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The Great Controversy
in the flames of hell? Can these horrid sounds be music in the ear of
Infinite Love? It is urged that the infliction of endless misery upon the
wicked would show God’s hatred of sin as an evil which is ruinous to
the peace and order of the universe. Oh, dreadful blasphemy! As if
God’s hatred of sin is the reason why it is perpetuated. For, according
to the teachings of these theologians, continued torture without hope
of mercy maddens its wretched victims, and as they pour out their rage
in curses and blasphemy, they are forever augmenting their load of
guilt. God’s glory is not enhanced by thus perpetuating continually
increasing sin through ceaseless ages.
It is beyond the power of the human mind to estimate the evil
which has been wrought by the heresy of eternal torment. The religion
of the Bible, full of love and goodness, and abounding in compassion,
is darkened by superstition and clothed with terror. When we consider
in what false colors Satan has painted the character of God, can we
wonder that our merciful Creator is feared, dreaded, and even hated?
The appalling views of God which have spread over the world from the
teachings of the pulpit have made thousands, yes, millions, of skeptics
and infidels.
The theory of eternal torment is one of the false doctrines that
constitute the wine of the abomination of Babylon, of which she
makes all nations drink.
Revelation 14:8
;
17:2
. That ministers of
Christ should have accepted this heresy and proclaimed it from the
sacred desk is indeed a mystery. They received it from Rome, as they
received the false sabbath. True, it has been taught by great and good
men; but the light on this subject had not come to them as it has come
to us. They were responsible only for the light which shone in their
time; we are accountable for that which shines in our day. If we turn
from the testimony of God’s word, and accept false doctrines because
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our fathers taught them, we fall under the condemnation pronounced
upon Babylon; we are drinking of the wine of her abomination.
A large class to whom the doctrine of eternal torment is revolting
are driven to the opposite error. They see that the Scriptures represent
God as a being of love and compassion, and they cannot believe that
He will consign His creatures to the fires of an eternally burning hell.
But holding that the soul is naturally immortal, they see no alternative
but to conclude that all mankind will finally be saved. Many regard
the threatenings of the Bible as designed merely to frighten men into