanks there, Pfal. vi. 5. Eccl. ix. 10. Ifa.
xxxviii. io, 11. Sheol, the pit, death, and corruption,
are fjnonimous, Pfeh %vi. jq, — lxxxix. 48. Prov. i. 12.
— vii. 27. Ifa. xiv. 15, — xxviii. 15, 18. Ezek. xxxi.
16. Hof, xiii. 14. A grave is one particular cavity
purpofely digged for the interment of a dead perfon ;
Sheol is a eolle&ive name for all tb© graves, and all
the parts and receptacles of the earth and fea, which
are below the farfece of the one, or at the bottom of the
other: for he that is in the grave, is in Sheol"; but he
that is; in Sheol, may not be in a grave, but in a pit, or,
ia the fea. Infhort, it is the region, of the dtead. Soma-
tinaeait fignrfieth a ftate of abfolute perdition or deftruc
tion, Pfal, ix,, J7. Prov. xv. 24. Itaylor's Heb. Concord. his

( '50 )
his Annotations on Matt. xi. 23. gives the
following account of the word : " A.hs does
not fignify here the place of hell, but a ftate
of perijhing or diffolution.
" Among profane writers it is clear, that
the word fignifies not the place of the
damned ; no, nor any kind of place, either
common to both, or proper to either blifs
Orvwoe, but only the ftate off the dead.—
Thus, in Cornutus, ©sop. Ttspi Tijs tuv Qsuv <pi>s,
p. 10. sv'ot^n olxhvyto dwell in Hades, is inter
preted by sv airx(ps7 xs?o-§xi, to be nobody knows
where, according to the definition of death,
in fob, xiv. 10. Man giveth up the, ghoft and
where is he ? and agreeable to the etymology
of the word uSys, quafi, ueiSjjs, an invifible
ftate (and fo in the Rhetors*, Severus So-
phifta, &c. it is genetally called not A&jj, but-
Al'Sijs); and therefore, faith he, the meaning
* Hodfon's Proverbs of Solomon. — Note on chap. v.
ver. 5. "t^)Nl0 is here tranflated "hell;" but not rightly.
For by " hell" is generally underftood, the place of
torment ; whereas this word means, that place in which
the body is confirmed by. worms, the grave, Job, xvii.
13. That part of the earth into, whith the roots of trees
ftrike, Ezek. xxxi. 16. When Jonah was in the
whale's belly, he is faid. to have been in ^"iNttf," Jonah;
u-3. .
of

( i5« )
of that fable of Hades flealing Cer.es's daugh
ter, is the perijhing of corn in the earth,
C yiVOflSV®* £7TJ %p0V0V TIVX T0)V O'TTSpplXTUV KXTX yftS
a<pxvir[jt.as, the difappearing of the feeds in the
earth for fome time, which word qQonnvpos,
(directly the fame with xlys) is taken abfo-
lutely for death. 2 Mac. v. 12. and is the
periphrafis of death in the Pfalmift, before I
go hence and be no more feen: and fo Heb.
viii. 1 3 . that which grows old is eylils <xi(pxvio-pis,
near to difappearing or death.
. " So again in Cornutus, p. 4, ASyg, is called,
JIXxtuv, the rich man, becaufe there is nothing
which doth not at laft come to it, and become
its poffeffion.. The fame is meant by him
when he defines hl-<\s, the laft air that receives
fouls, not ' referring to any particular place,
but that fiate of the dead, which the Athiefi,
Wifd. 2. calls the vanifhing as the foft air. So,
Heraclitus, its urns, fpeaking of the helmet of
Hades, which makes men invifible, faith, it is
to tea©* the end or death of every man, sis 0
amXQuv TsleXevjijKals aopxros yivsrxt, to which he
that comes becomes invifible. Thus, in thofe
which are Called the Sibylline Oracles, this
account is given of Hades.
"ASyiV $' UVT6 KX"htO~0~Ot,V , &C. Hades,

( H2 )
Hacks, the place1 is nam*d whence Adam came,
Adam tiie firft, when death d'ifTcilv'd his frarrae,
¦ Beneath, the ground his. corpfe fecurely lay-,.
From glimpfe of morn, or evening's radiant ray;
Thus all mankind are born td die, and faid
To be to ttadei dkrkfortie fealrns c'driVey'd1,
where it is clear,, that Hades is the common
ftate of the dead, when their bodies are laid
in the grave, the condition not only of the
wicked,- nor only of the godly, but of ah I mor*
tal men. So in Philemon's Iambicka,
Kal yxp xuQ* aory, &C.
" Two paths in Hades'1 filent manfions known ;
One ofthe righteous-, of tlie Wicked one."
After feveral inflances from fcripture,
where it appears to bear the fame meaning,
he obferves — " Thus every where does this
word fignify a fiate of death, defiruct ion (de
notes no- place either of fouls, heaven, or
hell, or of bodies, the g,rave,.but) the d$xwspo\,
invifible ftate. That the writers of the
church had this notion of the phrafe in the
Greed, may be difcerned (among many) by
this place in TkeophylaEl,. in Rom. iv.- 25.
"'Etrzi, &c. Seeing he died,- having no- fin, it was
reafon he fhould rife again y for how fhould he
that

( "53 ) .
thai was finlefs be detained by Hades? where
being detained by Hades is, by the oppofition
to rifing again, explained to be no more than
continuing in the ftate of the dead: fo the
fame Theophylact, on Eph. iv. 9. interprets
the lower parts of the earth to be Hades, and
that in the fame notion, as when Jacob faith,
You will bring my grey hairs with forrow
to Hades (not to Hell, certainly); and as it is
all one with sig Xxy.rt.ov, to the pit, in David.
Thus the Arabians ufe Al-Barzach for that v
fpace or ftate which is betwixt this life and
the next, the time of death and the refurrec
tion, and every one that dies is faid to go to
Al-Barzach." We fhall be convinced of the juftice of
Dr. Hammond's obfervations, if we examine
all the paffages in the New Teftament, Where
this word occurs. In all of them it evi
dently means the grave, or ftate of the dead,
where utter darknefs dwells: or from thence,
a ftate of utter deflation.
Matt. xi. 23. " And thou, Capernaum,
which art exalted unto' heaven, fhall be
brought down to hell, lug xlov KxIxGiQuoSijo-yi."
So Luke, x. 15. X Matt.

- ( *54 )
Matt. xvi. 1 8. " Upon this rock will I
build my church, and the gates of hell, itvXau
:ct$&, fhall not prevail againft it."
Luke, xvi. 23. " And in hell, sv tu x$q,
he lifted up his eyes."
Acts, ii. 27. " Thou wilt not leave my
foul in hell, stg «^i/." — So ver. 31.
1 Cor. xv. 55. " O grave, «'&/, where is
thy victory ! "
Rev. i. 18. "I have the keys of hell and
of ; death, th xSh k, th 8xvx]x"
Rev.'vi. 8. " And helly j£ o'Ahg> follow
ed with him."
Rev. xx. 13, 14. " And the fea gave up
the dead which were in it ; and death and
hell, ytj 0 Sxvx'jog k) 0 xl^g, delivered up the
dead which were in them — and death and
hell were call into the lake of fire."
Let us run over thefe feveral paffages
where this word.a^e is ufed, and ufe our di
ligence, to difcoyer whether it fignifies, either
a ftate or place of eternal punifhment : we
fhall then fee whether our tranflators have
done juftice to the holy fcriptures in render-
• ing this word by the Englifh term hell;"
In the firft of them, Matt. xi. 23. hea
ven and hell are oppofed to each other, which carries

( iss )
carries with it an air favorable to the com
mon opinion : but it fhould be obferved,
that the phrafe, " exalted to heaven," does
not tnean exalted to the ftate of eternal fe
licity, or to the place where the virtuous will
be rewarded in the life to come : no, it rather
means, that the thing fpoken of, is raifed
to the higheft pitch of glory and excellence :
" to be lifted up to heaven, or to the ftars,'.'
were proverbial expreffions, fignifying an
exalted ftate or condition : and then to be
brought down to hell, dfyg, muft mean a de
privation of that glory and excellence, a
being brought to defolation. — 'Agreeable to
this idea, Hammond thus paraphrafes it —
" And thou, Capernaum, the place of my
abode, which haft been fo honored and fa
vored by me, beyond all other places, and haft
received fuch fpiritual advantages, fhalt be
brought to deftruction and defolation fuddenly,
humbled as low as thou wert highly advan
ced." Bifhop Pearce has obferved, that " this
prophecy received its full completion, in the
fubfequent war of the Jews with the Ro
man people ; and that no traces are now re
maining of Bethfaida, Chorazin, or Ca
pernaum." X 2 This

( *i56 >
This firft ufe, then, of the word ufa, in the
New Teftament, exactly correfponds with
the idea of deftruction, and expreffly discoun
tenances the opinion, that it fignifies the place*
where men are preferved alive for the pur-
pofe of tormenting .them. We will confirm;
this fenfe ofthe word by referring to the Old
Teftament, i Sam. ii. 6. " The hotdkilleth
and maketh alive; he bringeth down to the
grave, bim Heb. sis $x, LXX. and bringeth
¦up." — So, Ifa. xiy. where the profperity
and deftruction of Babel are prophefied of,
we have a remarkable exemplification of this
paffage, ver. 12, &c. " How art thou fallen
from heaven, O Lucifer, fon of the morn-«
ing ! how art thou cut down to the ground,
which didft weaken the nations ! For thou
haft faid in thine heart, / will afeend into,
heaven, I will exalt my throne above the
ftars of God — yet thou fhalt be cafi down to
hell, [b)xv>> ba, Heb. stsxhv, LXX,] to the fides
ofthe pit. — I will rife up againft them, faith
the Lord of Hpfls; and cut off from Babylon
the name, and remnant, and fon and nephew,
faith the Lord. I will alfo make it a poffeffion
for,the bittern, ^nd pools pf waiter; and I
will

( *57 )
will fweep it with the befom of defiruSlion,
faith the Lord of Hofts."
The next paffage is Matt. xvi. 1 8. " And
„the gates of hell fhall not prevail againft it.
The gates of the grove — Gates fignify power,
the power of death fhall not exterminate the
church. " The power of death or the grave"
(fays Dr. Hammond*, in his Paraphrafe^
" fhall not get victory over it; the Chriftian
church, now to be planted, fhall never be
defiroyed:" or, as he fays in his Notes*
" Hades here fignifies death, or grave, or
defirutt ion. "—Again, "As the church fignifies
the perfons, fo the phrafe imports, that though
Chriftians fhall die,, yet death fhall have no
dominion over them. Chrift fhall break
open thefe bars, and refcue them by his re
furrection from the power of the grave. As
it refers to the church, in complexo, that is,
to the whole congregation of Chriftian pro
feffors, fo it fignifies a promife of Chrift,
that it fhall never be defiroyed, fo as to perifh
totally, irrecoverably."
* I take a particular pleafure in quoting Hammond
in thefe cafes, becaufe he had written a treatife expreffly
defending the doctrine of Eternal Torments.
Luke,

( '58 )
Luke, xvi. 23. is the next paffage in which'
it is ufed. " And in Hades he lifted up
his eyes, &c." It is only neceffary to ob
ferve here, that this is a fable, and in fables
we are not to look at the diftinct limbs of it,
but at the whole united body, and the moral
qr doctrine intendeci to be taught in it: unlefs
this rule be obferved in interpreting this
fable, it will be found to he full of abfurdi
ties : and in this very inftance ; for the words
immediately preceding thefe are, that the
rich man died and was buried — and in hell
he lifted up his eyes; whence it fhould feem,
that the body was at the fame time in the
grave and in hell; ox, we muft adopt another
abfurdity, which is, that what is termed the im
material foul, has eyes, tongue, &c— The only
way of avoiding thefe abfurdities, is to avoid
giving a particular explication of any de
tached part of the fable.
There is, I think, evidence fufficient in the
connexion in which thefe words fland, to con
vince us, that our Lord did not mean to teach,
that the wicked are perpetually tormented in
hell: there is nothing that leads to it. If it does
point to the future punifhment of-the wicked,
2 the

( 159 )
the torment into which the rich man appears
to have been plunged, much better fuits the
idea of utter deftruction by fire, than of eter
nal torment. — But more of this paffage here
after. Acts, ii. 27. " Thou wilt not leave my
foul in hell."-  The word t|/u^, here
tranflated foul, fometimes fignifies the animal
part, fometimes the life; but never an im
material fpirit, fuch as the foul is generally
fuppofed to be. Thefe words, beyond all
contradiction mean, " Thou wilt not leave
ME in the grave" — and in this fenfe all
moderate divines underftand them.
1 Cor. xv. 55. The tranflators have here
properly rendered the word, grave; and
its connexion renders it unneceffary to make
any comment.
The paffages in the Revelations, where this
word is ufed, are equally plain,. if we trans
late the word as it ought to be, the grave, or
ftate of the dead— indeed they will bear no
other meaning. — In the firft of them our
Lord is reprefented as the refurrection' and
the life ; as invefted with power to unlock
the grave, and deliver from death. — In the
fecond, the grave, the common receptacle of
the

( 160 )
the dead, is reprefented as following death,
to receive his victims; and in the laft of
them; the fea and the grave are reprefented*
as delivering up their dead. Hammond's, Pa<-
raphrafe exactly accords with the true fenfe
of the paffage. " And all that were buried
in the fea, that is, perifhed by water ; and aU
that were dead, and laid in graves, and all
that any other way were dead, came out of
their graves, &c."

GEHENNA.

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( J6* )

G E H, E N N Ai

THE word ysswu (Gehenna) does, I
think, more aptly defcribe the ftate of
the wicked in their penal fufferings for fin.
The confiderations neceffary to a dif-
covery df the true ufe and import of this
word, are obvioufly thefe — i. What appears
to be defigned by the word itfelf, according
to its own proper meaning? and, 2. —
Whether there is any thing in the con
nexions where it is ufed, which incon*
teftably fhews, that it has a reference to eter
nal mifery? Y In

( lb% )
In the firft place, we are to attend to the
meaning of the word itfelf. — The word,
Gehenna, Heb. oitu is compofed of two
other words, k»j a valley, and own Hinnom,
literally, the valley of hinnom.  So
called originally, fays Aretius, Quia locus in
pradio erat viri cujufdam Hinnom dicti. —
"Becaufe it was. poffeffed by a man of the>
name of Hinnom." It was fituated on the
fouth or fouth-eaft fide* of Jerufalem, near
En-Rogel, and the field Acheldama.
In this valley, in ancient times, the idola
trous Jews, following the example of the
Ammonites, facrificed their children in the
fire, to Moloch-
Moloch was an idol worflripped according
to fome authors for Mercury ; according to
others for Mars, or according to others, and
with more probability, for Saturn, Quem
Poet a proprios fingunt devorafik filios i —
4 * whom the poets feigned to have devoured
his own children :" and whofe image nearly
anfwers the defcription qf the image of
Moloch.

Jof. xv. 8. and chap, xviii. 16. This

( "63 )
This Moloch, we are told, was a large
brafs or copper idol ; having the face of a
calf, and its hands fpread out to receive the
victims, and being hollowed within with
various chambers, or receffes. According
to fdme writers, there were no lefs than
feven of thefe receffes : the firft to receive
ineal offered; the fecond, turtle doves; the
third, peep ; the fourth, a ram ; the fifth*
a calf j the fixth an ox ; the feventh a child :
but other writers contend, that the image
was wholly hollow within, and thefe re
ceffes were chapels built in honour of the
Idol, before which the image flood, and to
which chapel the offerers were admitted.
While the victims were confuming,
the Worfhippers, or rather the priefts that
ferved at this unhallowed altar, caufed trum
pets to be founded, and drums to be beaten,
to prevent the cries of the victims being
heard: whence this place had the name
of Tophet, from in, a drum.
After the worfhip of this idol was prohi
bited by king Jofiah, a fire was kept Conti
nually burning in the valley of Hinnom, to
cottfume the dead carcafes, garbage, and filth
Y 2 of

( *64 >
of jerufalem; from which circumftance,
it became, in the eyes of the inhabitants of
that city, exceeding odious and execrable.^ — <.
On account of thefe facrifices to Moloch, or
the burning of the dead carcafes and filth of
Jerufalem, or perhaps for both reafons con
joined, Tophet, or the valley of Hin.nqm
(Gehenna), was referred to by our Lord, in
his denunciations of future punifhment, as
had probably been the practice amongft the :
Jewifh Rabbies and teachers. : . ,
And indeed it was not an, unapt refem-
blance of the future punifhment of the,
wicked, according to the fcripture account
of that punifhment. As in the valley of
Hinnom, fo at the end of the world, the
deftruction is by. fire : but it could not fo
aptly' be a type or reprefentation of an eter
nal fire, of a fire in which, victims were to
be ever burning, but never burnt up, or de
firoyed. — We have no idea how that which
is finite and defiructive, could be a proper
reprefentation of that which is infinite, and
•which fhall never defiroy. The fire of Ge
henna (the valley of Hinnom), which, alr
though it did burn for; a confiderable time, had

had an i^nd, and which> while burning,
destroyed every thing that was eaft into
it, could not be a very lively reprefentation
9f a fire, which is fi^id to have no end,
and in which, whatever is thrown alive, is
fuppofed ftill to retain its vital exist
ence. The likenefs of the fire of Gehenna, to
the general conflagration, confifted rather ii*
the destruction which attends each of
them, than in the duration of that fire by
which the deftruction is effected.
This word, in this fenfe, is ufed by thg
olivine writers with the utmoft propriety:
hut this propriety does not at all appear in
our tranflation of it, by the Englifh word
hell. The beauty ofthe paffages where it
is ufed is greatly obfeured, and the fenfe
mifreprefented by it. And it is eafy to con
ceive, that the impreffions it makes upon us,
are widely different to what they might pro
bably be, were it faid, that the wicked fhall
be eaft into the fire of Gehenna, or more li
terally into the fire of the valley of Hinnom.
In order to make the probability of thefe
different impreffions plain to us ; and to fix
the true fenfe of the words, we fhould never lofe

( 166 )
lofe fight of the circumftance, that there was
at the time when our Saviour fpake, a valley
or place near Jerufalem, called," Gehenna-*?
a place* well known to his auditors; as
much fo as the field Acheldama, the valley
of Jehofhaphat, or the mount of Olives-^
and that it was a place dreadful to the
imagination, on account ofthe ufe which had
been made of it.— When, therefore, our
Lord faid, that the wicked incurred the dan
ger of being eaft into the fire of Gehenna,
his auditors well underftood the meaning to
be, that they fhould incur the danger of he-,
ing burned up, as thofe carcafes were which
were eaft into that fire; and not that they
were to be punifhed in hell, according to the
common acceptation of the terms, Hell and
its torments. It was in other words faying,
that they fhould utterly perifh.
This word Gehenna, is ufed, Jof. xv. 8,
»:n-'J, and is tranflated, thevdtley of Hinnom.
And 2 Kings, xxiii. io. and Jof. vii. 32.
oirrp x% the valley of the fon of Hinnom.—.
I do not fee what reafon can be afnt

;ee the annexed plan.
why

C 167 )
why the paffage 2 Kings, xxiii. 10. fhould
not be rendered, " And he defileth Tophet,
which is in hell, that no man, &c."—
efpecially as the fire of Gehenna is there
fpoken of; as well as that the fame word.
fhould be rendered hell, where it occurs in
the New Teftament.— How well it would
found, and how confiftent it would be with
the fenfe of the paffage, if fuch an alteration;
were to be made, the candid reader will
judge for himfelf.
It does not appear, then, that in the word
itfelf there is any evidence of eternal tor
ments ; but, on the contrary, it furnifhes am
ple evidence, that thofe who ftiall be eaft
into the fire of Gehenna, will be there burned
up ; as were the dead carcafes and filth in the-
fire which was kept in the valley of Hinnom.
Let us now advert to the connexion of the
word — but, previoufly, it fhould be remem
bered, that it appears to be the true doctrine
of fcripture, that the world and its wicked
inhabitants will hereafter be defiroyed in the
general conflagration* — for this carried in
* Compare 2 Pet. ii. 9. and 2 Pet. iii. 7.— and fee
Matt. iii. 12. and Matt. xiii. 40. our

( i58 )
our minds, will be the beft key for getting ai
the true meaning of this word in its feveral'
connexions. The firft place in which I have obferved*
it is, Matt. v. 22. where the word fire
[HcII-fire] is added fo it, as defcriptive of
the tneans of future punifhfrient, which is
#ire. The true rendering, in order to give
lis an adequate idea bf the meaning fhould be
— " He fhall be in danger of the * fire of the'
valley of Hinnom" — that is, he fhall incur
the danger of being defiroyed by fire, as the
carcafes were, which were thrown into the
fire of Gehenna. Here is, then, nothing irt
this paffage for, but rather againft, the com
mon opinion : if has of courfe no force as
an objection to the doctrine I have contend-'
edfor. "
The next places are ver. 29, and 36, of
the fame chapter, where it is faid, " If thy
right eye offend thee, pluck' it out, and eaft
it from thee : for it is profitable for thee/
that one of thy members fhould perifh, and
not that thy whole body fhould be eaft into
* Dr. Hammond tranflates it, " Liable unto the
fire in the valley of Hinnom." hell,

( 1*9 )
hell, Gehenna." — Our Lord knew of no
other conftituent parts of man, than thofe
which compote the body, and therefore fpeaks
ofthe whole body, as the whole of man: —
this feems evidently to be his meaning ; for,
by cutting off a right hand, and plucking out
a right eye, he certainly intended, that we
fhould facrifice to righteoufnefs and truth,
our deareft affections, and thofe affec
tions we know are feated in the mind:
whence it feems to follow, that by the whole
body, is intended the whole of the human
perfon,. with all its conftituent parts, powers*
and faculties; which in a cafe of difobe
dience to the divine law, fhall be eaft into
Gehenna, and there perifh. That this is the
meaning of our Lord, will appear very fully
in the courfe of the prefent examination;
for it has already been fhewn, and wiU again
appear, that the fame thing which is here
intended by the whole body is elfewhere called
" tjie body, and ifw^ij*, life," and in one
place a " Man's self." Luke* ix. 25.
* See the obfervations of Dr. John. W orthington, in
his Difji'rtatio de Ecckfix in Terris, &c. p. 181, where
he fhews, that this word is fometimes put for the perfon,
er the whole man.
Z The

t *?• )
The next paffage is Matt. x. 28. and is
6f the fafne complexion, but its language
is more explicit: " Fear not them, fays the
Sofi of Gdd, which kill the body, but are
hot able to kill the foul ; but rather fear him
Which is able to deftroy both foul and bo'dy
in hett,"-^-that is, literally, " Fear not them
Which kill the body', but are not able, to
kill the (tjto;^) hfe; but rather fear him,
Which is able to deftroy both life {fyvxn) and
body in (Gehenna." To fhew that the word
$u%?7, fhould be rendered life and ndt foul,
let it be obferved, that that very word,
Which is here rendered foul, is, in the 39th
verfe df this fame chapter, in a part of the
fame reafoning arid difcourfe, tranflated Hfe.
" He that findeth his Life, tf/u;^, (tnat is»
by fearing man), fhall lofe it; and he that
lofeth his life, fyoffi (not fearing the pdwer
of man), for my fake, mall find it."— Our
trahflatOfS, no doubt, would have rendered
the term, $u%ri, by the Wdfd ful, in this
place, if it had not been too glaringly ab-
furd ; for then it would have run, " He that
findeth his foul, fkall lofe it; and he that
lo&th

( '7* )
lofeth his foul for my fake, fliall find it*."—
This paffage, then, is fo far from being an
objection to the doctrine of utter deftruction,
that it would of itfelf be a fubftantfal proof
df the truth of the dodtrine ; for it appears,
that in this fire, in this Gehenna, in this
valky qf Hinnom, not only the body, but
the very LIFE itfelf, mail be defiroyed. — Out
Lord tells us, that man can kill the body, but
cannot extjnguifli the life; for in the firft -
death, the life returns to God the fountain
and author of life; but God in punifhing
* If any doubt remains as .to the propriety of ren
dering the word 4-«X7 life, and not the foul, in fuch
paffages as thefe, as we commonly underftand the
tens, we' need only refer to fome other paffaggs in
the fame reafoning, to be fatisfied. " Whofoever
will fave his foul fhall lofe it, and whofoever will lofe
his foul for my falce fhall find it," Matt. xvi. 25.
" Whofoever fliall feek to fave his foul fhall lofe it,"
Luke, xvii. 33. " He that loveth his foul fhall lofe it,
and he that hateth his foul in this world fhall keep k
unto life eternal,'' John, xii. 25. f.et the reader fay,
whether this can be the true rendering of the words.
Did the Redeemer of men's lives exhort them to negle&
the welfare of their fouls? Did he declare, that the man
who fought its falvation fhould perifh ? and that, he
who neglected and contemned it fhould be faved ?
Z 2 the

( ?7» )
the wicked, will abfolutely defiroy, not only
the body, but ,the life itfelf.
This word Gehenna is alfo ufed, Matt.
xviii. 9. "Wherefore, if thy hand or thy
foot offend thee, cut them, off, and call them
from thee ; it is better for thee to enter into
life halt or maimed, rather than having two
hands or two feet, to be eaft into everlafiing
fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it
out and eaft it from thee ; it is better for
thee to enter into .life with one eye, rather
than having two. eyes to be eaft into hell-
fire." The phrafeology of the fcriptures upon
this fubject, is fo varied ; the fame things are
taught in fuch various, but fynonymous and
according terms ; fuch expreffive, negative,
and affirmative accounts of ' the fame truth,
are given, that it is impoffible any doctrine
whatever, can be more fully and more ex
plicitly revealed to us than this is. — That
which in the fifth chapter above quoted, was
phrafed, "It is profitable for thee that one
of thy members fhould perish," is here
¦phrafed, " Entring into life halt or maim
ed" which fhews, that the true diftinction and

( i?3 )
and contraft intended to be taught, is, of abfo
lute death or perdi'ion ; and of Ife, confidered
as the principle of action and fenfation. If
we carefully compare the two paffages to
gether, it will appear, that the being eaft
into everlafting fire — hell-fire — and the being
fubjected to perdition, are terms fignifying
the fame th ng : and that all of them are
oppofed to the ftate of the righteous, which
fhall confift in the fruition of everlafting life.
Words cannot be ufed, which are more per
tinently calculated to teach us, that the fu
ture ftate of mankind, will be either the pof
feffion of eternal life; or, fubjeSlion to ever
lafiing death — That the one " fhall not
fee life," John, iii. 36.; and that the other
" Jhall not perijh for ever," John, x. 28.
It is not improbable, that after all thefe
palpable demonftrations, ofthe true meaning
and fcriptural ufe of the word Gehenna, fome
may be found, who will irfift, that the
torments ofthe damned, fhall be eternal, be
caufe it is faid, that they fliall be eaft into
everlasting fire. Although this ob
jection, in, other forms, has been anfwered
over and over again, yet I will briefly an
fwer

( *74 )
fwer it here, that there may be left no ex»
cufe for thofe who will ftill go on to im
peach the Divine goodnefs, by pleading for
eternal torments. ' I conceive that nothing
more is neceffary, after ftating, as we have
done, the expreffionS which the fcripture op-
pofes to the terms eternal life ; fuch as, lofs of
life, of a man's felf, &c, ; but that the ob
jector fhould be referred back to the oppofi
tion which is here made of everlafting fire to
life; an oppofition which makes it highly
probable, that by being eaft into everhfting
fire, is meant a fuffering the lofs of that life,
which thofe who obey the will of God fhall
fave : and the expreffion may be well com
pared with Jer. xvii. 4. where a ftill ftronger
expreffion is ufed, in a cafe, where it muft
refer, not to the perpetuity of the fuffering,
but to the utter deftruction of the objects of
its vengeance: " Ye have kindled a fire in
mine anger, which fhall burn for ever." —
This is fometimes expreffed by its being un
quenchable ; as Ezek. xx. 47, 48. " Thus
faith the Lord God ; Behold I will kindle
a fire in thee, and it fhall devour every green
tree in thee, and every dry tree : the flaming
flame Jhall not be quenched; and all faces, from

( 175 )
from the fouth to the north, fhall be burned
therein : and all fiefh fhall fee that I the Lord
have kindled it, and // Jhall not be quenched"
Thefe expreffions, of unquenchable fire, and
burning for ever, bear the fame precife mean
ing as the words of the prophet in Ifa. xlvii.
14. They fhall not deliver themfelves from the
power of the flame."
Let the words of the Evangelifts, I fay,
be compared with thofe of the Prophets, and
there will be as little reafon for underftand
ing the phrafe everlafting fire in the Evan
gelifts, to mean a fire that fhould everlaftingly
burn; as there is to believe, that thefe inti
mations of temporal diftrefs and calamity in
the Prophets (in which words ftiill more
expreffive of perpetuity are ufed) are intended
to convey ideas of perpetual fire — The com
parifon will convince unprejudiced minds,
that they both refer, rather to the effect of
the fire, as utterly confumptive, than to its
nature as everlaftingly burning.
The next paffages which occur, viz.
Matt, xxiii. 15. and 33. have nothing in
them, which ferves to explain the meaning-
of diis word Gehenna, The

( 176 )
The paffages, Mark, ix. 43, 45, 47.
" And if .thy hand offend thee, &c." are of
the fame nature as, Matt. v. 29, 30. ex
cepting that there is a variance in the expref
fion in thefe places, which taking into consi
deration the diverfity of terms already no
ticed in Matt. v. and xviii. may be confi
dered as decifively in favor of the expofitions
I have endeavoured to fupport — I mean the
declaration, that the fire of Gehenna, never
jhall be quenched* — " Where their worm
" dieth not, and the fire is not quenched:" —
words,
* See the expreffion everlafiing fire ufed in the fcrip
ture fenfe, bv the Rev. Mr. Raftrick (Gent. Mag. Nov.
17^9, p. 1033:,'^ a poem called the Dissolution,
¦written aboui the beginning of the prefent century. —
Being about to defcribe the general conflagration,
he fays, ". Swifter. than time, and impatient of flay,
" To the Weft, to the uttermoft limit of day,
" To the end of the world I'll haften away;
" Where I may fee it all expire,
" And melt away in everlasting fire,"
In the fame little poem, the fcripture ufe of the term
fmoke as referring to diffolution, is exemplified:
" Behold, fond foul, all thou didft once admire !
" The objefts of thy hope and thy dtfire ; " Houfes

( *77 )
words, which hitherto, indeed, have been
interpreted in favour of the vulgar opinion,
founded on a deduction which would not have
been made, if our Lord's difcourfe had been
underftood : and that deduction is, that if the
fire is never to be quenched, the torments of.
the damned will never ceafe. — This is an iri-v
ference which has, however, no foundation
in truth. ¦"! i
» The word life, which is oppofed to the
other ftate, furnifhes a very reafonable and
conclufive argument againft fuch a deduction,
and fhews, if words have any meaning, that in
the fire of Gehenna, in the fire into which the
kicked fhall be eaft, there will be a lofs of
life — befides, here again, if it were want
ed, we might call in the affiftance of the
uniformly concurrent voice of fcripture.-—
The fcriptures are not divided againft them
felves, we fhould therefore always explain
the few and obfeure, by the many and plain
paffages contained in them.
(l ffoufes, and lands, and large ©ftate;
" The little things that make men great \
" The empty trifles are no more,
" But vanish all in smoKe, fcaree lighter than
before !"
A a I am

( i7* )
. I am inclined to. think, that the reader has
anticipated. the true conftruction of the paf
fage, from what he muft have difcovered in
a: paffage juft now quoted from Ezekiel's
Prophecy: where Jehovah is reprefented
as about to kindle a fire, a flaming lire,
which fhould not be quenched; by which
prophetical expreffion, ..among many- others,
like that before us, we are, I prefume, to
underftand, that it fliould not be quenched,
till it had effected its purpofe of utter de
ftruction- — and' if the phrafe as ufed by Eze->
kiel, refers to utter deftruction, I fee no
reafon why it fhould fignify any thing lefs
when ufed." by ,our Lord. Exactly fimilar
to this, expreffion of unquenchable fire, is
the other phrafe here ufed, "their worm
dieth7 not;" for nothing can more clearly
point out, than this does, the utter deftruc
tion of the wicked. — The .idea we entertain
of a worm and , its operations and effects is,
that it will introduce < perdition if it is not
itfelf defiroyed: and this is demonftrably the
fcripture ufe of the word-*-" Worms de
stroy "this body," Job, xix. 26. — " .They
fhall lie down alike in the duft, and worms
fhall cover them," Job. xxi. 26.—" The
7 r- - worms

( '79 )
worms[ fhall feed fweerly on him ; he fhall be
no more remembered," Job, xxiv. 20.-—
" My flefh is clothed with worms and clods
of duft," Job, vii. 5. — " Thy pomp is
brought down to the grave — the worm is
fpreadunder thee, and the worms cover thee,"
Ifa. xiv. 11. " Fear ye not the reproach of
men — for the moth fhall eat them up, and
the Worm fhall eat them like wool." Ifa.
•li. 7, 8. fee Hof. v. 12. Here, then, in
order to fhew, that a complete perdition
fhall be effected, we are told that the worm
dieth not — it fhall fully execute the office
affigned to it— -the wicked fhall ' ' perifh for
ever, like their own dung." Job, xx. 7.
It fhould be remarked, that the He
brews had two methods of difpofing- of
their dead; the one, by burning them, for
which purpofe a fire was continually kept
in the valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) near
Jerufalem, as we have already feen : and the
other by burying, which was performed in
the fame valley, as appears by Jer. vii. 32.
and chap. xix. 2. where they bred worms,
and became putrid, till at length they mingled
with the parent duft : and if we view thefe
A a 2 paffages

( tiSo })
paffages with an eye to thefe ancient; Jewifh
cuftoms, we fhall foon be familiarized to the
expreffions ; - and when we: read,, that the
wormdf the wicked dieth not, and that their
fire fhall not be quenched,' we fliall find no
difficulty in believing, that thefe phrafes are
meant to inform us, that their DESTRUCr
tion and perdition fhall be inevita
ble, complete, and everlasting.
And if we go one ftep farther, and con-
fult the words of the prophets, from whence
thefe phrafes were borrowed, we fhall have
very little room left to doubt, but that the
reafoning we have ufed upon them, points
out their true meaning. The reader will be
pleafed to confult the following paffages :
. Ifa. lxvi. 24. " And they fhall go forth,
and look upon the carcaffes of the men that
have tranfgreffed againft me. For their worm
fliall not die, neither (hall their fire be quench
ed, and they fhall be an abhorring unto all
flefh." ?ny..
2 Kings, xxii. 17. " Becaufe they have
forfaken.me, &c. therefore my wrath fhall
be kindled againft this place, and fhall, not
he quern/tod." — And again, 2 Chron. xxxiv
25. and Jer. vii. 2o;» . . Ifa.

( i8i )
.1 Ifa. i. 28, 31. C4 They that forfake the
Lord fhall he confumed — they fhall burn ancj
none fhall quench."
Ifa. xxxiv. 10. "It fhall not be quenched,
night nor day."
Jer. xvii. 27. " But if ye will not hearken
unto me, then will I kindle a fire in the
gates thereof, and it fhall devour the palaces
of Jerufalem, and it fliall not be quenched"
Alfo Jer. xxi. 12. and Amos, v. 6.
It is not in this place improper to fuggeft,,
that the phrafes ufed by our Lord, were
borrowed from the words of the prophets,
and that no one will prefume to affert, that
the prophets, in the inftances I have pro
duced, meant to teach, the doctrine of eternal
torment: and if thefe expreffions in the pro
phets were ufed to point out the utter deftruc
tion of the countries or cities of which they
. fpake, we cannot reafonably fuppofe, that our
Lord, in the ufe of the fame phrafe, in
tended to convey ideas fo utterly repugnant,
as that the worm fhall be always eating,
and the fire always burning the wicked,
without deftroying them. This being the
cafe, it is our duty to adopt fome explication,
Which is lefs inconfiftent with the reafon and
nature

( 18a >
nature "ot '"things, and which better accords
^With the familiar application of worms to
the ftate of perdition, and oi fire to defirut*,
tion. The learned Dr. Hammond, whom I have
often quoted, was fo well fatisfied from the
fubject matter, that the expreffion, " un
quenchable fire," was hyperbolical, that he
gives us the following clear argument in fa
vour of the expofition I have efpoufed, al
though he was, at the fame time, labouring
with all his might, in a work written on
purpofe to prove the perpetuity of hell tor
ments — " It will, he fays, be juft to remem-
" ber, that fimilitudes and parables muft not
" be bound to fuch accurate uvrxTrotioa-ug, as,
*' that every circumftance in the parable be
"accounted for ftrictly in the application,
" but only the main lineaments, wherein
*' thedefigned refemblance confifted, preferv-
" ed; viz. that after the threfhing and wih-
" nowing the good corn, and laying it up
" carefully in the granary, the manner is to
" fet fire to the chaff, which licks it up,
" and never ceajeth till it have confumed all,
" and in that refpect is, called a,a-(Zsgov- wvp,
" i. e. unquenchable-fire." Hammond's
Aff'ertion

( i83 )
Ajfertion of the Exiftence and Eternity of
Hell Torments, p. 27.
And that the paffage we have quoted from
Ifaiah, ifa particular, refers to a confumption
or diffolution, is plain, if we examine the
context; for after the prophet, ver. 16. had
fpoken of God as pleading by fire, he adds,
ver. 17. " that they fhall be confumed toge
ther:" which leads us to this plain, certain
conclufion, viz. that by the unquenchableyfrv,
and undying worms, the prophet intended to
teach, that the fire fhould utterly confume, and
the worms utterly deftroy, the carcafes or
dead bodies fpoken of.
This point is eflablifhed by our obferv-
ing, that the worms, and fire, mentioned
by the prophet, were not to act upon liv
ing intelligent agents : beings capable of plea
fure and pain ; but upon dead bodies, as the
Hebrew nnjs fignifies. Thofe expreffion s,
therefore, which, in fome cafes manifeftly
refer to deftruction and corruption, and fo
regard rather a final extermination of being,
than a continuance in it, ought not to be
preffed upon us as proofs in other cafes, of
great permanency/ or eternal .continuance in
being;

( ,i84 )
being; but, on the contrary, the application.
of thefe terms to diffolution and corruption,
by the prophets, fhould lead us to make the
fame application of them, when ufed by our
Lord. We may alfo' obferve, that the terms fire
and worms, are not the only terms ufed, when
a ftate of perdition is referred .to. If we
turn to the language of David towards •-
Qoliah, i Sam. xviii. 46. we fhall find, that
thofe other deftroyers of carcafes or ddad;
bodies, which are neither burned ox buried j
viz. birds and beafts of prey, are fpoken of—.
" I will (fays David) give the carcafes,
Heb. 'cams, of the hoft of the Philiftines,
this day, unto the fowls of the air, and to the
wild beafts of the earth." So, Jer. xix. 7,
V And their carcafes, ansa, will I give to be-
meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the
beafts of the earth." • So again, Jer. vii. 32,
T^. " It fhall no more be called Tophet, or
the valley ofthe fon of Hinnom (the fame as
Gehenna), but the valley of flaughter, for they
fhall bury in Tophet, till there be no place*'
For the carcafes, eras, of this people fhal]
be meat for the fowls of heaven* and for the
beafts

( iS* )
fs of the earth | and none fhall fray theni
away." And it is worthy of remark here,
tb#t the expreffion, "none fhall fray them'
away," anfwers, when fpeaking of birds and
beafts, to the terms " unquenchable" and
" never dying," when applied to fire ani
worms. So again, chap. xvi. 4. in which
laft place, it is particularly accounted for,
how it fhould come to pafs that they fhould
be defiroyed by birds and beafts of prey, ra
ther than by worms, by obferying: that " they
fhould not be buried." So alfo, Pfal. lxxix.
2, 3. the reafon given why the dead were fo
devoured is, " that there was none to bury
them." Thus we have in the fcriptures an account
of the feveral ways pf difpofing of the dead,
and of the manner in which they are in each
jefpective way confirmed. Thofe which
were burnt, " by fire ;" thofe which were
¦buried, " by worms" and thofe which were
expofed without burial " by birds and beafts of
prey ;" the fire utterly confumes, and therefore
is faid, to be unquenchable and everlafting:
the worms utterly deftroy, and therefore it
is faid, they never die: and the birds and
B b beafts

( 1 86 )
beafts of prey utterly devour, and therefore
it is faid, that none Jhall fray them away.
Thefe obfervations may be further illuf
trated, by a paffage in the Epiftle to the He
brews, where the apoftle, recounting the won
derful actions and fufferings of the faithful
in the paft ages of the world, takes notice,
among other things, that they quenched the
violence of fire, Heb. xi. 34. alluding to the
hiftory of Shadrach, Mefhech, and Abed-
nego. — The fire, in this inftance, did not'
effect its purpofe— it was not an unquench
able fire. Thofe worthies, Shadrach, Me
fhech, and Abednego, were under the divine
protection — they did not regard their lives,
but being willing rather to facrifice them,
than to expofe themfelves to the divine in
dignation, were ready to fubmit to all the
indignities and miferies their enemies could
inflict : but by thus expofing their lives, in
defence of their virtue, they preferved them1;
the fire was a quenchable one, its power was
taken away, and they were delivered. — See
alfo Numb. xi. 2. " And the people cried
unto Mofes, and when Mofes prayed unto
unto the Lord, the fire was quenched." I have

( i«7 )
I have now taken notice of all the paffages
which have occurred to me, wherein this
word, yeswx, is ufed, and where any thing
in the connexion leads us to underftand i{$
true meaning. I fhall now take my leave of
it, with a quotation, which confirms in ex
prefs and moft pofitive terms, all my obferva
tions upon that fire of Gehenna, which fhall
deftroy the wicked; " The heavens and
earth are kept in flore, referved unto FIRE,
for the day of judgment, and PER
DITION of ungodly men." 2 Pet. iii.
7, io.

B b 2 TARt

( xo-8 )

„a<i" ii fi'-'if- iff' in.'i,^,r »r,- j i, .(.-,., , .,i.lf^i

TARTARUS,

TARTARUS was the hell of the Hea
then poets. The Heathen" mythology
feigned two ftates, or places for the recep
tion of fouls; Elysium and Tartarus,
The former was fuppofed to be the habita
tion of virtuous and heroic fouls ; the Elyfian
Fields were fuppofed to be flored with every
thing that could charm and captivate the
fenfes. — Tartarus was, on the other hand,
the place affigned to the wicked and aban
doned, for their puhifhment. — Here the
Giants and Titans were in the midft of
flames,

( i89 )
flames, laden with mountains — here Ixion
was in a ftate of perpetual revolution on a
wheel— and here Sysiphus was employed
in rolling up a great ftone to the top of a
mountain, which conftantly renewed his la
bor, by inftantly rolling down again — into
this place we are told, 2 Pet. ii. 4. the
offenders there fpoken of were precipi
tated. We may, I think, Very fafely affure our
felves, that the poets, hell, is not the place
in which finners wijl fuffer the punifhment
due to their crimes. Nay, we are affured,
that Tartarus, or the poets hell, was a
mere fiction ; a mere child of the imagina
tion, which, had no exiftence in fact. We
need not, therefore, trouble ourfelves to en
quire, whether the apoftle intended to teach
us, that the offenders he there fpeaks of,
were eaft into this Tartarus of the Hea
thens. In order to get at the true fenfe of this
paffage, let us compare it with the parallel
paffage of Jude, ver. 6. " And the angels
which kept not their firft eftate, but left their
©wn habitations, he hath referved in ever
lafting

( '90 )
lafling chains, under darknefs unto the judg--
ment of the great day." "'
In confidering and comparing thefe paf
fages, we fhall difcover the following gene
ral particulars:
i . That the circumftance here ftated wai
an example; and, as an example, was pro-.
pofed to thofe to whom thefe Epiftles were
written. 2. That although the words of the two
writers differ, the fenfe is the fame in both
¦ — they fland thus :
Peter — " If God fpared not the angels
that finned."
Jude — " The angels which kept not
their firft eftate, but left their
own habitations."
Peter — " But eaft them down to hell,
and delivered them into
chains of darknefs, to be
referved unto judgment."
Jude — " He hath referved in everlafting
chains, under darknefs, unto
the judgment of the great
day."
Thofe who are here fpoken of, are faid to
be " angels." — The word angel is derived from

( i9i )
from the Greek uyysXXu, to bring news, and
is indifcriminately applied to any one who
is made a meffenger*, or agent employed to
obtain information. Taking the word angel
in this fenfe of it, and confidering that the
event here fpoken of was an example of
God's indignation againft evil doers, and
propofed as. fuch, to deter others from fimi-
lar offences, it will be neceffary that this
event fhould have been well known to the
perfons addreffed, in order that it might pro
duce this effect. Let it be obferved, that if
thefe paffages fpeak of fpirits who had fallen
from a ftate of bleffednefs, they would be
then the only exifting witneffes that fuch an
event had ever taken place ; and of courfe, the
apoftles muft be charged as trifling reafoners,
for producing an event as an example, when
the proof of the event relied upon the ad
monition itfelf. But this was not the cafe
here; and that the apoftles fpake of a well-
known event, we need only obferve, that they
* The unlearned reader fhould be informed, that this
is not the only place in the New Teftament, where this
word is ufed in the fenfe of a meffenger. — The fame
word AyyitB; is tranflated meffenger, Matt. xi. io.
Mark,, i. 2._ Luke, vii. 24, 27. and Luke, ix. 32. da

( *.9» )
do not firft ftate the event and then reaibrt
from it, but they interweave the event with
the admonition, in fuch a way, as is never
done, but when the propofed example or
warning, is founded on a perfect knowledge
of the event, in thofe who are admonifhed.
Nothing is clearer, than that the fcrip*
tures, except in thofe two paffages, do not
teach us that tlie angels rebelled againft God,
and being expelled from heaven, became de*
vils : we are therefore driven to the neceffity of
looking out for fome other fenfe of the word
" angels" in thefe places, than that ufually an
nexed to it, and for fome event which may
be rationally propofed as an example :— And
I cannot bring to mind any inftance fo pro
bable, as that of the fpies, who were fent by
Mofes to view .the land of Canaan, and who
were defiroyed for difcouraging the Ifraelites,
by the falfe account they gave of it.
This part of the Sacred Hiftory in
forms us, Numb. xiii. 2, 3, &c. that the
Lord commanded Mofes to fend men, that
they might fearch the land of Canaan, which
he gave unto the children of Ifrael— That
thefe meffengers (or angels) were to be the
rulers of the tribes ; of every tribe, one —
That

t *93 )
That thefe heads or chiefs of the children of
Ifrael were accordingly difpatched from the
wildernefs of Paran, with "directions to ex
amine the nature of the land, the nature and
ftrength of their cities, and to bring of the
fruits of the land.— That they brought a part
of the fruits of the land with them, but
gave fuch untrue accounts of the fize and
ftrength of the people, as greatly difcou-
raged the Ifraelites ; and for the falfe account
they had made; they died of the plague be
fore the Lord.
" They left theil own habitation," fays
the apoftle. — The word habitation (Greek,
clxyTyipiov, from ofxs", a houfe) here means,
I fhould fuppofe, the land which God had
promifed to them. — The land of Canaan
was promifed to the Ifraelites Under the cha
racters of an inheritance, a poffeffion, a habita
tion or dwelling.— Thus, " I have faid unto
you, ye fhall inherit their land, and I will
give it unto you to poffefs it, a land that
fioweth with milk and honey," Lev. xx.
£4. — " This land fhall be your poffeffion"
Nurnb. xxxii. 22. — " Unto thefe the land
fhall be divided for an inheritance — accord-
C c ing

( m i
"ing to the lot thereof fhall the poffeffion
^thereof be divided," Numb. xxvi. 53, 56.—
" And the lord fpake unto Mofes, faying,
Speak unto the children of Ifrael, and fay
unto them, When ye" are paffed over Jordan,
.into the land of Canaan; 'then fhall ye dif-
poffefs the inhabitants ofthe land, and dwell
therein, for I have given you the land to
poffefs it. And ye fliall divide the lan'd by lot,
for an inheritance among your families, &c."
Numb, xxxiii. 52. &c. — " For ye fhall pafs
over Jordan, to go in to poffefs the land,
which the Lord your God giveth you, and
ye fhall poffefs it, and dwell therein," Deut.
xi. 31.; fo Deut. xvii. 14. — " Speak unto
the children of Ifrael, and fay unto them,
When ye come into the land of your HA
BITATION*, which I give unto you,"
Numb. xv. 2.
In thefe paffages we are furnifhed with a
a clear and explicit illuftration ofthe apoftle's
meaning, when he fays, that thefe meffengers
* The very word ufed by the apoftle according to the
Englifh tranflation. — The Greek word ufed by the
apoflle, and that ufed by the LXX. are both derived
from the fame origin, olxoc. " left

( m )
" left their own habitations" — they were
promifed the poffeffion of the land flowing"
with milk and honey: they were fent to
view it: they returned with a report that
fhewed their averfion to it : they difcouraged
the Ifraelites from" proceeding on ^heir jour-.
ney: " We are not able" (faid they) " to
go up againft the people," Numb. xiii. 31.
Thus they " brought up an evil report upon
the land," ver. 32. ; and thus voluntarily, left
their proper habitation, to \%ov olxYiTvtpiov.—
therefore Jehovah is reprefented faying,
" Doubtlefs ye jhall not come into the land
concerning which I fware to make you dwell
therein: but yOur little ones fhall know the
land which ye have defpifed. But as for you,
your carcafes fhall fall in the wildernefs,"
Numb. xiv. 30, 31, 32.
It appears highly probable, that thefe mef-
fengers or angels, are the angels of whom the
apoftles fpeak : for, 1 ft, This was reprefented
by them as an example, the hiftory of which
was familiar to thepeopleto whom they were
writing — it was well known to all who were
acquainted with the hiftory of the Bible, that
fuch an event as has been related had happen-
Cc 2 ed

( 196 )
ed to the chiefs of the tribes of Ifrael, in the
Wildernefs of Paran.
2. The word angel is completely applica*
ble to them, they were the meftengers of
Mofes, and therefore angels, as fuch meffenT
gers are expreffly denominated by the LXX?
tranflators, Numb. xx. 14,
3. The text in Jude alfo obferves, that
thefe angels " kept not their firft eftate," ttjv
sxvtuv xpx^v, their principality — this is a phrafe
exactly fuited to the cafe of thefe meffengers
or fpies : they were the heads of tribes :
" of every tribe," (fays the facred hiftory,
Numb. xiii. 2.) *' fliall ye fend a4 man,
every one a ruler* among you." . \itxvtx
apxyyv? '*% otaruv, LXX.] So ver. 3. " AU thofe
men'1 were HEADS [dpx^ov," LXX.] of the
children of Ifrael:" here we fee the feventy
tranflators ufe the very word which the
apoftle has employed.
4. They " left their own habitations:''
fo thefe fpies, being chiefs of the tribes, de-
ferted thofe over whom God had placed
them : they obtained no£ the poffeffion der
* See the Greek of Rom. viii. 38. 1 Cor, xy. 24.
Col. ii. 10, 15. alfo Col. i. 18. v figned

( >97 )
figned for them, and through their mifcon-.
duct expofed themfelves to the indignation
pf God.
5. Let it be alfo obferved, that what
Jude more fully calls " not keeping their
firft ftate, and leaving their habitations,"
Peter expreffes in a more fummary way —
" that they had finned*;'' and fo they did,
and fo atrocioufly too, as to bring down upon
them the immediate and fignal judgment of
God. Obferve how applicable this firft exam
ple is to the apoftle's purpofe — " There
were," he fays, ver. 1. " falfe prophets
alfo among the people (that is, of old time),
even as there fhall be falfe teachers among
yeu, who privily [or covertly] fhall bring in
damnable [or deftructive] herefies, even deny-
* See alfo, Heb. iii. 17. a verfe very fimilar in its
formation to thofe we are confidering; and which
alludes to the fame circumftance of the difobedience
and deftruflion of the Ifraelites, — " them that had finned,
whofe carcafes fell in the wildernefs." Peter fays,
they finned : fo fays the Epiftle to the Hebrews.
Peter fays, they were cast down to Tartarus; this
Epiftle fays, their carcafes fell in the wildernefs. A
fimilarity which ought not to be difregarded. ing

( J9* )
ing the Lord that bought them, and bring
upon themfelves fwift deftruction. And
many fliall follow their pernicious ways,
by reafon of whom the way of truth fhall be
evil fpoken of: for if God fpared," &c.
He then introduces his examples of fuch as
have taught the people falfely, and denied
the Lord, who had bought or delivered
them : and firft of all, he" introduces that
which we have been confidering, this is
Peter's method, Jude treats it much in the
fame way, but in fuch different terms as ferve
to eftabl'ifh the conftruction 1 have made :
" I will, therefore," fays he, ver, 5. " put
you in remembrance, though you once knew
this, how that the Lord having faved the
people out of the land of Egypt, after^
wards defiroyed them that believed not,
and the angels which kept not," &c. So
that what Jude calls difbelief, in thofe who
had been faved ; Peter terms a denial of the
Lord who bought them — and Jude intro
ducing the cafe of the Ifraelites, in their
delivery out of Egypt, in exprefs terms,
and connecting that circumftance with the
example in queftion, is a ftrong proof of

( m )
of the juftice of the preceding obferva
tions. It is alfo obfervable, that the 4th verfe
in Peter begins with the rational For,
which fhews, that this verfe has an imme
diate relation to the foregoing words — and
thofe foregoing words fpeak nothing of an
gels, but of falfe prophets, who denied the
Lord that bought them; (that is, that deli
vered them from the Egyptian bondage).
To proceed — Peter fays, " They were
eaft down to hell, and delivered into chains
of darknefs, to be referved unto the judg
ment :" — and Jude fays, " God hath referv
ed them in everlaftinp- chains, under dark
en *
nefs, unto the judgment of the great day." —
Now, whatever is meant here, by being eaft
down to hell (Tartarus), and being deli
vered into chains of darknefs, it is exceed
ingly plain, that the future ftate of the fi
nally impenitent cannot be intended; be
caufe, thefe very perfons are faid to be re
ferved unto JUDGMENT, the judgment
of tke GREAT DAY.— They could not,
therefore, be already in that very ftate, to the
fufferings of which they were then referved.
And this directs us to the hiftory, to fee how far

( 20O )
far this example of divine vengeance will
help us out — and this, I think, is fufficiently
clear, when it declares to us the anger of
the Lord againft the people, who, though
they had feen his glory, and his miracles,
would yet not hearken to his voice : and
his anger, particularly againft thofe meffen-
gers, by means of whom the way of truth
was evil fpoken of. Numb.xiv. 35, &c. " I,
the Lord, have faid, I will furely do it unto
all this evil congregation, that are gathered
together againft me : in this wildernefs they
fliall be confumed, and there they fhall die:
and the men which Mofes fent to fearch the
land, who returned and made all the congre
gation to murmur againft him, by bringing
up a flander upon the land ; even thefe men
that did bring up the evil report upon the
land, died by the plague before the Lord."
Here, then, the account of the hifioriani
juftifies the language of the apoftles, who,
by being eaft down to Tartarus, and being
referved in chains, mean to point out to us,
by an allufion to the Tartarus of the Hea*
thens, this indignation of the Deity, and the
confequent deftruction of the offenders. Again,

( 201 )
; Again, Numb. xiv. 1 1. " The Lord faid
Unto Mofes, How long will it be ere this
people believe me, for all the figns which I
have 'fhe wed among them-1- ver. 32. their
carcafes fhall fall in the wildernefs — ver. 35.
I, the Lord, have faid— in the wildernefs *
fhall they be confumed, and there they Jhall die :
and the men which Mofes fent to fearch the
land, died."
Finally, to fhew that the being referved in
chains of darknefs, does intimate nothing
concerning a prefent ftate of punifhment;
nothing about a prefent pofitive ftate of the
wicked ; but merely, that thofe who are fo
referved, will, in the laft day, be brought
forth to be purtifhed; we may recur once more
to the words in Peter, which we have al
ready quoted, and compare them with the
words which follow them in the 9th verfe,
where the apoftle, ftill following, up his
point, makes this remarkable and conclufive
declaration : " The Lord knoweth how to
deliver the godly out of temptations (trials,
as he did Caleb, Lot, &c.) and to referve
the unjuft unto the day of judgment to be
punished." — See alfo chap. iii. ver. 7.
D d where

( 202 )
where it is faid of the world, that it. i§
" referved unto fire, againft the day of
Judgment." But here an objector will obferve, that it
being faid, " they were eaft down to hell',"-
fhews clearly that .they were before in hea~
ven : and I anfwer, that this is by no
means a fair and fcriptural conclufion. Hell
and heaven, in holy fcripture, often figriify
ftates of great exaltation and degradation :
and, to fall from, heaven, or be eaft down to
hell, fignifies to be eaft down from an ex
alted fituation, or to be, defiroyed : -thus,
in Ifaiah -s prophecy concerning Babylon,
chap. xiv. ver. 12. " How art thou fallen
down from Heaven, O Lucifer, fon of the
morning!" — So ver. 13, 14, 15. " For thou
haft faid in thine heart, I will afeend into
heaven; I will exalt my throne above the
ftars of God' — I will afeend above the heights
of the clouds ; I will be like the Moft High.
Yet thou fhalt .be brought ,down to hell*, to
the fides of the pit."
So Ezekiel, ch. xxxi. 14 — 18, fpeaking of
the deftruction of Affyria and Egypt, the
* VlNltfj Sheol, the Grave. prophet

( 203 )
prophet fays, " They are delivered unto
death, to the nether parts of the earth — I
made the nations to fhake at the found of
his fall, when I eaft him down to Hell-^-
they all went down into Hell with him,
unto them that be flain with the fword."
So, chap, xxxii. 18. fpeaking of Egypt,
the prophet fays, " Son of man, wail for
the multitude of Egypt, and eaft them down,
even her, and the daughters of the famous
nations, unto the nether parts of the earth*
— they fhall fall in the midft of them, that
are flain by the fword," &c.
Thus, alfo, Luke, x. ij. our Lord fays,^
" I beheld Satan, as lightening, fall from
heaven." The evil principle which actuates
the children of difobedience, is here deno*-
jninated Satan, who is fuppofed to have a
kingdom eflablifhed in the hearts of the dif-
obedient — he is therefore called, " The
god. and the ruler of this world;" and his
kingdom " the kingdom of darknefs -f-."—
This dominion our Lord here reprefents aa
* " The nether parts of the earth;" an exact para-
phrafe of VlfcW, tranflated Hill.
f 2 Cor. iv. 4. Eph. iv. 22. Col. i. 13.
D d 2 about

, ( 204 )
about to be defiroyed, through the convex
fion of the Heathens ; by the figurative lan
guage of Satan " falling from heaven;" lan-i
guage well underftood by his hearers. — We
have before feen, that the fall of the king
of Babylon, is fpoken of in fimilar terms — r
Thus,, alfo, of the fall of the colleague, of
Antonius, Cicero fays, " Collegam tuum
de caelo detraxifti ; thou hafi pulled him down
from heaven: and when Pompey was over
thrown, he is faid, " ex aftris decidiffe," to
have fallen from the Jlars. Ep. 1. i . ad At.
ticum, Ep. 20.
But the objector goes on, and obferves,
that if this conftruction of thefe paffages is
juft, the principal argument for the fall of
the angels, and the exiftence of the devil,
are taken away.
I anfwer — If it be admitted, that this
would be a confequence, it does not appear,
that it would tend much to the prejudice of
religion. For,
i. The common opinion concerning the
devil, degrades -exceedingly the character
ef the ever-bleffed God ; by inftituting with
hjm a partner in the adminiftration of the
affair \

( 2°J )
affairs of this world — it furely does no credit
to religion, to believe, that the devil is per
petually counteracting the providence of God,
and fo fharing the dominion of the world
with him : And,
2. The common opinion concerning de
vils, is hurtful to the morals of men ; for
while they can be perfuaded to believe, that
what are really their own corrupt affections,
are diabolic inftigations ; the apparent in
equality of the conteft, will probably incline
them to yield to the fuppofed infernal mon-
fler, an eafy victory. — When, ifthey were
convinced, that their irregular propenfities
are the effect of corrupt principles, which
they themfelves had imbibed, and which
they themfelves might, with care and dili
gence remove; they would, perhaps, be in-
fpired with a ftronger hope of victory, and
the more eafily gain it.
Upon the whole, I think we may fafely
conclude, that there is npthing in the. ufe of
the word Tartarus, which can* in any
view affed the doctrine of utter perdi
tion,

A FUR-

(• 206 )

A FURNACE, or lake of FIRE.

WE will, in the next place, confider
certain other paffages, which, through
the prejudices of education, are too frequent
ly explained fo as to favour the doctrine of
Eternal Torments: — thefe are the paffages*
in which the place of punifhment is defcrib
ed, as a furnace ox lake, burning with fire
and brimfione, where fliall be weeping and
gnafhing of teeth. The- mbft remarkable
paffages wherein thefe cxpreffions are ufed,
are Matt. xiii. 42, 50. and Rev: xxi. 8.
.And here we may obferve, that it is not
improbable, that the phrafe, " A lake burn
ing with fire and brimfione," is an allufion
to the lake Afphaltites, or Dead Sea, which is
a lake

( 207 )
a lake abounding with bitumen, and therefore
: may not improperlybe faid to be a lake of fire
and brimftone, efpecially, as it was originally
occafioned by the overthrow of Sodom, Go-1
m orr ah, and the neighbouring cities*. And
it is very likely, that the " furnace," fpoken
of, is an allufion to the burning fiery fur
nace, into which Shadrach, Mefhach, and
Abednego, were eaft, by the command of
Nebuchadnezzar; or, perhaps, to fome fuch
[ place in the valley of Hinnom, into which the
dead carcafes, and filth of Jerufalem were
eaft to be burned.
The firft paffages wherein we/ find the
expreffions under confideration ufed, are,
Matt. xiii. 42, 50. — In this chapter, Jefus
Chrift is reprefented as relating the parable
of the fower; and having given the true
meaning or intent of the parable, he obferves,
ver. 40, "As therefore the tares are gather*
" ed and burned in the fire; fo fliall it be
" in the end of the world. The Son of Man
4t fhall fend forth his angels, and they fhall
" gather out of his kingdom, all things that
* See Le Clerc on Rev. xix, 20. and his Differtation
On the Subverfion of Sodom. " " offend,

( 208 )
'* offend, and them which do iniquity; ana
" fhall call them into a furnace of fire:
" there fhall be wailing and gnafhing of
*' teeth." — It muft) I think, require more
than common penetration, to perceive the
moft diftant intimation of eternal torment in
thefe words. — But if we attend to the natu
ral meaning of them* we fliall argue, that
this paffage, inftead of teaching that the
wicked fhall be perpetually tormented, makes
it exceedingly clear, that they fliall be burned
up, and fo totally defiroyed.— -The allufion our
Lord makes in thefe words, to the burning
of tares, naturally leads to this, and fhews,
that as tares, which grow among corn, are,
in order to deftroy their vital exiftence, bound
into bundles, ahd eaft into the fire to be
burnt ; even fo the wicked fliall be gathered
together and defiroyed in that conflagration t
which our Saviour here emphatically calls
THE END of the world: " So jhall it
be at the end of the world."
Nor does the declaration, that the wicked
fhall weep, and gnafh their teeth, in this
lake, fhew, that they fhall remain there for
ever : it does not contain the moft remote
hint, that weeping and gnafhing of teeth fliall

( 209 5
Jhall have no end. It does indeed prove,
that the deftruction of the wicked, fhall be
attended with extreme torture- and anguifh,
which it is readily granted, will be the cafe,
and this is all they prove. — It by no.mearts
follows, that there will not be a fpeedy ter
mination of thofe miferies in complete de
ftruction. — " The heavens and the earth, we
are told, are kept in flore, referved unto fire
for; the day of judgment and perdition of
ungodly men," 2 Peter, iii. -j; io. 
" When the elements fhall' melt with fer
vent heat, when the earth alfo, and the works
that are therein, fliall be burnt up." v. io.
As therefore the deftruction of the earth,
and of the ungodly, fliall both take place in
this dreadful conflagration ; it feems clearly
to follow that the earth on fire, fhall be that
furnace of fire — that lake burning with fire
and brimfione, into which the ungodly fhall
be call for their deftruction. I am very
much miftaken if a more fcriptural or ra
tional account, can be {riven of the meaning
and defignation of this paffage.
The paffage, Rev. xxi. 8. is no lefs remark
able: " But the fearful and unbelieving, and
the abominable, and murderers, and whore-
E e mongers,

( 210 )
mongers, and forcerers, and idolaters, fhall
have their part in the lake which burneth with
fire and brimfione, which is the fecond death*
— And is fo far from proving any thing againft
the doctrine I contend for, that it ftrongly cor
roborates the evidence I have adduced, and
fhews as plainly as words can do, that the
wicked fhall not remain for ever alive in the
lake of fire and brimfione, but fliall be utterly
defiroyed in it. — Shall fuffer a total extinction
of vitality in the second death. — This
being among the Jews a proverbial expreff
fion, indicating utter and irreparable perdU
tion.

The

( 211 )

•±*z

The Parable of Dives and Lazarus.

THIS parable is well known, and is con
fidered as an invincible proof, that
there is now a hell exifting, for the punifh
ment ofthe wicked : how far a candid enquiry
into the matter, may lead us to a conftruction
of it, more favourable to our ideas ofthe be
nevolent Deity, I will not fay. I have no-
doubt but that fuch an enquiry will open to
us, matter worthy of obfervation.
There are two interpretations of this pa
rable, which I fhall take notice of; one of
them confiders this as a relation of matters?
Ee z ef

( 2J2 )
of fact, which had really happened; and
that the intent of our Lord, was to arm
men again ft luxury and uncharitablenefs, by
expofing the danger to which fuch practices
fubjected them. And thefe contend that
by Abraham's bofom, is meant the joys of
heaven; and that by hell, is intended the re
ceptacle' of the -damned, where .Dives was
then fuffering.
And the others confider, that by the rich
man is meant, the Jewifh nation, and by the
beggar the Gentiles ; that by the beggar be
ing taken into Abraham's bofom, was meant
the Gentiles being engrafted into the church
of. God: and, by the. rich man dying, the
ceafing ofthe Jewifh. difpenfation.
In confidering this parable, the firft obfer-
vation that occurs is this; that whatever there
mayjbe in it to prove the certainty ; either of
prefent or future mifery to the wicked;
there is not a fyllable init to prove any thing
concerning the duration of that mifery. —
And therefore, fhould it be proved, that it is a
true*reprefentation of facts which had exifted,
or which hereafter fliall exift, there is nothing •
in it to prove, that the wicked fhall be tor
mented

( 2*3" )
mented for ever, which is the only point in
queftion. — So that if we give to the advocates
for the common opinion, the whole they aik
for, and admit that the flory itfelf is true, as
well as the application of it inflructive ; even
then it will not prove that the wicked fhall
fuffer in the world to come, a torment with
out intermiflfion or end; becaufe no uninter-
mitting or endlefs duration of fufferings is
fpoken of.
Or in other words, if we admit that the
words of the parable are an allufion to the pu
nifhment of fin in the future world, it will not
neceffarily follow, that this punifhment is not
to be confummated in DESTRUCTION : be
caufe whatever the parable fays of the inflic
tion of actual torment, it does not ftate that
it fhall not end in deftruction.
But that the parable will do but little
fervice to the common caufe, is evident, from
thefe two confiderations — >Firft, That it can
not relate to any prefent ftate of punifhment ;
that is, to any punifhment previous to the ge
neral refurrection and judgment. — And fe-
condly, That it does not defcribe any punifh
ment of the wicked after the day ef Judg ment.

( 2i4 )
ment.— The firft of thefe points is thus made
manifeft: viz. that till the refurrection and
final judgment, the body is univerfally ac
knowledged to be in a ftate of diffolution, or
death— and it is fuppofed, that the immate
rial fpirit or foul only, is at prefent in a ftate
of punifhment : whereas this parable fpeaks
of the punifhment of a body only. In hell
Dives lifted up his EYES — and wanted his
TONGUE to be cooled— he there exercifed
the organs of fpeech — there is not the moft
diftant intimation of any punifhment of a
foul — it only fpeaks of the very Dives that
was buried — " and he," it ft faid, " lifted up
his eyes," and called for water " to cool his
tongue." — This, then, if it be a true ftory , can
not be a ftory of any event previous to the
general refurrection — but of an event fubfe-
quent to the general refurrection and judg
ment; becaufe till the refurrection the body
is not raifed, till after the refurrection the
body does not receive its punifhment. — And
unfortunately for the common opinion,
which is the fecond point, it cannot either be
the hiftory of an event fuhfequent to the
general refurrection, for this plain reafon, that

( 2T5 )
that the general refurrection and final judg
ment, will not take place till the end of all
things in this world is accomplifhed; till the
day of probation is ended; till that awful pe-.
riod fhall arrive, when every man's ftate fhall
become certain and unalterable — and yet this
ftory makes Dives declare that his fathers
houfe was then in being; that he had five
brethren ftill in a ftate of probation : and he
prays Abraham to fend Lazarus to teftify un
to them, left they alfo fhould come into that
place of torment. If therefore the actors of
the fable, and the place where it was acted,
were real, the tranfactions here recorded,
muft have taken place while ' men were yet
upon the earth.
Thus we fee, that if the paffage be under
ftood literally, it becomes impoflible upon the
face of it, that if could have been acted before
the day^of Judgment — and equally impoflible
that if can be acted after it. — And this re
duces us to the neceffity of denying that it was
a relation of facts : and of confidering it as an
allegorical tale* formed by our Lord, for the
* This obfervation is ftrongly confirmed by this fact,
that in many MSS. both Greek and Latin, there are
thefe

(¦ 216 )
purpofe of conveying to the minds of his
auditors, fome important truth of which
they were yet unacquainted : and the cafe of
Dives and Lazarus as the machinery of it,
the drefs and ornament of the orator: an
allufion probably to the Grecian fables of
Elyfium and Tartarus, with which the, Jews
were well acquainted *.
And this leaves for our confederation, the
fcope or defign of the parable, and the nature
ofthe inftruction intended to be conveyed:
which muft be either, that the wicked enjoy
the good things in this life, and the righteous
thofe ofthe next ; or, which in my opinion is
far more probable, to depicture by Dives in
Hades, the deftruction of the Jewifh Temple
thefe words to the beginning of the ftory, v. 19. " He
fpake to them andcher parabje" EinE & mi lH-fa.ii wafa£o*.i).
It may be an allufion to a parable in the Gemara Ba-
bylonicum, and whieh is recited by R. Sheringham, in
the preface to his Joma. Dr. Hammond is of this
opinion, but Le Clerc, with fome reafon, doubts it.
* According to thefe ftories, the fouls of the good.
were immediately after their deaths admitted into the
Elyfian Fields, and the wicked were cafl headlong by the
furies into Tartarus to be punifhed, and

( 21? )
and polity, and the confequent mifery of the
Jewifh nation * ; and by Lazarus in Abra
ham's bofom, the glorious event of the call
ing ofthe Gentiles -f. It may be thus under
ftood or paraphrafed.
" *Jtie JEWS were the peculiar people of
God — to them belonged the adoption; and
the glory; and the covenants; and the giving
of the law ; and the fervice of God ; and the
promifes; this is the rich man: — The Gen
tiles or Heathen Nations; were aliens
from the commonwealth of Ifrael, ftrangers
from the covenants of promife, having no
hope, and without God in the world — this is
poor and. wretched Lazarus.— 'Thefe Gentiles
through Jefus Chrift, became dead to the tref-
paffes and fins, wherein in time paft they walked
according to the courfe of this world, and
were engrafted into the Church of God, and
became poffeffed of the faith of Abraham,
the father oi the faithful, — this was the death
of Lazarus and his reception into Abraham's
bofom.— In the mean while, the Jews became
* See the awful defcription, Mat. chap. xxiv. Mark
chap. xiii. Luke chap. xxi.
-j* See thefe- facis difplayed, Eph. chap. ii. chap. iii.
F f the

( 218 )
the moft abandoned and miferable of all hu
man beings ; their polity was exterminated ;
their temple defiroyed ; Jerufalem was plun
dered ; and the wretched inhabitants who fur-
vived the fury of famine, fire, and fword*,
became the outcafts of the creation, dif
perfed into all nations of the earth — this
was the death of Dives, and his torment in
Hades. — In the midft of their diftrefs they
cried out for help, but in vain, no help could
be afforded them : they had rejected the Mef
fiah ; they had treated the kindnefs of God
with contempt; they could not enter intp
his reft becaufe of their unbelief."
The mifery of the Jews is ftrongly depic
tured by our Lord, in his prophecy of this
event. — " In thefe days," fays he, " there
fhall be great tribulation and wrath upon the
people, fuch as was not from the beginning of
the creation, which God created, unto this
time, no nor ever fhall be. And they fhall
fall by the edge of the fword : and fhall be
* The number of thofe who perifhed in the fiege alone,'
is computed at eleven hundred thoufand. Jofephus was
of opinion that their, calamities exceeded thofe of all
other nations, from the Creation of the world. carried

C 219 )
carried captive into all nations : and Jerufalem
fhall be trodden down by the Gentiles, until
the times of the Gentiles fhall be fulfilled."
That part of the parable wherein requeft is
faid to be made in favour of the brethren of
Dives, and the anfwer given to it, is intro
duced, in order to depi&ure the unbelief of
the Jews, and to fhew that their unbelief and
difobedience, were the caufe of their re
jection. The method our Lord purfued in this
parable, to reprefent the deftruction of the
Jewifh nation, was not altogether new —
There are other inftances in fcripture, where
the demolition of kingdoms is defigned, by
the emblem of dead men, and thofe dead
men figuratively reprefented as ailing and
fpeaking — A firming inftance of this kind
occurs, Ifa. xiv. 3, &c. in the prophecy
of the deftruction of Babylon, where, like
jthe parable before us, the king of Babylon
is reprefented as fallen from a great ftate of
glory to a ftate of-deftrudtion.
" It fhall come to pafs in the day that
the Lord fliall give thee reft from thy
forrow, and from thy fear, and from the
F f 2 hard

( 220 )
hard bondage wherein thou waft made to
ferve, that thou fhalt take up this proverb
againft the king of Babylon, and fay, How
hath the oppreffo ceafed! the golden city
Ceafed ! The Lord hath broken the ftaff of
the wicked, and thefceptre of the rulers, &c
Hell from beneath, is moved for thee, to meet
thee at thy coming: it ftirreth up the dead
for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth;
it hath raifed up from their thrones all the
kings of the nations. ALL THEY SHALL
SPEA£ AND SAY UNTO THEE, Art
thou alfo become weak as we? Art thou be
come like unto us? Thy pomp is brought
dpwn to the grave," &c, &c. So Ezek,
xxii. 21 — 31.
From thefe obfervations it appears, more
than probable, that the parable of Dives and
¦Lazarus, was a figurative reprefentation of
the (deftruction of the Jewifh polity, and
the fuccefs of the gofpel among the Gentiles,

OTHER

( 221 )

OTHER OBJECTIONS ANSWERED,

I SHALL now proceed to confider the moft
obvious and common objections againft the
doctrine contended for in the foregoing pages,
which do not immediately arife out of the
words of Holy Scripture ; and here in gene-?
ral it may be remarked, that all the fuppofed
proofs which I have hitherto feen, which are
intended to fhew the eternity of Hell Tor
ments, are of the moft infubftantial nature j
and inftead of being drawn from facts, and
the true relation of things to each other, are
generally the fruit of fancy and arbitrary
prefumption. That which has flood foremoft on the lift
pf objections, againft the opinions I have
endeavoured

( 222 )
endeavoured to maintain is this, " That every
offence is magnified and enhanced by the
dignity of the perfon againft whom it is
committed — That God being an Infinite Be
ing, and fin an injury and affront to him, an
infinite punifhment muft be due to it."
This is the obfervation which has the
greateft fhew of argument in it : and if it
fliall appear, that this is infufficient and nu
gatory, we fhall find little difficulty in an*
fwering all fuch other objections as fhall fall
in our way.
And firft, in order to make it fo appeay,
I would obferve, that man is incapable of fuf.
fering. infinite punifhment. The word in-i
finite, when applied to God, whereby we call
him an Infinite Being, fignifies, that his perT
fedlions are unbounded and unlimited ; and
in order to preferve the analogy, we muft
adopt the fame fenfe of the word, when it
is applied to the nature of man's crime, and
of his punifhment— But to fay, that every
crime which is committed, is in its. nature
without bounds or limits, is a little incongru
ous, when it is faid of a being whofe nature
and operations are fo circumfcribed as man's are.

( 223 )
are. — And to fay that the punifhment, (fup-
pofing the objection to be founded in fact)
which fhall be inflidted, has in its nature no
bounds or limits, is faying more than the
objector would wifh : and does but ill fuit
with what is always intended by the word
infinite, when applied to the punifhment of,
impenitent finners; for there it is ufed to
fignify, not that which is boundlefs in refpect
of its nature: but that which is endlefs in
point of its exiftence and duration.
And this method of reafoning from the
crime to the punifhment, although it will
carry the objection too far, is fair and pro
per: and it will follow, that if fin becomes
infinite, becaufe of the infinite object againft
whom it is committed : fo the leaft punifh
ment inflicted by God, muft be infinite be~
caufe of its author.
Again ; it will alfo follow, that all fins,
as well as all punifhments are equal ; for if
crimes are enlarged by the -dignity of the ob
ject, then the evil and demerit of all fins,
muft be equal, becaufe none is lefs, none can
be greater than infinite ; or, in other words,
as there are no degrees in infinity, it will
follow

( 224 )
follow that one fingle offence, and that the
leaft a man can commit, will be as great
an offence, have as great demerit, and will
deferve as great a punifhment, as the aggre
gate fum of the moft atrocious acts, of the
moft abandoned offender. — And if this be
the cafe, what foundation* is there left for
degrees of punifhment in the future world,
which thefe fame people contend for ? Does
not this fort of reafoning place all crimes
and all punifhments upon a footing, and de
ftroy the probability of a retribution propor
tioned to what might in other refpects be
confidered as different degrees of guilt ?
The objection in fact ftands thus : — " God
in his nature and perfections is unbounded
and unlimited, offences againft him are there
fore in their nature unbounded and unlimited ;
confequently the punifhments muft be fo : but
by this we do not mean exactly what we fay ;
for, although we contend that the object of
fended being infinite, offences againft him muft
be infinite alfo; yet we do not mean infinite
in the fame fenfe of the word — The object is
infinite becaufe there are no bounds to his per
fections, but the punifhment is infinite be
caufe there is no period to its duration". The

( 225 )
The objection is founded upon the necef-
fity there is, that fin fhould be fuitably pu-
nifhed; but if fuch a neceflity does exift, I
contend that this is not the way to accom-
plifh it ; — for if man is capable of committing
an act, which is in its nature infinite, he
muft be equally capable of fuffering a pu
nifhment which in its nature is infinite, that
is unlimited and unbounded. — But the moft
rigid defenders of the pofition, I have been
confidering, have never contended, that the
punifhment finite man fhall fuffer, is in its
nature infinite: and if it be true that it
is not fo, it will follow that crimes commit
ted againft God, are not in their nature
infinite. Abftract juftice, may perhaps require, that
a due and equivalent punifhment fhould be
inflicted on delinquents. The fins of men
are tranfient, temporary acts, to which tor
ture and anguifh without end, do not appear
to bear a due proportion. — We muft there
fore appeal to the facred fcriptures, where we
fhall find a clear and appofite teftimony on
this head. — We are there affured, that " the
wages of Sin is DEATH." Gg Let

( 226 )
¦ Let it alfo be obferved, that when we fpeak
of offences being increafed in proportion to the
dignity of the perfon offended, we underftand
by the perfon offended; not, he who is the le-
giflator, but he who receives the immediate in
jury : but in this refpect the defenders of the
common opinion, are apt to introduce a little
legerdemain; for when, as I juft now obferv
ed, they fpeak in general terms of offences
being increafed in their demerit by the dig
nity of the perfon offended, they fpeak
of the, perfon who receives the immediate
injury, '-one who is a member of the fame
fociety, who has the fame laws for his pro
tection and defence ; but when they make a
reference to the cafe of God and his crea
tures, the point is altered, or at leaft will not
help them out ; for the character in which
God ftands as Legislator, and not as the
perfon actually injured, is fo widely different
from the other, that it makes it quite ano
ther, and a new confideration : there being
no analogy between them. — Again, although
it may be true, that , it would be a greater
offence, by the laws of civil fociety, if I
were to affault a perfon of great digniiy^than if

( 227 )
if I were to do fo, to one of ho relative im
portance; yet it will not thence follow, that
an offence is magnified to infinity, which is
committed againft Gpd, becaufe God is in
finite : feeing that in one of thefe cafes we
muft argue from the laws of fociety, and in
the other from what may be called the laws
of nature, which will again deftroy the ana
logy. By the laws of nature, to abufe the
perfon of a peer is no greater offence, that I
know of, than to abufe a commoner: the
laws of civil fociety only, have made the
difference : but when we fpeak of offences
againft God, we have no laws of civil fociety
to afcertain the quantum of the offence, and
of courfe the reafonmg from one of thefe
cafes to the other, is altogether deceptive and
fallacious. Finally ; If an eternal punifhment muft
at all events be had, the fcripture fupplies
one — Such a punifhment* is to be found in
the doctrine of utter perdition. — A punifh
ment which terminates in the total deftruc
tion of offenders, and from which deftruction
he can never be reftored, is therefore, be
yond all difpute, an everlafiing punifhment.
G g 2 —If

( 228 )
—If the finner is never to be reftored to life,
he will never be delivered from the punifh
ment, and if he be never delivered from the
punifhmeht, the punifhment is eternal.—
Or in other words, punifhment in its true
fenfe, means the execution of a fentence of
law, be that fentence what it may, whether-
the fuffering a miferable exiftence, or the to
tal lofs of exiftence: fo long therefore as the
delinquent remains under the execution of
that fentence, and undelivered from it, fo
long he remains in a ftate of punifhment s
and if he never be delivered from.it, his pu^i
nifhment will be eternal.
But it will be faid, that it is neceffary that
it fhould be otherwife, in order that God
may fecure the honour of his law, and fully
exprefs his indignation againft fin: to which
I anfwer, that many wife and learned men
have denied that there is any proportion be
tween tranfient and temporary acts and eter
nal torments. — If a man injures, or inter
rupts the happinefs of others, it is juft that
he fhould fuffer an equivalent pain : if a
a man abufes himfelf in unlawful pleafures;,
lie fhould fuftain a proportionable an-

( 229 )
guifh. The infliction of mifery is God's
ftrange work, he deals it out in fuch fort on
ly, as is neceflary to fecure the honour of
his laws, and to prevent the malignant evil
of fin. *— It muft, however, be an unfuitable
method to obtain thefe ends, where- the mi-
ferable culprit is for ever offending. It furely
is unbefitting infinite wifdom and fupreme
goodnefs, to keep rebels alive for ever in re
bellion, in order to fecure the honour of brok
en laws, and to flem the evil of difobedience.
Admit that God hates fin infinitely, and that
this infinite hatred is fuitable to be expreffed
by him ; then it cannot be more effectually
expreffed, he cannot fhew his infinite detef-
tation in any way fo fuitably, as by putting
an end to fo hateful a thing, and by exter
minating the hated fubject of it. — The ends
of a good government would furely be better
obtained, by taking from the finner that pro
tection which he has wilfully and rebellioufly
forfeited his claim to, than by continuing him
in a ftate of perpetual rebellion : Let thofe who
think otherwife, fhew that the utter deftruc
tion of the finner is not an expreffion of in
finite hatred : that it is by all means necef fary,

( 230 .)
fary, in order to exprefs it, that the hated
object fhould be preferved ui eternal anguifli:
that this is moft fuitable to wifdom and to
goodnefs : that it keeps the Deity clear from
the imputations of cruelty and revenge: and
that it exactly fuits his character, who is the
fountain of wifdom and goodnefs.
I fliall conclude this argument by ob-
ferving, that fome of the moft zealous advo
cates for eternal torments, have found them
felves difpleafed with the argument or
objection lam confidering: — I fhall inftance
Archbifhop Tillotfon, and Sir William Dawes,
afterwards Archbifhop of York.
Dr. Tillotfon got at once rid of all arsni-
ments from reafon, by obferving that "thepro-
portion crimes and punifhments bear towards
each other, is not fo properly a coniideration of
juftice, as the will of the lawgiver, who may
enforce his taws by fuch fanctiohs as he
pleafes, without any impeachment of his
juftice, which is out of the queftion."
Although this method of treating the
matter entirely fets afide the neceffity of
calling in the relation and fitnefs of things,
upon the principles of which, all juft and
proper

( 231 )
proper penal fanctions have been* eflablifhed ;
yet if what he alledges be true — if juftice has
nothing to do with punifhments, but the ar
bitrary will of the law-giver, who may efta-
blifh fuch fanctions and punifhipents as he
pleafes. We have no other method of ar
riving. at a knowledge of the true punifhment
of fin, bat by attending to the revelation the
law-giver has giyen us of his will. .
And Sir William Dawes fays, Serm. iv,
p. 7. "I will freely own that I cannot fee the
force of this argument : nor do I at all appre
hend the neceffity of having a finner's pu-
niihment eternal, becaufe God is fo : nor
was it ever practifed among men, as a pro
per rule and meafure of punifhing, to make
fhe punifhments of offenders of equal dura
tion, as far as they were able, with the lives
or beings of the perfons offended. I readily
grant that, in puniihing offenders, great
regard ought to be had to the dignity of the
perfon offended ; but then, there are other
ways of fhewing this regard than by "thus
lengthening out their punithment ; as by the
intenfenefs and extraordinary height and
acutenefs

( 23a )
Acutenefs of thofe torments, which are
allotted them, for their punifhment, &c."
Again; we are told that "It is utterly
inconceivable to reafon, how the damned
fhall ever get rid of the guilt of their fins,
and if not of the guilt, to be fure not of the
punifhment of them."
The conduct of God towards finners, as
it is reprefented to us in Scripture, abounds
with wifdom, and completely anfwers this
objection — God creates man, publifhes a
law for the rule of his conduct — promifes
eternal Hfe upon obedience, and threatens
death if he fins — Man difobeys, and by his
difobedience, becomes fubject to death —
And in this penal death the finner, and with
him the guilt of his fin, and his power of
finning, are involved in one common de-
firuSiion — And furely in this, there is more
of wifdom and equity ; more of truth and
juftice, than in fupporting the lives of con
demned malefactors, in an eternal and unin
terrupted courfe of guilt and mifery.
Some writers againft the doctrine of final
and irreverfible deftruction have been much
attached

( 233 )
attached to the idea, " that fire will not
-annihilate ;" and have confidered it as an
unanfwerable argument againft that doctrine i
whereas it is in truth no reafon at all againft
it. To annihilate, is to reduce to nothing?
but it is no part ofthe fyftem cfpoufed in thefe
fheets, that the wicked fliall be reduced to
nothing, or be annihilated. It is not pre
tended that the Scriptures.give us a philofo-
phical account of the future deftination of
every atom which compofes the perfons of
condemned finners ; but the Scriptures do
leach us, in very plain terms, that they fhall
die, that they fhall be defiroyed, fhall perijh :
and that without making any diftinction of
matter or fpirit, or any exception of any
.part or (portion of them. Nor is it any
objection, when we are told, " that fire
cannot affect or deftroy an immaterial fpirit,"
for it has never yet appeared what an imma
terial fpirit is, or, in other words, what the
nature and properties pf immateriality are.
And till that be done, it muft be prefumption
and folly to fay, what can or cannot affedt or
, deftroy it.
And as we deny that the future punifh-
H h ment

( 234 )
ment of the wicked, is to confifl in an-adl of
inftantaneous annihilation, there is no' ob
jection to the doctrine I contend for, upon
the prefumption that fuch a punifhment pre^-
cludes all degrees of mifery. The doctrine
contended for, is that the wicked fhall fuffer
death, not by an inftant act of annihilation,
but by a diffolution of component parts.
And there can be no doubt, but that the
mifery and anguifh, which fhall attend that
diffolution, may be varied according to the
different degrees of guilt which fhall ' be
found in different impenitent finners. For
aught we know the fufferings of the moft
malignant finners may be enhanced, and their
lives protracted, beyond the period affigned
to thofe who are lefs atrocious offenders,
It is exprefsly declared in the Scriptures,
that it will be more tolerable for fome fin-t
ners than for others*. r!-

* Matt. x. 15. " It fhall be more tolerable for the
land of Sodom and Gomorah in the day of judgment
than for that city." — It is obfervabje in thefe words;, that .
the punifhment fpoken of which fhall be more or lefs
tolerable, is confined tp the day of judgment.
But

(' 235 )
..* But if we were to admit for the fake of
argument, that finners who are charged with
different degrees of guilt, are in their pu
nifhment involved in one common defiruction,
it will be found to be an objection which
equally applies itfelf to the doctrine com
monly received. For according to that
doctrine, that branch of the punifhment,
which is fo much pleaded for, (and which is
indeed the object of contention, which is re
prefented as that which does moft augment
the torments of damnation, and as the very
fling of hell*,) that is, the eternity of it,
is the fame to all ; finners of all degrees are
devoted to one common ruin, are ALL
devoted to the fame eternity of mifery.
And if the penal mifery of finners, fhall
begin and end at the fame inftant, there cer
tainly is as great an opportunity in that cafe,
for the fupreme Judge, in the intermediate
fpace, between the commencement and con-
fummation of that mifery, to exprefs his
* Ray on the Diffolution, p. 237. See alfo Tormenting
Tophet, p. 72. " This is that that breaketh the hearts
ofthe damned : no torments in hell comparable to this
oi perpetuity,"
H h 2 indignation

( 236 )
indignation againft moral evil, as there is
upon the fcheme of their all fuffering eter
nally. We may go further and obferve, thati im
penitent finners chargeable with different
degrees of guilt, being by the common
opinion devoted to one common fate,
all being to fuffer eternally, it will
follow that the rectitude of the Divine moral
government is capable of being beft difplayed
upon the plan I have contended for; for ac
cording to that plan, finners in proportion to
the various degrees* of their offences, may not
only be punifhed with more or lefs feverity
While they dpfexift; buttheir punifhmentsmay
be protracted or fhortened according to the
differentdegrees of their guilt, which is a thing
impoflible to be done upon the fcheme, which
condemns them ; to one common ruin.

REVIEW,

( m y

R E V I E W.

THE novelty of the doctrine contended
for in thefe fheets; to fome of my
readers, as to the future deflinationi of, the
wicked, will, no doubt, excite their cunofity,
and probably their invefligation. This con-
fideration induced the author to turn in his
mind what method would be moft effectual
to fhew the fallacy of the doctrine he has
contended for. — To anfwer this enquiry the
mind is carried bade to the general language
of the. Scriptures upon this point ; and to the
abundance of evidence which' has been pro*
duced. In

(' 238 )
In reviewing that evidence, we fee, that
the future ftate of the obedient is termed
LIFE, IMMORTALITY, ETERNAL LIFE,
being ever with the Lord, abiding for
ever, — as that which is unperishable,
INCORRUPTIBLE, and PASSETH NOT
away — as an undying ftate, a ftate in
which "there fhall be n6; more death —
as a ftate in which death or mortality
is swallowed up in victory — as a
saving, preserving, or keeping of
life — as a ftate in which death shall
NOT BE SEEN FOR EVER  as an ETERNAL
boiife — an eternal inheritance — that fa
deth not away.
o We alfo find, that the future ftate of the
difobedient is termed death, .the second
DEATH  DESTRUCTION  PERDITION' 
corruption — as a ftate in which they fhall
not have life — in which they fhall not
see life — in which they fhall fuffer a
LOSS OF LIFE. ihmh
t In order therefore to fhew, that the
wicked fhall be for ever in a ftate of real
torment, it muft be fhewn, that thefe terms
which the divine writers ufe concerning the
future

( 239 )
future ftate of the obedient, and which are
altogether fo exactly f uited to the defcriptionS
of eternal exiftence, and nothing elfe ; do not
mean, or at leaft were not intended toi con
vey' to us the facl, they fhall really live
for ever. — Thus for inftance, where it is
flid^ John vi. 51. that if any man eat of
this bread he fhall live for ever, it muft be
fhewn, in order to make it appear that this 'is
not the exclufive -prerogative ofthe obedient,
that it does not mean that they fliall poffefs
eternal life, or active exiftence: and that
when the deftruction, perdition, or corrup
tion bf the wicked is fpoken of, thefe words
do not mean what we ufually underftand by
them: and of courfe that when they are
applied to the perfons of the wicked, they
do not mean that they fhall be defiroyed. be
corrupted, or perifh. And not this only, but
it muft be fhewn, that it is abfurd to fix fuch
a meaning to the words, as they in all other cafes
exprefs ; or that it is corrupting or ftraining
them, fo to underftand them. And when this
is done, it muft be fhewn, what (according to
the orthodox fyftem) /« the meaning of thefe
ivords: that that ts the only true meaning, or at
leaft

( 240 )
leaft the moft natural meaning; and of
courfe, that it would be abfurd to underftand
them in. any other way.
It will ^perhaps be alledged (for men to
ferve their interefts, or a fyftem, will alledge
almoft any thing), that as it appears by other
paffages, the wicked fliall live for ever,
we ,muft neceffarily underftand fuch paffages
as fpeak of the future eternal life of the obe
dient, or the future lofs of life to the wicked,
as meaning fomething lefs than eternal ,ex->
ifience in the one cafe, and the lofs of it in
the other : — but, then it muft be remembered,
that as the evidence for the eternal exiftence
of the obedient, and the perdition of the
wicked, is not only ample, but clear and
diverfified to the utmoft extent of language ;
the evidence that the wicked fhall live for
ever, muft be equally ample, clear, and
diverfified effectually to countervail it.
And great care muft be taken, that we do
not invalidate the evidence that the obedient
fhall live for ever ; for if the lofs of life
when fpoken of impenitent finners, means not
that they fhall utterly perifh ; then it muft be
clear, that the poffeffion of eternal life, when
predicated

( 241 )
predicated of the^obedient, cannot be under
ftood to mean an eternal vital exiftence : and
that for this plain reafon, viz. that thefe two
ftates, whatever is meant by them, are op
pofed to each other : and this treatment of
the fubject, would lead us to a moft awful
dilemma, it would lead us to determine that
the Scriptures do no where prove, that the
righteous fliall enjoy everlafting exiftence.
This obfervation fhews the neceffity of
another point being clearly eflablifhed, in
order to fupport the common opinion, and
overturn the one here contended for:-—
and that is, it fhould be fhewn, that admit
ting the doctrine here contended for to be
true, the terms our Lord and his difciples
have ufed, to defcribe a total lofs of exiftence
to the impenitent, are not the beft or moft
unexceptionable terms, which might have
' been ufed for that purpofe : and then it will
become neceffary to point out, what terms
ought to have been ufed, or could have been
ufed, to fhew, in a more clear and unexcep
tionable way, that the future ftate of the
wicked, fhall be a ftate of non-exiftence. — >
I i And

( 242 )
And here we may fafely queftion, what
ftronger terms could have been ufed, than that
they shall die, that they fhall utterly
perish, that they fhall be fubject to cor
ruption, they fhall be destroyed, they
fliall not have life, they fliall not see
life, they 'fhall lose their lives ?—
Or in other words, if the wicked are to be
cut off from the creation, and the righteous
to live for ever, what terms or phrafes can
be Chofen,, which will better defcribe thofe
oppofite ftates, than thofe which are ufed,
" The wages of fin is death, but the gift
of God is eternal lifjs." — " Broad is the
wav that leadeth to destruction, but
narrow is the way which leadeth to life."
—"he that findeth his life fhall lose
it, but he that lofeth his life for my fake
fhall find it" — " to the one a favour
unto life — to the other a favour unto
death" — " one lawgiver able to save
and to destroy" — " to them an evident
token of perdition, but to us of sal-
vat i on" — " draw back to perdition,
but believe to the saving of the life" —
" he

( 243 )
"he fhall receive the crown of life— •
fin when it isfinifhed bringeth forth death,
&c?" It is acknowledged on all hands, that
death is the privation of fomething — as
future happinefs, the joys of heaven, the
glorious prefence of God : — but neither of
thefe can be the meaning of the word death,
as predicated of impenitent finners in the
Gofpel, inafmuch as no one can be deprived
of or expelled from that which he hath ever
poffeffed. Death prefuppofes life, and is
the privation of it : if death means an expul-
fion from future happinefs and the joys of
heaven, life muft mean the poffeffion of that
happinefs and thofe joys, and then a death
which confifts of that expulfion, muft be
founded on the previous poffeffion : from
which it will follow, that no one can fuffer
a fpiritual death, who has not before enjoyed
a fpiritual life, and fo a man cannot fuffer
death in an expulfion from the joys of hea
ven, who has not poffeffed thofe joys.
How clearly the Scriptures refute the opi
nion, that -death when predicated of the
wicked always means a fpiritual death, has
I i 2 been

(244 )
been already taken notice of: and we may
here repeat, that whenever death is in the
Scriptures ufed in an improper fenfe, certain
terms are added to it, to difcover the fenfe
in which it is ufed, and to prevent its being
mifunderftood — thus, deadinfin — dead to the
law,~dead tcbilft fhe liveth — thou livefi and
art dead, — whichclearly fhevvs, that the Scrip
tures do not ufe the terms death and life in an
improper or figurative [fenfe, without an
nexing fuch other terms to them, as ferve to
prevent their mifconftruction. And that life
and death are not of themfelves ufed to fig-
nify the poffeffion of good and the fuffering
of evil, fee a very remarkable paffage, Deut.
xix. 15,20. "I have fet before thee this
day, life and good, death and evil,"
where it is clear, that the good and evil
things of life, are in the Scripture diftin-
guifhed from life itfelf: whence we may
conclude that the terms by which they
are each defigned fhould not be confounded
without the moft preffing neceffity. And
thefe obfervations it is conceived will tend
to fhew, how weak and unfounded that
objection againft the utter perdition of the
wicked

( 245 )
wicked >s, which depends upon the dogma
fo conftantly obtruded into the place of
re. r">n and argument, " that eternal life is
the enjoyment of coeleftial happinefs, and
death the fuffering of infernal mifery.''
Thus, gentle Reader, I have endeavoured
to overturn a pofition, difhonourable in the
extreme degree to the ineffable holinefs and
benevolence of God — A pofition as much op
pofed to his wifdom and goodnefs, as the
higheft perfection of malice could fuggeft : —
And have endeavoured to fupport a doctrine
as honourable to the divine character, and as
confiftent with our ideas of the Divine wif
dom, as it is poffible to conceive ; for here
the Almighty is pleafed in his infinite wifdom
to take that away, in a courfe of punifh
ment, which he as the original donor, might
have taken away, without any one daring to
fay — Why haft thou done thus ?

OBSER-

t 246 )

OBSERVATIONS

UPON THE

DOCTRINE

OF

UNIVERSAL REDEMPTION.

THUS far the ground feems fairly and
completely cleared, and the future
ftate, both of the righteous and the wicked,
is opened to our view. It appears that the
doctrine of utter deftruction to the wicked,
is fo demonftrably the doctrine of Scripture
and of reafon, that it is truly wonderful the
Chriftian World could have been folong with
out the poffeffion of this almoft felf-evident
truth. It is unaccountable upon any other
principles, than the fovereign influence of
education and its confequent prejudice. Leaft

C 247 )
Leaft of all fhould we expect, after fuch
repeated and explicit evidence of the de
duction of the finally impenitent, that men
fhould be found who would attempt to make
the Scriptures teach, that all mankind, good
as well as bad, fhall finally inherit the eternal
joys of heaven. — In this day this doctrine
is becoming as fafhionable, as it is flattering.
One would, I fay, think it almoft im-
poffrble, that men defirous of knowing the
truth, fhould take fuch leaps as they do*
from the doctrine of eternal torment, to that
of univerfal falvation. — I am perfuaded if
they were to have before them the foregoing
evidence of the future deftruction of the
wicked, they would more frequently flop by
the way, and be lefs pofitive than they are,
as to the truth of their pofitions. — For want
of feeing this midway, (wherein indeed
truth generally lies) they go to an extreme,
which has not the recommendation jof
TRUTH, or the fanction of Divine autho
rity. — Men however never adopt that fyftem
till they are reduced to a dilemma which is
by no means uncommon — they view the
doilrine of eternal torment and mifery, asja
prophane

'( "248' )
prophane imputation upon the goodnefs of
God — they fee that a .fyftem which teaches
it, either cannot be a fyftem of truth : or,
that the Being whom they have regarded as
the fountain of all goodnefs, is the fource of
all mifery — and this they fee is the character
of him, whom they have confidered as the
prince of darknefs, and the enemy both of
God and man. Thus circumftanced, they
tnuft either conceive, that Jehovah and Beel
zebub are but two names for the fame being ;
or muft reject the fyftem of Revelation alto
gether; or confider the doctrine itfelf, as
taught in the Scriptures, only in appearance,
and not in truth and fact. And where would
a man thus influenced fly to? — If his con
victions of the truth of the Chriftian religion,
were ftrong enough to carry him through his
difficulties on that head, and to incline him
to adhere to that fyftem, but fo as to reject
this from its doctrines, rejecting this doc
trine of eternal torments, he would pro
bably incline to think, that thofe who were
•finners, having forfeited all claims upon the
juftice and bounty of God, would be devoted
to eternal deftruction — that as they were blots in

( 249 )
in the creation, they would be removed out
of it — he would poflibly think, 'that the
threatened evils to' the wicked, were only
temporal, of fhoft duration, proportioned
both in time and meafitre, to different de
grees of guilt — And this would induce him
to interpret all the fcriptural declarations of
the eternity of future' punifhments into fo
many declarations, that' they fhould be of
long but finite duration : and nothing- would
be wanting to "confirm this opinion, but a
few declarations, indicating the univerfality
of God's care, and of Chrift's redemption—
for then he would be affured, that thefe pu
nifhments were to be correctives; and that
when tKey had wrought their effect, deli
verance fhould follow upon it : and fo all
fhould be finally faved. He finds fuch de
clarations, and does hot hefitate to decide,
that the punifhment of whieh- the Scriptures
fpeak, is terriporal: and 'that in the end
thofe who died in a ftate of 'guilt, as well
as thofe who are obedient unto death, fhould
be made partakers of eternal life. Thus men
act, and thus they leap from one extreme to
the other : — as the leap is often in the dark,
K k it

( 250 )
it may abate our wonder, if they now and then
fall a little befidethe path of truth.
It will be feen in the foregoing defence of
God's character, under what an aftonifhing
load of contrary evidence this doctrine' la
bours. All the declarations of falvation,
redemption, eternal life, immortality, incor
ruption, and non-fubjection to death, which
are exclufively predicated of the obedient in
the Scriptures, and which are very numerous
indeed, are fo many exprefs denials of the
truth of this doctrine ; for if the obedient
only fhall inherit immortality, thofe who die
in their fins will of neceffity be excluded
from it : and then the doctrine of univerfal
falvation cannot be true if the Scriptures are
true — This fort of evidence, as to the defti-
nation of the virtuous, is of itfelf complete
and conclufive againft that doctrine; and
this, evidence is exceedingly augmented, it
is in fact rendered moft unexceptionable, by
the numerous inftances there are where de
ftruction, perdition, corruption, death, a
denial of eternal life, are predicated of the
wicked. — This, it is conceived, puts the
matter out of all doubt, and ought to bring the

( 2SI )
the controverfy to a final iffue---here we
ihould reft ourfelves in admiration of the
goodnefs and wifdom of God, who will af-
furedly inveft with endlefs life, thofe who
feek for glory, and honour, and immortality,
and who will adjudge to eternal lofs of life,
thofe who are nuifances in the creation, and
prove themfelves unworthy of it. How
unfearchable are thy judgments, O Lord,
and thy ways paft finding out !
The natural queftion then is, What do
thefe advocates for univerfal falvation, op-
pofe to evidence fo exprefs and decifive?
And the anfwer is — A few paffages of Scrip
ture wherein God by his Son is reprefented,
as the Saviour of all men — the reconciler of
all things, &c.
And I do admit that there are feveral
paffages which appear to look that way — but
, it cannot be that all this is true — that the
righteous only fhall have eternal } life— -that
the finally impenitent fhall utterly
perifh— -fhall fuffer the fecond death — and yet
'that both righteous and wicked, fliall live
for ever in the realms of cceleftial bleffednefs
—It muft then follow, either that thofe
K k 2 paffages

( 252 ')
paffages whjch, , reprefent , the penitent and
obedjent ,pnly,j as -unperifhab'le. and as the'
heirs ..of immortality, and the impenitent and,
difoh^dient as rlevoted to deftruction, perdi
tion, corruption, death, the fecond death, ,lofs
qf Jiff, Sec, &c. 6fc. do not mean what they
,£ay, are.to t?e underftood in a fenfe con
trary to that which they in all other cafes
are calculated to convey^; or that f thofe
paffages^ which fpeak of falvation, in uni-
yerfal language, are mifunderftood. But
uthat the former of thefe is the fact, is im-
... ¦ > Jt.j '-a.. - ¦ ,',¦-¦ ¦'-''.' ' .
poffible, for- two. incontrovertible reafons-r-
the one -is, that the general language, the
- conflant "import of the New Teftament is,
that the wicked fhall be defiroyed, that the
|right-eousr fhall -he fave a1 — -So that in oppof-
.ing the doctrine I contend for, we have not to
controvert a few abftrufe and obfeure paffages,
^takenoutqf their conn,exion, and diftinguifhed '
from,, and oppofed to, the' general tenor qf
^fhe Scriptures^ — but we have to oppofe the
,. current, language of Scripture— the conflant,
plain, and unequivocal, declarations of Chri{l
rand. his apoftles. For we have feen, not
only, that eternal life is reprefented both
affirm*

( 253 )
affirmatively*, and negatively -j-, as the
exclufive privilege of the obedient; but that
eternal deftruction, both affirmatively]; and
negatively § is reprefented, as the fate of the
wicked : and what makes this argument ftill
more decifive, and which is my fecond
reafon, is, that thefe refpective ftates, are
in one and the fame paffage of Scripture,
frequently oppofed to, and contradiftin-
guifhed from each other. And that by fuch
a variety of fynonimous terms, as are to be
exhibited in the defence of no other truth
whatever. And this certainty on the one hand, leads
us to an equal degree of certainty on the
other — both propofitions cannot fland : it
cannot be true that the wicked fhall be de
voted to eternal deftruction, and yet live for
ever — it follows then, that if it be certain,
that the wicked fhall utterly perifh, it cannot
* " Shall live for ever."
f " Shall not die for ever.''
% " Eternal deftruction."
$ « Shall not fee life." be

( 254 )
be true that thefe fame beings, fhall be finally
faved. Let us, however, attend to the feveral
paffages, which are ufually adduced on this
head : and let us in our endeavours to arrive
at their meaning, follow as clofely as may
be the general analogy, of Scripture, and the
fubject difcourfed of where thofe paffages
fland. Matt. xi. 27. " At that time Jefus,
anfwered and faid, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, becaufe thou haft
hid thefe things from the wife and prudent and
haft revealed them unto babes. Even fo
Father ;, for fo it feemed good in thy fight.
All things are delivered unto me by my
Father, &c."
Evidence to fupport the doctrine of uni-
verfal falvation, after fuch an ample fund
of contrary proofs, muft be clear, explicit,
unequivocal : and go to the proof that all
fhallfinally enjoy everlafting LIFE. — And not
only fo, but that the wicked and finally im
penitent, fhall indeed be feverely punifhed ;
but that they fhall be ultimately delivered
from that punifhment.— Now in this paffage, the

( 255 )
the fubject does not appear to be the future
ftate either of the wicked, or of mankind
in general: and therefore cannot without
hard ftraining indeed, be brought in as evi
dence of that, of which it does not at all
fpeak — it wants every requifite that the
nature of evidence requires ; and we muft if
we will deal fairly by the Scriptures, and
divine truth, adjudge, that whatever our
Lord meant by having all things delivered
unto him by the Father, it does not prove,
or carry even the appearance of proving,
that all men fhall ultimately inherit the
glories of eternal exiftence.
"John, iii. 35. "The Father loveth the
Son, and hath given all things into his
hands." — This paffage thus far is exactly
fimilar to the laft, and clearly intimates, that
all the authority which the Son poffeffed, was
derived from the fupreme Father and fource
of all. But let us read the next verfe, and
we fhall fee, that it is fo far from meaning
that all fhall be finally faved, that if it has
any regard to the future ftate of men at all,
it muft mean the very reverfe — the words are
thefe, " He that believeth on the Son hath
ever-

( 256 )
everlafting life, and he that believeth not
on the Son fhall not fee lib E, but the wrath
of God abideth on him." It is impoflible for
words more clearly to indicate the utter lofs
of life to the difobedient — -they fioall not fee
LIFE. John, xii. 32. " And I (fays our bleffed
Lord), if I be lifted up from the earth will
draw all men unto me*."
This paffage is certainly a prediction that
the doctrines of Jefus Chrift would be the
means of reftoring, not only the Jews but
the Gentiles alfo, to the favour and friend-
fhip of God.
John xiii. 3. "Jefus knowing that the
Father had given all things into his hands,
&c." This is, I think, exactly fimilar to
the two firft paffages, and they are all well
explained by that other declaration of Chrift
— " All power in heaven and in earth is
given unto me by my Father" — This paffage
is at any rate a moft incompetent proof of
the doctrine of univerfal falvation — it does
not in truth fay any thing about it— and it
* The word men is not in the original. is

C 257 )
k very unfair and improper conduct, to put
fuch an arbitrary conftruction irnon it as i$
fometimes done in favour of that doctrine,
in the face of fo much contrary evidence^
John, vi- 37, 39, 44, 45. "All that the
Father giveijvme fhall corne to me, and hinj
that cometh to me I will in ho, wife c^fl
put. And this is the Father's will which.
hath fent me, that of all which he hath
given me I fhould lofe nothing, but /heuld
wife hirn up at tfoe laft day.— No nian can
pq>me unto me, except the Father which; h^tlj
ffsnt. me draw him : ^nd I wilLraife him up
at fche ,laft day. It is written in the Prophets,
and they fhall be all taught of God.
Every paan therefore that hath heard, and
hath learned of the Father, cometh unto
...Jiohp, xvii, 2, 3. "As thpu haft: given
him power over alL flefh, that he fhould
give eternal life to as many as thou haft
given him. And this is life eternal to know
thee the only true God and Jefus Chrift
whanrthou haft fent."
In ftefe two paffages it appears, firft,
that fome among mankind are by the Father
L 1 faid

( 258 )
faid to be given unto Chrift — that is, the
Supreme Being hath decreed, that thofe
who fliall believe, and obey his Gofpel,
fhall inherit eternal life — That this grant
of the Supreme Father to our bleffed Lord,
has furnifhed him with power or authority
to raife from the dead in the laft day, and
to inveft with immortality, as many as fliall
be fo obedient — That whofoever therefore
fhall come unto Chrift, that is, whofoever
fhall believe in and Obey him, fhall affuredly
obtain eternal life ; and that this is the will
or determination of the Supreme Father,
that none could thus believe in and,
obey Chrift, fo as to obtain eternal life,
had not the Supreme Father provided, not
only by the extraordinary means of Chrift's
miffion, but by the ordinary means of his
providence and the preaching of the Gofpel,
both the means and the end — And that every
one who poffeffes true wifdom, fuch as cometh
from above, from God the father of lights,
¦ will come unto Chrift, and obtain the
chaplet of immortality. But that there is
not any thing in thefe words, which, in
dicates Univerfal falvation, is manifeft. With

( 259 )
With much greater reafon might they be
alledged as proofs . of the contrary doctrine.
The quotations from chap. vi. contain the
plain language of limitation. — " No man
can come except, &c." clearly implies, that
fome do not come. — " Every one that hath
heard, &c." imports that all do not hear.
And in the quotation from chap. xvii. is
a ftill clearer intimation, that thofe deftined
to future immortal life, fhall be but a part
ofthe whole — " That he fhould give eternal
life to as many as thou haft given him."
And indeed thofe verfes, John, xvii. 2, 3.
may well be made the key by which we
may unlock all the Univerfalift's difficulties.
" Thou haft given him power over all
flefh — the Father hath given all things into
his hands — he hath put all things into his
power, &c." for what purpofe were they
given to him? Why was fuch univerfal
dominion, and authority, and power,
given to Chrift ? The anfwer here given to
us, is, that he might beftow eternal life
upon as many as the Father had given to
him. — And who are thofe upon whom he
will beftow eternal life ? The anfwer to this
queftion is alfo given, viz. Thofe who attain
Ll 2 the

( 26o )
the knowledge of the trui God and of JefuS
Chrift^But all tMn"rdo not attain this
knowledge of the true' God and 'of Jefus
Chrift ; therefore all theft will not poffefs
eternal life>-i-Thus far, then, it appears*
that the- evidence brought forward by the
friends of univerfal falvation is, by rx6
meanS-explicit, unequivocal, or full to the
purpofe — and therefore ought not to be
received, as* fufficient tp countervail the mul
tiplied, explicit, and unequivocal language
on the other fide. Nay it appears to me to
be as Utterly uhfupported by the Scriptures,
as the doctrine of eternal mifery is: and
therefore I do not hefitate to reject them
both, as mere human inventions.
But this obfervation reminds me> that
there are ftill other paffages* which are
fuppofed to teach the doctrine I am con
tending againft, Let us fee whether they
are indifput'ably proofs of the pofition
or not. The moft obvious of them is,
i Tirm 2, 4. "God our Saviour; who
will have all men to be faved, and to come
to the knowledge of the truth," and this
is ;cotnpared with Eph. i. it. ".In whom
klfo'We have obtained an inheritance, being
predeftinated

( *6i )
predeftinated according to the purpofe of
him who worketh all things after the
counfel of his own will." Now, fay the
advocates for univerfal reftitution, " God
will have all men to be faved"— and, " God
worketh all things according to the counfel
of his will " therefore all men fhall be
faved. This does indeed carry the appear*
ance of argument: and I think it is the
pnly appearance of argument there is in the
whole affair. — Let us not, however, too
ijafhly decide either way : let us fee what
demonftration it has : let us analyfe thefe
paffages, and fee whether the argument
founded on them, is one in fact or one
in appearance only.
My readers will no doubt recollect,
that our Lord was firft fent to the loft
#wep of the houfe of Ifrael — they will
po doubt recollect, how the Jews ex
pected, that all the advantages to be
derived from our Lord's miffion, were to
be derived to them only — that they were
extremely unwilling to believe, that the
Gentiles (whom they had ever regarded
with the moft decided contempt and averiion) were

( *6* )
were at all th^e objects of divine benevolence*,-
or the heirs of eternal life. Inftances of this
fort are too numerous to be particularized :
I fhall conte'nt myfelf with calling the
reader's attention, to the cafe of Peter, even
after the afcenfion of our Lord, and the
gift of the Holy Ghoft. The ftory is very
well known. Peter had never got rid of
his averfion to the Gentiles, till he was
taught by the vifion which was exhibited
to him, that he fhould call no man common
or unclean : then, and not till then he dif-
covered that the favours of the Supreme
Bejng were not for the exclufive enjoyment
of the Jews; but that the Gentiles as well
as the Jews were partakers of the favour
of God. " Of a truth (fays he, with fome
furprize) I perceive that God is no refpecter
of perfons: but in every nation he that,
feareth him, and worketh righteoufnefs,
is accepted with him."
He was thus convinced that God was no
refpecter of perfons; but equally the
God, the Father, the Lord, and Saviour
of all, whether Jews or Gentiles. But this
Jewifh prejudice, which had made a part of
the

( 2P3 )
the earlieft education of the Jews, it muft be
fuppofed, would require great time, and great
pains, before it could be effectually removed :
it is plain that it continued long in the
church, for it appears that Paul in the
words we are confidering to Timothy, in
tended to teach the fame thing, that Peter's
vifion was intended to teach : and that he
did. not mean to fay, that God would in the
end fave every individual of the human
race ; .but rather that there was no refpect
of perfons with him ; that he was not the
Qod of the Jews only, but alfo of the
Gentiles, and that he was the friend and
Saviour of all both Jews and Gentiles,
who fhould fear him and work righteoufnefs.
If the reader will be at the pains of* reading
from the beginning of the chapter to the
end of the feventh verfe; he will if he has
no fyftem to ferve, be convinced, that this
is the Apoftle 's meaning, and he will not
fail to lay fo much ftrefs upon the Apoftle's
folemn declaration in the feventh verfe, as
fhall put it out of all reafonable doubt, that
the Apoftle's object was to fhew, that God
was kind alike to all; and that he, Paul, was
appointed

(¦¦ 264 I
appointed a, minifter to teach the Gentiles
this great and animating truth. <
: Let us now turn to the quotation from
Eph. chap. i. in which chapter j as Paul was
writing to a Gentile church, it is not im
probable he might be teaching the Ephefians
the fame reviving doctrine: or at leaft, <that
he did not teach that it was fo God's; Miill
to fave all men, as that all fhall attain efcertwd
lifer—'!' Who (Gdd) worketh all things after
the couniel of his owrk will"--^We ;may
obferve, as has been before hinted, that
thefe words can be of no fervice to the caufe
of. univerfal reftoration, unlefs it be by
proving, that as God will have all men
to be faved, and as he works or' effects what
ever his will is, that therefore all men
muft be fayed. And it is plain that in order
to our giving a candid and faithful anfwer
to this. fort' of argument (the force of which
we readily admit), it is neceffary we
fhould firft determine, whether God has
willed the falvation of ail, in fuch a fenfe
as that all fhall obtain eternal life — for if
the meaning of the paffage in the Epiftle to
Timothy be, that' is was the will of God, that

t 265 )
that all forts of men both Jews and Gentiles
fhall be faved, or poffefs eternal life, in
fpppfition to the Jewifh appropriation of
the Divine favours to themfelves ; then this
paffage in the Epiftle to the Ephefians will
only prove, that the ever bleffed God, will
moft affuredly extend the bleffings of ever
lafting life to the Gentiles as well as to the
Jews : And the argument will fland thus,
It is the will of God that the Gentiles
fhould be faved, as well as the Jews :
God effects all the purpofes of his will :
- Therefore Gentiles as well as Jews will
be faved.
The following paffages, are alfo produced
to the fame purpofe, of proving the future
eternal life of the wicked.
Eph. i. 9, 10. " Having made known
unto us the my fiery of his will, according
to his good pleafure which he hath purpofed
in himfelf: that in the difpenfation of the
fulnefs of times he might gather together in
one all things in Chrift, both which are
in heaven, and which are on earth, even in
him." Col. i. 19, 20. "It pleafed the Father
M m that

( 266 )
that in him fhould all fulnefs dwell ; and
having made peace through the blood of
his crofs, by him to reconcile all things
unto himfelf, whether they be things in
earth or things in heaven."
In order to explain thefe two paffages,
I fhall content myfelf with extracting fome
of the principal paffages in Dr. Hammond's
notes upon the laft of them : and have no
objection to reft the iffue of the controverfy
upon his explanation of it. '¦* What is
here meant by whether the things on earth, or
the things in the heavens, will, I conceive, be
beft difcerned, firft, by comparing this
place of the reconciliation wrought by Chrift,.
with the parallel, Ephef. ii. 14, 16. where
it clearly fignifies the compacting the Jews
and Gentiles into one church ; and fo again
Eph. i. 10. The gathering in one all things,
both which are in heaven and en earth, doth
fignify, all men of all forts. Secondly, by
remembering two obfervations, frequent in
this book ; 1. That it is the manner of the
Hebrew writers to. exprefs this inferior
world (for want of one word to fignify it)
by thefe two, the heavens and the earth, and;

( 267 )
and indeed any aggregate body or totum, by
mentioning and enumerating its parts, as
the natural day, by the evening and the morn
ing, and fo to fet down fo many days, and
fo many nights, where the truth of the ftory
will not allow us to interpret it literally of
fo many nights diftinctly, of fo many
vxa&i^spx, or natural days, of which any the
leaft part is computed for one. — Very fre
quently the heavens and the earth are fet to
fignify the whole lower world, made up
of the firmament of the air, that expanfum
* which is called heaven (as when we read,
the fowls of the heaven) and of the terreftrial
globe of earth and water, and then (confe-
quently to this) tx ttxvtx all things here
explained and enterpreted by sits, &c. whe
ther ihe things on earth, or the things in heaven,
and in the like phrafe, verfe 16. to. ttxvtx,
&e. all things that are in the heavens, and on
the earth, fhall fignify no more than what
is in other places expreffed by o xo<rp<&>, the
'world (as 2 Cor. v. 19, in the very fame
matter that here is fpoken of, God in Chrift
reconciling the world to himfelf), y xjtats the
creation icxo-x KJtcig, the whole creation, or all
Mm 2 crea-

268 )
creatures, the whole world of creation, or
the whole world without reftriction. Now
what is meant by the whole world, or the
whole creation will appear by another fecond
obfervation, — that x7/<nc, creation, and Kocrptog,
world fimply, and irao-a KJlrig, the whole
creation, Rom. viii. 22. and here verfe 23,
fignifies all the Gentile world, in oppofition
to the Jewifh enclofure ; not all the creatures
abfolutely, but all men of all nations, par
ticularly the Gentile idolaters mentioned
here in the next verfe, you that were formerly
alienated, &c.' And then the meaning of
the place will be clearly this, that it pleafed
God by Chrift to reconcile to himfelf all the
men of the world, the Gentiles and the
Jews both; the fame thing which was
meant by Rom. xi. 15, the reconciling of
the world, (that is, the Gentiles in oppofition
to the Jews, that there in the words im
mediately precedent are faid to be cafi off)
and 2 Gor. v. 19. by God Was in Chrift recon
ciling the world to himfelf . And though the
word 7Fxi?ix, all things, be here in the neuter,
yet will that be no objection againft this, it
being ordinary for the neuter to be taken for
1 the

( 269 )
the mafcttline, — as Gal. iii. 22. that God hath
Jhut up together vxvtix v-rfo xux^tIxv, all things,
that is, all men, under Jin, and innumer
able the like : and therefore that which
verfe 20, is txvtx, all, in the neuter, is
v/txs, you men, you Gentiles, verfe 21,
and that joined with the u7roxxlijXXu%sv
he hath reconciled there, as navrx, all, with
the u-!roKx]xXXc'Pxt, reconciling here. — The
context alfo feems to fet up Chrift as the one
aniverfal Redeemer and reconciler of all
mankind, of the Gentiles as well as of the
Jews, and to fhew what intereft the Gentile
world hath in his death and refurrection.—
And that will more appear^ if you look on
the place forementioned, and parallel to
this, Ephef. i. 10. where this reconciling of
all things in heaven and on earth, expreffed
there by gathering into one, is called, verfe 9,
the myflery of his will according to his good
pleafure, noting it to be fome adt of free
undeferved mercy, imputable to nothing but
God's mere grace (and fuch moft notorioufly
was the calling ofthe Gentile idolaters), and
that a myflery, fuch as no man ever dreamed
of or hoped for before; and what that
myflery

( 270 )
myflery was, is in the remainder cf that
Epiftle largely fhewn, efpecially chap. ii.
14, 16, 17. and under the, name of thi
myflery, chap. iii. 3, 5, viz. the bringing
in the Gentiles into the church, preaching
among the Gentiles (chap. iii. 8), the un
searchable riches of Chrift. And thus, I
conceive, the phrafe is to be underftood,
Ephef. iii. 15, where of Chrift it is faid,
that the whole family in heaven and on earth is
named by, oxfromhim, — that is, furely, all the
world, Gentiles as well as Jews, are now
youchfafed by him to be called by his name,
that is, to.be Chriftians, called and received
into his family."
.Rom. viii, 21. " Becaufe the creature
alfo fhall be delivered from the bondage of
corruption, into the glorious liberty of the
children of God."
This paffageis in my opinion fo well explain
ed, as to that part of it which affects this con-
troverfy, by Dr. Hammond, that I fhall ven
ture to make my felf accountable to the world,
for the obfervations he has made in his an
notations on the New Teftament, p. 419.
Note*, " The word k7*W, the creation, or
creature,

( 27I )
creature, being a general word, without a
reflraint (and likewife with irxo-x all joined
to it, verfe 22.) is here fet to comprehend
all mankind, the Gentiles as well as the
Jews, and (having before fpoken of the
Jews) here the Gentiles peculiarly. Thus
icjitrig and xoV^®- are all one, the creature,
and the world, and t:u.<tx xrio-i;, all the crea
tion, (as the fame is expreffed here, verfe 22.)
and nag 0 xjVf*©-, all the world, Mark
xvi. 15. which is in St. Matthew in the
parallel place, Mat. xxviii. 19, ttxvtcc,. tx
sQiy, all nations, and fo Col. i. 15. and
fo alfo KaVjt*©., the world fimply, as Krlo-ig
creature here, for the heathen world, 2 Pet.
i. 4. and elfewhere. So kx\vv\ xrlo-ig a new
creature, 2 Cor. v. 17. is all one with
xctivog x-^putrog, the new man, Eph. iv. 24.
We will now once more recur to the
dbfervation, with which I fet out, in ani
madverting upon the proofs adduced by
the Univerfalifts, in fupport of their
opinions, viz. that after the multiplied
evidence, there is in the Scriptures, of the
eternal deftruction of the wicked, and the
exclufive enjoyment of eternal "life or exift ence

( 272 )
ence by the virtuous, as contradiftinguifhed
from the other, no evidence can be received
againft it, without offering great violence to
the Scriptures and common fenfe, unlefs
thefe proofs are numerous, explicit, and
unequivocal. That this is a fair rule to
judge by, no one will deny, and by this
rule it is, I earneftly requeft that the reader
will candidly examine whether the Univer-
falifts' pretentions to the fupport of Holy
Scripture are founded or not. — Are their
proofs numerous, plain, unequivocal ? —
Or are they few, are they proofs in appear
ance only, are they uncertain, are they inade
quate to the poft affigned them ? 1 do not
hefitate to declare, that they carry all thefe
marks, and that among them all, there is
not one which bears the meaning impofed
upon them. They will therefore do well to abate
a little of their zeal and ardency, in making
converts to a doctrine, which appears to
have no foundation in the Scriptures ; and
confequently cannot be taught, without a
manifeft injury to the caufe of true and
undented religion.
It will perhaps be urged, that it is necef fary

( 273 )
fary in order to fupport the moral character
of God, that his creatures fhould upon the
whole, have a greater degree of good than
af evil : and confequently that the doctrine
either of eternal torment, or utter deftruc-
(tion, cannot be true, if God be a benevo
lent being.
But this may not iperhaps be confidered a$
a formidable objection if it be remembered,
that the mifery wbkh is fuftained in the
world, is the offspring of vice, and that
all the good the ungodly man enjoys is more
than he is intitled to, and muft be reckoned
among the nndeferved general bounties of
the Divine Providence, — And if it be con<-
fidered that fuch men in their general con-*
-di|ct, . oppofc themfelves to the gracious
defigns of the Deity, by the practice pf
vice, and confequent introduction of mifery
into the world, there can be neither injuftiee
nor a want of benevolence, if the Divine
being fhall remove thefe blots in, the creation,
out of it. And this feems the more rea-
fonable, if it be added, that the fame gene
ral law, which made evil confequent upon
fin, appears alfo to have eftabliffred de^th,
N n or

( 274 ')
or final utter and irreverfible deftructionv
as the ultimate end of fin — indeed this is
the very language of Scripture, "The
wages of Jin is death"— " Sin when it is
finijhed bringeth forth DEATH."
Rom. viii. "The minding of the flefh
is death," verfe 6.— Verfe 13. " If ye
live after the flefh ye fhall hereafter die."
MsXXSTi XTT0§V%G"X,tlV.
Let us a little further confider this point,
I mean the neceffity there feems to be that
rational agents, fhould have upon the whole
of their exiftence a balance of good ; and
how far it is confiftent with our ideas
of Divine benevolence* that they fhould
be tormented in the way, the fcheme
of univerfal reftoration teaches— and alfo,
whether it is probable, that in order to
obtain the end the fcheme of reftitution
propofes, fuch punifhments as the authors of
that fcheme contend for, would be neceffary
to be inflicted.
1. As to the firft of thefe, I have to
obferve, that it muft in the nature of things
be extremely difficult to afcertain, in any
given cafe, or in any number of cafes, the
meafure

( *75 )
meafure of good or evil which is. enjoyed
or fuffered. Enjoyments and fufferings are
fo peculiar and proper to a man's felf, that
it is impoflible any one fhould form an
accurate judgment of the quantity poffeff
ed by another, of the one or of the
other. Pleafures and pains are fo various,
and the incidents of life affect different
individuals in fuch different ways and de
grees, that on this ground alfo, it is hard
for any one to fay, how much of evil or
of good is the portion of another. Nay
fo much is this the fact, that with refpect
to others, no individual can with any cer
tainty fay, what are pleafures and what pains i
that being in many inftances the delight
and folace of one, which is the mifery and
averfion of another.
If then it is difficult to afcertain, what is
pleafure, and what pain; and what the
enjoyments and fufferings of individuals are,
it muft be impoflible to plead for the neceffity
of any particular meafure in the Divine ad
miniftration, upon the ground of balancing
the one with the other. The things moft
effential to happinefs and good, are within
Nn a the

( 276 )
foe power of all— the gratification of the
fenfes is as exqui'fitely felt by the peafant as
by the peer — the great bleffings of light, the
kind influences of the fun, the beautiful and
auguft views of nature, the things erhplttyed
in adminiftering not only fenfual but intel
lectual pleafure, through the medium of the
fight, the touch, the fmell, the hearing, and the
tafte: the pleafures arifingfrom efteem, ad*-
miration, praife, ambition: the exhilirating
paffions of love, hope, joy, expectation,
Wonder: the pleafures of the imagination,
of fympathy, of the focial affections, are
the common bleffings of all— And they are
not only bleffings common to all ; but they
are in a greater or a lefTer degree, in all, or
in part, fo much the attendants of each indi
vidual, and the fource of fuch conflant
individual enjoyments, that they probably
more than counterbalance the evil that is
individually fuftained.
And becaufe we do not diftinctly mark
thefe bleffings, they do not lefs tend to the
real enjoyment of life : nay, it is becaufe
they are bleffings fb conftantly in our pof
feffion, that we do not perceive them. It
would

t 277 )
would perhaps be difficult to find a man wlio,
properly affected by thefe confiderations,
will be bold enough to fay, that generally
fpeaking, there is a neceffity for the joys
of heaven, to recompence for the evils men
fuffer upon earth.
Efpecially if we take into confederation
this circumftance, that the moft poignant
evils man fuffers in this world, do not
appear to be the arbitrary appointment of
God, but the neceffary refult of men's own
vices and follies. If the Divine wifdom has
feen it right to eftablifh a neceffary con
nection between virtue and happinefs, vice
and mifery ; and has not made an arbitrary
appointment of men to the one or the other,
but has left them to the effect of their own
actions ; there is no ground for complaint
againft God, if any individual does not
enjoy fo complete a happinefs here, as his
fituation would poflibly admit of.
For aught then that appears to the con
trary, the balance even in this life is greatly
in favour of happinefs. Men for aught we
know, do generally fpeaking, enjoy in this
life, a greater degree of good, than they
fuffer

( V* )
fuffer of evil. And if this fhould be the
cafe, the neceffity of the joys of immorta
lity to counterbalance the miferies of a
mortal life, has no exiftence in reafon :
and therefore the plea fet up on this ground,
in favour of univerfal reftoration, ought to
be totally difregarded.
2. It is right that we fhould confider how
far the fufferings men are to undergo, upon
the fcheme of univerfal falvation, are con-
fiftent with our ideas of God's benevolence.
There are but three motives to punifhment,
that I can recollect, and they are what for the
fake of diftinction, we may denominate po
litical, vindictive, and corredtive. The firft
is the appointment of Wifdom, arifing out of
the fitnefs and expediency of things : it
feems fit that he who promotes mifery,
fhould fuffer a lofs of happinefs : it is fit
that he who fliews himfelf to be unworthy
of exiftence, fhould be deprived of it. — >
Vindictive punifhments are the offspring of
weaknefs and folly. And thofe which are
corrective, where correction is indifputably
neceflary, are the fruit of goodnefs and love.
We will leave vindictive punifhments for the
prefent

( 279 y
prefent out of the queftion— We will only
examine concerning thofe which are poli
tical, and thofe which are corrective, which
of the two, has the fanction of reafon and
of Scripture. As to thofe which are poli
tical, I will only obferve, that the evidence
I have produced to fhew, that impenitent
finners will fuffer*a lofs of exiftence, as the
punifhment cf fin, ftrongly fupports the
idea of that fort of punifhment ; and of
courfe in the fame degree is fubverfive of a
merely corrective one.
If the Supreme Being is decifively difpofed
to bring all men to final happinefs, which
the doctrine I am now contending againft
certainly fuppofes, and for the purpofe of
bringing about this happinefs, plunges
them into exceflive mifery : fuch a fcheme
feems to want the aid both of wifdom and
kindnefs, or in other words difcovers weak-
nefs and cruelty. The Univerfalifts fcheme
certainly fuppofes, that the Supreme Being
having determined to bring thefe fufferers to
happinefs, plunges them into mifery for the
exprefs purpofe of producing fuch a change
of mind in them, as would render them fit
fubjects

( 28o )
fubjects of the heavenly kingdom. Such a
conduct as this I fay, has the appearance of
folly and cruelty. There is certainly a de
gree of folly in every inftance, where the
end to be obtained, is not obtained by the
moft ready means, as there is of cruelty in
expofing beings to mifery, in order to pro*
duce effects, where thofe effects could be
produced without it.
Now if the Supreme Being had deter
mined to bring all to happinefs, and in
order to do fo, determined to produce fuch
a change of mind in them, as would render
them fit objects of his complacency, I am
perfuaded that both thefe ends would have
been obtained, with more wifdom and
kindnefs, if that change of mind had been
produced, and the obdurate heart had been
foftened, by acts of kindnefs, or by an
act of abfolute power, rather than by a long
feries of feverity, by long ages of uninter
rupted diftrefs and mifery.
The tortures of thofe who fhall be con
demned to thefe purifying flames, does but
ill eorrefpond with our ideas of Divine
wifdom and goodnefs. In this point of
view

( «8i )
view the opinion I am condemning is parti
cularly painful to me, becaufe the period for
whish<.fhat torture fhall laft, muft.be im-
menfely great to'intitle it to the denomina
tion of '¦ ' ages of ages *-." ; ; o. ou
v ^Befides, fiicha notion gives u$ falfe ideas
of the grounds pof acceptance with God— -
the wicked fuffering the pains of hell, -will
have but little exereife faf c benevolence.,
kindnefs, and love: but little exereife i for
; ...•;•'; L: :» .-:;¦: ..¦:, '. :; ' , 1 -vi"i '¦>''¦
* "One of tlie leaft durations 'of eliim or««aKWi&
Scripture feems to be that of .the ftfe afaftrvanti Deut.
xv. 17. Philem. v.; 15,; and. fome ofthe greateft, the.
Juration ofthe Mofitic (economy. And if I were to judge
from *he fyftemof the World of the great inequality in "
fueh.siges, allotted to thi$;punilhment, in Hades at
Gehenna, I fhould eftimate ffame .of ,-the leaft to be 68, ,
and fqme ofthe greateft 575 years. See Aftronemical, ¦
Principles: of Religion, page 154, 155, 156. Other-,
¦wife JThould chufe the famous ages into 'Which the old
Sibylline Oracles divided the duration of -the world 1'
which might, theu ainount? one with another, to 400 or
500 years apiece -x which, is not very different, from the
mean bf the foregoing computation. , Whence it will
He eafy to make fome eftimation what ages in the plural
and ages of agesohx a Reduplication, niay mean in the
feme Scriptures." • , ¦ .-
JfTpisTCMr's Eferpity of Hell Torments conftdexed% pt 38.
O a theu:

( a8a )
their virttiev-in refitting the allurements of
fin. This notion does, not pretend to any
fiich thing; at only fuppofes that the mode
of thinking is to be changed, that the fenti-
ments are to be altered, that the fharp fuf
ferings will produce remorfe and defires of
amendment. Whereas the Gofjjel of Chrift
teaches us, that thofe who will be accepted,
are thofe who have been in the exereife of
virtue, who have flopped the courfe of
human mifery, and accelerated the progrefs
of happinefs and peace.
3. Again ; it ought to be confidered whe
ther upon the UniverfalinV plan, there does
exi'ft a neceffity, for fuch fufferings, as the
Scriptures are fuppofed upon this fcheme to
reprefent — I am perfuaded it does notexift.
The Scriptures do in my opinion fpeak of
the punifhment, of fin, as an eternal punifh
ment, in the fkieteft fenfe of that word. —
We will, however, for the fake of argument,
admit of fomething lefs than an eternal pu
nifhment; and take it fpr granted, that the
phrafes, "for ever," "everlafting," and
•' for ages of ages," mean fome definite fpace,
and not an eternal duration. But when we
admit

r( a«3 >
admit this, two things feem to follow.
i. That the punifhment of all fhall be
equal in point of duration, the fame terms as
to the duration of them, being equally
applied to all, without any exception or
limitation. And 2. That the period affigned
to their punifhments, does not feem to
correfpond with the nature of the cafe : the
means to be ufed do not appear proportioned
to the effect to be produced.
And on thefe grounds, it does not appear
likely that the doctrine of Univerfal Reftora
tion fhould be true. It might be reckoned
unjuft to punifh all forts of offenders for the
fame period — and it is reafonable to fuppofe
that the quantity of fuffering neceffary for
reformation, would vary, in the fame de
gree as the degrees of depravity and obdu-
racjfvary. — Some we may fuppofe, woulct
reform by the corrections of a moment :
while the difcipline of others might be carried;
to a much greater extent both of time and
degree. Let the terms " for ever and ever," have
the moft confined fenfe affixed to them,
that they can poffibly bear ; it muft be ad
mitted

( 284 >
mitted that, the period. defined by them, muft
foe. of very extenfive duration.. Let our ideas
of human depravity be. ever fo extravagant,
they cannot be extravagant enough to admit,
-that in any inftance repentance would be
fo long, kept b^ck, as that thefe terms fhould
feq properly applied to the duration ef fuffer
ings, neceffary to produce it.
Sufferings, which on- account of the
length of their duration, may be figuratively
called '^everlafting fufferings,'' do not appear
tome, to, accord with our ideas ofthe bene-
volence of, God: nor with, the .effect, wfyctr
we are told they are intended to produce^ If
it is in the nature of. future fufferings. to re
claim and amend* the feyerity of thofe fuf
ferings, will no doubt, effect their purpofe.
in fo fhort a fpace, as would make it more
proper' to reprefent them as the fufferings of
a DAY,' than the torments, of .ETERNAL^
AGES..

THE END:*

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