Immortality or Resurrection (Updated) - William West (top ten ebook reader .TXT) 📗

doctrine
of 'eternal misery' for the wicked. In June, 1804, being in Mr. Holmes' bookstore, in Boston, I asked him if he had
any new publications. He handed me Evan's Sketch. On opening the book my eyes first fixed on the word,
'destructionists.' I read one page, and concluded, people who held the wicked would be destroyed, were in strange
error, as no such thing ever before entered my mind. I bought the book. Often after that the destruction of the
wicked would pass through my mind, though I supposed eternal misery was recorded in the Bible. In April 1805, I
concluded one day to take my Bible and concordance, and find eternal misery, and not have my mind any longer
troubled about destruction. I examined the words misery, miserable, and miserably; and found there was not one
place in the Bible where the word was used to describe the state of man beyond death. Next I looked for the word
torment, and found that was limited, and that there was no torment mentioned beyond the Day of Judgment. I
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then looked at the words destroy, destruction, death, second death, perish, consumed, perdition, burnt up, end,
etc. I examined the similitudes used to describe the end of the wicked, such as chaff and stubble burnt up; dry trees
cast into the fire, and tares burnt up; the fat of lambs consumed, whirlwinds, a dream, and noise. All these things
proved to me that at the last judgment, the wicked would be punished with everlasting destruction, which would
be their end. My mind was settled upon the subject; but concluded to keep my discovery to myself; as the people
were almost distracted with having so many new things; such as that God was one and not three, and that all rules
but the Bible was useless, and that salvation was free for all. My first preaching and writing disturbed the clergy and
the wicked; the next disturbed the Baptists, and I was about certain, if this were known, it would disturb my
brethren with whom I was connected. I kept it back as long as duty would suffer me, and was constrained at last to
make it known, or preach no more. It made some stir, but people bore it as well as could be expected. Soon after
preaching it, I wrote and published five sermons upon the subject, which has never been answered to this day."
The Life, Conversion, Preaching, Travel and Sufferings of Elias Smith, 1886, Page 347. (church of Christ)
[26] AL MAXEY: "The Maxey-Thrasher Debate" A debate on the eternal destiny of the wicked between two
Gospel preachers, church of Christ. "'Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living SOUL/being' (Genesis 2:7). Some traditionalists virtually
equate this last phrase (living soul) with 'immortal soul.' But, that is NOT what the passage says. God put breath
within this body and the body became a living being. The exact same words are used of animals in the Scriptures.
Further, it doesn't say man was GIVEN a soul. It says man BECAME a soul. Big difference!" Free on the web at:
http://www.zianet.com/maxey/MxThrshr.htm(church of Christ)
[27] ROBERT DOZIER: "Dozier-Johnson Debate," The eternal destiny of the wicked by a Gospel preacher,
church of Christ. "But Gehenna was all about destroying that which was dumped there. There were not cries of
never ending conscious pain coming out of the bodies cast there. No conscious torment, just destruction of trash,
carcasses of animals, and some dead human bodies. It was all about death and destruction. That is what those who
heard Jesus speak of Gehenna would think of. Jesus spoke of the wicked and lost as being cast into Gehenna
AFTER God killed them (Luke 12:5)." Free on the web at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Religiousdebates/message/1408(church of Christ)
[28] MOSES E. LARD: "'For the wages of sin is death' it always pays. Whether the sinner stipulates for his wages
or not, he is sure to receive it. What the wages of sin are, the apostle here tells us: it is eternal death. How
astounding the fact that so many should serve for such a reward!" Commentary on Romans from “The Restoration
Library” Page 218, 1875, Gospel Light Publishing Company, and also his book "Do The Holy Scriptures Teach The
Endlessness Of Future Punishment?" I have been unable to find a copy of his book but found this about it by Steven
Clark Goad in “church of Christ Christian Podcast.” He said in a recent conversation he had with Jimmy Allen of
Harding University, Jimmy Allen said that he was rethinking and restudying the traditional understanding of hell.
That Jimmy Allen of Harding University shared with him more than confidentiality he would not be allow to repeat,
but Jimmy Allen at Harding University sent him a copy of a paper by Moses E. Lard, 1879, “Do the Holy Scriptures
Teach the Endlessness of Future Punishment?” Steven Clark Goad said this booklet by Moses E. Lord is a
magnificent word study of the Greek word aion draws many of the conclusions he had outlined at:
http://www.godsmessageontheweb.net/2010/07/25/thoughts-on-punishment-of-the-wicked/ and this booklet by Lard points out that his
understanding is not new or something a few harebrained fanatics have recently thought up to stir controversy.
(church of Christ)
[29] F. LaGARD SMITH: Teacher at David Lipscomb University, “If, as we are told at funerals, out loved ones are
already in heaven with Jesus, what is the purpose of Christ’s Coming and the Resurrection?” After Life, A Glimpse Of
Eternity Beyond Death’s Door. (church of Christ)
[30] ROBERTSON L. WHITESIDE: "If you serve sin, you need not doubt as to what your wages are to be, nor as
to whether you will be paid in full. The final reward for your service to sin is eternal death" A New Commentary On
Paul's Letter To The Saints At Rome, Page 142, 1945. (church of Christ)
[31] B. W. JOHNSON: “For the wages of sin. Sin is a master of his servants and pays wages. The wages is death,
one of the saddest, but profoundest truths of the world. But the gift of God. God gives to those who turn from sin,
life eternal” The People’s New Testament With Notes, Gospel Light Publishing Company. (church of Christ)
[32] E. M. ZERR: "It denotes, therefore, that a life devoted to the service of sin will earn or merit the wages of
death, not physical death, for all have to go through that, but the second death, designated in Revelation 21:8."
Bible Commentary, Volume 5, Page 360, Copyrighted 1952 by E. M Zerr. (church of Christ)
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[33] LEROY GARRETT: “Nowhere in Scripture will you find the idea that God bestows upon the wicked
everlasting (unending) life or immortality so that he can then torment them forever in hell fire. The
wicked die forever for two reasons: they do not have the gift of immortality, and they have to receive the
wages earned for their life of sin, which is death.” Restoration Review, November 2990, “Is Hell Fire Endless?”
(church of Christ)
[34] STEVEN CLARK GOAD: “Our present traditional view of hell, borrowed from Catholicism and
paganism, is no more biblical than their doctrine of limbo,” “Thoughts on Punishment of the Wicked”
church of Christ Christian Ekklesia Podcast http://www.godsmessageontheweb.net/2010/07/25/thoughts-onpunishment-
of-the-wicked/(church of Christ)
[35] JEREMY K. MORITZ: “I grew up in the church. For many years, I believed in the traditional view of
Heaven and Hell—that souls are taken from the body immediately following death and are placed in either
Heaven or Hell where they will spend eternity in bliss or unending torture. This is what most of the
Christian church right now believes. For the last six or seven years, however, I have found countless
scriptures that have changed my thinking considerably in this area. It seems to me that nearly the entire
Bible teaches that eternal life is only experienced in Heaven, that Hell is a place of complete destruction
and annihilation.” “HELL: Eternal Torment or Complete Annihilation?”
http://www.jeremyandchristine.com/articles/eternal.php(church of Christ)
[36] ASHLEY S. JOHNSON: “Does the doctrine of endless punishment harmonize with the fundamental
principles underlying God’s government that the hopelessly wicked, the incorrigibley wicked, shall be blotted out?
Trace his dealings with the nations through the centuries. On this principle he destroyed the antediluvians (Gen.
5:1-7; 7:1-24). Also Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen., 18:20,21). Also Korah and his rebels (Num., 16:31-33). Also he
made provision for the utter destruction of idolaters (Deut., 12:13-18). Also the Egyptians (Ex., 14:1-31). Also
Babylon (Isa., 13:19-220.Moses predicted the destruction of the incorrigible (Deut., 18:18, 19). So did Peter (Acts,
3:22,23). John had a vision of the day (Rev., 3:13-21). Why should this be God’s method of getting rid of the wicked
all through history if he is to suddenly change it at the judgment day, and consign all his sinful creatures to torment
and punish that all alike and that without end? I cannot answer. Can you?” Founder and president of the
Johnson Bible College, “The Resurrection And The Future Life,” Page 432-433, 1913, Knoxville
Lithographing Company, (church of Christ).
[37] DILLARD THURMAN, Brown Trail Church of Christ: "The hope and aspiration of many has been
shifted from His coming again to receive His own, to an immediate immortality and heavenly bliss
immediately at death! Jesus DID NOT promise that!" Gospel Minutes, Volume 34, Number 5, February 1,
1985, (church of Christ).
[38] E. D. SLOUGH “Punishment lasts so long as its results last, and where death has been administered
for the satisfaction of crime, THE PUNISMENT CONTINUES TILL LIFE IS RESTORED, AND IF NEVER
RESTORED, IT IS AN EVERLSATING PUNISHMENT. Lost of property, loss of liberty, loss of life, may all be
meted out to the transgressors under the label of punishment. And death as the capital punishment,
legalized on the statutes of all civilized nations of the world, is the highest punishment man can inflict—or
so recognized,--being the deprivation of life, the first source of all pleasures and enjoyments, and
recognized as being forfeited for certain crimes.” “The Indictment Of Eternal Torment—The Self-negation
Of A Monstrous Doctrine,” Page 196-197, F. L. Rowe, Publisher, 1914, (evangelist, church of Christ).
[39] OREN ORAHOOD and many other in the restoration movement and after (church of Christ).
[40] CHURCH FATHERS: The early so-called church fathers, Clement of Rome [said to be a companion of Paul],
Ignatius [killed 107], Theophilus [died 181], Justin Martyr [killed 166], Tatian, Irenaeus, and others of the second
century writers believed in conditional immortality. It was not unto the end the second and the third century that
the doctrine of an immortal soul gained a foothold in the church.
J. A. Beeth summed it up very well. "The phrase, the soul immortal, so frequent and
conspicuous in the writings of Plato, we have not found in pre-Christian literature
outside the influence of Greek philosophy; nor have we found it in Christian literature
until the latter part of the second century. We have noticed that all the earliest Christian
writers who use this phrase were familiar with the teaching of Plato; that one of these,
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Tertullian, expressly refers both the phrase and doctrine to him; and that the early
Christian writers never support this doctrine by appeals to the Bible, but only by
arguments similar to those of Plato...We have failed to find any trace of this doctrine in
the Bible...It is altogether alien, both in phrase and thought, to the teaching of Christ
and His apostles" Immortality Of The Soul, Pages 53, 54. Tertullian is truthful about where his belief came
from and said he based it on Plato, not the Bible. He said, "For some things are known even by nature: the
immortality of the soul, for instance, is held by many...I may use, therefore, the opinion of a Plato, when he
declares, 'Every soul is immortal'" Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, Page 1916.
JUSTIN MARTYR: Killed about A.