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life and death , as the reward of the rig hteous , and the punishment of the wicked , it appears to ipe that the Universalists revg ^ e this rule . For in applying it to life , which from aJJ that we know of it is short and transient , they tell us it means absolutely
without end ; but in applying it to death , which appears to be naturally eternal , they say it can , ftom the nature of the subject , ni ^ a ° ®\ % * Mmited period . But \ yhy this , $ hou | dbe the case I own I am utterly at a loss to determine . The reason that is some *
times given tfyat the punishment of the wicked cannqt be eternal death , because it is inconsistent with the wisdom ai > di goodness of God to destroy any of the rational creatures he has once thought fit to make , I think has never been sufficiently made out . For what is there inconsistent either with
his wisdom or goodness , that a creature , who by his own wilful abuse of the powers bestowed upon him , has rendered his existence a misery , instead of a blessing , to himself and all with whom he
is connected , should be again put out of existence , in order to prevent the mischief that would be a necessary consequence of his continuing longer in it .
That death , or total loss of ex . istence , should be tjhe necessary consequence of vicious and mischievous conduct is so far iroin
being a defect ; that it appears to me to be one of the most striking marks of berieyolence in the Divine plan : for whatgcjpd can pos-9 ibjy arise froni continuing in existence a being the natural and necessary conseqijence of wjiose actions is misery and woe ! And what stronger motive can be set
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before us to endeavour to promote the well-being and happiness of our felloe-creatures , than a certainty that spqh conduct will necessarijy procure everlasting life and happiness to ourselves ; and
that misery and destruction will as certainly be the consequence of a contrary conduct ? Or what can be a stronger mark of the goodness of the Divine Being to his creatures ?
But we are asked why a Being who is perfect in power and goodness does not reclaim the wicked inpst ^ ad of destroying them ; and whether that would not be more
consistent with his goodness ? We njay , It hitik , as well ask thcoftearppeated question , why he should adroit apy imperfection at all into his creation ; or how a Being who is all perfection himself can possibly produce any thing that is not so ? Difficulties of this kind
must continue to arise to us till we are as perfect in knowledge as the Being who made us ; or at least much more so than we are at present . But 1 think it appears more consistent with goodness to
destroy the long and obstinately wicked , than to use the means that would be necessary in order to reclaim them ; especially if it be true , as asserted by Universalist writers , that ages of ages of undescribable torment will be
necessary for that purpose . Uniyersalj ^ ts tell us that this subject is left in the most profound obscuri ty ^ but I trust it . will be found , upon mature and unprejudiced
examination , that it is their system , and not the scriptures , that leave it so ; and that Jesus Christ , who ha ? brought < c life and immortality to light , " has declared in very plain terms who it is that
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Arguments for the Destruction of the Wicked * 675
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1814, page 675, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2446/page/15/
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