The Bible Standard February 1883

8/3/2019 The Bible Standard February 1883

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fliEY REClVEO rH EWORo W iTH ALL READ/--NESS OF A,fI/'lD ANDSARCIIEO THE SCRIP--rURES D AILY WHETH ERTIIOSE rlllllGS W ER ESOrllEREFORE MANY_OF TIIE~~E!!EV;f,sXVIJ.

No. 5. vei. VI. ONE PENNY.EBRUARY, 1883.PROPRIETORS: The " Conditional ImmortalityAssociation."PUBLISHING EDITOR: Cyrus E. Brooks, Mal-veru Link, Worcestershire.LONDONAGENT: F. Southwoll, 27, Ivy Lane,E.C. MONTHLYCONTRIBUTORS: [Malvern.BIBLICALEUGESIS: Rev. B. B. Wale, F.R.G.S.,SACREDSONG: Rev. G. P. Mackay, Lincoln.NOTESANDQUERIES: Gen. H. Goodwyn, Reading.FAMILYCIRCLE: Mr. J. J. Hobbs, Poole.

BIBLE LETTERS: "De\lon."LIFE NOTES: } ,ADvEN'r No-ms : Editor.COSMORAMA:

NOTICE TOADVERTrSERSThat such may pM'sonally judge as to thesuitability of our columns for their purpose, westate that-our previous issue numbered 2,250copies, and these circulated in the UnitedKingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Eastand West Indies, United States, and on theContinent. Our present issue numbers 2,325copies. Terms, on application to the Editor(enclosing copy of advertisement), or of any o fthe Agents named herein. No advertisement ofstimulants or drugs can be accepted,

LIFE NOTES.

'

ITORSHIPPING from home on a recentI\, Snnday, we listened to two practicaisermons from a divine of the most orthodoxstamp. We marked, however, some glaringinconsistencies, which are inseparable from thefalse logic of orthodox teaching. Thus thecongregation was spoken of as "A band ofspirits that can neve1' die," yet this was followedby the aspiration, on its behalf, "Breathe intothese spirits an endless life." We utterly failedto see the harmony of this. How there could beimparted to the congregation as a gift, externalin its S07l1'ce, that which they were alreadysupposed to possess by ruuural birth, Further,speaking of the soul's yearning after God andits struggle with sin, the preacher gave us a vividmind-picture of an eagle rising from the heather-where it had been bitteu by a snake-into theblue ether, and there wrestling in sore agony withits foe, which it failed to cast off; thence falling

to the dust, wbere it died. Then we were told what you are at home. You see the groundthat was an illustration of the deathless soul of all new here, and we were free, to a great extentman, stricken with sin, strugzling to be free, to form on the best possible basis, so we havand mounting higher and higher, Now it adopted that of churches. This we think wiseemed to us that the illustration was qnite out work better than the plan of the English Assoof keepinu with the lesson attempted to be ciation. I expect the new Association will taktaught. If the illustration taught anything, it over the book-stock by the' first of the year, ancertainly was the mOTtaiity of the struggling take in hand all the work that I have beensoul-inasmuch as the eagle died iu its struggle carrying on individually. We hope to start ouwith its foe-and where then was its' death. with the caravan in about six weeks. We arlessness? Further, Satan was spoken of as going with it into the same district that is nowhaving a future of punishment, though now being worked by Bro. Aldridge. Remember mshaking the pillars of heaven, To illustrate to all enquiring friends."this, t~e legion of demons in the Gadarene A London friend favours us with a letterde~olll.ac w.as made to do duty for a personal received from Mr. Geo. Aldridge, above referredd~vII-I.n spite of the fact of the broad ~cl'lptural I to, who writes from Hamilton East, Waikato,dIstm,c~lOn between Diabolos and hIS demon New Zealand. We make an extract :_" Sincesatellities. T~en, !,l'0n: the language of these my arrival in New Zealand, I have been engageddemons to Chns~- ,~r~ Thou co~e to ~orm.~nt in lecturing almost every Sunday evening, havingus before the .tIme -It was plainly inferred delivered addresses at Onehunga, Auckland,(though not directly stat,ed), t~at Satan was Thames, and now I am at Hamilton, whereimmortal, and thus tbat his pumsb.ment ,:,ould intend to settle for a year at least. if the Lordconsiat m eternal ~o,.,nents; yet immediately will. Dnring last month Mr. Brown visited tileafter-,:"th str~nge mconslstency-sp,ea~mg of town, and gave four lectures. I acted athe d~vl1 as. being able}o w~und Cbns~ s heel, chairman for him. Since he left I have carriedth~ pre~cheI sa~~ that Christ ~ould rr: the on Sunday evening services, and have had aboutserpent s. hea~; No;;,. as, the head IS t.J:re a hundred persons each night, This is thevtt~l pal t, to crush It, is to. de~troy theJlf~ largest congregation in the town. There is anof Its posses~or. W~ere th~u Its Immort:1lrty: evident desire to hear more on these themes,In such case, Satan s pu~~shment must (?lt~. and the people generally are glad that I ammatel~l be that, of deatl~-:- Tile. wa~es of Sl~ ,~s staying for a time. I am very much struck withdeath ... We ale not wl.Itmg mele~y m t~e SpUIt the lax morals of Christians out here, Thingsof a critic, b.ut to show into what mcon~lste.nces are done which would not be done in England,good men are led by the errors of the prevailing for at home the feeling of veneration keepsTheology. many from going to tile length they otherwiseThe Rev, G, A. Brown, writing from Auckland, would. But out here people appear to shakeNew Zealand, says :-" Glad to hear that your themselves loose from all that kind of feeling,Conference was such a success. Our work in and consequently do things which would bNew Zealand is still progressing, We have Bro. looked upon with serious eyes at. home, butAldridge now settled at Hamilton, Waikato, a which are every day common-places here,small town, but the centre of a large back bave remarked on this to others, but they tel.eountry. His last month'; report is very me I am mistaken, Perhaps I am, but I amfavourable, and he thinks that we have done a convinced up to the present that I am not.wise thing in opening out a cause iu that I must confess, however, that I have met withdistrict, Bro, Taylor is still at the Thames. some good sterling Christian characters since myHe, also, reports progress. The work with them arrival, men who have evidently drunk in tileis not, of course, self-sustaining; the Auckland Spirit of the Master, and whose religiou is real.Church makes up the deficiencies, Since Ilasl I mal' add that men do not wear here a coatingwrote you, we have formed an Evangelistic and of conventionalism, but, as a rule, are abovePublication Association, in connection with the board, even in their unpractical Christianchurches. We are on a little different basis to I profession."


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62 THE BIBLE STANDARD.

COSMORAMA.e at all surprising in a member of the orth


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THE BIBLE STANDARD. 63

INTERME-STATE.

fellaheen-it is greatly to be desired that itremain under the fostering care of British ruleand law. Whatever the responsibility it mightlay upon this country, we ought not-in theinterests of an enslaved people and a fertileprovince-to shrink from assuming it, eventhough it involved the shifting of the seat ofsuzerainty from east to west, from Constanti-nople to London. What we have done for Indiawe might, at least, attempt for Egypt.GREEcE.-By Turkey's recent concessions,

Greece has gained some substantial strategicaladvantages in the settlement of the, new bound-ary line. The, comparatively, rapid rise andextension of modern Greece, is a striking testi-mony to the accuracy of the school of Scriptureexpositors who, long since, foretold her rise andrank among the latter-day kingdoms. Austria,probably, will have to take Greece into hercalculations, whenever her own forward move-ment takes place; and it will go hard with thelittle kingdom if it does not win back somepart, at least, of its old Macedonian kingdom,-the Macedonia of Philip, and of Alexander theGreat,BRITAIN.-The most noticeable home features

lie in the Bradford catrstrophe, by which 54lives were sacrificed, and the sudden cutting-down of the s.s. City of Brussels, with a loss of10 lives. The trade of the country still seemsunder a cloud, the exports showing a falling offof above 2,000,000 for December.JA:MAICA.-"Fire is a good servant, but a bad

master." True, and it has been painfullyillustrating the latter fact during the last yearor two. We have heard much speculation as tothe cause, but no denial as to the fact of thelarge increase in the number and destructiveness F I F T H ART I CLE.of fires. The most lamen~able recent case is BY FRANCIS COOPERthat of Kingston, Jamaica, where tens of thousands of persons were made homeless. i "THE li~ing know that they sh~ll die," is aThe Governor of the Island says, "I have seen I scriptural statement which finds anothing comparable but the ruins of Pompeii- thorough, though, perhaps, not over-ready re-literally nothing is left but cracked or blackened sponse in the hearts of all who live. It is awalls." branch of knowledge which is all but as univer-A]IERICA.-Amidst the general laxity of the sally diffused as is the air which forms the

times, one bright feature presents itself in the breath of life-the very minimum, it may beadoption, in the United States, of the "Civil said to be, of human knowledge: "the livingService Reform Bill." The change of office, know that they shall die," "But the dead knowconsequent upon the change of the governing not anything,"-so concludes the second part ofparty, has for many years kept wide open the the two-fold averment. And the second is likefloodgates of corruption in that country. By unto the first, simple, distinct, and Divine.the new law, honesty, purity, and patriotism, But does it find a like response in the humanwill receive a decided impetus. heart ? Nay, it is opposed and rejected nearlyTURIillY.-There are grave reasons for believ- as much and as universally as the other is ad-

ing that Sultan Abdul Hamid's reason is affected, mitted and believed. God says, " the dead knowat least so think such papers as the Daily News, not anything," man believes and says, the deadSpectator, and Pall Mall. What is certain, is, know almost everything. Human knowledge inthat the Sultan is unequal to the strain of his the present life they admit, is limited, but deathexalted position, and that his kingdom seems to releases man from the limitations of the presentbe in the last throes of dissolution. Important and lifts him at once into a new and immenselynews may be shortly expected from Constanti- superior life, where that which is perfect shallnople. A change in the government of that have superseded the imperfect; where what wemagnificent but neglected empire, cannot well could not before know we shall then know;be for the worse, since its present deep of misery, where indeed we shall know even as 'we arecorruption, and suffering, forbids a deeper known: where the very maximum of humandepth. Notwithstanding all promises of reform, knowledge shall be attained. And so the wordArmenia still remains in a most wretched and of the Lord, "the God of truth," "the deadscandalous condition; suffering, more especially, know not anything," is rejected, and the word offrom the ruffianism of its lawless Kurd neigh- the devil," the father of lies," is received andbours. Its present state is a scandal to Europe, believed as the very gospel, "ye shall be asas the signatories of the Berlin Treaty, which gods knowing."insisted on its reform. Turkey too, can ill Nothing is more evident than that in scriptureafford to leave so foul a sore open, seeing that life and death are set in direct opposition theRussia is credited with designs inimical to the one to the other. No two things indeed are putsecurity of Turkish Armenia. On Turkey's in more sharp and absolute contrast than theyAfrican borders there hangs a cloud. Very are. And no one will question but that thesmall at present.e=no larger than a man's hand, Divine statement above referred to, is spoken-but which may give Italy a reason for inter- not of living and dead things, but strictly ofference in Tripoli. Greater thiugs than this man, living and dead. Every man who breatheshave arisen out of lesser causes than the insult the breath of life, sooner or later must draw hisoffered to the Italian Consul by a Turkish last breath, and be no more liviug, but' dead;soldier. Turkey's estimated deficit on the death being the failure 'of life; and dying, ceasingyear's revenue is equal to near 5,000,000. to live. Bereft of life, and all the powers of life

IState-without r and action, man is in a state of utter uncon-sciousness until such time as life is restored-such is the uniform and unq ualified testimony ofscripture regarding man in death. He sleeps;and sleep, even the sleep of life, precludes theidea of consciousness just as truly and utterly asdeath excludes the idea of life, or perfect dark-ness that of light.Still the idea prevails, and is all but universal,

that the condition of the dead is just anothercondition of life; that the soul, the livingprinciple, as it is called, is incapable of dying,and in what is called death simply passes intoanother sphere of life and action. And as thisconception is entertained by truly Christianmen, as well as others, there must be someimagined scripture grounds for holding it. Andaccordingly several passages of scripture areappealed to as not only favouring this belief inthe continued consciousness of the dead, butabsolutely demanding it. Such are, mainly, theparable of the rich man and Lazarus,-thewords of Christ to the penitent thief on the cross,-the words of our Lord to the question of theSadducees respecting the resurrection,-thewords of the Apostle Paul usually quoted asreading, " absent from the body, present with theLord,"-" to depart and to be with Christ."-the statement about Christ preaching to spiritsin prison; and perhaps a few other Scriptnrefacts and statements.Those who hold the belief in the unconscious-ness of the dead from the moment of death till

the time of the resurrection, do not of courseoverlook these passages, and are prepared toshow that, rightly understood, they are quiteconsistent with such belief.With respect to the parable of the rich man

and Lazarus, it is obvious that if it had beenspoken for the purpose of revealing the state andcondition of the soul of man in the intermediatestate, and of teaching that in that state and beforethe resurrection the soul is capable of, and isreally in a state of active and intensely consciousenjoyment or suffering, then, of course, such adoctrine is true, and to be believed, howeverdifficult or impossible we may find it to be toharmonise it with the teaching of otherscriptures, for these are the words of the GreatTeacher Himself. But in that case scripture asa whole would be irreconcilable. More thanthat, the discourse in question would not be aparable at all, but a history. Certainly it is ourduty to take the plain words of scripture in theirplain and obvious meaning; but we must de-cline to take the words of a parable in theirplain meaning-otherwise, where would be theparable? Certainly it is not only unwise andunreasonable in the highest degree to buildsuch a doctrine on the wording of this parable,but impossible so to do except by altogethergiving up the plain teaching of the Bible on thesubject. And are we to allow the framework ofa parable to control and upset the plain teachingof the Scriptures?Regarding the words of Christ to the penitentthief, "to-day shalt thou be with Me in

Paradise," we ought to take into account thecircumstances of the case in connexion with thewords of the Saviour. These words were thegracious answer of our Lord to the prayer of thedying man; "Lord, remember me when Thoucomest in Thy kingdom." His thought in hisprayer was not of the departing of Christ indeath, but of His coming again in His kingdom;obviously involving the idea and belief of Hisrising again from the dead. And surely thetruest and highest as well as the most Scripturalconception of Paradise is in connexion with"the everlasting kingdom of our Lord andSaviour Jesus Christ," which kingdom is alwaysassociated with His coming again. Observe thewords of the dying man. It is not when orwhere Thou goest, but "when Thou comest."

How long can such a Bankruptcredit-continue?PALESTINE.-A writer in a recent number.ofBlackwood's Magazine justly argues that the,practical, possession of Egypt by England mustresult in an early movement for the nationaliza-tion of Palestine, and, probably, during thepresent year. Few things more likely. Andfew things more desirable than that "thedispersed of Judah" should thus get their ownagain. No other race can have it. And since"the desolate land shall be tilled "-accordingto the dictum of Jehovah-it must be tilled bythe "tribe of the wandering foot and wearybreast." All things around us suggest earlyand speedy changes. The outlook is a troubledone, wherever the eye may rest. All" creationgroaneth." Is the Deliverer nigh? Time willshow. Our purpose is to record facts, ratherthan fancies: the opinions of others-speakingwith authority-rather than our own. Events,however, march so rapidly that the opinion ofthis month may be the faot of next. We willwait and see.

SYMPOSIUM ON THEDIATE

[IN accordance with the wrll of the Committee we openour columns to the above. It must, however, be dis-tinc tly understood that neither the Association nor theEditor are to be held responsible for, or as endorsingin any way the views expressed herein. These aresimply the personal convictions of the several writers,and appear in these colums merely that our readersmay have the opportunity of studying the question asit appears to the different believers in the cardinaltruth of 11 Conditional Immortality," and then formingtheir own opinion thereon.-En. B.S.]


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64 THE STANDARD.IBLEHe was not thinking as regarded himself of howit would be with his soul when he died, but howit would be with him after death, when raisedagain to life, And the answer of Christ is ap-propriate to the prayer, and it assured thedying man that he should be with Him in Hisglory,-" Thou shalt be with Me in Paradise,"I will not forget thee in the day of My kingdomand My glory, Presumably then the "to-day"has reference entirely to the time in which thegracious promise was made to him; and Zech,ix. 12, is an example of the same use of thephrase in which it is used by Christ, namely ashaving reference emphatically to the time ofpromising or declaring something that shallafterwards be fulfilled; and according to whicha true and just paraphrase of the passage wouldread -" Even to-day do Ideclare unto thee, thoushalt bew ith Me in Paradise,"And so of the words of our Lord to the Sad-ducees, " God is not the God of the dead but of

the living," He was speaking not of the stateof the dead, but strictly of the resurrection. of thedead; and to argue from His words that thedead are not really dead but consciously alive is,in short, not only to subvert the Bible doctrineof the resurreetion, but to render it absolutelyimpossible, as in that case there would be nodead to be raised, How, it may be asked-andthe question is pertinent -how could night beturned into day, if there were no such thing asnight?Again, the words o! Paul about departing and

being with Christ are often, if not usually mis-quoted, and nothing is more common than to betold regarding death that to depart is to be withChrist, and similarly it is affirmed by a likemisquotation that to be absent from the body isto be present with the Lord, In both cases thereading is at fault, and corrected is "to departand to be with Christ," To be absent fromthe body and to be present with theLord," We know that Christ said, "I goaway and come again"; but we do nottherefore argue that the going away is thecoming again, And to put a like meaning intothe other words referred to is surely rash in theextreme. Plainly the teaching both of Christand of Paul on this subject is that the time ofthe saints being with Christ is when He comesto receive them to Himself, at the period of theresurrection and not before.Regarding the statement about Christ preach-ing to the spirits in prison, one single fact shows

that we ought to seek an interpretation of thesewords other and different from that which seesin them that Christ during the three days Hewas dead and buried, went to where the spirits ofthe wicked and disobedient in the days of Noabwere suffering the due reward of their d. eds andpreached to them; and that these spirits heardHis preaching, and repented and believed tbegospel-it is this, that in that case He wouldhave bean doing what He himself said that noman could do-" The night cometh in which noman can work." In His own ca-e it wouldhave been" work" of the highest kind, And notless so in the case of the" spirits :" for if thesespirits of dead men could listen to preaching,and think, and reason, and accept or reject amessage brought to them, would not that beworking also? "For this is the work of God,that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent,"It cannot, plainly, be both possible and impos-sible for men during the period of death to work.The strongest of all proofs for the doctrine of

the unconsciousness of the dead is the argumentof the Apostle Paul in 1 G01'. xv. regarding theresur: ection. Paul there affirms thatif the deadrise not, "then they who are fallen asleep inChrist are perished." That could not possibly bethe case if there is such a thing as being withChrist in a blessed and happy and glorious stateof existence during the period of death.

Were the doctrine that the dead are alivewhile they are dead, true, it would find veryfitting expression in the inspired words of theApostle Paul in Rom. xiv. were we to alter justone word and read it " whether we live, we liveunto the Lord; or whether we die we live untothe Lord," but retaining it as it stands it isdead against such a theory, And so is what weread in Acts xxv. 19, in connexion with astirring incident in the life of Paul, on his de-fence at the bar of Festus on a charge concern-ing "one Jesus, who was dead, whom Paulaffirmed to be alive "-just the very thing com-monly affirmed of any dead, or of all the dead;but there is this tremendous difference in thecase, that Jesus is alive because" God raisedHim from the dead."The resurrection is our one hope of immor-

tality; and let us rejoice that the sleep of deathis not a sleep which knows no waking; but thatwe who believe in the unconsciousuess of thedead, believe also, just as firmly as they do whothink of them as alive and conscious, that themoment of falling "asleep in Christ" is suc-ceeded as a matter of consciousuess by themoment of being" with Christ" in resurrectionlife-the life that now is, and the life that is tocome, thus as it were touching each other, in-tervening years aud ages notwithstanding, be-cause they are passed in unconsciousness.-Abe?'deen,

SIXTH ARTICLE.BY M. M. WILSON.

D EAR SIR,-Having read iu the BibleStandard. the various articles in your" Symposium" on the Intermediate State, I findwhat seems to me to be grave misinterpretationsof the teaching of Jesus and His apostles.Respecting Christ's argument with the Sad-

dncees as to the resurrection, I must regard it asunquestionable proof that the dead ace not alive,or at any rate, were not when Jesus spake. Irefer to Luke xx, 27-38 and lJIatt. xxii. 23-3,1,and especially the words" For He is not a Godof the dead, but of the living; for all live untoHim," We mnst understand that God may bethe creator and ruler of all things, visible andin visible, animate and inanimate; but He is onlythe God of those who live to worship and topraise Him.Christ's argument is to prove the necessity of

a resurrection. This must be strictly borne inmind or we shall miss His meaning and line ofthought, altogether. Firstly: Let us examineHis argument on tile common assumption thatAbraham and the other patriarchs are alive nowin Heaven or Paradise, then-"I am the God of Abraham,"-Abraham was then alive somewhere,-" God is not the God of the dead but of theliving."-Therefore Abraham must rise from the dead! ! !The Sadducees would have replied at once

" That does not follow at all: rather if Abrahamis alive now, there is no need for his resurrec-tion; at all events, not on the ground of yourargument that' God is not a God of the dead, butof the living; , all the conditions are fulfilled inAbrahsm's case without resurrection, thereforeresurrection is unnecessary."On the other hand-"I am the God of Abraham ,"Abraham was then really dead,-God is not the God of dead men, i:e. those

who have forever passed out of existence.-Therefore Abraham must rise from the dead,,Ve are told the Saddueees wei e put to silence,

and no wonder, for this argument is uuauswer-able.The mere fact of Abraham being actually

asleep in death now, amounts to nothing in the

sight of God, for Abraham still lives in Hispose, "Who quickeneth the dead and cthose things which be not as thoughwere." We thus see that the only wperceive the point of Ch,rist's arguI?entassuming that Abraham IS, for the timeactually dead as an entire man, and wrecarded both by Jesus and the SaddI do not see as some of our friends ato do, that' any reference is here,to the promises given to the patriaThese would form the basis for anotherindependent line of argument.Havinz then conclusive proof that Jesgarded Abraham as really dead until restion we may approach the parable orich'man and Lazarus, without muchgoing astray, Abraham wa~ dead, theif the parable represents him as speit is proof positive that the events relatepure fiction, and that the most .certamof misunderstanding the parable IS toliterally. "We have scripture precedent m Isa. xivfor representing dead men and in,ammateas speaking; of course, parabolically. Afor Hades or Sheol we find it, iu Ezelciei27 identified most unmistakeably witgr~ve, 01' the state of dead men, ~avingteaching of scripture, we do not ask l?formfrom heathen 01' rabbinical mythologies.If Paradise forms part of Hades, thenwe read in Rev. xx. 14, " And death an(Hades) were cast into th~ lake of ,fir~< ~fParadise was cast there likewise, if it tS inin Hades !If Moses and Elias were personally andpresent on the Mount of Transfiguration,Moses must have been raised from the dthe purpose, as Samuel was to appear toand as the saints who arose after the crion and appeared unto many, As for Elicorrespondent to whom I allude, appbe most remarkably forgetful that Elijahdied.The thief on the cross would have somculty in meeting tbe soul of Christ in Pafor the" simple reason that Jesus did nthere beiuz in Hades between His deatresur;'ectio~, See Acts ii,24, 27, 31. If Pawas in Hades, it is strange tbat David andshould represent Christ as ?'ejoicing too f it while, at the same time, we are askbelieve that it was a special favour for tilto be allowed to go there.I believe the natural explanation of thculty in this saying of Christ to the dyingis, that the comma is misplaced. Literareads, without stops," Verily I say to theewith Me thou shalt be in the Paradise." Thdid not ask for an answer: Jesus goeshis request and gives him His promiseemphatically there and then. The use" to-day" to give emphasis is commonin Scripture, and we ourselves constantlthe word" now" in a similar manner,We are told that Jesus preached to the

in prison during the interval between Hisand resurrection, but there is no scripturarant for this idea. He did so, nosomehow, at sometime, though we areconjecture when, I believe that it wasally, and after His resurrection, that Heand preached or proclaimed the tidingsangels which sinned, who kept not theiestate, and who are now kept under chadai kness until the judgment,There is plenty of" proof that these

angels are the" Sons of God" who" sdaughters of men that they were fair," andthe IIIwives of whom they chose." Bothand J ude speak of them as if the mattcommonly well understood, therefore ifobtain any contemporary evidence of wh


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THE BIBLE STANDARD. 65

EDITED BY GEN. H. GOODWYN.1. QUERY: "I desire to be absent from thebody."-Intended to be a quotation from 2 C01".V. 8, which it is not. The words are" \Ve areconfident, I say, and willing rather to be absentfrom the body, and to be present with the Lord."This is a very different tbought.-Appended tothe above is the following question: " Was it notPaul himself who was to be absent-But Paulmust have been something more than breath-what was it that was to be absent? I think thispassage is in favour of an unclothed state."-Mrs. G., Maidenhead.REPLY: Perhaps our Querist's words mayfavour that idea when viewed in the fragmentary

expresses an opinion that v. 1315 of chap. i.of 2 Peter is much more difficult," and asks forlight.REPLY: I can only say that the 1st chap. o2 Peter does not in any way treat of the natureof man. If, however, Our Querist will state thparticular point in the passage wherein the difficulty on tbis subject lies, Iwill by grace endeavour to explain.NOTE. From the examples hitberto presentedto the Replicant of 'queries, it appears desirable,for the joint benefit botb of himself and thequerist, that a few observations be made on thetoo prevailing habit of reading the Scriptures imere fragments; a practice that invariably leadaway from the context, thus preventing the discovery both of the subject of the writer, and consequently the meantng of the Divine Author.It tends to obscure the mind as to the ionocounsel of God, and the purposes for which HTwo volumes have been written as One entireWork.There is, furthermore, a tendency of the mindarising out of the fractional method of perusaalluded to, which confirms a bad principle, vizthat of the entertainment or adoption of somparticular opinion before the Bible has beesystematically searched for the reciprocal ligthat each volume of the whole work can throupon the other, in order to the apprehension

truth, Mark well the Lord's words, "Everyscribe instructed unto the Kingdom of Heavebringeth forth out of his treasurthings new and old" II write from a painful experience, that andiscriminate search for texts in order to suppoa presupposed view, is more or less attendewith mischief. Safer far to dispossess the minof bias and prej udice, and permit tenet, creeor view to be moulded on the Word. "ThSpirit of Truth" if humbly relied on, can on"guide into all Truth."Reading.

the common belief we shall know what is meant way here disclosed, but such practice does butby the" Angels which sinned". In Josephus' lead away from the context, and robs the passage"Antiquities of the Jews" I find" For many of its meaning. The Apostle is writing aboutangels of God accompanied with women, and Resurrection, not au unclothed state; but inbegat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of order to render his language plain and consistent,all that was good," &c.; and Whiston's note to Imust first state an axiom; viz: that whilst everytbe above is "This notion that the fallen angels person must submit to the act of dying, thewere, in some sense, the fathers of the old giants, word eaVaTOS, (death), is not the act of dying, butwas the constant opinion of antiquity." Jesus the end of dying, or state of death, which for themight therefore preach to the spirits in prison Believer is abolished as to its continuity, becausewithout proving thereby that dead men are alive. the Redeemer in His atonement, Resurrection,There is, however, a sense in which living and Ascension has overcome it. The doctrinemen may be considered as dead, and that is of the Resurrection, therefore, is most naturallywhen they are under irrevocable sentence of contrasted as the great object of faith, andeath. This was the condition of the ante- "evidence of things not seen;" and it is to thisdiluvians to whom Noah preached. St. Peter object that Paul always directs the hope of Be-says, (1 Epistle iv. 6,) "For, for this cause was lie vel'S through their career of suffering. This,the Gospel preached also to them that are dead, however, only in a few passages-of which our(literally, to dead ones,) that they might be chap. 2 COl'. v., is one-where he realises his fulljudged according to men in the flesh, but live definition of faith (v, 7.), speaking of the Resur-according to God in the spirit." The gospel of rection, and of the return of the Lord as ofresurrection, by the same Spirit which raised up events contemporaneous with the state of death;Jesus, was preached by Noah to" dead ones" as if the latter event, in fact, was actuallywho were past hope, so far as this world is con- merged in the reality of the former.cerned. They could not escape the judgment Let the reader bear these truths in mind asunder which the world then lay, but there was essential to the right understanding of thestill hope held' out to those who would repent. Apostle's subject, which commences at the 8thThose who will read the latter part of the 3rd verse of chap. iv. and continues to the 11th versechap. of this same Epistle, and continue reading of chap. v. After recounting his own andthe -Ith chap. up to the words I have quoted, Timothy's perplexities aud perseeutions, he sayswill see the close connexion, or rather identity, they were not in despair, not forsaken, nor des-in the mind of the Apostle, of the antediluvian troyed. Upon this he grounds his assurancehuman sinners with the" dead ones" to whom that" He who raised up the Lord Jesus shallthis gospel was preached. raise us up also by Jesus, and shall present usMany of our brethren, while convinced that with YO!!," chap. iv. 14. Here at the outset is athe unrighteous dead are really dead, hold a declaration that no detached person or personsbelief that believers do not really die at all. can be "present with the I .ord " ; if such couldThis is a V61-y pleasant belief from one point of be, the incident wonld dislocate the members ofyiew, though from anotheI: it is n.ot so very the Body; for, whatever the interval between theJoyful. Fancy a .poverty.stncken ~ehever tra,:,s, Apostle's demise and that of the rest of the Bodyferred to glory: It canno~ be very Jo~fnl for hI~ of Christ, none could precede others, (1 These.to kn~w. that hIS. bereaved deal. ones ale iv. 15.) Again, Mr. Poster (" Biblical Psych.strugglingjand suffering, while he hImself, may ology,") reminds us that" to understand the ex-not return to help and comfort ~hem. Is It not pression 'absent from the body and to bebetter that the words of Eccleeiastes should be esent with the Lord ' literally and immediatelytrue, " The dead know n~t anything?" How. I ~ ~ death, would prove too much; for Christ isever, If any p~ssage of Scnp~n~'~ could be ,quoted said to be on the Mercy Seat at the right-handto p~ove, WIthou;, a po.sslblh~y ,?f .mbtak~n of God; therefore to be personally present w~thmeamng, that the de~d, III Christ . are .ahve In the Lord there in an immediate sense, would m-glOll' I should be willing to ~eheve It; but, volve a present and partial participation in the~ntIl th.en, I a~, content to believe that they glorious Presence of the Godhe~d." Now thesleep In Jesus. . . 14th verse of chap. iv. forbids this, and so doesIf we. mu~t accept the ancient doctrine .of the the Apostle's avowed belief tbat the entire Body!ransm~gratlOn of souls because Jesus did not, would simultaneously be "establisbed unblame-In partlCula~, condemn It, we m~y bold ourselve.s able in boliness before God, at the coming of ouropen to receive a strange assortment of tradi- Lord Jesus Christ WI'rH ALL HIS SAINTS." (1tions, on the ground tbat Jesus !l:pproved of Thess, iii. 13,)them, because He didnot, so far as IS recorded, " . , '. hrefute each articular error by name. Sensible Paul s gl~at desire was to impress upor: t. emen will SUl~IY agree with me in declining to body of Believers tbat their affhctions In this hfebelieve this hoary superstition on any such are but momentary wh~n contrasted WIth thed eternal glory which awaits them at the Resur-groun s. t' (h' 1~ 18) d h -oceeds to enOne thing Christ did; He warned His dis- ree IOn c.' IV.. " r: an :, PI" .ciples to beware of the doctrine both of the large on this subject III eh. v. . ~OR, says he,Pharisees and Sadducees, and it is our wisdom ., We k~ow that we :,ave a bUlldI~g of "God notto act accordingly.-.Liverpool. made withrhands, eternal IIIthe heal ens, -Le. an. imnwTtal body-we earn estly desire to attain tothis body, having no wish to be unc'othed-i.e. toNOTES & QUERIES. die-in order to terminate our afllictions, but tobe numbered with those who, ., in the twinkliugof an eye," will be changed into incorruptibility

(1 COT. xv. 52.), when "mortality will beswallowed UP of LIFE." (2 C01. v. 4.) Now too,he adds, "It is for this self-same thing" thatGod has prepared us, viz.: the possession of theimmortal body.With this premise the Apostle comes to theconclusion in verse 6; that if God has thuswrought on our behalf, we may be confident inHis work, and brace up our desire to part withthe present mortal body, that we may be in animmortal body meet for our home with the Lord.11. QUERY: "A seeker after truth," havingbeen" reading about the nature of man whethermortal or immortal" in the v. chap. 2 C01.

THECONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY

TE ACHING OF CHRISTBy THE REV. W. R. TOMLINSON, M.A.

THE prophet Ezekiel (xiii. 19,) pronounceswoe on those who would "slay the sothat should not die, and save the souls alive thshould not live," and he brands those wwould teach otherwise, as" lying to my peopthat hear your lies."

In perfect harmony with the above donuncition of the prophet, are the words of our LoHimself, explicit enough in all consciencAmong others are the following: "Broad isway that leadeth to destruction .... narrowthe way that leadeth unto life" (Matt. vii.14). "If thou wilt enter into life keepcommandments" (ilIatt. xix, 17). "Whosoevebelieveth in Him should not perish, but heverlasting life" (John iii. 15). "Exceptrepent ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke3). "Ye will not come unto Me that ye mihave life" (John v. 40). "Whosoever shallon this stone shall be broken, but on whomever it shall fall it will qrimd. him to powde(JIatt. xxi, 44). "He will come and destroyhusbandman" (Ma1'k xii. 9). "What is aprofited if he shall gain the whole worldlose his own soul?" (Matt. xvi. 26). "Fear


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66 THE BIBLE STANDARD.them which kill the body but are not able to killthe soul: but rather fear Him which is able todestroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. x.28). "U a man keep My saying he shall neversee death" (John viii. 51). "If ye believe notthat I am He, ye shall die in your sins" (Johnviii. 24). "The chaff He will burn up with un-quenchable fire" (Luke iii. 17, New Version)." I give unto them eternal life, and they shallnever perish" (John x. 28). "Whosoever livethand believeth in Me shall never die " (John xi. 26).All the above sayings of our Lord teach that

life and death are the only ultimates of human-ity. And we further learn that this death anddestruction does not take place in (aO'l.) Hades,the intermediate state, but after the judgmentin (YEEvva) hell. "Fear Him which is able todestroy both soul and body in hell." TheRevised Testament has restored Hades to thelaity, which Luther and the English translatorskept back from them for a purpose which theydoubtless considered worthy, but it was, wethink, a mistake, or " enlarging the boundariesof hell by adding Hades to it." Having, then,such an array of texts from our Lord's lips,shewing the finality of the sinner to be death; itfollows, therefore, that if wefind a single text,and one only, as I believe, proceeding from thesame source, that may be and has been longinterpreted as conveying eternal misery to theindividual, but which may be also interpreted asrelegating the individual sinner to death eternal,I assert that we are bound to assume the latterinterpretation as the true one, if we would makeour L01'd's general teaching consistent withitself. Of course I refer to Matt. xxv. 46, andaffirm that everlasting punishment, there enun-ciated, must of necessity mean the punishment ofeternal death, to be in any way in accord withwhat our Lord says elsewhere. And I do notdoubt that the declaration of St. Paul, "thewages of sin is death, but the gift of God iseternal life," is a true and probably intentionalexplanation of the text which has caused somuch anguish to mankind. For life and deathare in true antithesis, while life and punishmentare not.There are two other quotations from our Lord

which have been, I think, most unwarrantablyproduced as implying the eternal misery of theindividual. First, that from the 9th chapter ofMal'k, where it is said, "Their worm dieth not,and the fire is not quenched." It is a quotationfrom Isaiah about dead bodies eaten by worms,and devoured by fire, in fact, a tale of death anddestruction, and was so well handled by the Rev.B. B.Wale, in his published sermon at Salisbury,that I need not enter into it, but will merelyremark that it is the worm that dieth not, andthe fire that is not quenched, not the individualimpenitent sinner, whose soul our Lord so

positively assures us will die, perish, be lost,be destroyed. A soul emancipated from tbeflesh cannot be hurt by material fire. Godmakes His angel ministers a flame of fire. Theutmost this text can mean in the way so manydelight to quote it, is that there is a Nemesis forsin, a punishment for it as long as sin lasts.As to the individual sinner, this we know fromChrist's teaching, that he inevitably dies whenhis time comes; and probably, only when all themeans spread out for his salvation have failed.The soul is, like the body, subject to sin bynature, and needs God's holy Spirit to keep itstraight. The word rendered sensual in Jamesiii. 15, should have been translated of soulquality, psychical,-,pvx,xij. Even the trans-lators of the Revised Testament have not daredto give this word its right meaning, alas! Ithas been asked, "Can the soul be immortal perse, which is classed with what is earthly anddevilish? "As regards the other text from our Lord's

lips which has been made use of, and is madeuse of, to favour the doctrine of eternal misery,conoerning the rich man and Lazarus, the newtranslators have done their duty, for they haveplainly shewn that the rich man was not inhell at all, but in Hades, in the intermediatestate, which Bishop Heber, among others, speaksof as the" state which we are taught by Scrip-ture precedes the final judgment." Then itappears to me the whole argument about theeverlasting misery of the rich man in the parable,so frequently and energetically taught from thepulpits, falls to the ground; for, as our LordHimself shows (Matt. x. 28,) it is not until afterjudgment that a man's fate is finally sealed, notin Hades, but in hell: "Fear Him who is ableto destroy both soul and body in hell." Thebody here alluded to is probably the spiritualbody of St. Paul, the HOWAOV of the Greeks, andthe imago of tbe Latins.It is a pity those teachers who understand

Greek have not generally told their hearers thatthe rich man was not in heIl, for surely honestyis the best policy, even in religion. It is truethe history itself is in parable, but there can belittle doubt but that it was told to represent avery grave truth; and was intended to point outthat the careless in this life will suffer for it inthe next. But surely "Now thou art tor-mented" can never mean tormented for eternits],That "now" is now "then." It would bedifficult to prove to any but the obstinately pre-judiced, and their victims, that suffering" now"could ever mean never-ending suffering. Suchteaching has been probably found useful, ac-cording to the sense of some, like the slave-driver's whip; but both must be laid aside nowthat common sense and mercy are found atlength, to bein alliance with truth and Christian

charity. Some study the Scriptures to see hohard they can possibly make them. It is saithat in New Zealand the doctrine of eternamisery has been the main cause of the Maoriesapostacy from the Christian religion. When thmissionaries first went they taught the nativethe doctrine of everlasting burnings. with theireading, writing, and arithmetic. But since thnatives have been able to teach each other,greathas been the falling off from tbe Churches. Ia beautiful poem by Alfred Domelt, Esq., latPrime Minister of New Zealand, called " Ranolphand Amoia," a work which Mr. Browning, hfellow-poet, declared has not been surpassed ithe century, Mr. Domelt gives a very strikingpicture of meetings of the natives under theiold chiefs, and graphically describes the anathemas of the latter against this sad and penicious, yet hugged, beloved, and long-continuedheresy, at length so powerfuIly and efficientlexposed and repudiated by the "ConditionalImmortality Association."

FAMILY CIRCLE.EDITED BY MR. J. J. ROBBs.Icatering for the readers of a Magazineone seems to feel in a worse positionthan that of a blind preacher in thpulpit. Others may be able to tell hima few particulars concerning his congregation, their numbers, ages, and so onbut who can describe the number, oages, or character of readers of a papelike this?Scarcely more would be the joy ofblind preacher, could he with open eyegaze for a moment upon the faces of hiau~ience, than would be the delight ofwriter for the press to see before him thereaders of his productions. Well, as thisgratification is hardly to be expected, thenext best thing is to draw upon theimagination; and with such an aid, Isebefore me a goodly number of dear youngfriends with smiling faces and out-stretched hands, willing to welcome anunseen friend to their homes, at thesame time only wishing imaginationcould be made to give place to morepleasing reality, and that one couldreceive their pleasing greetings face toface.Only lately we bade our interestinefamily circle a happy new year. Sinc~then we have fairly entered upon it, andnow we trust all are getting on mostcomfortably together with the new ac-quaintance. Christmas holidays withall their delights have come and gone.Luxurious fare, social parties, Christmas~nd New Year's cards, and pleasures,Innumerable as they are fleeting, are forthe most part over, and once more weare settling down to the many and variousduties of life. Many of you are again


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THE BIBLE STANDARD. 67immersed in the routine"of school duties.May you learn to appreciate your mercies,and find pleasure in them. A irecentwriter says school life is not what it oncewas; that the dark ages are over-for ourboys and girls. What do I hear you say," You only wish 'twas true ?" If you donot believe it, maybe it is simply becauseyou donot know what schools and schoolteachers were in days of yore. But now,how are we to bring brightness into ourhomes, and sunshine into our hearts?By accepting the inevitable and makingthe best of it: "Godliness with con-tentment, is great gain." So said a wiseman many years ago, and the ages haveas yet discovered no higher wisdom.Godliness-Godlikeness. Confidence inG~d's goodness will do more than any-thing else to secure a bright and happyexperience for us. Even the greatsceptic, Renan, boasts of his peacearising through confidence in God. Whatthen must be the peace a Christian oughtto know through resting in God?

" Contentment" is joined unto thisGodliness. What robs us of peace andjoy more than ought beside? Discontent.Life is marred by it, and everythingspoiled. A girl going by a palace thinkswhat a grand thing it must be to be aqueen or an empress, and she sings-, " I wish I were an empress,

And had a crown to wear,All glistening with diamonds,And pearls to deck my hair,

And a train of velvet,For noblemen to bear."

The empress looking out of the palacewindow, saw the little maid trippingalong, and she muttered to herself-Looking :down the crowded street,I behold the maidens go,

Brisk of feet,To the market or the show,Laughing, tripping, in a row,

To and fro.Woe is me-

For their light limbs moving free,For their brisk elastic tread,For their cheeks with cherries red,

For their hair,Flowing fair.

Oh, the May-time I have lost!Oh, the nipping of the frost! "

Yes, happiness is not in outwardcircumstances, but dwells within, andwith a heart made right: we carry itabout wherever we go.

" For ailong time I lived down in theland of discontent, and when livingthere I thought everything was wrongbut myself. My wife was always wrong,and my children were always wrong,and the country was all wrong, andthe minister was wrong, and the churchwas wrong, and all was wrong. But oneday I came to a hill, and as I went upit, I found. it a wonderfully pleasantplace. The sun was shining, and the

birds were singing and I began to findout that things were right, all right, andthe country was right, and the churchwas right, and everybody was right butmyself. So I thought I would get right,and I did, and now everything is right.I met a man up there and I said, ' Thisis a nice place to live in. Can you tellme what the name of it is?' and theman said, ' This is the land of Good Con-tent.' 'I should like to come up here tolive. Is the rent much?' I asked, 'No,'said the man, 'the houses are all rent-free. Nobody can make you pay anythingfor living in the land of Good Content.''But the rates are very heavy, I amafraid? ' The man shook his head.'No,' he replied, 'there are no rates,nor taxes either.' Then I'll come uphere to live,' I said. 'But how do I getin ?' '0, all you have to do is to walkstraight up, turn the key, and go in, andstay as long as you like.' 'That willjust suit me,' and so I went home for mywife and children, and ever since I havelived in the land of Good Content, andeverything is always right now.' " Happyare the people that are in such a case.Here, then, without hesitation or delay,let us, dear friends, hand in hand, at oncewend our way up this same hill and soshare in all the blessings it affords.

power." Such thought and conviction theSaviour seeks as He says," What think ye oChrist ?"Tbe conviction sought is also a personal oneOne from the iron of our own thoughts, heatedin the furnace of our own hearts, and forged bythe hammer of personal interest in this grandand gracious theme. There is no need that wshould offer Christ the echo of another'sthoughts, for it is perfectly practicable for eachof us to form our own. We have time-eventhe busiest of us -ability and abundant material:seeing that we possess life,mind and revelation,and thus enjoy the needed power, will and light.Moreover the subject itself is an inspiration.The person, office and purpose of Christ, Hisrelationship to us, is a matter of transcendantpersonal importance. Thus the query, "Whatthink ye of Christ ?"For our assistance in forming and fostering

such a personal conviction, with its intenselyimportant and far-reaching issues, let us gazeupou the Saviour as He is presented to us in theGospels: gaze, both with the mental andemotional eye. We behold Him then

AS THE BABE OF BETHLEHEM.This manger-cradle holds a Babe of unique

being and wondrous worth: "The Son of theHighest;" yet born of David's seed, child ofvirgin-mother, Here Deity and humanity combiue: God and Man. A Babe: yet the themeof angel-anthem; the object of the magi's adora-tion; the subject of holy Simeon's praiseful joyand of devout Anna's hopeful prophecy. Truebut a Babe: but What a Babe! He who fillethall things with His glorious presence is incar-nated and pillowed here. Look into this cradleand, looking, think what it reveals. Omnipo-tence-creating and controlling unnumberedworlds-here hides itself in the flesh of a Babso weak, that it is utterly dependent on the lovof its human mother for every office! Omnisci-ence-comprehending all things, from Whomnothing can be hid-yet hiding itself in tbis Babwhose whole world is its mother's breast andface: Boundless Spirit-pervading all thingsand beings, yet seen of none-bounding itself bthe visible, corporeal being of a Babe, so smaland light that it proves no burden to themother's arms. The Far-distant God-to whomreverent human thought has assigned a centralhabitation in the vast system of the Pleiades,His Throne, Alcyone, to us a speck in space-brought nigh in the person of this lowly Babe!This is no common scene. Tread softly roundthis cradle. Yea, bow thereat the knee of lowlyspeechless adoration, for He who holds thethunderbolts of heaven, and keeps the worldrolling in their spheres, has condescended thusto take our nature, thus to carry out His grandand gracious and essential purposes of savinggrace. Gazing thus on Bethlehem's Babe" What think ye of Christ i"

AS " THE MAN OF SORROWS."Do we, Diogenes-like seek an honest man?

Then list ~oPilates language, concerning Himwho once was Babe of Beihlehem->: Behold thMan I" Do we seek a pattern man? Pilate,the Saviour's judge, said of this bis innocentprisoner, "I find in Him no fault." Do wseek a pure man? Christ said, concerning Himself, before those who had known His mannerof life from His youth up, "Which of yocoovinceth Me of Sin 1" And none accusedHim: no voice spake save that of the slanderer,which said, "Thou hast a devil and art mad."Do we seek a sympathetic man? Consider Himwho at Nain, said to the weeping, childlesswidow, " Weep not:" at the same momentrestoring her dead son to life. And Who addressed the fallen but penitent woman, broughtto Him by the proud Pharisees, in tones osympathy, saying, " go, and sin no more." D

NG. 2, BIBLE LETTERS, BY "DEVON."T H I N K I N G O F C H R I S T .

"What think ye of Christ 1" Matt.xxii. 42.D EAR FRIEND,-It is the same voice trea-sured up by the Holy Spirit tbat speaks tous in the Word to-day, as of old spake amidstthe sacred scenes of the Holy Land, saying," What think ye of Christ?" But to the modernaudience the question has a wider scope anddeeper meaning than to the ancient, for, sincethen, by Apostolic lips, God has revealed Hislong hidden purpose of grace unto the Gentiles;the "mystery" of Christ's Body, the Church.Their Messiah, at best, appeared but as an earthlyruler, a Jewish king; ours, both earthly andheavenly, both Jewish and Gentile, both naturaland spiritual, both temporal and eternal. Human teachers have oft times pressed ques-

tions which were of no real importance, eitherto questioner or questioned, like those Athenianphilosophers of whom Luke observes that they" spent their time in nothing else, but either totell, or to heal' some new thing." (Acts xvii. 21.)Not so the Saviour. His question is grave andweighty and demands consideration, for on itdepends our immortality and eternal life.Human teachers also press questions which,

though of interest, on which it might be well tohave an opinion, are not strictly necessary, andon which wecan afford to dispense with thoughtand conviction. But here is one on which it isnecessary to form an opinion; one which wecannot afford to be careless concerning, exceptat the risk of personal and eternalloss-" Whatthink ye of Christ ?"But it is more than a simple opinion that issought, it is a conviction. Let us not deceiveourselves by supposing that mere surface thoughtor emotional feeling will do. "Knowledge i


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68 THE BIBLE STANDARD,

We areguiIty and need a sacrifice," for withoutshedding of blood there is no remission of sin."Christ, as that sacrifice, "by His own blood " I am .He that liveth, and was dead; and,entered in once into the Holy Place, having behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen; an~obtained eternal redemption for us:" having been have the keys of Hades and of Death" (Rev. !.".once'offered to bear the sins of many." As 17,18). 'I'his IS no new claim, for It was also" The Lamb of God, bearing away the sin of the asserted ~t the grave .of Lazarus, "I am theworld," He i(,fo1'.us. a .Sufficient Sacrifice; for, Resurrectionand the LIfe: he that believeth in

we seek a self-denying man? Think of Himwhose testimony was "My meat is to do thewill of Him that sent Me, and to finish Hiswork." Do we seek a benevolent man? Therecord concerning Jesus is, "Who wentabout doing good, and healing all that wereoppressed of the devil." Do we seek a b..aveman? Mark this Man, who bearded to theirface the unjust rulers of the people, saying, ofand to them, "0 generation of vipers." Yea,Who in the desert, alone with" The prince ofthe power of the air," could say, "Get theehence, Satan." Brave words, from the" Man ofsorrows" to the" god of this world;" whom noteven Michael the archangel attempted to per-sonally accuse, but said, "The Lord rebukethee." Do we seek a loving man? Christ whoafter His passion did not attempt to screen Him-self from the noisy mob who sought "Jesus ofNazareth," but calmly replied" I am He," didseek to screen His loved disciples, saying, " Letthese go their way." His own cup of sufferingnot so full but that His heart of love could carefor others: as seeu when hanging on the cross,in the crisis of His agony, He said to Mary," Woman, behold thy son:" then turning to thedisciple John, "Behold thy mother." Do weseek a merciful man? At that same timeJesus breathed a prayer for His tormentors andmurderers, saying, "Father, forgive them, forthey know not what they do." Observing thusthe "Man of sorrows," "What think ye ofChrist ?"

AS THE GREATTEACHER.He came" not to be ministercd unto, but tominister." It has been urged-with a painfulmeasure of truth-against many professedChristian teachers, that, like milestones, theypointed a road to others that they themselvesdid not travel. But of this Teacher it could notsolbe'said, for the key-note of His teaching was-"Follow Me." In a teacher we need an Ex-emplar. Christ was" In all points tempted likeas we are, yet without sin." We need a Guide.He who said" Follow me" is competent to lead;for He knows the mind of God and the heart ofman; the power of God and the needs of man.We need an Instructor, Of Him it was said" Never'[man spake like this Man;" that" He

spake with authority, and not as the scribes."Of old, He was heard gladly by the poor andsimple, to whose hearts and eyes He spake :whilst the "advanced thinkers" of His day andnation found in Him one who could solve theirdeepest problems, so that they durst not "askHim any more questions." From an instructorwe need positive and not merely negative teach-ing. Jesus taught positive truth. Uttered theearnest convictions of His own mind and heart.For the obedient believer He taught Resurrectionfrom among the dead to" Eternal Life;" saying,"I~give:unto them eternal life; and they shallnever perish.Fneither shall anyone pluck themout''ot My hand." "And this is the will of Himthat Rent Me, that everyone which seeth theSon, and believeth on Him, may have everlastinglife; and I will raise him up at the last day."(John x. 28: vi. 40). For the disobedientunbeliever He taught Resurrection at theJudgment-day, followed by the "Second Death"in the "Gehenna" of fire; saying, "Fear Himwho is able to destroy both soul and body inGehenna." (JJIatt. x. 28.) Beholding thus theGreat Teacher, " What think ye of Christ l"

AS" THE LAMB OF GOD."

it is written, " How much more shall the Bloodof Christ purge your conscience to serve theLiving God?" He is also a Full Sacrifice; forthe Spirit declares, "Jesus Christ by the graceof God tasted death for every man." A FreeSacrifice: "Ask and ye shall receive:" "Himthat cometh unto i\le I will in no wise cast out."A Personal Sacrifice: "Whosoever believeth inHim shall not perish but have everlasting life."A Peace-Brinqinq Sacrifice: " Being justified byfaith, we have peace with God." Also anAbiding Sacrifice: for" Ye shall never perish."Regarding thus the" Lamb of God," "Whatthink ye of Christ t"

AS THE "FIRST FRUITS FROM THE DEAD.""Make it as sure as ye can," was Pilates'answer to those Jews who demanded measuresfor the safe keeping of the dead, but still dreadedChrist. "So they went, and made the sepulchresure, sealing the stone and setting a watch."It is now the morn of the "first day of theweek:" will he rise? as He said He would?"Destroy this 'I'emple, and in three days I willraise it up again; "-" He spake of the Templeof His body." (John ii. 19-21.) La I Theanswer.-" A great earthquake :" " The angel ofthe Lord" descends from heaven and rolls backthe stone of the sepulchre, scattering thetrembling guards, and saying tu the wondering

women, "Fear not ye: for I know that ye seekJesus, Who was crucified. He is not here : forHe is risen, ASHE SAIDHE WOULD" But wasHe seen of men? Yes, for as the eleven disciplesare met together, "Jesus, Himself, stands in themidst of them, and says, Peace be unto you;""Behold My hands and My feet, that it is IMyself: handle Me and see." Considering Himas the "First fruits from the Dead," thefirstbomfrom the grave-in the power of an in-corruptible and deathless life-" What think yeof Christ ? "AS EXALTEDOF GOD.

" What if ye shall see the Son of Man ascendup where He was before?" was the questionJesus put to His disciples. Luke records it,fulfilment, "And He led them out as far as toBethany, and He lifted up His hands, andblessed them. And while He blessed them, Hewas parted from them, and carried up intoheaven." In this last scene of the First AdventHe gave us one further example that He whom" wicked hands had crucified and slain" was theMaker and Monarch of earth'a laws.Let us follow Him in thought whither He hasgone; being guided therein by those graciousglimpses of the otherwise unknown, which HisWord supplies.Dying Stephen witnessed, "I see the heavensopened, and the Son of Man standing on the?'ight hand of God." Paul declared, " I saw inthe way a Light from heaven, above the briqht-ness of the sun. And I said, Who art Thou,Lord? And He said, 'I am Jesus.''' Johntestified, "I saw heaven opened "-and de-cribing Christ as He tben appeared, he added-" His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on Hi,head were many c?owns." How great the con-trast between the cross and this exaltation torule and power as "the Sun of Righteousness"eo-reigning with the Father. Thus followingHim from Ascension into heaven, " What thinkye of Christ.' "A step further, ere we close the Volume ofInspiration. "\\'e have yet to regard Him in Hisfuture relationship to this planet, as the

"RESURRECTION AND LIFE."

Me, though he were dead, yet shall he U(John xi. 25). What means this claim? Whbut that He who had power to lay downown life and to take it again, has also powercall back from the dust and sleep of deaththat the Father hath given Him; and to mthem immortal as their deathless Head. Tthe words of Paul in 1 COl'. xv. 54, "So wthis corruptible shall have put on incorruptioand this mortal shall have put on immortalitthen shall be brought to pass the saying thatwritten, Death is swallowed up in victorWhere writteu j In Isaiah xxv. 8, in conntion with the Second Advent of our blessed L-" He will swallow up death in victory."the day that His people say "Lo, this isGod; we have waited for Him, and Hesave us."But this resurrection is not to life merely,to incorruptible, deathless life. Thus He isonly" the Resurrection," but" the Life," aThe former speaks of re-existence only, butlatter of an eternal and incorruptible existenca spiritual, not a natural being: a semi-Divinnot a human nature: "Sons of God," not sof Adam: 'r joini-heirs with Christ "-and th"partakers of Divine nature:" streams ofEver-Living Fountain; branches of the Etern"Vllle;" possessors with Him of incorruptiblefadeless, unchanging life.

"KING OF KINGSAND LORD OF LORDS."We touch but one further feature, that ofKingship. He is revealed as the "Kingkings, and Lord of lords." As the Ruler aHead of redeemed, glorified humanity.righteous and perfect Ruler, because a Divinehuman Ruler. As such He is to sit upon"throne of His father David; And He shreign over the house of J acob for ever: andHis kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke32, 33). In Him too all the Gentiles are toceive a Supreme Head and King. Thusverently regarding Him "of whom Moses athe prophets did write," "What think ue

Christ ? "May these thoughts influence our lives, foour characters and shape our eternal destinifor" glory, honour and immortality;" and apromote His glory Whom we 10Vll and serve.Faithfully yours, " Devon."DISCARDING A MISSIONARY.

[COMMUNICATED.]ON Monday last the Committee of the ChurMissionary Society came to the resolutionexpelling from their employment one ofablest and most useful missionaries in thservice in consequence of his public adoptioof the Doctrine of Life in Christ, which involvthe denial of inherent immortality, and ofdoctrine of endless misery. Mr. Dening hembraced these views after long and carestudy of the questions concerned, and in fexperience of their bearing on the faithBuddhists and Confucianists. The Committerequired his presence at home, in order to gan account of his change of belief. Leavingwife and family on the other side of the glohe returned to England, to learn within a fonight, and without a hearing before the GenerCommittee, that the Church Missionary Sociewill tolerate no teaching in its stations amothe heathen, except that of natural immortalityand the endless torments of the un saved. MDening has laboured for ten years in Japahas translated works such as "MozleyMiracles," into Japanese, and has 'gainedstrong hold upon native scholars of the uppclasses, as well as on the common people.now remains only for Mr. Dening to makeappeal to the Christian public to enable himcontinue his work in Japan. His church w


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THE BIBLE STANDARD.follow him into a position separate from theChurch Mission, but he will not resign hisposition as a clergyman of the Church ofEngland, We shall announce in good time themeasures which will be taken to give an oppor-tunity to the Churches at home of practicallyshowing that at least a vast number will assistin advancing a mission not based on the funda-mental tenets of the Church Missionary Society,but at least bearing the appearance of close con-formity to the letter of Holy Scripture.-Christian World, Jan. 11.

BIBLICAL EXEGESIS, No. 3.By BURLINGTON B. WALE, F.R.G.S.

Isaiah xxxiii.W E have taken this chapter for examination,because there is one verse in it so fre-quently quoted to prove the eternity of futuretorments (v. 14).Isaiah prophesied in the reign of Hexekiah,in whose reign Sennacherib King of Assyria,invaded Judea. To prevent his attacking thecapital-J erusalem-c-Hezelriah sent an embassyto him, with overtures of peace. The Assyrianmonarch in return laid upon the Jewish king atribute of three hundred talents of silver, andthirty talents of gold. This, Hezekiah paid(2 K'ings xviii. 14-16; Isa. xxxvi.) But, havingreceived the tribute, the Assyrian king "brokethe covenant," and advanced rapidly towardsJerusalem, and surrounded it with 200,000 men.It was under these circumstances that theprophet wrote the chapter under examination,The chapter opens with an apostrophe by theprophet to the invader: "Woe to thee thatspoil est, and thou wast not spoiled: and dealesttreacherously, and they dealt not treacherouslywith thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thoushalt be spoiled; and wheu thou shalt make anend to deal treacherously, they shall deal trea-cherously with thee." This was fulfilled im-mediately after. One hundred and eightythousand of his troops were slaiu by the destroy-ing angel in one night, and the Jews took the" spoil"; and on the return of Seuuacherib tohis own land, he was "treacherously" slain byhis two sons, while worshipping in the house ofNisroch, his god.In verse 2, the pious Jews apostrophiseJehovah, and call upon Him for help. In reply

to their prayer, in verses 3 and 4, Jehovah-addressing the invader-announces his ap-proaching destruction.In verses 5 and 6, a chorus of Jews isintroduced, praising the Lord for His promiseddeliverance, while in verses 7, 8, and 9, we havetheir lamentations over the desolations theinvader has brought upon the land.In response to these lamentations, in verses10, 11, 12, and 13, Jehovah undertakes to inter-pose on behalf of His people, and threatens theinvader with total destruction. But, in con-templation of the approaching danger whichmenaced the capital, and either not relying uponthe Divine promise, or else being ignorant of it,"The sinners [the wicked] in Zion are afraid;fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites";and they ask the question, Who among usshall dwell with these "devouring" fires? whoamong us shall dwell with these perpetual[Gholahrn] burnings.In the next verse the prophet answers thequestion. Who! "He that walketh righteously,and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth thegain of oppression, that shaketh his hand fromholding of bribes; He shall dwell on high (insafety): his place of defence shall be themunitions of rocks: bread shall be given him ;his waters shall be sure." Thus it is therighteous, and not the wicked, who were to dwellcalmly amid the "devouring" fires kindled by

the Assyrian invader. Jerusalem and its kingshould retain their beauty and their quiet(v. 17-21), undisturbed by the invader: "Thineheart shall meditate (upon the past) terror;"and rejoice in thy deliverance.And then the prophet asks in a tone of quiet

irony, Where is the" scribe" who was deputedby the Assyrian monarch to take an inveutorvof the spoil in Jerusalem when he should havecaptured it? "Where is the receiver " whowas to take possession of the property when the" scribe" had taken a record of it? "Whereis he that counted the towers?" the man whowent round the beleagured city before the siegebegan to "count the towers," and to take noteof their number, their size, and their strength,to see where would be the best place to com-mence the attack. Where? perished with thehundred and eighty thousand whom the angelhad destroyed in one night. Then once moreapostrophising the Assyrian king in a sarcasticvein, the prophet says, "Thy tacklings areloosed "-thou wert coming in full sail, but theycould not well strengthen the mast-their geargot out of trim-they could not spread the sail-they were shipwrecked in sight of port. Andthe vast "spoil" that they had brought withthem under the very walls of Jerusalem, shouldbe takeu possession of by the Jews-and socomplete should be the destruction of theAssyrian host that even the lame (among theJews), the veriest cripples, should come out ofthe city and" take the prey." And the terrifiedinhabitants of the city, the weak and the infirm,who would be, as they anticipated, the very firstto suffer, if the city were besieged and famineensued, shall be relieved of their terror, and theinhabitant shall not say" I am sick," for thethreatened puuishment shall pass away-fortheir iniquity shall be forgiven.

TESTIMONY IN NOTTINGHAM.W E are chiefly indebted to the NottinghamDaily Express for the following report :-On Wednesday, January 10th, a lecture on" TheRevealed Penalty of Sin" was given in theLecture Hall of the Mechanics' Institution,under the auspices of the Local Committee ofthe" Conditional Immortality Association," bythe Rev. Burlington B. Wale. W. B. Baggalley,Esq., occupied the chair, and there was amoderately numerous audience. The proceed-ings commenced with singing the hymn" Allhail the power of Jesu's name," and prayer,The Chairman, in opening, said it was usual ifpossible to have a chairman presiding over ameeting who was in general if not in fullsympathy with the views to be enunciated.He confessed that was not his position,and he had said so when asked to takethe position. He belonged to what mightbe called the old school of thought, believingin the doctrines held by his fathers. He hadcome tbere in search of the truth, and he shouldbe very glad indeed if their friend, the lecturer,could convince him of error and put him right.He thought that in the past tbere had possiblybeen too much disinclination to leave the oldlines, and that, if looked into thoroughly, mauyof the old doctrines would not hold water to-day.He had been requested to mention that thesociety was not confined to Christadelphiaus 01'indeed any sect, but included many Church ofEngland clergymen, and ministers and laymen ofall denominations. [As a matter of fact it con-tains no Christadelphians. ED. B.B.] Theimpressive lecture which followed was well re-ported. At its close, questions were invited, butnone asked. The meeting terminated with sing-ing and prayer. To show the favourable natureof the impression made upon an audience ofnear 300 persons, we may repeat what passed inthe lohby after. One of the audience-ap-parently a minister or teacher-said very

excitedly, " I could have upset the lot of youwhich he repeated with increasing warmtThe lecturer quietly asked, .Why did you ndo so then? You wereinvited to put questions?To which he responded (unwittingly paying tlecturer and the truth he advocated, a hicomplirnent.) "Wbat was the use of it? Ycarried the whole meeting with you ?"On the following evening the course was co

tinued. Subject: "Immortality: Who shlive for ever?" In the absence of the Rev. WR. Stevenson and Mr. Councillor Acton, whad conditionally promised to take the chair, bpleaded the Malagasy Envoys as a previoengagement, Mr. G. W. Barber (Local Secretarypresided. The attendance was good, and stlarger than on the previous night. The prceedings commenced with singing the hymn,give unto My sheep eternal life," and prayeThe Chairman having briefly introduced tlecturer, the rev. gentleman, at the outset, prceeded to trace the counection hetween tlecture of the previous night and the subjecthand. To whom did immortality belong?the popular belief was true, and the punishmenof sin was eternal torture, then immortalitbelonged to every member of the human familThey believed that immortality was eternlife, the gift of God through Christ to those wbelieved in Him. As on the previous nightshould adhere closely to the Book. He hgreat reverence for it, and whatever wastestimooy that he would receive. He did nseek to bring to it certain theories of his own, pthem in, then take them out and say, Heal' whthe Bible says. He thought the word" deathsimply meant that and nothing more. He could nsee that . death" or "destruction" meant eternpreservation in fire. The question was, "Waimmortality the possession of every man, or wit given only to those who believed in the LoJesus Christ ?" Beginning at the Mosaaccount of the Creation, did it not show thGod created man with a possibility of living fever, subject to certain conditions, the chbeing that he should continue in perfect obedence to his Maker. Glancing at the symbolicsacrifices of the Jewish economy, the lecturnext proceeded to point out the teachings of tSaviour Himself on the subject of immortalityIn John, chapters 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 10, thefound the phrases, "everlasting life," "livinwater," "should have life," and" should nevperish," Some of them might think that thehad eternal life in themselves, but in John vChrist said they had no life in themselveHow, if they were to understand by these termhappiness or blessedness were the words nevused? Turning to St. Paul, he spoke of sreigning unto death and grace reigning uneternal life, that the wages of sin was death, anthe gift of God eternal life. "Life" and" deathwere the antithesis from Genesis to RevelationsIf they went away and called the one happinesand the other torment they must do so at theown peril. The word" immortal" was used bonce throughout the Bible, and there it wapplied to God alone. The word" immortality"occurred foul' times, and in no case was it spokeof as being the possession of man as man. Tfind the author of the thought that man wnaturally and inherently immortal, they musturn to Genesis ii., God said, "In the day thoeatest thou shalt die;" Satan went into thgarden and said, There is no death. The samthought was elaborated by Plato some centurieafter. It was grafted on to Christianity 20years A.D. Until then the d~trines of immortality and endless suffering were not acceptedand he quoted passages from the Fathers of thApostolic age to show it, Tertullian was thfirst to speak of endless suffering, and to glorin it, and to speak of man as immortal aparfrom Christ. Seven hundred years after, Pop


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70 THE BIBLE STANDARD.OFFICElement V. decreed that the doctrine should beaccepted. He (the lecturer) recommended themwhen doctrines were presented to them withwhich they were not familiar, or which theywere not inclined to receive, to apply the test," Does the doctrine propounded exalt Christ, ordoes it in any way degrade Him?" If it tendedto degrade Him, let them reject it; if to exaltHim, let them accept it. He thought no doctrineso exalted the Saviour as that which made Him

the giver of eternal life. Let them rememberwhat was the object of. the Incarnation? ThatChrist came into the world that He might destroythe works of the Devil. These works were sin,suffering, and death, and He came that Hemight destroy him who had the power overdeath. Questions were invited, but none asked,and the meeting terminated with singing thehymn, " Eternal life" and prayer. It had beenfeared that the grand entertainment given by theMayor to the Malagasy Envoys-who werevisiting the town-would have injured the attend-ance at the lecture, so far from this, however,near 400 persons were present: a fact verycreditable to Nottingham, and suggestive of aspirit of real enqui ry as to " What is truth ?"The last lecture of the course was delivered onFriday evening. Subject:" The Pre-MillennialAdvent: Its Natnre, Necessity, and Nearness."The attendance being near 300 persons. Thechair was taken by the Rev. W. R. Stevenson,Ba ist Minister. The Members of the Associ-ation may well take encouragement from theresult of this first course of lectures organised inconnection with our Special Lecture Fund.-Donations invited.'I'he Local Secretary writes :-" I assure you,you would have been delighted had you heardmany, whom I have heard, express themselvesthorougbly satisfied witb the force of argument,and the agreeable way of putting our heterodoxviews before its very enemies; many of whomare now changed into friends. It now remainsto endeavour to gather the fruit , which I con-ceive may be done by holding weekly meetings,so to continue to agitate the question. I hopesoon to see Mr. Wale here again."

SACRED SONG.EDITED BY THE REV. G. P. MACKAY.THE LORD'S SECRET. (S.M.)

il"\l?frHE secret of the Lord. J f . . Shall to that man appearWho dwells upon His Holy Word,With reverence and fear.He shall the vision see,For faith shall clear his sight:The candle of the Lord shall beHis never-failing light.When to the wise no gleamOf light falls from the throne,Interpretation of the dreamShall be to him made known.Protection by the blood,A biding-place from wrath,And private intercourse with God,The man who feareth hath,A secret spring of joyIs formed within his breast;Songs of delight his tongue employ,And perfect is his rest.And when night's shades shall fallOn him, " the peace of GodThat passeth understanding" shallBe secret staff and rod.For, though he sleep in death,Life, hid with Christ above,Is unto him secure, and faithHolds fast that gift of love.

G.P.M.

OH TO BE TRUE.ftH to be true, my Father,Ys Thou would'st have me be,Amid the mountain billowsOf life's tempestuous sea.Oh to be true, my Father,When storms come on apace;As true as when the sunshineReveals Thy smiling face.Oh to be true, my Father,When disappointments come,And earthly hopes lie buriedBeneath the silent tomb.Oh to be true, my Father,Beneath the chast'ning rod;Resting with full relianceUpon the love of God.Oh to be true, my Father;And then I know at lastTbou'lt wake me in Thy likeness,When death's dark night is past.For Thou art true, my Father;Thy promises are sure;Thou wilt grant life immortalTo all who shall endure.

R. FURNISH.

A CALL FOR THE KING. (8.7.)~!ISE, Jehovah; lift Thy standard;net Thy King on Zion's height;Draw Thy sword, and grasp Thy sceptre,Righteous warrior, King of might.Let the rebel nations trembleAt the sounding of Thy law:Let the outcasts of tbe peopleWorship Thee, with reverent awe.Let a song of praise from ZionSwift resound from shore to shore,'Till the earth responds with beautyAnd the curse enthrals no more:'Till a shout of louder triumphRises-than since time began-Crowned is Thy grandest purpose,

Man in God! ant-God in man.M. G. BURNETT.

ANOTHER CALL.W'1I'rOME, Saviour, come! Thy waiting people'VI, hereLong for Thy presence to dispel the gloom,Intensely long for Thee to soothe and cheer;Come, Saviour, come!Whilst Thou art absent sin can do its worst,And Satan tbreatens with impending doom,And cries of anguish from our fain t hearts burst;Come, Saviour, come!Our loved ones glide from our entwining arms,Slowly, in tears, we lay them in the tomb;Then, broken, turn to face the world's alarms;Come, Saviour, come!When Thou shalt come in clouds and fiery flame,And trumpet of A,rchangel calls us home,The dead in Thee shall leap and shout Thy name;Come, Saviour, come!The quick and risen shall exulting springTo meet their Lord beneath heaven's vaulteddome,Whilst thrilling accents for the last time ring:Come, Saviour, come!Then, happy time, for ever with the Lord,Sin gone, death done away, and safe at home;The victory ours, and ours the great reward,The Saviour come.

A. M. KING.

(7.6.)

(10.4.)

NOTES.MONTHLY STATEMENT.

December ,1st to 31st, 1882.New Members received :-Life -, AnnualBranch-, Total 6.Subscriptions, Donations, and Collections:

ILL H J W Liverpool. .. 6 6 0 W.M" Mahem ... 0R:J:H.:'London, W, .. 5 5 0 J.T., Manchester 0N.S., London, E 0 10 0 T.M.B., Greenock:. 0A.B" Lochmaben 0 10 0 P,H,H., Cults WhItJ.M., Oupar-Eife ... 0 10 0 horn 0J. W., Halifax 0 10 0 V., Southampton1.W., Malvern ..... 0 6 6 (per Mrs. L.B.) .. 0T.G. waltbem Cross. 0 6 0 'r .G ., Garliestown .. 0E S 'Brighton 0 i 0 T.J.L., Kingsbridge ..0S:M.'P., Cheltenham .. 0 5 0 M.H.H., BlythBridge 0S.C., Crewe......... 0 5 0M.H.L., Bristol .... 0 5 0 Total for Deo... 16E.H., London, E... 0 5 0

With the Secretary's most earnest thanks.~ DUE SUBSCRIPTIONS.-Those Me

bers, Associates, and Subscribers who recthe present number in a COLORED 'II.'rapwill kindly regard it as an 'intimation ttheir Anmal Subscriptions are now dthey will greatly oblige by forwarding,early as convenient, to the SECRETARY.

SPECIALLECTURINGFUND.Previously acknowledged, 14 16s. Od. Sreceived :-A.B.. Lochmaben, 5s.; TreasurLondon, W., 5 5s.; President, Liverpo5 5s.; J. M. Croix (per G.P.M., Lincoln),G.P.M., Lincoln, 1 Is.; B.G., Ashton-undeLyne, 4s.; E.W.P.T., Stockbridge, 1. To31 16s. Od. Expended, 12. 10s. Balancehand, 19 6s. Arrangements are completeda Course of Two Lectures in Newcastleon-Tyneand also in Chester-le-Street, Durham (seeearlier column). Donations are respectfuinvited."PAULINE THEOLOGY" FUND.Previously acknowledged, 1 17s. 6d. Sreceived, -. Total, 1 17s. 6d. It is intendto post at least ONETHOUS.'..NDOPIESof " PauTheology" to as many Ministers, Lay-Teacheand others. The circulation of this pamphhas been much blessed in the past ; SEVENPOUNDSwill cover the net cost of this.

AGENT'SMEMS.Ashton-under-Lyne is being vigorously wor26 copies of this paper, 5 of Rainbow, andMessenger, are sold monthly, also a fair measof other literature. Carlisle has increasedorder from 26 copies of our Dec. issue to 3Jan., and 58 of present number. Lincoln kits old pre-eminence, taking, for two agentstwo Churches, 450 copies per month. Webe glad to receive offers of service as LAgents, from Members of the Association,districts where we have no agents at presenat Home or Abroad.WANTEDVOLUME1. OF "BIBLE STANDARDA Member offers full value and postagecopy of our First Volume, published in LincWill any friend having a copy to sparepost-card to our Office, stating price?card will be acknowledged by the above Mem

OURNEWCATALOGUE.This is now ready. Copies free by posapplication. .It contains particulars of sthree separate books, pamphlets, or tracts.HYMNSHEET FOR MEETINGS.We have published a Sheet of Twelve Hyfor use at Lectures, Meetings, or OpenServices. These are issued, together withCatalogue of Publications, at ONE SHILLINGHUNDRED, post-free.

REVIEWSOF WORKS,&c." Analytical Concordance to 8,000 changthe' Revised' Testament." Edinburgh: G


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THE BIBLE STANDARD. 7Young & Co. (Price not stated.) The publish-ing house from which this proceeds is a sufficientguarantee of its accuracy. It is arranged inalphabetical order, and printed with widemargins for notes. Of great value for reference."Sacred Songs of the Primitive Gospel,"selected and compiled by W. Richmond, Notting-ham, 16mo.limp, cloth, price Sixpence. We havelooked through this collection and find it per-fectly free from the unscriptural teaching socommon in hymns. The Life and the Adventare each honoured guests. There are 197 hymns(of which 28 are for children), and 38 authems.Specimen copy post free for six stamps, from W.Richmond, 5, George Street, Nottingham."An Appeal and a Protest."-This pamphletis by Mr. B. Gillott, of Ashton-under-Lyne, andis directed against the Vicar of St. James, ofthat town. Mr. Gillott is our Agent iu thattown, and since his acceptance of that office, hasbeen very active in disseminating the views. Heis also an Angle-Israel believer. Tbe appealconsists of two letters calling upon the Vicar tomake good his charge against the writer of"doing the Devil's work;" and also expoundsthe views of Life only in Christ. The Vicar hasnot replied. The pamphlet may be bad of B.Gillott, 49, Henrietta Street. Id. each."Constitution of the Church in Jucksou Hall,Toronto." A 4 p.p. tract which we regard as a

Model of Church Articles and Rules.ARTICLESIN TYPE."Our New Zealand Letter," and "SixEternals," each by E. H. Taylor, crowded outthis issue, and held over for March.CONDITION AL IMMORTALITYASSOCIATION and BRANCHES,

ROUle, Colonial, and l!"ol.'eigll.Founded 1S7S.

PUBLISHINGANDCORRESPONDINGFFICE :-Malvern Link, Wor.-Cyrus E. Brooks, Secretary.LONDONBOOKDEpbT:-SO , Edgware Rd.,W.-R. J. Hammond, Treasurer.LONDONBOOK AGENT:-F. Southwell, 27, Ivy Lane, E.C.Of all Booksellers.THE Association consists of Members-subscrib-ing direct-and of Branch Members-subscribingthrough the Branch Associations. Its purposebeing to bear public testimony, by means of thepress, platform and pulpit, to the neglectedtruths of Conditional Immortality and thePersonal, Pre.Millennial Advent.Members are required to subscribe to Rule lI,as follow. "That such accept the Scriptures asInspired of God, and the Rule of Faith and Life;and the Truth that Immortality and EternalLife are only obtainable through Personal Unionwith the Lord Jesus Christ, viz. : that "TheWages of Sin is Death, but the Gift of God isEternal Life in Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom.vi. 23).The Subscription may not be less than 2s. 6d.per annum: a Single Subscription of Five Poundsqualifies for Life Membe,ship. Subscribers of3s. 6d. and 5s. upwards are entitled to receive post-free one or two copies respectively of this Paper;and Life Members two copies. Only one copy willbe sent unless otherwise directed. There is nopublished list of lI'lembers. Subscriptions datefrom the time of first ponjmeru:Branch Associations fix their own rates ofsubscriptions, &c. These will be furnished onapplication to their respective secretaries.All Communications, Subscriptions, Dona-tions, and Collections, for the General Associa-tion, should be forwarded to the Secretary,CYRUSE. BROOKS,Malvern Link, WO!'.(England).

BRANCH ASSOCIATIONS.LIVERPOOL-Sec.; Mr. W. H. Miller, 9, ClaytonSqr.

NEW ZEALAND-Sec.: Rev. G. A. Brown, Lin-dum House, Vincent St., Auckland. Sepa-rate Organ, the New Zealand Bible Standard,post-free direct 3s. 6d. per annum.SOUTH AUSTRALIA-Sec.: Mr. G. H. Glover,Kent Town.LONDON, N. W . :-Sec.: R. J. Hammond, Esq.,80, Edgware Rd., W.BRADFORD, YORKS.:-Sec.: Mr. A. Mitchell,Druids Buildings, Clayton, near Bradford.CANADA-Sec.: Mr. G. H. Hills, 17, WilliamSt., Yorkville, Ontario.INDIA:-lI'ladras (Southern India). SeparateOrgan, The B-ible Banner, published in theTamil tongue.N.B.-This Periodical, together with theLiterature of the Association, can be procuredof any of the above Branches.

LOCAL AGENTS FOR" BIBLE STANDARD."Also for RainbolO, Messenger, and the Literatureof the Association. Catalogues and terms onapplication to the undermentioned.

ENGLAND.ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE.-B.GiIlott, ~9, Henzietta St.CARLISLE.-A. Johnsou, 23, Midland Cott., London-road.CHELTENHAM.-H. Sparkes, 3, Queen St., Tewkesbury Rd.GRAVESEND.-T. Sbedick, 48, Wakefield Street.HULL.-J. C. Akester, 7

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The Bible Standard February 1883

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