tion, as my opposer would have you believe. The Bible speaks of restoring and saving those who are destroyed. A few examples will clearly establish this fact: 'O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thy help."-(Hosea xiii. 9.) "Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. He sent his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions."-(Ps. cvii. 19, 20.) "Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return ye children of men." (Ps. xc. 3.)

4. "From the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power."-One part of the punishment of these persecuting Jews, was to be removed from the presence of the Lord. Elder Holmes construes this declaration literally, and insists that "from the presence of the Lord," signifies being banished literally from God's presence, to realms of everlasting darkness and woe. But surely those possessing the least discernment, must discover the absurdity of such a thought. God's presence fills all space. "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in HELL, [Heb. Sheol-Greek, Hades,] behold thou art there."-(Ps. cxxxix. 7, 8.) If my friend insists this punishment is from the presence of the Lord, then it cannot be in the hell of which he preaches so much. For God's presence is there. As the punishment cannot be in hell, will he inform us where it is experienced? It will be evident to all reflecting minds, that the phrase "the pres ence of the Lord and the glory of his power," has a peculiar and local signification. An acquaintance with Jewish customs and scripture terms, will afford all needed light on this point. The Jews believed God was peculiarly present in his Temple at Jerusalem, and that he manifested his presence in the light of the holy shekina, which glowed above the mercy-seat between the wings of the cherubim. Here God promised to meet the High Priest and commune with him.-(See Ex. xxv. 22.) Going into the temple was considered entering the presence of the Lord. "Let us come before his PRESENCE with thanksgiving."-(Ps. xcv. 2.) "Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his PRESENCE with singing."—(Ps. c. 2.) Going from any particular locality where God had held special communion with men, is denominated in scripture phraseology, departing from the presence of the Lord. After God had met Cain and pronounced his judgments upon him for the murder of his brother, it is said-"And Cain went out from the PRESENCE of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod.”—(Gen. iv. 16.) "But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the PRESENCE of the Lord.

The men [mariners] knew that he fled from the PRESENCE of the Lord, because he had told them." (Jonah i. 3.-10.) The phrase "presence of the Lord," as used in the passage under consideration, should evidently be understood in accordance with its usage in the examples I have cited. Those Jews who "troub

led" and persecuted the Christian converts at that time, would be banished from Jerusalem, and from the holy temple where God's presence was believed to be manifested in a peculiar manner to his chosen people.

5. When was this aionion [age-lasting] punishment, this banishment from the presence of the Lord, to take place? The Apostle declared it was to be "when the Lord Jesus should be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels," etc. When was this to take place? Let the Savior himself answer. "The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then shall he reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they SEE the Son of man coming in his kingdom."-(Matt. xvi. 27, 28.) "When they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another. For verily I say unto you, ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come."-(Matt. x. 23.) In reference to his coming with his holy angels, the Savior exclaims"Verily I say unto you, this generation SHALL NOT PASS, till all these things be fulfilled."-(Matt. xxiv. 34.) If we can receive the express declarations of Christ, we are compelled to believe that his coming with his holy angels, [which was unquestionably a spiritual coming,] was in that generation, soon after the epistles to the Thessalonians were written. Drs. Gill, Adam Clarke, Pearce, Cappe, Hammond, Knatchbull, and a host of other commentators, all unite in asserting the spiritual coming of Christ during the Apostolic age, to abrogate the Levitical dispensation, destroy the Jewish worship, temple, city and nation, and establish Christianity on a firm basis. Then it was that those who "troubled" the followers of Christ, were banished from God's presence at the temple-and carried far away, and scattered among all nations, where they remain enduring their age-lasting punishment, to the present day.

It may be said that the Jews to whom the passage under consideration was addressed, were not residents of Jerusalem or Judea, but of Thessalonica. Very true--but let it be remembered the Jewish residents in that city, and throughout the Roman empire, were involved in the same overthrow, and carried into the same captivity, and subjected to the same punishments, as their brethren in Jerusalem and Judea. The view I have taken of this passage is fully corroborated by Dr. Hammond and other commentators.

Elder Holmes introduces a class of passages where the word "hell" occurs. He says that the punishment of the wicked in hell, is their LAST state!! I must beg to differ from my friend on this point. Does either of the passages he has quoted, assert that the punishment of the wicked in hell is their last estate? No. He cannot find a passage in the scriptures which declares that hell itself, is to endure forever. On the contrary, the Bible expressly says that hell shall be DESTROYED "O grave [Heb. sheol-Gr.

hades] I will be thy destruction.”—(Hosea xiii. 14.) Here the same word sheol-hades-occurs, which in several of the passages the Elder quotes, is translated "hell." This declares emphatically, that hell shall be destroyed. "Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire"--i. e., were destroyed.--(Rev. xx. 14.) How can hell be the "last state" of any class of men when it is to be destroyed? The word "Hell" is translated from Sheol, in the Hebrew, and Hades and Gehenna, in the Greek. The two first were used anciently to signify an invisible world, which was formerly supposed to exist in the centre of the earth, and whither it was thought in early ages, the souls of all men, both good and bad, went at death. These words were frequently used to signify simply the grave. Sometimes also they were used in a figurative sense--denoting a condition of darkness, anxiety and wretchedness, in this world. Gehenna, is compounded of two words-Gi Hinnom, or the valley of the son of Hinnom. It was situated near Jerusalem, and was desecrated to the vilest of purposes. It was the place of the execution of criminals by stoning and burning to death. Fires were also kept burning there perpetually, to consume the offal of the city. Professor Stuart says of this valley of Gehenna-“Perpetual fires were kept up in order to consume the offal which was deposited there. And as the same offal would breed worms, hence came the expression, "where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." This Gehenna was a place of great dread to the Jews. In some passages in the New Testament, where it is translated hell, it means punishment literally administered in that valley, In other instances, it is used in a figurative sense, as descriptive of the punishments inflicted on the Jews. I will notice a few passages the Elder has introduced under this head.

Ps. ix. 17. The wicked shall be turned into hell, (sheol,) and all the nations that forget God!!" Sheol here is used in a figurative sense, denoting pain and wretchedness. The meaning of the Psalmist evidently is, that the wicked, whether individuals or nations, shall most assuredly receive a just punishment for their sins. But not a word is said in regard to the length of time that punish

ment shall continue.

Matt. xxiii. 33.-"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell ""--[kriseos tes geennes--the condemnation of Gehenna.] Ye wicked Jews, how can ye expect to escape the sore punishment which is impending over your devoted city and nation?

Mark ix. 43." If thy hand offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, [geennan] into the fire that never shall be quenched; where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." You had hetter part with the most valuable possessions or enjoyments you have, and enter into the spiritual life imparted by the gospel, and be safe from the terrible commotion soon to transpire in Judea, than to cling

to them, and become involved in the Gehenna overthrow and punishment which is soon to come upon the doomed Jewish nation. This is the plain meaning of this greatly misunderstood passage. Dr. Clarke says, the words "fire that never shall be quenched," are not to be found in sixteen or seventeen of the ancient copies of the New Testament; and that some eminent critics believe these words to have been spuriously added by some copyist. As to the meaning of the words "where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched," I have above given the explanation of Professor Stuart.

Matt. x. 28. "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy (apolesai) both soul and body in hell."-[Geenne.] The object of this language which Jesus addressed to his disciples, was to inspire them with courage and confidence, in the midst of the perils by which they would be surrounded in proclaiming his gospel. He would have them entertain no fear of any injury men could inflict upon them. The most they could do would be to kill the body. Farther than this they could not go. There was but one being who could inflict a permanent injury upon them and that was God. He could destroy [annihilate] both soul and body in the midst of the dreadful fires of the valley of Gehenna. But because God has the power to annihilate man, it is no rational evidence that he will do so. John the Baptist said to the Pharisees, "God is ABLE of these stones to raise up children to Abraham." -(Matt. iii. 9.) But he did not express any belief that God would do a work of that description. Jehovah is able to sink all men, and the whole Universe, into utter annihilation at a single word, but who apprehends he will speak such a word!

The "fallen angels," (Jude 6,) have been introduced by my opponent. I am surprised he should quote that passage for the use he has. Does he believe there was once actually a WAR in heaven? That the angels in the abodes of infinite beatitude, really had a fight, and that a part of them were defeated and thrust out into darkness. If there has been such a war in heaven heretofore, there may be again. And if those who dwelt there at one time, were cast out, who knows but my friend and others of his school, if they should ever be so fortunate as to arrive in heaven, may in some future age, engage in a war there and in like manner, lose the field and be thrown over the battlements into hell! Is it not remarkable that men possessing ordinary intelligence, should cling to these old heathen notions, amid the light of the present age!! The Elder declares these angels fell from heaven! I deny this We have no knowledge that they fell at all, from any place. The account simply declares they "left their habitation." It says nothing of heaven, or of any war ever having been there. These angels were "reserved in

everlasting [aidiois] chains, unto the judgment of the great day." That this condition of captivity and darkness was not to be unending, is evident from the fact that they were reserved only until the judgment of the great day, when their chains would be taken off. The word "angel" [aggelous] signifies a messenger of any description, whether celestial or human. The angels who left their first estate, were unfaithful or apostate earthly messengers of God. The "great day" to which they were reserved for judgment, was the day, or time, when the Jewish nation was driven from their temple, city and country, and entered upon that aionion chastisement, which has continued to our own age.

Mr. Holmes has several times quoted in support of endless punishment, the well known passage in Mark xvi. 16.-" He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." This language when properly understood yields not the slightest support to that sentiment. 1. What is the fact, the belief of which brings salvation, and the rejection of which leads to damnation? The answer to this enquiry can be found by quoting the preceding verse." Go ye into all the world, and preach the GOSPEL to every creature. He that believeth [what? Ans. the Gospel] shall be saved but he that believeth not [the gospel] shall be damned”—[katakrithesetai—condemned.] 2. What is the Gospel, which is to be thus believed? Let St. Paul answer. "The scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the GOSPEL unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. Now to Abra

ham, and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one. And to thy seed, which is Christ." (Gala. iii. 8-16.) This doctrine that in Christ, the seed of Abraham, all nations-all men-shall be blessed, constitutes the Gospel which is to be preached in all the world! Not that Christ will simply try to bless all men-or only offer to bless allbut that he will succeed in his heavenly mission-in him all nations "SHALL be blessed!" 3. He that believeth this gospel of Universal blessedness through Christ, "shall be saved"-saved from unbelief, alination of heart, and the wretchedness which these things entail upon men. He that believeth not this gospel, "shall be condemned"-condemned to the darkness, the despair, the borrors, the dreadful uncertainties, which beset all who put the glorious light of this gospel from them, and continue to grope in the mists and shadows of the doctrines of men!

John iii. 36. He that believeth on the Son hath [in the pres ent world] everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath, [punishment] of God abideth on him." He that believes not, shall not see life while he continues in his unbelief. But whenever he repents and believes, whether