IS EVIL TO LAST FOR EVER?

Evening Star, Issue 7473, 17 March 1888, Page 1 (Supplement)

IS EVIL TO LAST FOR EVER?

A lecture on the above theme was de-! livered in the Choral Hall on Tuesday evening by Mr George Aldridge, of Auckland. Af tera few introductory remarks the lecturer went on to say that he had already produced ample evidence from the Scriptures in favor of his contention—that man is not now immortal, and that the punishment which awaits the unsaved is literal death. It was no small item in favor of conditional immortality that each separate line of investigation yielded unmistakeable proof of the truth of that doctrine. Having dealt in detail with the question of the penalty for sin, he would now deal with the larger question—Will evil continue eternally ? That evil exists is a sorrowful fact, and as soon as we try to account for it in a world belonging to God there are problems arise concerning its present status and its future deserts, the consideration of which should lead to cautious and reverent thought and speech. It showed but a hasty judgment on the part of any man to rush into horrid extravagance of language on the endless sufferings of sinners in Hell, merely because he has evidence of the present existence of evil. Most Christians believed that evil in some of its forms would be abolished, but many held that the great arch-agent of evil, his emis-1 saries, and men who obeyed not God would i exist and suffer untold miseries for ever. Sometimes it was objected that the greater problem to solve was that of the origin of evil, and that the question of its eternity was not a striking one. If its introduction could be explained, its eternity could be easily accounted for. He granted that the origin of evil was mysterious, but he contended that there could be no comparison between evil which was terminable and evil interminable. In tho first case it might serve as the staging to the structure, to be removed *when "the building -was complete ; in the other case it was built into the struc ture, and to remain for ever aB a part of it. He held that the Bible was a totally different book, according as it was viewed as teaching the end or the eternity of evil. He would ask his hearers to read carefully the story which gave the history of the introduction of evil to the human race. The lecturer then recorded the narrative in Genesis ii. and iii. He would put a ques- ! tion or two of immense importance. Did God know that, as a result of the I first sin this world would become the cradle of woe—the nursery for an eternal hell I Did He know that the Devil would triumph; that by that single act evil would come in and for ever remain concurrent with the human race; nay, that He would Him self exert His power to perpetuate it ? Did evil, when it struck its roots in this world, come to stay ? He would note that the same Scripture which gave the account of the origin of evil with the human race gave also ample evidence of its ultimate abolition. The promise made to the first pair, when sentence was passed upon the serpent, had a value not to be ignore J : " The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." This pointed on to the first conquest over evil, and could not be made to larmonise with the idea of its perpetuity. Again, many contended that men were immortal, and that Adam when he fell became the progenitor of a race of immortals, born in original sin ; and this was sufficient to consign them to the pains of Hell for ever if not elected to be saved from it. He observed that the Edenic narrative was opposed to this revealing by the fact that God in compassion prevented the possibility of this awful thing. "Now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever; therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of

| Eden." Here was divine precipitancy: I God taking swift action to prevent man from becoming that which it is now affirmed he is —auimmortalsiuner. Hewouldcallattention to another item often overlooked. In the penalty passed upon Eve he found these words : " I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception." If the popular theory be true, then God is here represented as increasing the nutnher of the human race who should become liable to endless suffering. lie would ask his orthodox friends to study that passage in the light of their creeds. There were thousands of children who could curse the mothers that bare them it orthodoxy were true. He quoted passages which were adduced by Universalists to show that evil would be abolished, and on which they vested their view of the ultimate redemption of overy'human being, and even of the Devil himself. By uniting the false doctrine of natural immortality to these, and by ignoring the text which taught the eternity of punishment, they reached this comfortable conclusion. The Auguf tinian, on the other hand, holding the same false view of man's nature, ignored the texts which taught the abolition of evil, and concentrated his energy on the doctrine of eternal misery ; this doctrine being the logical outcome of the union. There were over two hundred passages which both sides ignored that taught clearly the destruction of the evil-doer. If the false premiss of natural immortality were taken away all Scripture was harmonious in teaching the abolition of evil and the destruction of the sinner. He held strongly that God's dealings with the race in the past furnished clear inferential evidence as to the manner of His dealings with evil in the future. When God interfered in Old Testament times to cheek the rapid growth of evil, He did it by the destruction of the persons who committed it. The deluge, the destruction of Sodom, the punishments on Israel were cited in proof. The Lord Jesus, in Luke xvii., had cited the case of the destruction of Sodom, and had affirmed "After the same manner shall it be in the day that the Son of Man is revealed." So much for the abolition of moral evil. The miracles of Christ, so diversified and wonderful, were so many pledges of the abolition of physical evil. No afflicted ones came to Him but the gracious word or touch removed the affliction and restored coveted health. He manifested the " powers of the age to come." The speaker believed in a glorious future for this earth, when happiness should flow like a river because of the removal of all external evil. Governmental evil should be removed. As the ages go by man reveals his incapacity to rule for the benefit of his fellow-man. The history of the New Zealand Legislature is by no means a history of unmixed blessing ; it is but repeating on a small scale what is the general verdict of the past. The revelation of the future shows human government both at its best and its worst; and this shows that it shall be swept away to give place to the government of a monarch whose empire shall be universal, and whose rule shall be in equity and righteousness. The lecturer closed a lengthy discourse by saying: "Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. Evil is an interloper—an ill weed—it shall be uprooted. It is but an episode in the history of divine dealings with man; and when the promise of God, ceitified by oath, is realised, 'AstrulyJasl live, saith the Lord, the whole eartli shall be filled with my glory,' tflen shall evil, in all its forms, be abolished for ever." Several questions were asked by the audience, and were answered by Mr Aldiidgo.