the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation"—he did not say that they that have done evil shall be doomed to endless suffering. When he commanded his disciples to go out into all the world and preach the gospel, he did not say that all who could not heal the sick and raise the dead, should be doomed to endless misery. If this had been the case, it would be impossible to reconcile it with the truth, that in Christ shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. The Universalists have not in my opinion, met the Orthodox on the right ground, concerning this word. It cannot be denied, that it is said concerning the sin against the Holy Ghost, Mark iii, 29. "But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, hath never forgivness: but is in danger of eternal damnation." And it never has, nor never can be shown, that eternal damnation will come to an end. And taking it in connection with the parallel passage in Matthew, it would be difficult to express endless duration more explicitly. Matt. xii, 31, 32. "Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." According to this, then, eternal damnation is in the world to come. And the more I read and hear about this not being in the eternal world, and after the resurrection, the more I am convinced that the Universalists are in the wrong concerning it. Certainly "world to come" in this passage, means the same as in Mark x, 30. "But he shall receive a hundred-fold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and

men.

lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come, eternal life." It is perhaps contended that both mean in this world, or in the Jewish and Christian age, but I cannot think so.

In what part of the Bible does Mr. S. learn that the Pharisees did not believe in the resurrection of the unjust? Or where did he get his authority for such an as sertion? And what does Paul allude to when he says, 'which they themselves also allow?' Was it not those very Pharisees which Mr. S. says did not believe in the resurrection of the unjust? Or was it the Sadducees, who denied the doctrine of the resurrection altogether? I wonder he did not say, "This may be seen by consulting the context."

I have now patiently followed the writer through; and have considered every point in his communication, which has any appearance of argument. He has presented no difficulties to my views, which were not presented. to my mind and considered, before I ever mentioned my sentiments to any one. He seems to think it a matter of little consequence how we understand these things, so long as we agree in the sentiment that all will finally be saved. I think otherwise. If it is important that we have the Bible, it is important that we understand it.

And certainly, if the coming of Christ was indeed at the time when he assured his disciples it should be ;that he came in a cloud in like manner as he was seen by his disciples to go up into heaven, (for a cloud received him out of sight,) if, as was foretold both by him and the angels, they should see him ;-if also, according to his own words, (which he said should not pass away). he did send his angels to gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost parts of the earth to the uttermost parts of heaven; then, certainly, the scriptures have been grossly misunderstood. Of all this, I have no more doubt, than I have that he was born

in a manger, or "from the dead.

that he was crucified, and arose again And the only reason that no other person believes it, is, they do not believe his words. I do not accuse any one of wilfully contradicting the Lord Jesus Christ; but they do not, and will not believe that he meant as he said. But though the whole world is against me, yet I must believe God rather than man.

EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD.

"Seeing that it is á righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled, rest with us; when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." 2 Thessalonians i, 6-9.

In the course of the discussion between the Rev. Thomas Whittemore, editor of the Trumpet, a Universalist paper published in Boston, and Rev. Parsons Cooke, editor of the Puritan, an orthodox paper published in Lynn Mass., upon the question, "Is the doctrine of endless misery taught in the Bible?" Mr. Cooke introduced the above passage as going to support his views. It is my object in writing this article, to show that the two gentlemen were both in the dark in their views concerning this passage. It is no ways certain that because they dif fer in opinion in regard to the meaning of the passage, that they, either of them, understand it right.

Among other passages, Mr. Cooke introduces this in Thessalonians;-and in a subsequent No. of the Trumpet, we find the following paragraph by way of reply.

"Last of all, in your list of texts, comes 2 Thess. i, 6, 9. The reader will turn to the text. The word ever

You

Lasting has been fully explained. You say this passage is 'to be fulfilled at the FINAL coming of Christ.' set yourself up as an experienced controversialist-a head and shoulders taller than your brethren in such matters. Do you, an experienced controversialist, think there is no need of giving even a modicum of proof on the point on which the whole matter turns? If you will prove that this passage is to have its fulfillment at the IMMORTAL resurrection of the dead, we will grant that you make out your point. But you have not attempted to give us ONE JOT of proof. Do you think your mere word is sufficient ?— "To the law, and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.'

Here Mr. Whittemore expressly admits that if this passage is to have its fulfillment at the immortal resurrection of the dead, his opponent has made out his point. Without admiting Mr. Whittemore to be correct in this, I wish to take a look over some of his own writings, and see what difficulties this admission will involve him in. In his notes on the parables, he says, page 345, “In all his [Christ's] ministry he never spoke of any other coming but that which took place at the destruction of Jerusalem; and in regard to his coming, he declared that some to whom he spoke should not taste of death till they saw it, (Matt. xvi, 27, 28,) that his disciples should not travel over the cities of Israel before it took place, (Matt. x, 23,) that the apostle John should live until it happened, (John xxi, 21, 22,) and that the high priest of the Jewish nation should see it, (Matt. xxvi, 46.") Now if Jesus never, in all his ministry, spoke of but one coming, and that to take place within forty years at most from the time of his crucifixion, what does Mr. Whittemore mean by what he says about his "FINAL" coming? Is there to be a coming of Christ to raise the dead which is yet future, and yet the Saviour himself in all his ministry

did not say a word about it? Mr. Whittemore will say, perhaps, that Paul speaks of Christ's coming to raise the dead; and so he does, but he says it upon the authority of what Christ said himself, and he speaks of no other coming than the coming which Christ speaks of in his ministry, and all which he says, in all his epistles, concerning the coming of the Lord, is based upon what Christ said to his disciples in the course of his ministry. Mr. Whittemore will admit that the coming of Christ to raise the dead, is spoken of in the 4th chapter of 1 Thessalonians; "Then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet. the Lord in the air." In his notes on the parables, page 305, he says, "Addressing the Thessalonians, the same. apostle [Paul] said, 'For yourselves know perfectly, that the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. **** Therefore, let us not sleep, as others, but let us watch and be sober.'" (1 Thess. v, 2-6) This Mr. Whittemore calls the same coming as that which Christ spoke of in his ministry. Then according to his own showing, the coming of Christ to raise the dead, was the same as the time when he came to destroy his enemies the Jews. There is no possible way of getting over this, for he quotes this passage in the first part of 5th Thessalonians, to prove that the coming of Christ was then near at hand, and this is a continuation of the subject of the coming of Christ to raise the dead. It is strange that that gentleman did not, in all his writings, see the difficulties which he had been continually blundering into. In reply to the above paragraph from Mr. Whittemore, Mr. Cooke

says:

"Your only objection to our interpretation of 2 Thess. i, 6-9, is, that it does not refer to the final coming of Christ. When you will show that all the circumstances here brought out meet in any other coming of Christ, you will have some ground for denying that this refers to his