Agree with thy adversary quickly, while thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.-MATTHEW v. 25, 26. If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.-1 JOHN EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT. D "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal."-MATTHEw xxv. 46. - PERHAPS no passage of scripture between the lids of the Bible is brought forward more frequently and confidently to support the doctrine of endless punishment, than the text we now propose to examine and explain. This doctrine is assumed to be true, and then the passage before us is adduced to prove it! Thousands are religiously educated to believe that everlasting means endless their early instruction and all their sectarian prejudices are in favor of such a definition of the word, and hence, when they read of "everlasting punishment," they understand the expression to mean "endless punishment." Such are, therefore, surprised to learn that azonion, here translated everlasting, does not necessarily have that signification; that it is not the same word in the original which is rendered endless; that it is often used in the Scriptures in a limited sense, and that its proper signification is age-lasting. Before coming to a direct exposition of the text before us, we ask the attention of the reader to two or three important considerations which have a legitimate bearing upon our subject. First, the different classes of individuals referred to in the text, are acquitted and condemned on account of their works, and, therefore, the subject cannot refer to the immortal world, for heaven is not to be attained by good works. Eternal life is the pure, free and unpurchased gift of God, and is not of works of righteousness that we have done, lest any man should boast! The second important consideration to which we invite the reader's attention is, that the original word kolasin, supposed to teach the doctrine of endless punishment, was frequently applied, as lexicographers inform us, to the pruning of trees. In this sense, its application here is full of significance. It shows at once the important object of punishment, viz.: to improve and benefit man. For what purpose are trees pruned? Not to injure them, certainly, but to improve them. Such being clearly the object of punishment, under the government of an all-wise and benevolent God, hence this term kolasin was appropriately employed in the text. Lexicographers define kolasin thus: "Punishment, chastisement, correction, the pruning of trees." This "everlasting punishment" (aionion kolasin) is designed for some wise and benevolent purpose, not absolutely to injure, but ultimately to benefit and improve those chastened. Again: The word rendered everlasting (aionion) |