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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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I ddctrine of the extreme and everlasting torments of the wicked * 3 : is it not tfoerefdre conceivable that the fbture restoration and happiness of all men , may apj > ear to the humble , virtuous and enlightened
inquirer , an expectation worthy of the Divine character , and not inconsistent with the Scripture ; whilst yet the Bible no where absolutely predicts that event ? 1 have thrown out these
Hints to relieve the difficulty Mr . F . suggests in saying , — ' * It would be strange indeed that on so important a subject reason should speak plainly aT * d revelation be profoundly silent . '
I now proceed to a re-examination of the texts , on which 1 ventured the remarks that' occasioned Mr . Fox ' s rfeply . Malt . xxv . 46 . " These shall go away into everlasting punishment . "
I , am referred to Simpson ' s Essays ( Vol . I . p . & 6 ) . But he does not satisfy rne that xoXa < rj £ signifies " not punishment in general but corrective panishment . " This is the first place rmi of only two where this noun
occurs in the New Testament ; and Simpson admits that " we cannot argue from it here . " / The second instance of its occurrence is I John iv . J 8 , and I think is very unfavourable to his interpretation . ** Fear hath KOXavig
torra « nt , " i . e . trouble or anguish , for the terriT is as indefinite as to time or intention as any word can be . It does not therefore always mean corrective punishment , 3 ncl consequently may have a different signification in Matt . xxv . 46 . If so it is not a
prediction of a * ' reforming process : and it certainly appears to me much more like a terrible threatening of indefinite punishment . 1 remember a person many years since , who had a singular mode of interpreting Scrip-- tare , when he came to this
passageg these shall goaway into everlasting punishment , " exclaimed , " Here is a Messed promise ! " 1 do not liken my respected friend F . to this wrong-Waded fanatic ; but it is worth consideration what views soir . c persons
afe likely to have of the Scriptures , when they hear the same text represented by one as a terrible threatening —toy a second as a prediction of happiness— -4 irid by a third as a blessed premise ! !
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Rom . v \\\ . ig ^ -23 ^ , , another careful examination of this passage I am led to conclude that the Apostleis speaking u ^ f < he resprmctioo Qf thedead universally , as a truth of
Christianity , according with the general hopes and indistinct apprehensions ot all * nen , even the Heathens , concerning a future life . And inasmuch * as death is an universal evil brought upon men not for the particular sins ^ of each individual , and their state in ?
the grave may well be called ** the bondage of _ corruption ; " therefore their resurrection to life again will be a glorious deliverance , such a deliverance as even those who are now tfae sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus , look forward to with earnest expectation and desire , as leading them to th < 3 highest felicity . .
xet be it remembered , that our Lord has affirmed that some will rise at that day " unto condemnation *" John v . 29 . I fully , admit that if the wicked are to be raised to ever * lasting tormcnts \ x \ the orthodox sense , their resurrection would be the ^ most : awful curse that Divine vengeance ,-could inBict . The Apostle predicts ? that all mankind will be raised at
the-Jast day , but not that all will be raised to immediate happiness \ which indeed he could not di > without con ^ tradicting his Masterv Yet the resurrection of all men is spoken of in , this < passage , and in Rom . v . 12— -21 , which 1 had omitted to notice in rayformer paper , as a blessing and- the , gift of Divine grace- If it be injhred from hence that the wicked will be
subsequently reformed and f jfcnally ? happy , a . s Mr . F . does , \ am so faf from opposing the inference , that , 1 think it a delightful theory and a , very probable expectation . But ^ hat it \ %
predicted I do not perceive * r L ? h ^ r « is an obscurity in t , he last quoted pas */ sage , arising firom the alterpater use of the words *> i < vhy aud a /^ , which yefc drt not seem qu ^ le synonii ^ ous , tbat . de- * serves the attention of t , he
Scriptu-ralcritic . 1 Cor , xv . 24 . 1 was not > aware when my la&t paper was written thai any stress would be laid upon the rendering , pf bitcc qfterward& 9 in prefere nee to the common trarala-iicFrt lh * n . It is poti very aafe to . rest any doctrine uport merp verbal ctiticiiiin * Tiie M ^> rdt atlerjwvr . dM 4 o ^ s ? a 5 ro 4 tvwe ^
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Qp 1 $ fc Sttiptare j& ^ mtnfjbr ^ nma ^ &es ^
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1817, page 158, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2462/page/30/
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