“The Wisdom from Above is flie Noblest Science and Best Instruction”

Vol. 20

TORONTO, ONT.

No. 1

WHERE ARE THE DEAD?

’ OUR FRIENDS, OUR NEIGHBORS, THE HOLY, THE UNHOLY, THE CIVILIZED, THE VILE?

The proper answer to this question stands related to our own destiny, colors and influencesour theology and the entire trend of our Hues! .The correct answer gives strength, confidence, courage, and assists towards the spirit of a sound mind!

“Men and brethren, let me freely speak to you of the patriarch-David, that he ⁷ is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. For David is not ascended into the heavens.’’ (Acts 2: 29, 34.) ‘ ‘And no man hath ascended up to Heaven, but He that came down from Heaven, even the Son of Man.”—John 3,: 13.

./ For a man to declare himself uninterested in this subject would be to proclaim himself idiotic—thoughtless. If the ordinary affairs of this present life, food, raiment, finance, politics, etc., which concern us but for a few years, are deemed worthy of thought, study, how much more concern should we have in respect to the eternal future of ourselves and neighbors and mankind in general?

Of course, so important a question has had the most profound study ever since the reign, of Sin and Death

. began, six thousand years ago. By this time the subject should be threadbare. The entire world should be so thoroughly informed respecting this question that there would be nothing new to say and nobody curious to hear. But the large audiences of intelligent, thoughtful people which come to hear, and which listen with

(2) The other large class of heathen believe in a spirit our Catholic view of the proper answer t® your fines-—^Jxi- ¹-----^{1 J}*          i .   ..       ■.       - non, Where are the dead? . The vast majority are in

Purgatory. The billions of the heathen ar® there; because ignorance does not say, does not qualify i®r the Heavenly condition. All who enter Heaven must previously have been fitted and prepared in a nauer impossible to the heathen. Millions of Pr®t®atanta are there. They could'hot enter Heaven, except through the Catholic Church; neither would God deem them subjects^- of eternal hell, because thein. rejection of * Catho-licism was due to the confession of faith V.2&9C they were born and environed.

“Nearly all Catholics go to Purgatory als®, becausfl, notwithstanding the good offices of our Church, our holy water, confessions, masses, holy candles, consecrated burying ground, etc., nevertheless, -not having '

world with happy hunting grounds for the good and a hell of varied torments for the wicked. We are told

that when people seem to die they really become more alive than^- ever, and that the very moment they cross the river Styx they go to the realms of either the blessed or the forever doomed, and that there are steps, or degrees, of punishment and reward. We inquire, Where did you receive these views? The answer is; They, have been with us for a long, long time. We know not where they came from. Our learned men have handed them down to us as truths, and we have accepted them as such.

But Heathenism’s answer is not satisfactory to our heads and hearts. We must look further. We must not

trust to speculation. We must look for Divine Revela- «£««« uuxymg gruunu, e»c., .uerm^-kuw<as, tion; the Message from Him with whom we have to attained to saintship of character, they would We ex-do-—our Creator.                                        eluded from Heaven until the distressing experience®

, of Purgatory would prepare their hearts for Heaven, We held, however,' that for the reason stated. Catholic®'

The Catholic Answer to Our Question.

we neia, nowever, tnat ior xne reason staieo, v»uioucb> thS                                        ^q           Will not need to remain as long In Purgatory as wilS

that intelligent one-fourth of the world s population —              - —   -               °    *

breathless interest to what we have to say, imply that, ' after all the study the subject has had, but few

thoroughly satisfied with their conclusions.

The Agnostic Answers the Question.

Before presenting what we claim is the Scriptural only satisfactory answer to our query, we think it proper . respect to the intelligence and thought of

are

and hut our

known as Christendom. We say, Christendom, What is your answer to. the question? The reply is, “We are

day and of past centuries to intake general inquiries on the subject and have before our minds the most profound thoughts of the most astute thinkers of our race. • We cannot, however, go into this matter elaborately and* give lengthy quotations. We must content ourselves with brief, synoptical answers, which will be stated kindly and truthfully, and with a desire not to offend anybody, however much we may disagree with his conclusions. We recognize the right of every man to do his own thinking and to reach his own conclusions, whether these agree with our conceptions or not.

We begin our examination by asking our agnostic friends, who boast of their untrammeled freedom of thought, “What say you, Free-thinkers, in reply to our query, Where are the dead?’’ Their answer is, “We do not know. We would like to believe in a future life, but we have no proof of it. Lacking the evidences, our conclusion is that man dies as does the brute beast. If our conclusion disappoints your expectations in respect to there being joy for the saints, it certainly should be comforting to all as respects the vast majority of our race, who certainly would be much better off perished like the brute beast than to be preserved in torture, as the majority believe.’’

We thank our agnostic friends for the courteous reply, but feel that the answer is not satisfactory, either to our heads or to our hearts, which cry out that there must, or should be, a future life; that the Creator made man with powers of mind and heart so superior to the brute that his per-eminence in the Divine Plan should be expected. Furthermore, the brevity of the present life, its tears, it sorrows, its experiences, its lessons, will nearly all be valueless, useless, unless there be a future life—an opportunity for making use of these lessons. We must look further for some more satisfactory answer to our question.

The Heathen Answer to Our Query.

Since three-fourths of the world are heathen, the weight of numbers implies that they next should be asked for their solution to the question—Where are the dead? Heathenism gives two general answers:

(1) Prominent among them are those which hold to Transmigration. These reply to us, “Our view is that when a man dies he does not die, but merely changes his form. His future estate will correspond to his present living, b.nd give him either a higher or a lower position. We believe that we lived on e^rth before, perhaps as cats, dogs, mice, elephants, or what not, and that if the present life has been wisely used, we may reappear as men of nobler talents, as philosophers, etc.; but if, as usual, life has been - mis-spent, at death we will be remanded to some lower form of being——an ele-i phant, a worm, or what not. It is because of this belief that we are so careful in respect to our treatment of the lower animals and refuse to eat meat of any kind. Were we to trample ruthlessly on the. worm, our punishment might be to be given a form in which we our- , selves would be treated ruthlessly after the change which we tall death.”

testant view." Let us hear the Catholic view (Greek and Roman) first, then, because age, as well as num-beys, suggests such precedence.

Catholic friends, give us, please, the results of your labors and studies, the conclusions of your ablest thinkers and theologians, in respect to the Revelation which you claim to have from God on this subject,

Where are the dead? patiently, unbiasedly.

We will hear you thoughtfully, Our Catholic friends respond:

“Our teachings. are very explicit along the lines of your question. We have canvassed the subject from every standpoint in the light of Divine Revelation. Our conclusion and teaching are that when any one dies he goes to one of three places: first the saintly, of whom we claim there are but a few, go immediately to the presence of God, to Heaven. These are referred to by our Lord, saying, ‘Whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after Me, cannot be My disciple.’ (Luke 14: 27.) Those who faithfully bear the cross are the Little Flock, the Elect. Respecting these Jesus says, ‘Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth to life, and few there be that find it.’ (Matthew 7; 14.) These saintly do not include our clergy, not even our bishops, cardinals and popes; for you will find that when any of these die it is a custom of the Church that masses be said for the repose of their souls. We would not say masses for any we believe to be in Heaven, because there surely is repose for every soul; neither would we say masses for them if we belieWed them to be in eternal hell, for masses could not avail them there. We might remark, however, that we do not teach that many go to the eternal hell. It is our teaching that only incorrigible heretics—persons who have had a full knowledge of Catholic doctrines and who have wilfully

the Protestants and Heathen.”

We can thank our Catholic friends for so kind a* statement of their case. We will not ask them whers^? information respecting it, because such q»estibu«^t »igh’^ offend them, and we have no desire to offend. We mere ly wish for their ripest, clearest, maturest thought re*-specting our question. We regret to say "that thd answer is not all that we might have hoped for in clearness and reasonableness and Scriptaralnes?. ^ur hearts are heavy with the thought that our poor race, by reason of Original sin, is already, as the Apostle says, a “groaning creation,” and the present life of a tert years is full of trouble. It is saddening, discouraging to all of us, to think of being obliged to have, when present trials and diffidulties are past, even for centuries (not to mention eternity), such awful experiences as Dante portrays, even though those centuries of anguish would purge us and fit us for the Divine'presence and Heavenly glory. It may seem strange to some theologians, but it is nevertheless true, that the answer of Catholicism ,to our question is

not much better than the answer of Heathendom. Nei-

ther out' heads nor our hearts are not be wrong to look further satisfactory.

The Protestant Answer to

yet satisfied. It can-for something more

Our Question,

and deliberately opposed them—these alone awful, hopeless fate.

Millions to Purgatory.

“The dead in general, according to’ our

meet the

I class myself as a Protestant without thereby meaning any disrespect to anybody else. I assume thbt the majority of my readers are Protestants. I remind you that many of us, in times past, have been inclined to boast a little of Protestant “breadth of mind,’* “intelligence,’’ “education,’’ etc. May we not reasonably expect from Protestants a clear, logical, satisfactory answer to our question? Having found all the other answers unsatisfactory, and having now come t® the ®ne-twelfth portion of our race, which has had meat advantage every way, we might ‘reasonably expect te find in

its answer the quintessence of wisdom and proof from * every quarter and from every age. But what do we

teaching, the name

pass immediately to Purgatory, which is, as - . indicates, a place of purgation from sin, a place of penances, sorrows, woes, anguish indeed, but not hopeless. The period of confinement jiere may be centuries or thousands of years, according to the deserts of the individual and the alleviations granted. If you would know more particularly the Catholic teaching on this subject, we refer you to the writings of one of our great Catholics, the noted poet Dante, a loyal Catholic, at one time an Abbot, who died in a. monastery with the

full rights of the Church. Dante’s poem, ‘Inferno,’ graphically describes the tortures of Purgatory; as we understand thel matter. You can procure at almost any library an illustrated copy Of this great Catholic, poem.

“Dor6, the artist, was also a prominent Catholic, and he portrayed Dante’s poem vividly and truthfully.. The illustrations show the torments of Purgatory vividly—— how the demons chase soiAe until they leap over precipices into boiling water. They ply others with fiery darts. Others are burned with heads downwards; others with feet downward in pits. Some are bitten by serpents. Still others are frozen, etc. We advise that you see Dante’s work ‘Inferno.* because it gives

Send for our i«sue. Vol. 202. which treats on ‘'Spiritism; is it Demonism ? Free.              •

find, dear friends? With shame I say it, We find the very reverse! We find that the voice of Protestantism as a whole (barring numerically insignificant danpmina-tions) giving the most absurd answer to my quootion. that could be conceived—an answer which is put to shame by the Catholics, the heathen and the agnostics. Is not this marvelous? Can this he? It is written, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.’* Boar with me, therefore, while I expose to you the weakness of our {position as Protestants; not with a view to our vexation and shame, but with the thought that our intelligent investigation of the subject can be turned to our advantage and enable us to know the Truth and to

lift the true, Divine standard before the people ^te the intent that we and all may come to clearer vieWc^ef ear

Heavenly Father’s character, purposes and futr ings with our race.

Permit me. as gently as possible, te teach spot. The removal of the bandages and the of the sore may cause us pain, but the i? should be helpful, nevertheless. We rot Protestants, from the fact that, our inteH^e meaning forefathers, who were Catholics, t* they discovered inconsistencies and unsorip Catholic doctrines in which they had been re protested against these, and hence came the testants. We cannot defend all that they di

enemies nor all that their enemies did t®

-,®®re

One of the points of protest of our forefathers was that they could find nothing of Purgatory anywhere, _v nor any declaration respecting it in the Bible. -With a simplicity that is certainly marvelous to us, they concluded that they would merely pick up their views of Purgatory aadthrow them away forever. This left them Heaven and m£ll, into one of which, they said, every member of the race, must go at death and there spend his eternity. Quite’ evidently these well-meaning forefathers of ours were not as long-headed, far-sighted and logical as we might have expected them to be, when they did not perceive the difficulty into which they were walking. Rather we should say, perhaps, that they did see something of the difficulty, but viewed matters diffierently from what we do. The theory of Calvin and Knox prevailed at that time amongst Protestants, and led each denomination to hope that it was God’s Elect, and that it would constitute the Little Flock who would go to Heaven, while all the remainder /of mankind would be consigned to an eternity of hellish torture.

Ne longer does either Catholic or Protestant pray, “God bless me and my wife,

•          My son John and his wife,

Us four and no more.*’

Both Catholics and Protestants, looking back* to that period which weoften^term the Dark Ages, have reason to give thanks to God for the anointing of the eyes of our understanding, which enables us, we believe, to think moire logically than our forefathers. Even those of us reared under the doctrine of Predestination have lost the idea that the heathen were passed by because they were predestinated to damnation. Instead, those who accepted the Westminster confession of faith are to-day the most zealous in the preaching^of the Gospel amongst the heathen*by missionary effort? We are glad of this. It is a sign that our hearts are in truer and nobler condition, even though our heads have not yet gotten into proper adjustment with our hearts; and we still loolg crooked doctrines and endeavor to imagine them altogether straight.

Theoretically, Protestant doctrines stand with the Bible and with Catholics, and declare that Heaven is a place of                   • '-.’.it *’               ¹ ....               + ,>

who                       tbair-w**--n*⁵ refinement;’alt

chiseling, all polishing of character must be accomplished in advance of an entrance into the abode of the saints. In a word, we agree that only the saints will the “pu^ in heart,’’ the “over-comers,” the “little frock,” who now walk in the footsteps of J?sus. What about the remainder of mankind? Ahl there is the difficulty. Our larger hearts will not consent that all except the saints must suffer an eternity of torture, though this is the logic of our creeds. Our hearts protest, saying that three-fourths of humanity to-day are heathen, and that fully that proportion of humanity, altogether, have never heard of God and the terms of salvation.

The Best of People Perplexed.

Our creeds perplex us; for, as our hearts will not permit us to think of these poor creatures going to an eternity of misery, neither will our heads permit us to say that they are fit for Heaven. Indeed, it would be at variance not only with the Scripture, but also with reason itself, to suppose Heaven with three-fourths of its inhabitants unregenerate in every sense of the word. Our forefathers merely spoiled things for us when they threw away Purgatory and kept the remainder of such> arrangement. If we must object to Purgatory as being unscriptural, must we not equally object to the eternal torment of all the families of the earth as being un-scriptural, especially when the Bible declares that all the families of the earth shall be blessed through Christ—blessed with a knowledge of the Truth and opportunity to come into heart-harmony with... God and attain everlasting life through Christ. I believe that it is necessary to press this -point of the unreasonableness of the eternal tormeht doctrine. Nevertheless, I will remind you of what our prominent Protestant theories are on the subject:

(1) The Calvinistic thought is'that Divine Wisdom and Power planned for mankind in advance—knew of the fall of man in advance, and prepared, therefor by the creating of a great place called Hell* and the man-' ning of it with fire-proof devils, for the torment of the _race—_an except that Little Flock, the Elect. Love and Justice were left out of this calculation. (2) The other prominent Protestant theory, the Arminian, held to-day probabiy by the majority, insists that both LoVe and Justice created the world and arranged the torment, and that Wisdom and Power were not consulted; hence that God has gotten into difficulty, while endeavoring to do ’nstly and lovingly, by His creatures, because lacking In power to render the needed aid. The entire difficult).- dear friends, is thaL in our reasoning on the subject/ ve have merely asked the opinions of men and hf ot sought the Word of the Lord.

I <    surprise you, I fee! sure, when I bring to

your      Gon now the clear, plain, reasonable, just,

^: ]_ov;         ise Program of our Heavenly Father. It

tong overlooked, so long buried under the nu         man tradition of the Dark Ages, that $o-

daj          is stranger than fiction.” Well did our

Loi          i the Prophet, declare:

‘        heavens are higher than the earth, so are

My igher than your ways, and My plans higher than .    plans.”-—Isaiah 55: 9.

our Lord that it was too late; that putrefaction had set in by this time. But Jesus insisted on seeing the tomb, and when He arrived at it, He cried, “Lazarus, come forth!” And we read, “He that was dead came forth.” (John 11:43, 44.) Mark well that it was not the living that came forth, but that Lazarus that was really dead. Mark well that he was not called from Heaven, nor from Purgatory.

“All That Are in Their Graves.”

What Jesus did for Lazarus He intimated He would ultimately do for Adam and his entire race. Note His words: “The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth.” (John 5:28, 29.) Does this astonish us? If eo, the reason is not far to seek. It is because we have gotten so far away from the teachings of the Bible, so fully immersed in the “doctrines of devils,” we have come so fully to believe in the serpent’s lie, “Ye shall not surely die,” so blinded .to the Lord’s declaration,

“Ye shall surely die’’ and death.’ ’

“the wages of sin is

The remainder of John 5:29 explains that there will be two genetal classes of the dead to come forth. The first, those who have had their trial and who have passed it successfully; the second, all the remainder of mankind who have thus far failed to have Divine approval. The approved will come forth from the tomb unto a

resurrection of life—perfection. ^r come forth “unto a resurrection

The disapproved will

Revised Version). The coming fort!

of judgment” (see ;h is one thing. The

resurrection is another. The Apostle explains that they will come forth, “every man in his own order.” (1 Corinthians 15:23.) On thus being awakened, the privilege will be theirs of rising up, up, up, out of present degradation—mental, moral, physical—to the glorious perfection which Father Adam enjoyed in the image and likeness of his Creator. The uplifting or resurrection work St. Peter refers to as “the Restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His Holy Prophets since the world began.”—Acts 3:21.

Not Universalism, Either.

Nor does this mean universal everlasting life, for the Scriptures declare that such as refuse to profit by the glorious opportunities of the Millennium, such as refuse to be uplifted to perfection, shall be destroyed from amongst the people, in the Second Death—“They shall be as though they had not been.” (Obadiah 16.) I remind you again of our Lord’s teaching on this subject. He entered the synagogue at Capernaum, and, being asked to read the lesson, He chose Isaiah, 61st chapter, and read respecting Himself and His work—that a part of it would be “to open the prison doors and set at liberty the captives.” We are well aware that our Lord did not open any of the literal prisons, such as John the Baptist was confined in. He made.no effort to succor him. The prison-house which Chrifpwill open is the great prison-house, the tomb, which-now’ holds approximately twenty thousand millions of our race. Ai His Second Advent our Lord- will open this great prison-house and cause all the p ’isoners to come- forth, ju^e‘t .•'s tr”ly as lie did ?n the 'ase of Lazarus. Nor will He call them from xleu.^xx, x'a^tci.v nvi just as He declared, “Lazarus, come forth,” so “all that are in their graves shall heav His voice and come forth.* ’

Jesus did, and to develop in their hearts the fruits and graces of the Holy Spirit to such a degree that they might be called “copies of God’s dear'Son.”

The promise to these is not the resurrection of Restitution promised to the world during the Millenium. On the contrary, these have a “Heavenly Calling.’’ After their consecration they are begotten of the Holy Spirit and then instructed in the School of Christ and subjected to trials and disciplines in various ways, for the purpose of chiseling and polishing their characters as New Creatures. These are a Little Flock, gathered one here and one there; “saints” from all denominations, and from outside of all denominations, for “the Lord knoweth them that are His.’’ When the predestinated number of the Elect shall have been selected and polished, the present Age will end. Our Lord will come^J in Second Advent glory and Power. His elect Bride will Constitute the First Resurrection, class, changed from earthly to heavenly nature, “in a moment,” for “flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.”—1 Corinthians 15x5,0. 52.

Then will come the holy, invisible Millennial Kingdom, and the binding of Satan and the destruction of his unholy, invisible kingdom, and the setting loose of agencies for the enlightening and uplifting of the whole race.            ■

To those of my readers who are already the Lord’s consecrated saints, I say, Lift up your heads, and realize more fully than ever before the glorious fullness of the “Heavenly Calling,” of which you have been made partakers. To others who have the hearing ear and appreciate this High Calling, we say, Permit the love of God and of Christ to constrain you, and become disciples indeed of Jesus, laying aside every weight, and every besetting sin, and entering the race and pressing with vigor to its end and the crown of glory I

TO US THE SCRIPTURES CLEARLY TEACH.

That the Church is “the Temple of the Living God’’— peculiarly “His workmanship’’; its construction has been in progress throughout the Gospel Age ever since Christ became the world’s Redeemer and. Chief Corner Stone of His Temple, through which, when finished, God’s blessing shall come “to all people,’* and they find access to Him.—1 Corinthians 3:16, 17 ; Ephesians 2:20; Genesis 28:14; Galations 3:29.

That meantime the chiseling, shaping and polishing of consecrated believers in GJirist’s Atonement for sin progresses; and when the last of these “living stones,’’ “Elect and precious,*’ shall have been made ready, the great Master Workman will bring all to-

gether in the First Resurrection; and the Temple shall be filled with IJis glory, and be the meeting place between God and men throughout the Millennium.—Revelation 15:5-8; 21:3.

That the Basis of Hope, for the Church and the World, lies in the fact that “Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man,’’ “a Ransom for all,’’ and will be “the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh Into the worM,” “in due time.’’—Hebrews 2:9; John 1:9; 1 Timothy 2:5, 6.

That the Hope of the Church is that she may be like her Lord, “see Him as He is,*’ be “partaker of the Divine nature,’’ and share His glory as His joint-heir.—1 John 3:2; John 17:24; Romans 8:17; 2 Peter 1:4.

That the present mission of the Church $s the perfecting of the saints for the future work, of service; to develop in herself every grace; to bq God’s witness to the world; and to prepare to be kings and priests in the next Age.—Ephesians 4:12; Matthew 24:14; Revelation 1:6; 20:6.

That the hope for the World lies in the blessings of knowledge and opportunity to be brought to all by Christ’s Millennial Kingdom—the Restitution of all that was lost in Adam, to all the willing and obedient, at the hands of their Redeemer and His Glorified Church—when all the wilfully wicked will be destroyed.—Acts 3:19-23; Isaiah 35.

We affirm the pre-existence of Jesus as the mighty Word (Logos—spokesman) “the beginning of the creation of God,’’ “the First-Born of every creature,’’ the active agent of the Heavenly Father, Jehovah, in all the work of creation. “Without Him was not anything made that was made.’’-—Revelation 3:14; Colossians 1:15; John 1:3.

We affirm that the Word (Logos) was' made flesh— became tlie Babe of Bethlehem—thus becoming the Man Jesus, “holy, harmless, indefiled, separate from sinners.¹’ As we affirm the humanity of Jesus, we equally affirm the Divinity of Christ—“God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name.’’—Hebrews 7 :26; Philippians 2:9.

We acknowledge that the personality of the Holy Spirit is the Father and Son; that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both, and is manifested in. all who receive the begetting of the Holy Spirit and thereby become sons of God.—John 1:12; 1 Peter 1:3.

We affirm the resurrection of Christ—that He was put to death in flesh but quickened in Spirit. We deny that He was raised^ in the flesh, aud challenge any statement to that effect as being unscriptural.—1 Peter 3:18; 2 Corinthians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 15:8; Acts 26:13-15.                       -

WHAT IS THE SOUL?

“He spared not their souls from death.”—Psalm 78. 5G.

Where Are the D*vxi?

My dear friends, you have had before your minds the answers to our question from the highest to the lowest

earthly authorities. None of them was satisfactory. Now you have heard the testimony of God’s Word—the Divine declaration as to “Where are the dead?’’ Hark-

will possibly say, Ah, No one believes in the immortality 6f the body. Everybody the body dies, that it needs resupply continually and that, hence it cannot be immortal. But the Scriptures speak of souls. May it not be that the soul is indestructible?—that God having made a soul .cannot destroy it?

Reason tells us that, unless there is absolute proof to the contrary, the life of every creature is subject to

could put a‘million of them into n nutshell;’'—a very good {ixgju.nit'i.Q.ij, of                       "’d savt

God Able to Destroy Boffi Soni and Body.

The body is not the

as somp

this is

...xv..     ____ ______ _____ the will of the Creator. Nqw notice that the Scrip-

ening to the voice from Heaven, we are assured that tures nowhere speak of the immortality of the soul, as ■   -   -          ”   ’ ’     ’ ■ ’ ¹' ” •’ ' ’   - - - - some people seem to suppose—neither in the transla-

the dead are really dead, and that all their hopes as respects the future are centered, first, upon the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus, accomplished . at Calvary, and secondly, upon the work of resurrection which, at’ His Second Advent. He is to accomplish for those whom He redeemed. If perchance you have a

shade of disappointment as respects a saintly brother or sister, father or mother or child, whom you hoped was already in Heaven, then as a consolation, look at the other side of the question—behold now many of your loved ones, kith and kin. friends and foes and neighbors, according to your theory and all the prevalent theories, have been suffering untenable woe since their death, and would be suffering similarly for long centuries to come. Consider the relief of mind and heart you get from the knowledge of the Truth; that they are not alive anywhere, but simply dead, or, more poetically, they are “asleep in Jesus, W in the sense that He is their Redeemer, in whom all their hopes of a future awakening reside.                  ,

Briefly I remind you that although in this hour we have discarded theories long held, nevertheless they never were beautiful, never ^ere reasonable, never were Scriptural. Are we not glad in Divine Providence we now see the teachings of the Scriptures on this most important subject? With the fading of the error from our minds should come instead a great appreciation of the true charcter of our God and a desire to worship and serve Him more reverently, more earnestly, than ever before. There should also some to us a greater reverence than ever for God’s Book, the Bible. The fact that it has stood before the world for these many, many centuries, misrepresented by friends and foes, yet ultimately vindicated as the only truth-teller on this-_?im-portant subject, is sufficient ground for our determination to adhere closely to its teachings in the future.

Present Your Bodies Sacrifices.

Just a closing word! Our subject would lack a proper finish if we did not explain Scripturally why God has delayed the world’s blessing, the resurrection, for nearly two thousand years since the death of Jesus. The reason is such a glorious one! It must appeal to every true Christian heart and make it glad. It is this:

God purposed the selection of the Church before the blessing of resurrection should go to the world. This Church is called sometimes “the Body of Christ, which is the Church,” of which Jesus is the Head. Again, it is styled “the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife.” Ever since Pentecost the Heavenly Father has been drawing believers to Jesus’ side. After justifying them through faith in the precious blood, they have been invited to become Jesus’ disciples, His follower®, to walk in His steps, to lay down their lives in the Father’s service, as

tions nor in the original text. Take a Concordance and try to find the expression “Immortal soul,’* and thus you can quickly convince yourself that no such expression is found in the Scriptures. On the contrary, the Scriptures declare that “God is able to destroy both soul land body;’’ and again, “the soul that sinneth, it shall die.*’ As we have already seen, that which can die, which can be destroyed, is not immortal, is not proof against death, destruction. Hence the Scrip-

tures cited prove that neither souls nor immortal.

What, then, is the soul?

The general idea of the soul is that it finable something in us, but what it is or

bodies are

is an inde-where it is

located few attempt to explain. This unknown something is claimed to be the real, intelligent being, while the body is merely its house or tool. A Methodist bishop once defined a soul, thus: “It is without interior or exterior, without body, shape, or parts, and you

proved by our Lord’s statement that “God is able to destroy both soul and body.’’ And now, in view of the -foregoing, if our minds be freed from prejudice, we ougnt to be able to learn something further on this subject by examining the inspired record of man’s creation. Turning to Genesis 2:7, we read:

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed [Heb. blew] into his nostrils the breath [Heb. wind] of life [Heb. lifces, plural—i.e., such as was common to all living animals] ; and man became a living soul’’ [i.e., a sentient being].

From this account it appears that the body was formed first, but it was not a man, soul or being, until animated. It had eyes, but saw nothing; ears, but heard nothing; a mouth, but spoke nothing; a tongue, but not taste; nostrils, but no sense of smell; a heart, but it pulsated not; blood, but it was cold, lifeless; lungs, but they moved not. It was not a man, but a cornse, an inanimate body.

The second step in the process of man’s creation was to give vitality to the properly “formed’’ and in every way prepared body; and this is described by the words “blew into his nostrils the breath of life.” When a healthy person has been drowned, and animation is wholly suspended, resuscitation has, it is said, been effected by working the arms and thus the lungs as a bellows, and so gradually establishing the breath in the

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nostrils. In Adam’s case it, of course, required no labored effort on the part of the Creator to cause the ■perfect organism which he had made to breathe the lifegiving oxygen of the atmosphere.

As the vitalising breath entered, the lungs expanded, the blood corpuscles were oxygenized and passed to the heart, which organ in turn propelled them to every part of the body, awakening all the prepared, but hitherto dormant, nerves t© sensation and energy. In an instant the energy reached the brain, and thought, perception, reasoning, looking, touching, smelling, feeling and tasting commenced. That which was a lifeless human organism had become a man, a sentient being; the “living soul” condition mentioned in th^ text had been reached. In other words, the term “living soul” means neither inore nor less than the term “sentient being”; i.e., a being capable of sensation, perception, thought.

Moreover, even though Adam was perfect in his organism, it was necessary for him to sustain life, soul or sentient being, by partaking of the fruits of the trees of life. And when he sinned, God drove him from the garden, “lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree [plural trees or grove] of life, and eat, and live forever” [i.et, by eating continuously]. (Genesis 3:22.) How the fogs and mysteries scatter before the light of truth which shines from God’s Word!

of man that [it] goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that [it] goeth downward to the earth?”'he is

controverting the heathen theory, which even at that time had begun to speculate that man had some inherent quality which would prevent his death, even when he seemed to die. The wise man ' '

chal-

lenges any proof, any knowledge, to such effect. This challenge to others to produce proofs, or admit that they have no such knowledge, follows his state

effect.

ment of the truth on,‘the subject in verses 19 and 20.

The distinction between man and beast is not in the

kind of breath or life, but in that man has a higher oragnism than other animals; possessing moral and intellectual powers and qualities in the image or likeness of those possessed by the Creator, who has a still higher organism, of spirit, not of flesh. And, as already shown, man’s hope for a future life lies not in his inherent powers, but in his Creator’s gracious provision which centered in the redemption of every soul of man from, death, by the great Redeemer, and the consequent provision that whosoever will may have everlasting life by resurrection, subject to the terms of the New ~

enant.

Cov

Our Redeemer “poured out his soul [being] unto death,” “he made his soul [being] an offering for o*"” (Isa. 53:10, 12); and it was the soul of Adam

sin* ’

they committed unto him against that day. (2 Tim. 1:12.) This same thought runs through the Old Testament as well—from the time that Ged first preached .to Abraham the Gospel of a resurrection; the expression, “He slept with his fathers,’ is very common in the Old Testament. But Job puts the matter in very forcible language, saying, “Oh that thou wouldst hide me in the grave, that thou wouldst keep me secret until thy wrath be [over] past!” The present dying time is the time of God’s wrath—the curse of death being upon all, because of the original transgression. However, we are promised that in due time the curse will be lifted and a blessing will come through the Redeemer to all the families of the earth; and so Job continues, “All the days of my appointed time will I wait, until my change come; [then] thou shall call (John 5:25) and I will answer thee; thou shalt have a desire unto the work of thine hands.” (Job 14:14, 15.) And we of the New Testament times read our Lord’s response, “All that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of man” [calling them to awake and come to a full knowledge of God and to a full opportunity of everlasting life].—John 5:25, 29.

An Illustration—A Candle.

Lower Animals Also are Souls.

Thus, also, we see why it is that the Scriptures of “souls” in connection with the lower animals, as well as man, are sentient beings or creatures

speak They, of in-

telligence, only of lower orders. They, as well as man, can see, hear, feel, taste and smell; and each can r^ea-son up to the btandard of his own organism, though none can reason as abstrusely nor on as high a plane as man. This difference is not because man has a different kind of life from that possessed by the lower .animals; for all have similar vital forces, from the same fountain or source of life, the same Creator; all sustain life in the same manner, by the digestion of similar foods, producing blood, and muscles, and bones, etc., each according to his kind or nature; and each propagates his species similarly, bestowing the life, originally from G©d, upen his posterity. They differ in shape and in mental capacity.

Nor can it be said that while man is

a soul (or in-

telligent being) beasts are without this soul-quality or ’ *           ”    ..... contrary, both

intelligence, thought, feeling. On the

' man and beast have soul-quality or intelligent, conscious being. Not only is this the statement of Scripture, but it is readily discernible'as a fact, as soon as the real meaning of the word soul is comprehended, as shown foregoing. To illustrate: Suppose the creation of a perfect jjeg; and suppose that creation had been particularly described, as was Adam’s, what difference of detail could be imagined? The body of a dog

created would not be a dog until the breath of life weald be caused to energize that body;—then it w©uld be a living-creature with sensibilities and powers i all its own—a living soul of the lower order, called f * dog, as Adam, when he received life, , became a ’ living creature vith sensibilities a . d... powers-aB Jiis. !. ©wn—a Ijviag 2011 of-the—ord"?i"~bi^u"fiⁿeen ’Uein^s, i called man. ^f                             ,      ...

Blau’s Finer Organism.

! Tf the great difference between man and beast is not !• in the life which animates both, and not from lack of I Soul-power which both possess,- can it be that the differ-r ence is in their bodies? Yes; assuredly, the natural J difference is physical, in addition to ■frhich is the fact I that God has mace provision for man’s future, as ex-! pressed in his promises, while no such provision for a ' future life is made for beasts—nor are they organically ■ capable of appreciating metaphysics. Other things be-j ing equal, the size and weight of the brain indicates

capacity and Intelligence. In this respect man has been more highly endowed than the brute, by the Creator, The brute has less brains than man, and what it has belongs almost exclusively to the selfish propensities. Its highest conception of right and wrong is the will of its master, nan; it cannot appreciate the sublime in morals or in nature; the Creator--did not give it a brain-cdpacity for such things.

But although, because of his fa^ into sin and death, man’s condition is far from what it was in its original perfection when pronounced “very good’’ by the highest Judge;—so that some, by the cultivation of the lower organs of thought and a failure to use the higher, intellectual faculties, have dwarfed the organs of the brain representing these higher faculties, yet the organs are still there, aud are capable of development, which is not the case with the most nearly perfect specimens of the brute creation. So then it is in that the ' Creator has endowed man with a higher and finer organism, that he has made him to differ from the brute. They have similar flesh and bones, breathe the same air, drink the same water, and eat similar food, and all are souls or creatures possessing intelligence; but man, in his better body, possesses capacity for higher intelligence and is treated by the Creator as on an entirely different plane. It is in proportion as sin degrades man from his original likeness of his Creator that he is said to be “brutish”—more nearly resembling the brutes, destitute of the higher and finer sensibilities.                                                j

To this the Scripture testimony agrees. We read (Gen. 1:30), “To you it shall be for meat, and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life [Heb. ‘nephesh ehalyah’—a living soul].” —Again (Gen. 1:20), “Let th* waters bring forth the moving creaturehath life —a living soul].” —See 'marginal dings.

The $

The same le/ f erent in mank whose breath -tiiiguishing of the destr 7:15, 22.) statement t [Heb. ruacb “AS the one When he asl

’re Teaching on This.

at the life principle is no dif-arhat it is iu all other creatures through the nostrils, as dis-uh—is taught in the account by the Deluge. (Gen. 6:17; accord with King Solomon’s _>ast have all “one breath” —one kind of life; and that ih the other.” (Heel. 3:16.) i), “Who kueweth the spirit

Let us illustrate the human and animal body, soul and spirit by something less complex and better understood generally; for instance,—an unlighted candle would correspond to an inanimate human body or corpse, the lighting of the candle would correspond to the spark of life originally imparted by the Creator; the flame or light corresponds to sentient being or intelligence or soul quality; the oxygenized atmosphere ________ _t_______j ____ which unites with the carbon of the candle in supportin the resurrection God will ing the flame corresponds to the breath of life ©r spirit —i — —... . . .. x of life unites with the physical organism in producing soul or intelligent existence. If an accident should occur which would destroy the candle, the flame, of course, would cease; so if a human er animal body be destroyed, as by consumption or accident, the soul, the life, the intelligence, ceases.

- , —, ,------- —__________ (and

his posterity) that he thus bought with his precious blood—by making his soul (being) an offering for sin. Consequently it is souls that were redeemed, and that are to be awakened, resurrected.

Many suppose that the bodies buried are to be re

stored atom for atom, but, on the contrary, the Apostle declares, “Thou sowest [in death] not that

body which shall be.”

give to each person (to each soul or sentient being)

such a body as his infinite wisdom has been pleased to provide; to the Church, the “Bride” selected in this

age, spirit bodies; to the restitution class, human bodies, but not the same ’        ’       “ ~

15:37, 38.

As in Adam’s creation, organism and the breath

ones lost in death.—1 Cor.

the bringing together of an of life produced a sentient

being or soul, so the dissolution of these, from any cause, puts an end to sentient being,—stopping thoughts and feelings of every kind. The soul (i.e., Sentient being) ceases; the body returns to dust as it was; while the spirit or breath of life returns to God, who imparted it to Adam, and to his race through him. (Eccl. 12:7.) It returns to God in the sense that it is no longer amenable to human control, as in pro-creation, and can never be recovered except by divine power. Recognizing this fact, the Lord’s instructed ones commit their hope of future life by resurrection to God and to Christ, his now exalted representative. (Luke 23:46;

Acte 7:59.)

So, then, had God made no provision for

man’s future life by a ransom and a promised resurrection, death would have been the end of all hope for humanity.—1 Cor. 15:14-18.

God’s Provision for Our Living Again^,

Kgaiu, uuu ever bjuee ue mnue jluvwu uib graewub plan, those who speak and write intelligently tipon the subject (for instance, the inspired Scripture writers), as if by common consent, speak of the unconscious interim between death and the resurrection morning, in which sentient being is suspended, as a “sleep.” Indeed, the illustration is an excellent one; for the dead will be totally unconscious of the lapse of time, and the moment of awakening will seem to them like the next moment after the moment of their dissolution. For instance, we read that sp©aking of Lazarus’ death our Lord said, “Our friend Lazarus sleepoth, I go that I may awake him out of sleep.” Afterwards, because the disciples were slow to comprehend, he said, “Lazarus is dead.” (John 11:11.) Were the theory of consciousness in death correct, is it not. remarkable that Lazarus gave no account of his experience during those four days? None will claim that he was in a “hell” of torment, for our Lord calls him his “friend” : and if he had been iu heavenly bliss our Lord would not have called him from it, for that would have been’ an unfriendly act. But as our Lord expressed it, Laz-

Or if the supply of air were cut off from the candle-flame, as by an extinguisher or snuffer, or by submerging the candle in water, the light would be extinguished even though the candle remain unimpaired. So the soul, life, existence, of man or animal would cease if the breath of life were cut off by drowning or asyphixiation, while the body might be comparatively sound. As the lighted candle might be used under favorable conditions to light other caudles, but the flame,, once extinguished, the candle could neither relight itself nor other candles, so the human or animal body while alive, as a living soul or being can, under divine arrangement, start or propagate other souls or beings—offgnring; but so soon as the spark of life is gone, soul of being has ceased, and air power to think, feel or propagate has ceased. In harmony with this we read in the Scriptures of Jacob’s children: “All the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls.” (Exod. 1:5.) Jacob received

united *«?odueir^eafrf these, his soul or intelligent l?eing, from Isaac, and thence from Adam, to whom alone God ever

arus slept, and he awakened him to life, to consciousness, to his sentient being, or soul returned or

re-

vived; and all this was evidently a favor greatly appreciated by Lazarus and his friends.

The thought pervades the Scriptures that we are now in the night of dying and sleeping as compared with the morning of awakening and . resurrection. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”*—Psa. 30:5.

The apostles, also frequently used this appropriate, hopeful and peaceful figure of speeqh. For instance, Luke says of Stephen, the first martyr, “he fell asleep”; and in recording Paul’s speech at Antioch he used the same expression, “David “fell on sleep.” (Acts 7:60; 13:36.) Peter uses the same expression, saying, “The fathers fell asleep.” (2 Peter 3:4.) Aud Paul used it many times, as the following quotations show:—

“The greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.”—1 Cor. 15:6.

“If there be no resurrection, . . then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.”—1 Cor. 15:13-18.

“Christ is risen from the dead and become the first-fruits of them that slept.”—1 Cot. 15:20.

“Behold, I show you a mystery, we shall n©t all sleep.”—1 Cor. 15:51.

“I would not have you t© be ignorant, brethren, concerning them that are asleep.”—1 These.-4:13.

“Them that sleep in Jesus, will God bring [from the dead] with [by] him.”—1 Theas. 4:14.           *

When the Kingdom, the resurrection time, eomes, “we who are alive and remain idU the presence of the Lord shall not precede them that are asleep.”— 1 These. 4:15.

They “fell asleep” in peace, to await th© Lard’s Day—th© Day of Christ, the Millennia] Day—fnlly persuaded that he [Christ] is able to ka©p that pkteb

directly iniparted life. And Jacob passed ©n the life and organism and soul t© his posterity; and so with all humanity.

A candle might be relighted by any one having the ability; but by divine arrangement the human body, bereft of the spark of life, “wasteth away,” “return-eth to the dust from which it was taken,” and the spark of life cannot be re-enkindled except by divine power, a miracle. The promise of resurrection is therefore a promise of a relighting, a re-enkindling of anima) existence or soul; and since there can be no being or soul without a body and restore life-power or spirit, it follows that a promised resurrection or resteration of soul or being implies new bodies, new organisms. Thus the Scriptures assure us that human bodies which return to dust will not be restored, but that in the resurrection God will give such new bodies as it may please him to give.—1 Cor. 15:37-40.

The Apostle here deciares that in the resurrection there will be a special class accounted worthy of a new nature, spiritual instead of human or fleshly; and, as we should expect, he shows that this great change of nature will be effected by giving these a different kind of body. The candle may here again serve to illustrate: Suppose the fleshly or human nature to be illustrated by a tallow candle, the new body might be illustrated by a wax candle of a brighter flame or indeed by an electric arc-light apparatus.

With any power and wisdom less than that of our Creator guaranteeing the resurrection, we might justly fear some break or slip by which the identity would be lost, especially with those granted the great change of nature by a share in the first (chief) resurrection to spirit being. But we can securely trust this and al) things to him with whom we have to do in this matter. He who knows our very thoughts can reproduce them in the new brains so that not one valuable lesson or precious experience shall be lost. He is to© wise to err and too good to be unkind; and all that he has promised he will fulfill in a manner exceedingly abundantly better than we can ask or think.

The terms body, soul and spirit may be used of the Church collectively. For instance, the Apostle says: “I pray God [that] your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless, unto the coming ©f ©ur Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thess. 5:23.) This prayer mast be understood t© apply t© the Church as a whole—the elect charch, whose names are written in heaven. The true spirit has been preserved in the little fl©ek. Its body is discernible to-day, also, notwithstanding the multitudes of tares that would hide as well as choke it. And its soul, its activity, ite intelligence, its sentient being, is in evidence everywhere, lifting up the standard of the people—the cross, the ransom.

, In n« other way could we apply the Apostle’s words; for, however much people may differ respecting the preservation of the individual spirits and seals of the people addressed, all will agree that their bodies have net been preserved, but have returned t© dust, like those ef others. Besides, the words body, soul and spirit are Sb the singular, not in the plural.