TIIE

ihle cJtandard.
Issued monthly by "The Bible Standard Publication Society," Lincoln.
EDITED BY
Geo. A. BROWN, Pastor of Mint Lane Baptist Church, Lincoln.

THE BIBLE STANDARD

is devoted to the exposition of Biblical Truth, especially the doctrine of Conditional Immortality, the literal Resurrection of
the Dead, the Final Destruction of the Wicked, the Signs of the Times, the Second Coming of Christ, and His Personal Reign on earth.

" The Wages of Sin is Death; but the gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

No. 9. JUNE, 1878. Price Id.

WHAT IS MAN? Joshua xxiii. 11. "Take good heed therefore unto your-
selves, (margin-your souls.] that ye love the Lord your God."
ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES.
See also Joshua xi. 11.
PROPOSITIONIX. 1 Chron, v.. 21. " And they took away their cattle; ....
and of men (margin-souls of men) an hundred thousand."
THE LIFE GIVEN TO THE BODY BELONGSTO IT.
Job xxxvi. 14. "They die (margin-their soul dieth) in
Gen. xxxiv. 8. "And Hamor communed with them,
youth."
saying, the soul of my son Shechem longeth for your
Jer, xxxvii. 9. "Thus saith the Lord: Deceive not your-
daughter."
sel ves (margin-souls)."
1 Sam, xxiv. 11. "Thou huntest my soul to take it." XI.
Psalm lxxxvi. 13. "Thou hast delivered my soul from' THE UNION OF BODYWITH LIFE IS so CLOSE, THATEFFECTS ARE
hell. " SAID TO BE PRODUCEDUPONTHE LIFE THAT ARE SUPPOSEDTO
Psalm xxxiv. 22. "The Lord redeemeth the soul of BE ONLYCAPABLEOF BEING PRODUCEDUPONTHE BODY.
his servants." Joshua xi. 11. "And they smote all the souls that were
Isaiah liii. 10-12. "When thou shalt make His soul an therein."
offering for sin . . because he hath poured out His soul Psalm xvi. 10. "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell."
unto death." Compare Acts ii. 27 and 31.
Matt, xxvi. 38. "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even Psalm xxx. 3 .. "0 Lord, Thou hast brought, up my soul
unto death." from the grave: Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not
X.go down to the pit."
THE KNOWLEDGEOF OURPERSONALITYIS so CLOSELYCONNECTED . Psalm xlix. 15. "But God will redeem my soul from the
WITH THE UNION OF LIFE WITH THE BODY, THAT THE TERM power of the grave: for He shall receive me."
LIFE OR SOUL IS USED TO EXPRESS THE CREATURE OR THE Jer, ii. 34. Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the
PERSON. souls of the poor innocents."
Gen. xiv. 21. "And the king of Sodom said unto Abram,
Isaiah xxxviii. 17. "Thou hast in love to my soul deliv-
give me the persons, (marg'in-souls,) ann take the goods ered it from the pit of corruption."
to thyself."
Ezekiel xiii. 18. "Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and
Lev. v. 2, "Or, if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether will ye save the souls alive of them that come unto you? "
it be a carcase of an unclean beast, . . . . he also shall be Ezekiel xxii. 25. "They have devoured souls," and 27 v.
unclean, and guilty." "to destroy. souls."
Lev. vii. 18. "It shall be an abomination, and the soul See also Jonah ii. 6-7.
.that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity."
\
XII.
Lev. vii. 20. " The soul that eateth of the flesh, How THIS UIHON IS EFFECTED WE KNOWNOT.
even that soul shall be cut off from his people." Eccles. xi. 5. "As thou lmowest not what is the way of
Joshua x. 30. "And he smote it with the edge of the the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her
sword, and all the souls that were therein; he let none that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of
remain in it." See also i::l2and 39 1J. God who maketh all."
()6 .THE BIBLE STANDARD.

John iii. 8. Jesus said, "the wind bloweth where it Psalm, xiii. 3. "Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep
listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not of death."
tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is everyone Daniel xii. 2. " And many of them that sleep in the dust
that is born of the spirit." of the earth shall awake."
XIII. Matt. ix. 24. "[Jesus said] Give place: for the maid is not
THE LIFE IS IN THE BLOOD, AND SAID TO BE THE BLOOD. dead, but sleepeth."
Gen. ix. 4. " But flesh with the life thereof, .. the blood John xi. 11-14. "[Jesus said.] Our friend Lazarus sleep-
thereof, shall ye hot eat." eth." (14.)" Lazarus is dead."
Lev. xvii. 10-11. "Fodhe life ofthe flesh is in the blood.', Acts vii. 60. [Of Stephen,] "And when he had said this,
Lev. xvii. 13-14. "He shall even pour out the blood he fell asleep."
thereof, and cover it with dust. For it is the life of all flesh, 1 These. iv. 16-17. (13.) "Concerning them which are
the blood of it is for the life thereof." asleep." (14.)" Which sleep in Jesus." (16.)" The dead
Deut. xii. 23. " Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: in Christ."
for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life 2 Peter iii. 4. ;' For since the fathers fell asleep."
with the flesh." XVI.
XIV.
DEATH A RLEEP IN THE GRAVE OR HELL, (Greek-HADES, OR
THE TAKING AWAY OF THE BREATH OF LIFE CAUSES MAN TO
THE UNSEEN.)
BECOME A DEAD SOUL OR CREATURE.
Gen. xxxvii. 35. "[J acob said] For I will go down into the
Gen. vii. 21-22. "And all flesh died, .... and every
grave unto my son mourning."
man: all in whose no-strils was the breath of life, (margin-
Gen.!. 5. "[Joseph said,] My father made me swear,
the breath of the spirit of life,) of all that was in the dry
saying, La, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me
land, died."
in the land of Canaan,there shalt thou bury me."
Job xxxiv. 14-15. " If He set His heart upon man, if He
2 Killgs xxii. 20. "[To J osiah,] Thou shalt be gathered
gather unto Himself His spirit and His breath; all flesh
into thy grave in peace."
shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust."
Psalm xxx. 3. "0 Lord, Thou hast brought up my soul
Psalm civ. 29-30. "Thou hidest Thy face, they are
from the grave."
troubled: Thou takest away their breath. they die and
Hosea xiii. 14. " I will ransom them from the power of
return to their dust. Thou sendest forth Thy spirit, they
the grave; I will redeem them from death."
are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth."
John v. 28-29. " [Jesus said] The hour is coming, in the
Psalm cxlvi. 3-4. "Put not your trust in princes, nor in
which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and
the son of ,man, in whom there is no help, (margin-salvation.)
shall come forth."
His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; . in that
John xi. 43. "[Jesns said.] Lazarus come forth."
very day his thoughts perish."
Acts ii. 27. "[Of Christ.] Because Thou wilt not leave
Eccles. iii. ~9-21. "For that which befalleth the sons of
my soul in hell." And 31.
men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the
one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath XVII.
(Hebrew-mach); so that a man hath no preeminence above THE TERM DEATH IS APPLIED TO THE PERSON, OR THE SOUL,

a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; . all are of OR THE BODY.

the. dust, and all turn to dust again. Who lmoweth the Num. vi. 6. "He shall come at ho dead body (Hebrew-
spirit (Hebrew -Tuach) of man that goeth upward, and the nephesh)."
spirit (Hebrew-ruach) of the beast that goeth downward to Num, ix. 6. " Who were defiled by the dead body (Hebrew
the earth?" -nephesh) of a man."
Eccles. xii. 5-7. "Because man goeth to his long home, Compare Lev. xxiv. 17 "He that killeth any man
. . . . then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and (margin-smiteth the life [nephesh] of a man)."
the spirit unto God who gave it." .l osliua xi. 11. x.30-32-39. [Joshua] "smote all the
Isaiah ii, 22. " Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his souls."
nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of? " Judges xvi. 30. Sampson said, "Let me (mm'gin-my
XV. soul, [Hebrew-n"ephesh) die with the Philistines."
MAN IN THIS STATE IS SAID TO BE DEAD OR ASLEEP. Job xxxvi. 14. " They die (margin-their souls dieth) III
Job. vii. 21. "For now shall I sleep in the dust." youth."
Psalm xc. 5. "Thou carriest them away as with a flood; Psalm xxii. 29. " None can keep alive his own soul."
they are as a sleep." Haggai ii. 13. "Unclean by a dead body (nephesh)."
 THE BIBLE STANDARD. 67

XVIII. Psalm cv. 18. "He was laid in iron (margin-his soul came
THE AWAKING FROMTHE SLEEPOF DEATHIS RESURRECTION. into iron)." 1saiah xlvi, 2. "Themselves (maTgin-theu'
Job xiv. 12. "So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the souls) are gone into captivity."
heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out 5. To various conditions attached to man. Gen. xxiii. 8.
of their sleep." "If it be your mind (soul)." See also Deut, xxviii. 65.
Psalm xvii. 15. "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Ex. xv. 9. "My lust (soul) shall be satisfied upqn them."
thy likeness." Deut, xxiii. 24. "Thou mayest eat grapes at thine own
Isaiah xxvi. 19. "Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust." pleasure (soul)." 1 Sam, xxii. 2. "Everyone that was
Dan, xii. 2. " Them that sleep in the dust of the earth discontented (margin-bitter of soul)." Pro». xxiii. 2. "If
shall awake." thou be a man given to appetite (soul)."-
Mal'le v. 39-41. "The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth, H. Briuaiu, Birminqham;
. . . . Damsel, I say unto thee, arise."
Mark xii. 26. "And as touching the dead, that they rise."
John v. 21. "For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and THE EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT.
quickeneth them." "These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous
John xi. 11. [Of Lazarus,] "I go, that I may awake him into life eternal."-lVIatt. xxv. 46.
out of sleep." THIS passage is often read as if it said-" These shall go
Rom. iv. 17. "God, who quickeneth (maketh alive) the away into everlasting miserq or torment; and one clergyman
dead." at least has affirmed that the word rendered punishment
2 Cor. i. 9. "In God which raiseth the dead." here, should be translated torment, The only reason he
Eph. v. 14. " Awake, thou that sleep est, and arise from assigns is, that "The identical word is, in 1 John iv. 18,
the dead." rendered torment," Now, any weight such a reason can have
XIX. would turn the scale equally well in the other direction; for
SOMEMENWILL NEVERBE WAKEDFROMTHIS SLEEPOFDEATH. it might, on the same grounds, be argued, that the term
Isaiah xxvi. 14. "Dead, they shall not live; deceased, rendered" torment" in 1 John iv, 18, should be translated
they shall not rise." "punishment," seeing it is so rendered in Matt. xxv. 46.
Jer, li. 57. " They shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not The question as to which of the translations of the word is
wake, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of Hosts." the correct one, must be decided by other means.
XX. Our translators have rendered the term "punishment" in
THE RESURRECTED ONESWILL BE OF TWOCLASSES. Matt. xxv. 46. Were they justified in rendering it "torment"
Luke xiv. 14. "Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrec- in 1 John iv. 18? I respectfully submit they were not. The
tion of the just." Greek term in question (kotasin] occurs only twice in the
John v. 28-29. "All that are in the graves shall hear New Testament (Matt. xxv. 46, and 1 John iv. 18); in the
his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, one case it ts rendered "punishment," in the other
unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, "torment." The verb [Icolazii] from which the noun
unto the resurrection of damnation." (Icclasin ] comos, occurs also twice, Acts iv. 21-" So when
ADDENDA. they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding
XXI. nothing how they might punish ( kolaeoturi] them;" 2 Pet.
THI'; WORDRENDEREDSOULIX THE COlVHlON VERSIONIS ALSO ii. 9-" The Lord knoweth how to reserve the unjust unto
RENDEREDIN VARIOUS WAYS,AS FOLLOWS: the day cif judgment to be punished {kolaeiimenous ], Now,
1. Life. Gen. i. 20. "The moving creature that hath there is no reason why kolasui should be rendered differently
life (margin-soul)." Gen. ix. 4., &c., &c. in 1 John iv. 18. Fear does not always produce torment,
2. Creature. (Gen. i. 21. "Every living creature Sometimes, indeed, it does; but it also produces various
(Hebrew-soul)." (24.)" Let the earth bring forth the living degrees of emotion, from simple uneasiness to such a degree
creature (He!lT!3w~soul)." (ii. 19.) "Whatsoever Adam of mental suffering as to produce DEATH..Dur translators
called every living creature (HebTew-soul)," See also Gen. would therefore have acted far more correctly, both in a
ix. 10. and Leo, xi. 4G. philological and philosophical point of view, had they
3. The entire person. E», i. 5. "And all the souls that rendered {lcolcsin ) punishment here also. Accordingly Mr.
came out of the loins of Jacob." Gen. xiv. 21. "Give me R. Young, in his translation, translates the passage "fear
the persons (margin-souls)." Gen. xxxvi. 6. "All the hath punishment:" For these reasons, then, we hold by the
persons (mal'gin-souls) of his house." language of Mou: xxv, 46,-" These shall go away into (or
4. Man. Ex. xii. 19. "Even that soul shall be cut off." unto) everlasting punishment."
68 THE BIBLE STANDARD.

Yet many hold" everlasting punishment" to be equivalent tioned, we find it to be "death," "perishing," "burnt up
to "everlasting torment." On this point Mr. Dobney, in his like chaff in unquenchable fire," "passing into smoke like
work on "Future Punishment," has the following sensible the fat of lambs," "everlasting destruction," &c.
remarks :- But while the term "punishment," in Matt. xxv. 46,
"People are not content with the phrase 'everlasting cannot of itself express the kind. of punishment to be endured
punishment;' they must substitute another word for by those of whom it is predicted, yet the context, even apart
punishment. And what shall it be? Misery, or torment,
no matter which. And so our Lord is represented as saying, from those explicit statements just eited, goes far to show
'These shall go away into everlasting misery (or torment).' that this "everlasting punishment" is death. For be it
Whereas He says nothing of the kind. Let us reverently observed, this "everlasting punishment" is the antithesis
adhere to His own expression; He says, 'everlasting punish-
ment,' and not 'everlasting torment.' And the two things to "everlasting life."
are utterly distinct. I affirm as strongly as any man that " These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but
the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into everlasting life." " LIFE" is not the
then I deem it my duty to say, as our Lord said, 'punish-
ment.' I have not the presumption to correct His phraseology, opposite of '<punishment;" unless that punishment be death.
in order to harmonize it with my notions. But orthodoxy For it is as correct to speak of a miserable life as of a happy
does this. And it is only by substituting 'misery,' or one, If" the everlasting punishment, here threatened, were
'torment,' for punishment, that this text can be made to
support the popular doctrine. But let. us not add to His everlasting misery, the parties condemned would as really go
words, lest He reprove us. away into everlasting life as would the parties approved,
" It is an indisputable fact, and terrible enough without Had the declaration been,-" These shall go away into ever-
exaggeration, that the wicked shall go away into everlasting
lasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting
punishment. But what is punishment? Is misery, or
torment, a fair and proper synonym? It will not be happiness," then, in the absence of contrary testimony, it
asserted. Johnson defines punishment 'any infliction would have been fair to infer that "everlasting misery"
imposed in vengeance of a crime.' Whatever a judge justly was the punishment threatened, because m.isery would have
awards to an offender for his crime is punishment. Stripes,
fines, deprivation, imprisonment, degradation, death, may be been the antithesis to happiness. But seeing that LIFE is the
the 'punishment' awarded in an earthly court. And reward promised to the one party-DEATH must be the
whether it be a night's confinement in a cell, awarded to a punishment threatened to the other-else both parties would
child, or a flogging awarded to a young thief, or transporta-
tion to the felon, or death to the murderer, it is with equal have everlasting life.
propriety called punishment in each case. And the substitu- Here it is necessary to notice that the term translated
tion of the word 'misery,' or 'torment,' would be utterly punishment [kolaein) primarily means a cutting off. The
inadmissible. Yet the present text will not answer the
purpose of my opponents unless they make such substitution, verb (kolazo) primarily signifying to cut off, to prune, and
which in pulpit harangues I have perceived to be generally thus, when applied to persons, would signify a cutting off of
done. . . . . The question is narrowed to this, What is the life, i.e. a putting to death. Yet, while this is the primary
punishment which is ,to be everlasting? ... I of course
admit that the infliction of everlasting torment would be import of the term, the usage of it, as mentioned at the
everlasting punishment. On the other side, it must also be outset, shows that, conventionally, it is equivalent to our
allowed, that, in case God should really destroy the incorrig- word "punishment."
ible, literally destroy them, so that they for ever cease to be,
Many are so thoughtless as to affirm that death is no
this infliction of death would be punishment. And then,
surely, a complete and final and irretrievable destruction-a punishment at all, and yet it is uniformly styled Capital
destruction which is for ever, is to all intents an everlasting punishment, However it may be viewed by us, the Great
destruction. And so everlasting destruction would be Lawgiver regards it as" the highest punishment; the penal
everlasting punishment. And for the phrase everlasting
destruction we have the very highest authority, in 2 Thess, i. 7, enactments contained in the statue book He gave to Israel
-' The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven, with His bear striking testimony to this; as well as does the primal
mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them doom of man's transgression.
that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting The greatest boon of Heaven to our sinful race is also
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the represented in the Scriptures, to be life eternal. In this was
glory of His power.' "-pp. 206-207. manifested the love of God towards us, because, that God
These observations serve to show that the word punishment sent His only begotten ~011 into the world, that we might
cannot of itself express what is the nature of the penal live through Him, "The wages of sin is death, but the
enactment to be endured; and that the adjective " everlasting" gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord."
indicates the duration, not the kind of punishment threatened; -Wo Laing.
and that" everlasting destruction" is as really an everlasting
punishment as eternal torment would be.
DAVIDON THE DESTINYOF THEWICKED.-He says, " Man
When we refer to those scriptures where the nature of the that is in honor and understandeth not, is like the beasts
punishment to be inflicted on the finalJy impenitent is men- that perish."-- Psalm xlix. 20.
 THE BIBLE
THE PULPIT.
ONE of the most humbling facts of the day, if our readers
would think of it, is the criticism of the pulpit by the secular
press. Not that we object to that criticism, severely cutting
as it sometimes is, but to the lamentable truth that the
pulpit so richly deserves it. It lays itself open to attack; it
invites censure; it seems to study the art of stupidity; its
threadbare platitudes are not fit for intelligent children, far
less grown men. In every other profession men try to rise
to the level of the work before them, but the pulpit, with
some splendid exceptions that reveal the surrounding desert,
drawls and nods over its slovenly compositions as if its work
required neither heart nor head, neither brain nor energy;
it goes its drowsy round as if there were some charm in its
wooden box to 3;rouse the co:nscience, to enlighten the mind,
to pierce the heart, and to attract the steps to the paths of
immortality. Its rebukes are faint, its warnings timid, its
invitations lack earnestness, and its exhibitions of the
Gospel are woefully defective.
Are the charges well founded? The reader may assure
himself that it is with deep sorrow they are made. We feel
more keenly than words can express the momentous
importance of this matter. The Gospel of the grace of God
is a thing of peerless beauty, a divine splendour, an unmixed
glory; to deal with it as a commonplace is insufferable; to
prose and drone and dream over it as a stale story, whose
power to thrill the soul has been lost by the progress of
time, is an affliction to the enlightened Christian hearer
which he cannot bear without mental anguish.
For what is this Gospel, the presentation of which is so
mournfully defective in our day,-a day of dead form, and
senseless ceremony, and miserable retrogression? What is
this divine message to mankind, which officialism has
overlaid with tradition, and misrepresentation, and scholastic
glosses? "Doing duty" in the pulpit, and sitting out the
the somnific infliction in the pew, with the air of martyrs,
are surely miserable illustrations of the good news that
secured the mental homage of such an intellectual giant as
Paul, and the boundless affection ~f such a heavenly lover as
John. Away with this groaning and droning in connection
with the finest, and purest, and grandest story that ever
found its way to the e;yes and ears of men, and glorified
human language by condescending to be clothed therein!
If the story were doubtful in origin, or questionable in
ethics, or powerless in result, then let the worthy men whose
profession it is talk about it, be honest, and give up talking
about it. There are millions of acres of virgin soil in the
splendid colonies of our empire, waiting to reward the
labourer with a profit of a hundredfold. Let the gentlemen
who talk of eternal truth as if it were a threadbare matter of
which they were half ashamed, strip themselves of gown and
cassock, and preach with spade and plough to the fertile
STANDARD. 69
valleys of our American and Australian possesajons. If
their hands are too soft for such work, that is no reason why
heads too soft for vigorous thoughts and manly speech
should cheat the British people out of the glorious Gospel
feast that ought to be waiting for them on the first day-of
every week; if, like the rogue in the parable, they cannot
dig, that is no reason why they should continue in a steward-
ship for which they are so notoriously incompetent.
The divine message to mankind, which is so deplorably
adulterated and spoiled, is, in its essence, nothing short of
the eternal harmony of light and love. It is God's music
sung over the refractory child to win him back to the peace
and happiness of home. -It is the solution of a dark mystery
by a revelation of surpassing brightness, whose light glorifies
every attribute of God. It is the voice of gentlest mercy,
propounding its own most gracious terms, with a view to the
moral restoration, purity, peace, and immortality of aU"who'
will listen to it. It is God speaking through Jesus Christ,
the Redeemer, the Restorer, the Lord of all, and asking men
to be reconciled and saved, without money or price, virtue
or merit, th!1t they become what He would have them,-sons
of God, and fellow heirs with Christ of an imperishable
inheritance.
And it is on this theme, so profound, so far-reaching, so
glorious, so attractive, and so full of life, and joy, and hope,
tha~ many of its professing advocates speak in a manner
that no advocate at the bar would imitate, however worth-
less his client, if he had any wish for either employment or
reputation. "The pulpit is losing its hold upon the people."
True enough. No doubt of it. But why? Has the good
news, the glorious gospel, changed? Has our need of its
inestimable blessings diminished? Or has our boasted
science discovered a better way of healing the broken-
hearted than that which the Saviour reveals? No, no!
Let the pulpit be true to its heavenly message,-eal'l1est,
evangelical, faithful ;-let it preach Christ in the preciousness
of His character, the completeness of His work, and the
boundless love of His heart; let it denounce lifeless forms
and pagan ceremonies; let it proclaim Christ only as the
Way, the Truth, and the Life; and it will regain its hold
upon the people, and secure the gratitude of multitudes who
now regard it with very little favour.
Give the people food, and they will flock to your churches
and chapels; set before them the bread of Heaven, and the
clear waters of salvation that flow from the throne of God
and the Lamb, and they will eat and drink, and bless the
hand that feeds them. But if you mock the hungry with a
stone, and ask the naked to weal' a garment of righteousness
for themselves, and then complain of their indifference, and
perverseness, and depravity, you only add injury to mockery,
and embitter their souls against the divine remedy for their
necessities, which you have so shamefully misrepresented.
 70 THE BIBLE
The indifference complained of is deepened in too many
cases by those who fail to take the Scriptural way of
removing it. "Another Gospel," whether it be that of
Rationalism or that of Romanism, will neither alleviate the
pangs of a guilty conscience, nor satisfy the yearnings of a
hungry heart. Men need Christ's full ancl free salvation,
and if those who are avowedly set for the defence of the
Gospel, fail to present that to them, then the glory is
departed, and Ichabod may be written upon the temples of
Old England.-Dr. Leark.
CHRIST REJECTED.
" There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for sinc.e t~le fathers
fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the
creation."-2 Peter iii. 3-4.
• I learn from these words that, in the times to which the
apostle alludes, the subject of Christ's coming and its accom-
paniments is to be agitated and discussed; that there will
be many who will be very unfavourably affected toward it,
some of whom will deny it altogether, some revile it as a
foolish dream, some agree that it is taught in the Scripture
but to be understood after a manner very different from what
the literal terms import; and that there will be a great lack
in the minds of people generally, of susceptibility to be
seriously moved by this subject, except to revile it and turn
it into ridicule. A scoffer is, properly, an insolent ridiculer,
a scoruer, a contumelious reproacher; hence Henry (in Ioc.}
pescribes these persons who "laugh at the very mention of
Christ's second coming, and do what in them lies to put all
out of countenance who seriously believe and wait for it :-
who can not deny that there is a promise, yet laugh at it."
Isaiah v. 19, Jer. xvii. 15, and Ezek. xii. 22. had before
prophecied of similar manifestations with reference to the
same subject and the same times.
Christ also says, of some of His own professed servants,
that, as the time draws near, they will put aside the subject,
and say, "My Lord delayeth His coming; and shall begin to
smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the
drunken."-lIiatt. xxiv. 48·-5l.
Startling also is it, in this connection, to think how
imperative and null this powerful doctrine of Christ's speedy
return has become in the religion of modern times.
It is remarked by a distinguished German theologian
(Dr. Carl August Auberlen , Professor in Brazil), that" the
second coming of Christ, viewed in connection with the
kingdom established by it upon earth, occupies a much more
prominent position in the view of the sacred Scriptures than
in that of the modern Church." The remark is unquestion-
ably true. It may safely be said that there is not another
doctrine in the whole Christian Creed, of equal prominence
and importance, which is so coldly and indefinitely appre-
STANDARD.
hended by the great mass even of those "who profess and
call themselves Christians." People do not exactly deny that
there is a promise that Christ will come again, but it is
accepted only with so many allowances, that it can hardly be
said to be received at all as an efficacious truth.
Ministers and expositors have become so accustomed to
gloss, spiritualize, and accommodate to other things, the
passages which speak of it, and so preoccupy their rr inds
with figurative, providential, and imaginary comings of the
Saviour by means of His doctrines, gospel, and spirit, that
His real coming,-which is the only one the Bible speaks of,--
and which was never meant to pass out of the view of the
Church as near at hand, has well nigh lost its weight and
place. It has become to many a mere fable. What earnest
Christian does not see and lament the wide-spread influences
of rationalism and rationalistic philosophy, explaining away
the gospel revelations, and even the most elementary view of
inspiration, of God, and of morality and right? But there
are no portions of the Scripture which rationalism so much
neglects; despises, or degrades, as the prophetic portions,
and no class of men whom it reviles with less mercy than
those who are so simple as to accept the prophecies in
anything like their literal terms.
Even the late venerable Professor Stuart, in his review of
Driffield on "The Second Coming of Christ," jests and jeers
over the whole subject, and laughs at those who take it up,
as believers in "putrid fables."
When Christianity was in its virgin purity, this was
among the most vivifying articles of the Creed,-the incentive
to repentance, the motive to faith, the encouragement to
fidelity, the inspiration of hope, and the spring of constancy
and zeal, which divested even-martyrdom of terrors; but in
these last days it has become so powerless in the consciences
and hearts of men, that a.ny serious and practical concern
about it is hooted at as unscholarly weakness, and the
attempt to set it forth according to the words of the Holy
Spirit, is ridiculed in high ecclesiastical positions as identical
with the advocacy of "patistric legends" that would "dis-
honour the brain of even the Rabbis" in their wildest
dreams.
Let a man, constrained by his solemn convictions and
accountabilities, lift up his voice to reassert it in its true
Scriptural vigour, and to bid his fellows be ready for its
speedy realization, and pulpits and presses point at him as
more than a little crazed, and laughingly put him down on
their ready Iist of lunatic saints, whose like utterances they
say time proved to be but dreams.
We look on, and wonder that some of the best and most
learned men that have lived should be so flippantly des-
patched, and that such momentous subjects should be so
jeeringly set aside. And yet we ought not to wonder. The
Scriptures long ago said it would be so; and Peter, in
 THE BIBLE
stirring us up to remembrance, would have us assured first
of all, that such things the last days would bring forth. God
has not indeed left himself without witnesses; there are
those to whom the doctrine of the "coming and kingdom"
of the Lord Jesus is a living power: whose hearts are
kindled with the blessed" promise of his coming" who, with
eloquent tongues and ready pens, are valiantly contending
for this portion of the faith once delivered to the saints;
and who, though laughed at and reviled by men, are yet
honoured and prospered by God. Nor are their words
without effect in many meek and pious hearts, who with
them wait and hope for the coming of the Lord.
But the great mass of Christendom has no sympathy with
them, and takes pleasure in twitting them for their credulity
and want of better learning. And what is all this but
Peter's prophecy fulfilling-the very Church joining in the
ribald cry, "Where is the promise of his chming?"-
J. A. Seiss, D.D.
ARE WE READY?
WE may conclude with certainty that when the day of
trouble is about to dawn upon the world, everyone among
God's waiting people-every sincere believer in the Lord
Jesus, be he living on the earth or buried in the grave,
shall rise to meet that Great Redeemer in .the air, and shall
be safe with Him above, until the time arrive when He,
with all His saints, shall come to execute His fearful
judgments on the earth's inhabitants.
But let us pause a moment to reflect about ourselves.
If the trumpet of the Lord should sound this day for the de-
parture of the saints tf Christ, should we be ready? It is
written, "In that day, even in that night, two men shall be
in the one bed; one shall be taken and the other left. Two
women shall be grinding together; one shall be taken and
the other left." Which then would it be in our case, Taken
or Lift? Oh, if we are putting off the things .of our
eternity to a future day, we should-be Left ! If we have not
gone as helpless sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ, that we
might obtain pardon through His blood, we should be Left.
But if we have, through grace, with all our hearts sought
the Redeemer, laid our sins on Him by faith, received Him
as our Lord and Saciour in .sincerity and truth, then we
should be Taken-taken up to meet our King, and be with
Him for ever. Oh, surely this is not a time for lukewarm-
ness for deferring things of everlasting moment to a future
day, but for the most earnest circumspection, watchfulness,
prayer, and zeal! Oh, let us see, each one for himself, that
we are not found wanting in the sight of the Great Judge
of all !-GregoI'Y.
STANDARD. 71
THE PRAOTICAL EFFECT OF BELIEF IN
ETERNAL TORMENT.
AT a Meeting held sotne time since in Sion College, an
interesting paper was read by Lord Lyttleton, which.subse-
quently appeared in the Contemporary Review. The drift
of his lordship'S views was decidedly against the traditional
view of future punishment.
In the course of the debate which followed, a remarkable
statement was made by the Rev. Rudolph Saffield, formerly
a Roman Catholic priest. He observed that no one knew so
well as a priest what was passing in other men's minds on
religious subjects; and that his own opportunities of ascer-
taining the effect of the popular doctrine upon the minds of
those who really believed it had, been very considerable. At
the request of one who was present, he afterwards wrote aut
the following abstract of the testimony which he then gave
from his own experience :-
"I am bound by honour now to observe faithfully the regu-
lations to which I was pledged when a Roman Catholic priest.
I am permitted by these, to be guided by the knowledge of
character and results obtained from the confessional, but so
as never to point things to individuals. My extensive experi-
ence for twenty years as confessor to thousands, whilst
Apostolic Missionary in most of the large towns of England,
in many portions of Ireland, in part of Scotland, and also in
France, is that, excepting instances I could count on my
fingers, the dogma of hell, though firmly believed in by
English and Irish Roman Catholics, did no moral or spirit-
ual good, but rather the reverse. It never affected the right
persons: it frightened, nay tortured, innocent young women,
and virtuous boys; it drove men and women into supersti- .
tious practices which all here would lament. It appealed
to the lowest motives and the lowest characters} not
however to deter from vice, but to make them the willing
subjects of 'sad and often puerile superstitions. It never
(excepting in the rarest cases,) deterred from the commision
of sin. It caused increasing m sntal and moral difficulties,
lowered the idea of God, and drove devout persons from, the
God of hell to the Virgin Mary. When a Roman Catholic, I
on different occasions conferred on the subject with thought-
ful friends among the clergy; who agreed with me in noticing
and deploring the same sad results. From the fear of,
hell we never expected virtue, or high motives,or a noble
life; but we practically found it useless as a deterrent. It
always influenced the wrong people, and in a wrong way.
"It caused' infidelity' to some, 'temptation' to others, and
misery without virtue to most. The Roman Catholics are
very sincere and' real'; and we found it difficult to avoid
violating the conscience, when we told them to love and
revere a God compromised to the creation of a hell of eternal
wretchedness for His own children, a God perpetrating what
72 THE BIBLE STANDARD.

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