1093 No one h a s a righ t to call himself a Chris tia n who elim inates from the Bible any teaching because it does not harmonize w ith his opinions or judgm ent of w hat is reasonable or just. The man who does this is an infidel. Reason supports the plain teaching of the Bible on th e subject. Hell, w ith its endless torments, as described in the Bible, is as certainly the logic of sin as heaven, w ith its fadeless delights, as portrayed in the Holy Scriptures, is the logic of rig h t eousness. As certainly as there is a heaven for good people, so there must be a hell for bad people. I f there is no future am ounting and punishment for the deeds done in the body, then th e one deserving least punishment will suffer most, while th e one deserving of most punishment w ill suffer least, if a t all. Second. Is there a personal devil? As certainly as there is a personal God. There is as much reason for believing in one as in the other. The Bible always speaks of the devil as a person. One cannot read the account of th e tem ptation of our first parents and reasonably ascribe it to evil natures. E vil was not then in the world, only the evil one, else M atthew 4:1 should read: “ Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into th e wilderness to be tempted by H is evil n a tu re .” He could only be tem pted by a person. The devil by some is voted out, And they try to think him gone; But simple people would like to know Who carries his business on. Third. W hat is your conception of fu ture punishment? Simply th a t which agrees w ith w hat the Bible says about it, inasmuch as it contains the only authentic inform ation on the subject. God is unquestionably an intelligent be ing. In H is revelation to man, He treats him as intelligent. W hat He has said is to be received and believed according to grammar, logic and common sense. We certainly ought not to “ handle the word of God deceitfully,” I I Gor. 4:2-4, nor
THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
I SOME TIMELY
QUESTIONS |
R. L. W. MUNHALL was recent- ly asked by The Philadelphia Public Ledger to answer in six hundred words the following
questions: Why do m inisters avoid preaching about hell? Are they afraid to tell the tru th about it? Is th e subject of future punishment of sin so unpopular th a t clergymen are chary about presenting it to th eir congregations? Is there a hell? Is there a personal devil? W hat is your conception of future pun ishment ? Dr. Munhall replied as follows: The first three questions may be briefly answered under one heading. The subject is, indeed, unpopular, and there are some^m inisters, w ithout doubt, who tak e counsel of th eir fears; b u t the real reason why many m inisters do not preach it is undoubtedly this: They do hot believe w hat the Bible says on the subject. I f they did, th e y would preach it; so I think. As to the other three questions, let us tak e them in order: F irst. Is there a hell? Undoubtedly there is. How do I know? Why, the Bible, which contains th e only trustw orthy information on the subject, plainly and definitely sa y s'th e re is. “ The Bible, when freed from errors of translators, copyists and printers, is the Word of God, and, therefore, wholly w ith out erro r.” So a General Assembly of the P resbyterian Church in th e U nited States of America, by a unanimous vote, 'declared a few years ago, and they got it right. The Bible is ju st as true in w hat it says about hell as in w hat it says about heaven.
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