Punishment AN INQUIRY By JOHN ROBERTSON NEILSON LONDON SKEFFINGTON & SON, PICCADILLY, W. 1897 All rights reserved "NOR IS IT AT ALL INCREDIBLE THAT A BOOK, WHICH HAS BEEN SO LONG IN THE POSSESSION OF MANKIND, SHOULD CONTAIN MANY THINGS AS YET UNDISCOVERED."-Butler. Introduction. The popular opinion of the meaning of the words "Everlasting Punishment" is a state or condition of unending pain or dying. The purpose of the following inquiry is to prove, from Holy Scripture, that the punishment of the finally impenitent is death; death to the body, soul, and spirit. "Death" meaning “the end of Life," and "Everlasting" meaning "once for all," that is, that any revival is for ever impossible. In this inquiry after Truth, the writer trusts that he will advance nothing but what is in accordance with our most Holy Faith, nor wrest any Scripture from its true meaning. His ignorance of Hebrew and Greek prevents him from basing his arguments on any but the Authorised and Revised Versions. This little work comprises "Introduction," "The Thesis," then "Arguments," then follows a detailed examination of the Old Testament, the Apocrypha, the New Testament, and the Book of Common Prayer, including the Creeds. No reference nor allusion to the question of Everlasting Punishment has been knowingly passed over. Incidental remarks and arguments are appended to numerous texts and passages of Holy Scripture. After examining the proofs from the Bible and the Prayer Book, it is recommended that the reader turn to the Thesis and Arguments again. He will then be able to see how strong the presumption is in favour of the writer's theory. |