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Principles <yf Government.
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it must be observed , cannot by any figure be made to express an eternity of living torment , it does certainly seem to justify the doctrine of
extinction of being : but to make the parallel complete , as the first death is followed by a resurrection , so should the second death be followed by restitution to life .
" The worm that dieth not , and the fire that is not quenched , " do not necessarily imply either eternal conscious torment , or lingering annihilation . This allusion to the cast-out carcases of malefactors , and to the fire in the valley of Hinnom , for the consuming
refuse of the city of Jerusalem , may imply that the instruments of salutary wrath will not cease their agency , till their purpose be effected : and this purpose may be , not the destruction of the being of the wicked , but only of their sinful natures . The declaration of
Jesus , " every one shall be salted with fire , " seems to contain a reference to purifying chastisement . The parable of the adversary ( a plaintiff ) dragging the debtor before the judge , by whom he is cast into
prison , may illustrate this question . It is said , " Verily , thou shalt not come out thence , till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing . " I cannot regard this parable as conveying only a rule of life , or a lesson of worldly prudence-It seems to me an evident allegory of our relations with God : and the
adversary at law is the emblematic evil one , or sin , who is represented as having a suit against us at the bar of the Almighty Judge . If this be so , the final restitution is at once proved . If this interpretation be rejected , we may still contend that if definite punishment be not absolutely expressedin
Scripture , it may he infewcd from it . God's mercy is said " to ^ endure for ever : " he is said " not to keep his anger for ever : " he is said " in judgment to remember mercy : " and finally , it is said , that " God is love . " These declarations cannot be true , if eternal
torment be true : but can they be true , even on the mitigated hypothesis of destruction ? It is well observed , by Hartley , that the Jewish nation appears to be a type of the general human race . With the Jews the angry visitations of Providence are clearly remedial . The prophesied restoration of the
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dispersed tribes of Jsrael may prefigure the restitution of the reformed wicked . E .
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398 Principles of € fov&rrim&kh '
Principles ≪Yf Government.
Principles < yf Government .
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[ In these times of political degeneracy , we esteem it a duty to use Our influence to awaken men ' s minds to the true principles of government ,
and therefore insert the following admirable passage from Stonehouse ' s series of ' tetters , entitled , Universal Restitution farther Defended , printed at Bristol , in 17 68 , Let . VII . It contains a compendium of Mr . Locke ' s Treatise on Government . The author
is replying to an argument for the necessity of the doctrine of reprobation from the destination of the mighty men who are doomed in the book of Revelation to be mightily tormented . Ed . ] NOW as to the expression mighty men , we shall fix its import
upon this very principle , as follows , 1 Cor . xi . 3 , " Christ is the head of every man j" but , whereas men are fallen or apostate creatures , and therefore subject to vicious appetites and passions , which will prompt them to fall foul on , and oppress each other ; their Lord has authorized them to
form themselves into societies , or associations , for their mutual protection from injuries foreign and domestic t and the men chosen of them , and constituted from among their brethren to be administers to this their protection , are called mighty : they are
mighty in that they are supported by the united force of the whole society , occasionally contributed , with a view to preserve to the society , who are their constituents , the free use of their rights ,, liberties , and prerogatives , and the uninterrupted enjoyment of the products of their labours . And I
dare assert , that in this appointment , they are justly and innocently mighty . But you object , that the mighty men of whom I speak are invested with their authority from God : and that these are so , is also true . It being insisted upon by us that every people and nation , even all whom the blood of
Christ has purchased , are Christ ' s absolute property , and to be considered as his vassals or pecuHum ; and that this vassalage is not partial , but , by the exactest law of justice , absolute , unlimited * and without ex-
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1817, page 398, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2466/page/22/
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