The spirit is of God and is immortal. "God is Spirit."

I believe that all creeds have some good and some error. I believe that God looks on the heart and will judge according to the desires and opportunities and that he will not throw around me every safeguard and carry me to heaven while he leaves millions of his creatures, who would possibly have made much better use of their lives than I have done (if given my opportunities), to suffer endless torture. I believe it is the duty of every enlightened Christian to identify himself with some church, and I am a Presbyterian, because it more nearly than any other of the hundreds of Christian churches, approaches my ideal, and yet in its confession of faith, published in 1866, this question and answer are recorded: "What are the punishments of sin in the world to come?" Answer: "The punishments of sin in the world to come are everlasting separation from the comfortable presence of God and most grievous torments in soul and body, without intermission, in hell fire forever," (page 190); and on page 69, we are told that others not elected, although they may be called by the ministry of the word and may have some common operation of the Spirit, yet they never come to Christ, and, therefore, cannot be saved. Much less can men not professing Christian religion be saved in any other way whatsoever, be they ever so diligent to frame their lives according to the light of nature and the law of the religion they do profess. And to assert or maintain that they may, is very pernicious, and to be detested. Al

though Jesus said: "I have other sheep which are not of this fold," and Peter says in Acts 10:34 and 35, "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons but in every nation he that feareth him is accepted." And if there is the slightest scriptural warrant for infant baptism, I can not find it. And in that other sacred ordinance of the church, the holy communion, we read, in Ex. 34:25, "Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven, and Jesus instituted this memorial of himself with unleavened bread, and yet a great number of Presbyterean churches today seem to take pains to use leavened bread at this service, although we have both precept and the example of Jesus to guide us, and I have here pointed out the things that, to me, seem contrary to Scripture to show that no human organization, composed as it must be of imperfect individuals can be a perfect body. But there are some things on which all must agree, and John, in his first letter, gives us this test, by which we may know whether or not they are of God: "Hereby know ye the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God." And it cannot be denied that both Mrs. Eddy and Pastor Russell believe this doctrine, and they also quote Paul's testimony that "There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." It is also the only question put to the eunuch by Philip, who desired to be baptized (Acts 8:37); "And Philip said, 'If thou

believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.' And he answered and said, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.' And he baptized him." This is also the only doctrine of which John spoke. When he said in 2nd John, 1:10, "If there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him 'God speed.' " And Paul in I Cor., 15:22, says, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema Maranatha." And in Titus II, 7:13, he says, "Showing thyself a pattern of good works, in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech that cannot be condemned; not purloining, but showing all good fidelity that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things." And in verses 13 and 14 he speaks those marvelous words of hope and courage, "Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

To me the only point on which there can be no compromise, is contained in I John Chapters 4 and 5. For when one accepts, this "doctrine" concerning Jesus, he must of necessity accept the entire Bible because He always used Scripture to prove His position and to set at naught the adversary, and they are wise who profit by his example and do not call forth his lament, that "In vain they do worship me teaching for doctrine the commandments of men " (Matthew 15:9.)

VIII.

"HELL FIRE," OR ETERNAL PUNISHMENT.

An "eternity of punishment" is necessarily based on the supposition that Adam's race was created immortal. But do the Scriptures bear any such testimony? So universal, however, is this belief that it is interesting to ask Bible students, as well as others, why were Adam and Eve driven from the Garden of Eden, and to note that almost invariably the answer will be, "because of sin and disobedience," when the inspired record is that, God said "Lest they put forth their hand and eat of the tree of life, and live forever." If they were already immortal, why was this necessary? In Ezekiel we are told that "the soul that sinneth it shall die." Paul says: "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life." Jesus said: "Fear Him who hath power to destroy both soul and body in Hell." So it follows that we must understand what the Scriptures teach is meant by "soul." It occurs the first time in Genesis 1:20, marginal reading, which is given as the Hebrew for the word, interpreted, (not translated) life, as given to the moving creatures of the waters; a little later it is also said "Adam became a living soul." That the soul and spirit (or divine and immortal germ of life) are not identical, Paul, a lawyer and versed in all distinctions, says: "The word of God is sharper

than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit." (Heb. 4:12.) And in I Thes. 5:25, "I pray God, your whole spirit and soul and body." So that the phrase, the "immortal soul," so far as I can find, is without Scriptural warrant.

Again God said "In the day thou eateth thereof," (to Adam and Eve) "dying thou shalt die," but the serpent and mouth-piece of "the devil" said "ye shall not surely die,” and it is this colossal lie of the devil that still permeates much of orthodox teaching today! True, Jesus quotes the last verse of Isaiah, which reads that dead "carcasses" shall be cast into the crematory, "Where their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched." What does it matter if the fire is eternal if only carcasses are cast therein, and we know that not even they (carcasses) are burned by God for bodies are exhumed intact after thousands of years; and if it be contended that it is the soul that burns, is it possible to prove that that which is not material can be burned? God made the Heaven and the Earth, but who made "Hell" as orthodoxy and tradition picture it? In Jude, we read that Sodom and Gomorroh "are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Are they still burning? God is declared to be a "consuming fire." Can there be suffering where one is consumed or destroyed, as Paul expresses it (in the only instance) where he speaks of the final condition of the lost, "that know no God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with an everlasting destruction from the pres