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Untitled Article
thjipk the ; doptrine of limited and cd ^ rectjive piizushment , issuing in the restoration of the punished , lively to be true . Lately my
atteruipn has been excited afresh by the communications of your correspondents who advocate the doctrine of endless destruction ,
their consideration I beg leave to submit a few enquiries and difficultieSj which if they can answer and solve to my satisfaction , I shall be disposed to take their side of the question ,
1 . Having been taught to think the vyicked will remain insensible in the grave till the resurrection , I know not how to reconcile with the goodness and mercy of God 16 them , ( and we are told , " He is good to all , and his tender
mercies are over all his works / ' ) the supposition that he will bring them from the silence of the tomb , to exist in misery and torment , for an indefinite period , and then endlessly destroy them . Conceiving that the righteous hereafter will be in such a confirmed state
of moral purity , that no terrible examples can be necessary to keep them from sinning , I cannot discover of what use the punishment of the wicked can be to them . If
their punishment issue in total loss of being , it appears to me it will be an infliction of useless suffering i and I know not how to believe that God , who is infinitely good , will inflict useless suffering on the most worthless of his
creatures . 2 . I have been taught to believe that the resurrection and future life are groat blessings , that Jesus Christ is an unspeakable gift , because these blessings c ^ ou ; b y Jiim , that they constitute an essential part of th gospeL pn <)
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that the assuring them to Us stamps the highest value on the death and resurrection of our Saviour } but if millions of the human race he raised from the dead only to
suffer , and be eternally lost , I cannot see how the resurrection , or a future life , can be any blessing to them ; it appears to me rather in the ligh L of a curse , nor , so far as relates * to their future
state , how Christ can be an unspeakable gift , or the gospel glad tidings .
3 . I have understood your cor . respondents , the destrucUonistS ) to assert that the proper punishment of sin is deaths destruction , perdition , by which they mean utter loss of existence ; but this appears to me clogged with difficulties . If total loss of existence
be the punishment to be inflicted on sinners hereafter , how can there be any degrees in future punish * ment , which the scriptures seem clearly to teach there will be * and which it is perfectly reasonable there should be , as all are not
equally guilty . Besides , if total loss of being be the punishm € nt , why raise them from the dead at all ? Why not let them remain in the dust when already there ? Would not this answer the
purpose as completely as raising them up to place them there again ? It will not remove my difficulty for the destructionist to say , they will suffer in different degress , in proportion to their crimes , first , and then be destroyed ; because
this appears to me to be changing the ground , and making the punishment to be something distinct from death , which was before said to be the punishment itself , and making death to be merely that in which the punishment will issue .
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2 £ & Inqu&rie * concerning Future Punishment *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1814, page 276, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2440/page/20/
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