forward some text like this: The wicked shall perish in the immortal state; into smoke shall they consume away in the immortal state; the transgressors shall be destroyed beyond the grave; the end of the wicked shall be cut off in eternity. They ought at least to adduce one passage which speaks of the punishment of the wicked, in which it is evident the punishment must necessarily be confined to the immortal existence. We ask for one such text.

XVI. "Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in, the grave from their dwelling. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave; for he shall receive me." Psalms xlix. 14, 15.

This text is adduced by Parsons Cooke to prove endless misery. Is there one word intimated in regard to punishment after the resurrection of the dead? Not a syllable. A careful observer of Old Testament phraseology, will be unwilling to adduce a passage like this in proof of endless punishment. Warburton says, "The literal meaning of this passage is, as appears by the context, that the wicked should be untimely cut off and destroyed, in the morning, that is, by the judgment of the law, which was administered in the morning hours; but that his [the Psalmist's] life, and the life of the upright, should be preserved and prolonged. Here, once for all, let me desire the objectors to consider, what it is that is ever opposed in the many places of this sort to life, redemption, &c. It is not misery, torments, &c., as it must have been, did life literally signify eternal life in a future state; but it is death, which shows it was a life here on earth.” Divine Legation, Book vi. Sec. 3.

XVII. “Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver." Psalms 1. 22.

Is there the slightest proof that this refers to the future state of existence ? Not at all; yet J. `M. Davis, Hawes, and many others, adduce the passage as positive proof of endless suffering. Men certainly

forget God in this life; and both literally and metaphorically, they get torn to pieces in this life, when there is none to deliver. The author of the book of Lamentations says, "He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate." iii. 11. To be torn in pieces is a metaphor signifying to be crushed, to be put down, to be utterly oppressed.

XVIII. "As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish in the presence of God." Psalms lxviii. 2.

Dr. Strong adduces this text in proof of endless torments. But is there the slightest proof that the punishment here described is to be inflicted in the immortal existence? Are not these metaphors of precisely the same character with those we have noticed in other passages, and shown to be applied to punishments in this life? What more, then, is it necessary for us to say? Will the caviller pretend, that because the wicked are to perish in the presence of God, therefore their punishment must be in the future state? If this position be assumed, then we say the objector is ignorant of the scriptural sense of the phrase "presence of the Lord." See the following texts. "Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod." Gen. iv. 16. Was the land of Nod in this world? God said to Moses, when he was on his way to Canaan, "My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest." Exodus xxxiii. 14, and Moses replied, "If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence." Ver. 15. See also, 1 Chron. xvi. 27, 33. Psalms xcv. 2, xcvii. 5, c. 2, cxiv. 7. Jer. iv. 26. Jonah i. 3, 10. The presence of God was in the ark; it was afterwards in the temple upon Mount Zion; and, in the same sense, it is in any place where God makes himself known, and reveals his power and glory to the children of men. Acts x. 33.

XIX. PSALM lxxiii.

The whole of the seventy-third Psalm is relied on by a few authors, to prove the doctrine of endless mis

ery. After having quoted three or four verses from: this Psalm, Luther Lee remarks; "This is their end, which the Psalmist learned in the sanctuary of God, and if their end is to be cast down into destruction, and to be utterly consumed with terrors, they cannot be saved." Such is Mr. Lee's argument. It proceeds on this false assumption, that, by the end of the wicked, is meant their endless destiny in the immortal state. We deny that position. We say, by the end of the wicked, in that place, nothing relating to their eternal destiny was intended. Take one passage in proof of this, out of fifty which we might quote ; “Son of man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel; an end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land. Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations." "An end is come, the end is come; it watcheth for thee; BEHOLD, IT IS COME !" &c. &c. Ezek. vii. 1-15. Now, this was the end of the wicked of which Ezekiel spoke; and, so far from putting it in the future state, he said, "BEHOLD, it IS COME! Let Mr. Lee, or any other writer, adduce a passage which states, that the end of the wicked is destruction in the immortal state, and then he will do something to his purpose..

XX. "The Lord preserveth all them that love him; but all the wicked will he destroy." Psalm cxlv. 20.

This text is adduced by Strong, and some others, in proof of endless misery. But what possible proof does it furnish? Does it say, that God will destroy the wicked in the future state? It says nothing of the kind. Now, that is the very thing to be proved. Is it intimated, that this destruction is endless? Not at all. Is the least reference made here to the immortal condition of man in any way? Certainly not. It is useless, then, to adduce the passage as proof of endless misery.

XXI. "1 also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as a desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me." Prov. i. 26-29.

This seems to be a prominent text with the believers in endless misery. Edwards, Davis,. Strong, Hawes, Lee, and almost every other writer who has defended endless misery, has adduced it for that purpose.. Against this array of authority, we bring forward. the simplicity of divine-truth.

We object to the common interpretation of this passage, that there is not the least reference in the passage, to the immortal existence; there is no reference to physical death, no reference to the subsequent resurrection, no reference to eternity. If there be such reference, let it be pointed out. The common understanding is, that this language is to be addressed by Jehovah to the sinner at the day of judgment. But, that this supposition is not correct, see the 20th verse. "Wisdom crieth without, she uttereth her voice in the streets," &c. And then, "Because I [wisdom] have called and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my [wisdom's] counsel, and would none of my [wisdom's] reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity," &c. Here, we see, it is wisdom personified, that addresses the children of men. in this manner. Wisdom says to every man, if you do not attend to my words, and give heed to my counsels, I shall not assist you in the day of your sorrows. You will call upon me then, but I cannot benefit you; because you have slighted my reproof. The experience of every foolish man proves the truth of Solomon's words. Even if fools prosper, it is but for a moment; for "the prosperity of fools shall destroy them." ver. 32.

Dr. Adam Clarke honestly confesses, in the same paragraph in which he insists most earnestly upon the

endless damnation of the sinner, that the passage we are considering has no reference to the eternal state of men. "Nor can any thing spoken here be considered as applying, or applicable, to the eternal state of the persons in question; much less to the case of any man convinced of sin, who is crying to God for mercy." Com. on the place.

XXII. "Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell." Prov. v. 5.

The

Here we have an instance of the parallelism which we so frequently meet with in Hebrew poetry. same truth is stated in both parts of the verse. "Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on (sheol) hell." Here death and sheol, or hell, are used in precisely the same sense. The sense of the passage is, that the society of a lewd woman, of whom Solomon was speaking, would bring a man to an early, sudden, or ignominious death. Prof. Stuart's remarks are very reasonable on this point. He says; "To die, in the usual manner, is not a special penalty of wickedness; and, therefore, the threats of death, directed against particular acts of wickedness, can never be rationally regarded as having reference to any thing but sudden, premature, and violent death. That the wicked shall not live out half their days,' is an assurance, repeated in many forms, and in a great variety of ways, in the Old Testament scriptures. In this point of view, it is possible, I concede, to interpret all the texts which exhibit sheol as having a reference merely to the grave; and, therefore, it is possible to interpret such ones as Prov. v. 5; ix. 18, and xxiii. 14, as designating a death violent and premature, inflicted by the hand of heaven." Exeget. Essays, p. 3.

XXIII. "When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish; and the hope of unjust men perisheth." Prov. xi. 7.

This is one of the texts frequently adduced in proof of endless misery; Edwards, Davis, Strong, Hawes, and many others, quote it for that purpose. There is no truth more frequently or more clearly declared in the