I consider these passages as designed to express THE FINAL STATES OF MEN, which if they be, it is the same thing in effect as their being designed to express the doctrine of endless punishment; for if the descriptions here given of the portion of the wicked denote their final state, there is no possibility of another state succeeding it.

That the above passages do express the final states of men may appear from the following considerations:

1. The state of the righteous, which is all along opposed to that of the wicked, is allowed to be final: and if the other were not the same, it would not have been in such a variety of forms contrasted with it; for it would not be a contrast.

2. All these passages are totally silent as to any other state following that of destruction, damnation, &c. If the punishment threatened to ungoldly men had been only a purgation, or temporal correction, we might have expected that something like this would have been intimated. It is supposed that some who are upon the right foundation may yet build upon it wood, and hay, and stubble, and that the party shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, though it be as by fire. Now if the doctrine of universal salvation were true, we might expect some such account of all lapsed intelligences, when their future state is described: but nothing like it occurs in any of the foregoing passages, nor in any

other.

3. The phraseology of the greater part of them is inconsistent with any other state following that which they describe. On the supposition of salvation being appointed as the ultimate portion of those who die in their sins, they have not their portion in this life; but will equally with those who die in the Lord, behold his righteousness, and be satisfied in his likeness Their expectation shall not perish; but shall issue, as well as that of the righteous, in gladness: and though driven away in their wickedness, yet they have hope in their death, and that hope' shall be realized. The broad way doth not lead to destruction, but merely to a temporary correction, the end of which is everlasting life. The chaff will not be burned, but turned into wheat, and gathered into the garner; the tares will be the same, and gathered into the barn; and the bad fish into good, and gathered into vessels. The cursed as well as the blessed shall inherit the kingdom of God, which also was prepared for them from the foundation of the world. There may be a woe against the wicked that they shall be kept from their consolation for a long time, but not that they have received it. Those who in the present life believe not in Christ shall not perish, but have everlasting life. This life also is improperly represented as a seed-time, and the life to come as the harvest, inasmuch as the seeds of heavenly bliss may be sown in hell: and though the sinner inay reap corruption as the fruit of all his present doings, yet that corruption will not be the opposite of everlasting life, seeing it will issue in it. Finally, though they bear briars and thorns, yet their END is not to be burned, but to obtain salvation.-To the foregoing Scripture testimonies may be added,

II. All those passages which speak of the duration of future punishment by the terms "everlasting, eternal, for ever, and for ever and ever."

"Some shall awake to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.It is better for thee to enter into life halt, or maimed, than having two hands, or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire. Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire.And these shall go into everlasting punishment.-They shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.e that shall blaspheme against the holy ghost is in danger of (or subject to) eternal damnation.——The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrha are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest, to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.——— Wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.lf a f any man worship the beast, or his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation: and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night.—And they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. -And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever *."

I have not mentioned Isai. xxxiii. 14. because I wish to introduce no passage but what shall be allowed to refer to a future life. The Hebrew wordy in Dan. xii. 2. auswers to the Greek aw; and whatever may be said of the ambiguity of the term, the antithesis in this passage, as in Mat. xxv. 46, determines it to mean the same when applied to, "shame and contempt," as when applied to "life."

As to the term anos, rendered everlasting or eternal, which you consider as proving nothing on account of its ambiguity, there is a rule of interpretation which I have long understood to be used on other subjects by all good critics, and which I consider as preferable to yours. In my next letter I may examine their comparative merits. This rule is, that every term be taken in its PROPER sense, except there be something in the subject or connexion which requires it to be taken otherwise. Now, so far as my acquaintance with this subject extends, it appears to be generally allowed by lexicographers that av is a compound of ass and , and that its literal meaning is always being †; also that the meaning

Dan. xii. 2. Mat. xviii. S. xxv. 41, 46. 2 Thes. i. 9. Mark iii. 29. Jude 7. 2 Pet. ii. 17. Jude 13. Rev. xiv. 11. xix. 3. xx. 10.

† Aristotle the philosopher, who lived upwards of three hundred years before the New Testament was writen, plainly tells us the meaning which the Greek writers of his time, and those who in his time were accounted ancients, affixed to this term. Speaking of the gods, whom he considered as immortal, and as having their residence above the heavens, he says, "The beings which exist there neither exist in place,

of its derivative anC is endless, everlasting, or eternal. This term, alawi, which is very sparingly applied in the New Testament to limited duration, I always take in its proper sense, except there be something in the connexion or subject, which requires it to be taken otherwise and as I do not find this to be the case in any of those places where it is applied to punishment, I see no reason in these cases to depart from its proper acceptation. Everlasting punishment is in some of them opposed to everlasting life, which, so far as an antithesis can go to fix the meaning of a term, determines it to be of the same force and extent.

To allege that the subject requires a different meaning in this case to be given to the terin, is to assume what will not be granted. The roof that has been offered on this point will be considered hereafter. ·

With respect, to the phrases εις των αιώνα, for ever, and εις τας αιώνας των alwvwv, for ever and ever, I believe you will not find a single example in all the New Testament of their being used to convey any other than the idea of endless duration. You tell us that is alwvas alavov, for ever and ever, in Rev. xiv. 11, should be rendered" to the age of ages;" Are you certain of this? Admitting the principle of your translation, some would have rendered it to ages of ages; but render it how you will, the meaning of the phrase is the same. You might render it thus in other instances, wherein it is applied to the happiness of the righteous, or the glory to be ascribed to God; but this would not prove that such happiness and such glory were of limited duration, or that the phrase in question is expressive of it.

To the above may be added,

III. All those passages which express the duration of future punishment by implication, or by forms of speech which imply the doctrine in question.

"I pray for them: I pray not for the world.. -The blasphemy against the holy ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. neither in this world, neither in the world to come. He hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.- -There is a sin unto death: I do not say that ye shall pray for it. -It is impossible to renew them again unto repentance.If we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, bat

nor does time make them grow old; nor undergo they any change, being placed beyond the motion even of those who are the farthest removed (from the centre); but possessing an unchangeable life, free from all outward impressions, perfectly happy, and self-sufficient, they continue through all ava, eternity. And this the ancients admirably signified by the word itself: for they call the time of each person's life αιων, inasmuch as according to the laws of nature nothing (respecting him) exist out of the limits of it; and for the same reason that which comprehends the duration of the whole heaven, the whole of infinite time, and infinity itself, is called av, eternity; taking its name from always being, (gt sve,) immortal and divine.'

his

"

a fearful looking for of judgment, which shall devour the adversaries. -What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?Woe unto that man by whom the son of man is betrayed: it had been good for that man if he had not been born. Their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.Betwixt us and you there is a great gulph fixed, so that they who would pass from hence to you cannot ; neither can they pass to us who would come from thence. He that believeth not the son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

-I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins; whither I go ye cannot come. Whose end

is destruction.--He that sheweth no mercy shall have judgment "without mercy †.”

If there be some for whom Jesus did not pray, there are some who will have no share in the benefit of his mediation, without which they cannot be saved. If there be some that never will be forgiven, there are some that never will be saved; for forgiveness is an essential branch of salvation. Let there be what uncertainty there may in the word eternal in this instance, still the meaning of it is fixed by the other branch of the sentence, they shall never be forgiven. It is equal to John, x. 28. I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. If there were any uncertainty as to the meaning of the word eternal in this latter passage, yet the other branch of the sentence would settle it: for that must be endless life which is opposed to their ever perishing; and by the same rule that must be endless damnation, which is opposed to their ever being forgiven. If there be a sin for the pardon of which Christians are forbidden to pray, it must be on account of its being the revealed will of God that it never should be pardoned. If repentance be absolutely necessary to forgiveness, and there be some whom it is impossible should be renewed again unto repentance, there are some whose salvation is impossible. If there be no more sacrifice for sins, but a fearful looking for of judgment, this is the same thing as the sacrifice already offered being of no saving effect: for if it were otherwise, the language would not contain any peculiar threatening against the wilful sinner, as it would be no more than might be said to any sinner; nor would a fearful looking for of judgment be his certain doom. If the souls of some men will be lost, or cast away, they cann.ot all be saved, seeing these things are opposites. A man may be lost in desert, and yet saved in fact; or he may suffer loss, and yet himself be saved: but he cannot be lost, so as to be cast away, and yet finally saved, for these are perfect contraries. Whatever may be the precise idea of the fire, and the worm, there can be no doubt of their expressing the punishment of the wicked; and its being declared of the one that it

* Several times repeated in a few verses.

† John xvii. 9. Mat. xii. 31, 32. Mark iii. 29. 1 John v. 16 Heb. vi. 6. x. 26, 27. Luke ix. 25. Mat. xxvi. 24. Mark ix. 43-48, Luke xvi. 26. John iii. 36. viii. 21. Phil. iii. 19. James ii. 13.

dieth not, and of the other that it is not quenched, it is the same thing as their being declared to be endless. It can be said of no man, on the principle of universal salvation, that it were good for him not to have been born; as whatever he may endure for a season, an eternal weight of glory will infinitely outweigh it. An impassable gulph between the blessed and the accursed equally militates against the recovery of the one as the relapse of the other. If some shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on them; if those who die in their sins shall not come where Jesus is; if their end be destruction, and their portion the judgment without mercy; there must be some who will not be finally saved.

To these may be added,

IV. All those passages which intimate that a change of heart, and a preparedness for heaven, are confined to the present life.

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Seek ye the Lord while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.Because I have called, and ye have refused, I have stretched out my hand, and po <man regarded. . . . I also will laugh at your calamity, and mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish come upon you; then shall they call upon me, but will not answer; they shall seek me early, but shall not find me.- -Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that shall be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter and shall not be able. When once the master of the house hath risen up, and shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence you are.... depart from me, ye workers of iniquity.... there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.- -While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.- -While they (the foolish virgins) went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut.-We beseech you, that ye receive not the grace of God® in vain. accepted time, now is the day of salvation,his voice, harden not your hearts.--Looking diligently fest any man fail of the grace of God....lest there be any fornicator or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.- -He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still *.'

Behold now is the

-To-day, if ye will hear

* Isai. lv. 6, 7. Prov. i. 24. Luke, xiii. 24-29. John, xii. 36. Mat. XXV. 5—13. 2 Cor. vi. 1, 2. Heb. iii. 7, 11. xii. 15-17. Rev, xxii. 11, VOL. IV.

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