accept false doctrines because our fathers taught them , we fall under the condemnation pronounced upon Babylon ; we are drinking of the wine of her abomination .
A large class to whom the doctrine of eternal torment is revolting are driven to the opposite error . They see that the Scriptures represent God as a being of love and compassion , and they cannot believe that He will consign His creatures to the fires of an eternally burning hell . But holding that the soul is naturally immortal , they see no alternative but to conclude that all mankind will finally be saved . Many regard the threatenings of the Bible as designed merely to frighten men into obedience , and not to be literally fulfilled . Thus the sinner can live in selfish pleasure , disregarding the requirements of God , and yet expect to be finally received into His favor . Such a doctrine , presuming upon God ' s mercy , but ignoring His justice , pleases the carnal heart and emboldens the wicked in their iniquity .
To show how believers in universal salvation wrest the Scriptures to sustain their souldestroying dogmas , it is needful only to cite their own utterances . At the funeral of an irreligious young man , who had been killed instantly by an accident , a Universalist minister selected as his text the Scripture statement concerning David : " He was comforted concerning Amnon , seeing he was dead ." 2 Samuel 13:39 . " I am frequently asked ," said the speaker , " what will be the fate of those who leave the world in sin , die , perhaps , in a state of inebriation , die with the scarlet stains of crime unwashed from their robes , or die as this young man died , having never made a profession or enjoyed an experience of religion . We are content with the Scriptures ; their answer shall solve the awful problem . Amnon was exceedingly sinful ; he was unrepentant , he was made drunk , and while drunk was killed . David was a prophet of God ; he must have known whether it would be ill or well for Amnon in the world to come . What were the expressions of his heart ?
`The soul of King David longed to go forth unto Absalom : for he was comforted concerning Amnon , seeing he was dead .' Verse 39 . " And what is the inference to be deduced from this language ? Is it not that endless suffering formed no part of his religious belief ? So we conceive ; and here we discover a triumphant argument in support of the more pleasing , more enlightened , more benevolent hypothesis of ultimate universal purity and peace . He was comforted , seeing his son was dead . And why so ? Because by the eye of prophecy he could look forward into the glorious future and see that son far removed from all temptations , released from the bondage and purified from the corruptions of sin , and after being made sufficiently holy and enlightened , admitted to the assembly of ascended and rejoicing spirits . His only comfort was that , in being removed from the present state of sin and suffering , his beloved son had gone where the loftiest breathings of the Holy Spirit would be shed upon his
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