THE KING’S BUSINESS Questions and Answers By R. A. TORREY
86
0 “ C o u n t V ladim ir G elesnoff says in • th e D ecem ber n um b er of his m agazine, U n search ab le Riches, ‘th e - b a rb a ro u s a n d h e ath en dogm a of endless to rm e n t is refu ted by th e very passages on w hich o rth o d o x y depends fo r its su p p o rt.’ Is th is sta tem en t of C o u n t G elesnoff’s tru e ? ” A . T his sta tem en t of Mr. G elesnoff is no t tru e. It is as fa r from th e tru th a s m any o th e r of th e e rro rs w hich this te a c h e r in culcates in public o r in secret. Mr. G eles noff, in his a rticle on “H ELL ,” does n o t even to u c h u p o n th e p rin cip al “ passages u p o n w hich o rth o d o x y d epends” fo r its tea ch in g re g ard in g fu tu re punishm ent. H e does n o t m ention them n o r m ake any referen ce to them . H is w hole a rticle from sta rt to finish, is m isleading, e ith e r in te n tionally o r th ro u g h ig n o ran ce. F u rth e r m ore, his sta tem en t is n o t only u n tru e, b u t it is blasphem ous. If it can b e show n th a t th e L ord Jesus ta u g h t th e do ctrin e of endless to rm e n t, an d it can, th en Mr. G elesnoff accuses th e L ord Jesus of te a c h ing a “ b a rb a ro u s a n d h e ath en dogm a. O f course, this does n o t p ro v e th a t o u r L ord Jesus did, b u t it does pro v e th a t th e one w ho says H e did is a blasphem er. T h e stro n g est th in g s said in th e Bible a b o u t fu tu re p u n ishm en t w ere said by th e L ord Jesus H im self. In th e 25 th c h a p te r of M atthew H e says, th a t a t H is com ing a g ain H e will say to th o se on H is left hand, “ D e p art from Me, y e cursed, into th e everlasting fire w hich is p re p a re d for th e Devil a n d his an g els” (M att. 2 5 :4 1 ). A n d fu rth e r dow n H e says, “A n d these shall go aw ay in to everlasting p unishm ent, b u t th e rig h teo u s into life e te rn a l.” W h at th e everlasting fire w hich is p re p a re d fo r th e Devil a n d his angels is o u r L ord Jesus H im self describes in H is revelation m ade to Jo h n in R evelation 2 0 :1 0 R. V . “A n d th e Devil th a t deceived them w as cast into
th e lake of fire a n d brim sto n e w h ere th e b east a n d th e false p ro p h e t a re (by a com p a riso n w ith R evelation 19:20 w e see th a t th ey have a lre ad y been th e re 1000 y e a rs) a n d th ey shall be to rm e n te d day a n d n ig h t fo rev er a n d fo rev e r” (R ev. 2 0 :1 0 R. V .). T h e w o rd tran sla ted “ to rm e n ted ” in this passage m eans “ to rtu re d ” o r “ vexed w ith grievous p ain s (o f b o d y o r m in d )” “ to r m en ted .” T hese a re th e definitions of th e w o rd given in G rimm ’s g re a t G erm an w o rk on th e New T estam en t an d in T h a y e r’s G reek-E nglish L exicon of th e New T estam en t. T h e re is no do u b t of th e sig nificance of th e w ord. T h e w ords tra n s lated “fo rev e r an d ev er” m ean literally u n to th e ag es of th e a g es.” T h is ex p res sion is th e stro n g e st possible expression in th e G reek lan g u ag e fo r a b so lu te en d lessness of tim e. It re p re se n ts n o t m erely y e ars tum b lin g u p o n y ears, n o r cen tu ries tum bling u p o n centuries, b u t aeo n s tum b ling u p o n aeons in endless procession. T his a n d th e sim ilar expression “ u n to ages of ag es” a re used tw elve tim es in th e book from w hich w e qu o te it; eight tim es th e expression refers to th e d u ra tio n of the existence o r reig n o r g lory of God a n d C hrist— no one questions th e endlessness of th ese; once it refers to th e d u ratio n of th e blessed reig n of th e rig h teo u s a n d in th e th re e rem ain in g in stan ces to th e d u ra tio n of th e to rm e n t of th e Devil, beast, false p ro p h e t a n d th e w icked. If a n y one is try in g to find o u t w h a t th e Bible really m eans to teach , a n d no t sim ply try in g to pro v e a preco n ceiv ed th e ory, th e m eaning is p lain enough. “ T he dogm a of endless to rm e n t” is n o t a “ b a r b a ro u s a n d h e ath en dogm a” b u t it is th e teach in g of th e New T estam en t a n d of Jesus C h rist H im self. W h en tea ch e rs go a stra y on th e ir tea ch in g re g ard in g fu tu re pu n ishm en t, tea ch in g restorationism , o r annihilationism , o r M illenial D awnism , or a n y Q ther k in d red d o ctrin e, y o u m ay ex-
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs