b f barrett the new view of hell philadelphia 1878

7/28/2019 B F Barrett THE NEW VIEW OF HELL Philadelphia 1878

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THE

New View of Hell.ITS NATURE, WHEREABOUTS, DURATION, ANDHOW TO ESCAPE IT.

BYB. F. BARRETT,

%\

Author of "Lectures on the New Dispensation," "The Golden City,*44 Letters to Bbecher on the Divine Trinity," Etc . Etc

inti\ $*iiion.

PHILADELPHIA:CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER.

1878.


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The New View of Hell.


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Entered according to Act jf Congress, in the year 18*\, byJ. B. LIPPINCOTT A CO.,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.


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CONTENTS.PAGB

I.The New Dispensation 9II.The Old Doctrine of Hell 26III.The New View 36IV.The Scripture Argument.Sheol, Hades,

Gehenna, and the Lake of Fire.... 46V.Hell.The Chosen Home of All Whogo There. 73

VI.The Duration of Hell 87VII.Some Evidence of its Duration.Philo-

sophical and Scriptural 100VIII.Why Cannot the Ruling Love be Changed

After Death ? 112IX.Displays of the Divine Benignity in Hell 125X.Is Hell to Undergo any Change ? If so,

of what Nature ? 145XI.The Devil and Satan 163XII.Practical Bearings of the Question.... 177XIII.How to Escape Hell 193

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74f THK -^IPOIPREFACE.

There are few subjects within the compass of revealed orspeculative Theology, upon which inquiring minds have beenmore exercised within the last hundred years, than the sub-ject of Hell. And there are few, perhaps, which have beenthe occasion of more strifes and divisions in the churches,which have caused more trouble to Christian believers, orupon which there are at this moment more anxiety, doubtand disagreement among religious teachers themselves.There is no doubt that the popular mind of Christendom

has undergone a considerable change on this, as on manyother subjects, since the commencement of the present cen-tury. The old representations of the Divine justice, and ofthe condition of the wicked in the great Hereafter, wouldhardly be listened to with patiencecertainly not with satis-factionby any intelligent Christian congregation of to-day."The idea which men once had of hell and of divine jus-

tice," says the occupant of a distinguished orthodox pulpit,"was a nightmare as hideous as was ever begotten by thehellish brood itself. And it was an atrocious slander onGod. I do not wonder that men have reacted from thesehorrors I honor them for it."

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8 PREFACE.But what have the Christian teachers of to-day to offer as

a substitute for the old idea, which is confessedly becomingobsolete in nearly all of the churches? Many of them,nothingliterally nothing, that can at once satisfy the reasonof thoughtful inquirers, and meet the demands of the lan-guage of Scripture. And some are frank enough to confesstheir destitution. Said a distinguished Presbyterian clergy-man, writing on this subject some time ago : M It is all dark,dark, dark, to my soul ; and I cannot disguise it."The aim of the present work is to unfold and present the

New view of Hell, as set forth in the theological writings ofEmanuel Swedenborg ; to show that it is at once rationaland Scriptural, in harmony with the perfect love and wisdomof God, as well as with the teachings of human experienceand the profoundest spiritual philosophy ; and that its prac-tical influence upon the character of believers, cannot beotherwise than beneficent.

How far I have succeeded in this, the reader himself mustjudge. But if I have achieved even a partial success, andpresented the subject in a light to relieve and profit only afew troubled souls, I shall be more than satisfied I shall bethankful.

B. F. B.Ghrmantown, Jan. 14, 1878.


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[TJKIVBR5ITY]

THENew View of Hell.

i.THE NEW DISPENSATION.

THE theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg areregarded by manyby all, indeed, who have readand studied them with careas a new revelation. Theyboldly claim for themselves this distinction, and chal-lenge a candid examination of their claim in the lightof Scripture, reason, philosophy, history, and all humanexperience. They are held to be (and this, too, is theirown claim) a new Dispensation of spiritual truth : thatDispensation referred to in the Apocalypse under thesymbol of the New Jerusalem which John saw comingdown from God out of heaven. They are believed tocontain, not merely the reasonings and conclusions of agreat and pious mindnot a theological or doctrinalsystem wrought out by patient labor and hard study, buta system of spiritual truth so luminous in its nature andso grand in its proportions, as to be itself the fulfillmentof the prophecy concerning the second coming of Him

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IO NEW VIEW OF HELL.who i'6 " the Light of the world." They are declared tobe a revelation of new and heavenly truth made by theLord himself through his own chosen servant, whom Heraised up and prepared for this work, and in due timegraciously and wonderfully illumined by his Spirit.The stupendous system of truth, therefore, contained

in the writings of this man, is not to be considered his,but the Lord's. He was but the chosen instrument toreceive and make known to men, truths which no amountof labor or study could ever have enabled him to dis-cover. Hear what the seer himself says on this subject :" Since the Lord cannot manifest Himself in Person,and nevertheless has foretold that He would come andestablish a New Church which is the New Jerusalem, itfollows that He will do so by means of a man whocan not only receive these doctrines in his understandingbut can also publish them by the press."That the Lord manifested Himself before me his

servant, and sent me to this office, that He afterwardopened the eyes of my spirit and so intromitted me intothe spiritual world, granted me to see the heavens andthe hells, also to converse with angels and spirits, andthis continuously now for several years, I affirm in truth ;as also, that, from the first day of that calling I have notreceived anything whatever pertaining to the doctrinesof that Church from any angel, but from the Lord aloneWhile I read the Word." (True Christian Religion, 779.)And elsewhere in his writings he repeats the same


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THE NEW DISPENSATION. IIstatementin,substance if not in words. Thus in hispreface to the Apocalypse Revealed, he says :* Any one may see that the Apocalypse could no howbe explained but by the Lord alone, since every wordof it contains arcana which never could be known with-out some special illumination and consequent revelation.Wherefore it has pleased the Lord to open the sight ofmy spirit and to teach me. It must not, therefore, besupposed that I have given any explication of my own,nor that even of any angel, but only what I have hadcommunicated to me from the Lord alone.' 'And in his treatise on "The Intercourse between the

Soul and the Body," he relates a conversation that heonce had with "a man of reason," explaining to himhow it was that from a philosopher he became a theolo-gian. After telling him that it was " for the san^ reasonthat fishermen became the disciples and apostles of theLord," adding that he also " from early youth had beena spiritual fisherman;" and after explaining what thismeans, and confirming what he says by citing passagesfrom the Word which speak of fishermen, unfolding atthe same time their spiritual meaning, his interrogator" raised his voice and said :"'Now I can understand why the Lord called and

chose fishermen to be his disciples ; and therefore I donot wonder that He has also called and chosen you,since, as you have observed, you were from early youtha fisherman in a spiritual sense, that is, an investigator


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12 NEW VIEW OF HELL.of natural truths. The reason that you are now becomean investigator of spiritual truths, is, that these arefounded on the former. ' To this he added, being a manof reason, that 'the Lord alone knows who is theproper person to apprehend and teach or communicatethe truths which should be revealed for his NewChurch.' "Ibid. 20.Swedenborg further claims that this new revelation

made through him as a chosen medium, is in fulfillmentof the prediction made by the Lord himself, concerninghis second coming, which was to be in the clouds ofheaven. This coming, he says, is not to be external andnatural, cognizable by the eye of sense; but internal andspiritual, cognizable by the understanding and the heart.It is to be a coming of the Word of God, that is, of thedeeper meanings of the Worda coming of its spiritualor heavenly sense to the minds and hearts of men, andexerting upon them a new and renovating power. Andthe clouds in or upon which it is said He would come,are the clouds of Scripturethe obscurities, more or lessdense, of the literal sense, in or upon which the spiritualand true sense comes as the sun's light through a cloud.To cite again his own language :" It is the prevailing opinion at this day [1770] inevery church, that the Lord, when He comes to the lastjudgment, will appear in the clouds of heaven withangels and the sound of trumpets; that He will gathertogether all who are then dwelling on the earth, as well


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THE NEW DISPENSATION. 13as all who are deceased, and will separate the evil fromthe good, as a shepherd separates the goats from thesheep ; that then He will cast the evil, or the goats, intohell, and raise up the good, or the sheep, into heaven;and further that He will, at the same time, create a newvisible heaven and a new habitable earth, and on the latterHe will cause a city to descend, which is to be called theNew Jerusalem, and is to be built according to the de-scription given in the Revelation (Ch. xxi.) of jasperand gold ; and the foundation of its walls of every preciousstone ; and its height, breadth and length to be equal,each twelve thousand furlongs ; and that all the elect areto be gathered together into this city, both those that arethen alive, and those that have died since the beginningof the world ; and that the latter will then return intotheir bodies, and enjoy everlasting bliss in that magnifi-cent city, as in their heaven. This is the prevailingopinion of the present day, in all Christian churches,respecting the coming of the Lord and the last judg-ment.' ' True Christian Religion, n. 768.And a little further on he says :"That the second coming of the Lord, is a coming, not

in person, but in the Word which is from Him, and isHimselfIt is written in many places that the Lord willcome in the clouds of heaven ; as Matt. xvii. 5 ; xxiv.30; xxvi. 64; Mark xiv. 62; Luke ix. 34, 35; xxi. 27;Rev. i. 7; xiv. 14; Dan. vii. T3; but no one has here-tofore known what is meant by the clouds of heaven,

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14 NEW VIEW OF HELL.and hence mankind have believed that the Lord willappear to them in person. But it has remained undis-covered to this day, that the Word in its literal sense ismeant by the clouds of heaven ; and that the spiritualsense of the Word is meant by the power and gloryin which also the Lord is to come. . . . Now since thespiritual sense of the Word has been opened to meby the Lord, and it has been granted me to be withangels and spirits in their world as one of themselves,it has been revealed to me that the clouds of heaven sig-nify the Word in its natural sense; and glory, the Wordin its spiritual sense ; and power, the effectual operationof the Lord by the Word."Ibid., n. 776.There can be no doubt, then, about Swedenborg'sclaimextraordinary though it be, and incredible as itmay seem to those who have not examined his writings.He claims to have been called of the Lord in an extra-ordinary manner, and to have been specially illuminedby his Spirit, to make a new revelation ;a revelation,that is, of new and heavenly truth concerning Himself,his Word, the nature of heaven and hell, and the con-dition of different classes of men in the great Hereafter.He declares that it is the Lord who opened the eyes ofhis spirit ; that it is the Lord who taught him the truemeaning of the Word, and what doctrines to promul-gate ; that the Lord had actually come (agreeably to hispromise), to establish a New Church by means of thedoctrines which it was given him to receive, understand


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THE NEW DISPENSATION. 1 5and publish tothe world ; that these doctrines were nothis ownnot the result of any labor or study on hispart, nor received from any angel, but communicated tohim by the Lord alone. "From the first day of thatcalling," he says, "I have not received anything what-ever pertaining to the doctrines of the New Church fromany angel, but from the Lord alone while I read theWord."

It is not my purpose here to enter upon any discussionof this claim, or to adduce evidence to show that it iswell founded. The need there was of a new revelationat the time Swedenborg lived and wrote, as shown bythe doctrinal beliefs and teachings in all the churches ofhis day; the luminous and extraordinary character of histheological writings; the sweet and heavenly and catholicspirit that they breathe throughout; the elevated and ra-tional views they contain on all subjectsviews that har-monize with the teachings of Scripture and reason andscience, and with all we know of the laws of the humansoul and the ways and workings of God's providence ;all these combine to force an acknowledgment of hisclaim from every intelligent and candid mind who thor-oughly examines and understands his writings. Suchan one admits his claim because he cannot help it. Hefinds the evidence so overwhelming, that it is easier toaccept than to reject it. He sees that here is, indeed, anew revelation ; that here is a system of spiritual truth sogrand and harmonious and rational, so comprehensive


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1 6 NEW VIEW OF HELL.majestic, and so admirably adapted to human wants

in this age, that it could have none other than God him-self for its author. He accepts Swedenborg's teachings,therefore, as a new Dispensation of spiritual truth, bear-ing the impress of God's own finger. So abundant andovermastering is the evidence, that he cannot do other-wise ; he cannot reach any other conclusion.

But those cannot admit his claim, who have not studiedhis writings. How can they ?for they have not weighedthe evidence ; they have not seen it, indeed. And no-where but in his writings themselves, can satisfactory evi-dence of his claim be found. They may, from having reada few pages or chapters of his works, admit that he sawand taught much truth ; but we cannot expect them to gobeyond thisnor ought theyuntil they have studiedhis writings sufficiently to enable them to discern, in somemeasure, their wondrous depth and comprehensivenessand philosophy and unity. Such persons, (and they arenot a few) stand toward this New Christian Dispensationin the same attitude as those stand toward the first Chris-tian dispensation, who admit that Jesus Christ was a wiseand excellent man, and that much truth is to be found inthe New Testament ; but who do not admit the properdivinity of the one, nor the inspiration of the other ;who regard the Saviour as a merely finite and humanbeing, and the writings of the Evangelists as merelyhuman compositions. And while some of these personsmay have more of the spirit of Christ than manj who


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THE NEW DISPENSATION, 1 7know and belieye more of Him and his gospel, still theywould not be regarded, popularly or doctrinally speak-ing, as Christians ; for they do not acknowledge Chris-tianity as a new Dispensation, or in any proper sense asa new Revelation.

So, popularly speaking, those are not of the NewChristian Dispensation (they may belong to it reallybut not nominally) who do not see or acknowledge thatany such dispensation has commenced, or that thewritings of Swedenborg are, indeed, a new and divindyauthorized revelation of heavenly truththough theymay have in their hearts more of the spirit and lifeof the New Church than some who accept its doc-trines.

But many personsand these inhabiting the most en-lightened portions of Christendomare beginning toadmit that Swedenborg's claim is well founded. Theybelieve that he wrote under a special divine illumination,and that his writings are or contain a new revelation.And what is implied by this admission ? That no mis-take, however trivial, is anywhere to be found in his writ-ings ? That in every sentence and word he penned afterhis illumination, he was immediately directed by theLord? That every word he wrote is as certainly true as ifit had been written by the finger of God himself? Noth-ing of this sort is involved in the fullest and most cordialadmission of his claim. We may admit his divine illumin-ation; we may believe that he wg^giigtt^jed and taught

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1 8 NEW VIEW OF HELL.of God as no other man ever was ; and that his writings are,as they claim to be, a new and divinely authorized reve-lation ; and yet we may believe that his illuminationwas not precisely the same at all times ; that he was notabsolutely infallible ; that his pen, and even his thoughton some minor points, might momentarily have slipped,making him teach or seem to teach in one place, some-thing contrary to his general teaching upon the samesubject.

But an admission of this man's claim, or the beliefthat his writings are a new dispensation of spiritual truthto men, does involve the belief, that, upon all importantdoctrinesupon all questions which have hitherto en-gaged the attention of Christians, and in which they arelikely always to feel a deep interesthe has spoken withauthority, because he wrote under an extraordinary divineillumination. It involves the admission that, in what hewrote and published concerning the Lord, the SacredScripture, Redemption, Regeneration, Salvation, theResurrection, the Judgment, the nature and duration ofHeaven and Hell, and all the great facts and laws of thespiritual world, he has not given us his opinion merely,but the truth which God was pleased to reveal throughhim. It involves the belief that, upon such momentousthemes he was illumined by the Holy Spirit, and hastaught only what the Lord authorized and directed himto teach. So that what his writings contain on suchsubjects, is not his own opinions or conclusions merely,


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THE NEW DISPENSATION. 19but is what the Lord himself teaches or is trying to teachmankind through him.Let me endeavor to make my view more clear by anillustration :A man is duly accredited by our government to the

court of St. James. Upon all important matters betweenthe two countries, he receives his instruction from Wash-ington. And if he acts according to his instruction,the things he does as the authorized agent of the govern-ment, are not to be regarded merely as his acts, but theacts of the government; and the government alone isresponsible for them. But in carrying on some negotia-tion, Mr. Adams or Mr. Motley, in the exercise of thefreedom and discretion of a plenipotentiary, may hereand there drop a word or use an expression which hisgovernment might not approve ; but that is of small con-sequence if it does not prevent nor in any way interferewith the negotiation. He may not, in every interviewwith the British minister of foreign affairs, or at everycourt dinner, do and say exactly the thing that the gov-ernment from which he is accredited would approve ;but if he carries out his instructions generally, does hisduty faithfully, and so accomplishes the purpose of hismission, is he any the less the accredited American min-ister, or his acts any the less cheerfully endorsed by hisgovernment because of an occasional and unimportantremark made by him, which the authorities at Wash-ington might not approve?


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30 NEW VIE IV OF HELL.So Swedenborgthough it might be shown that he has

here and there said things, unimportant in themselves butnot in agreement with the general tenor of his teachingis to be regarded as none the less a divinely accreditedteacher or a divinely authorized expounder of sacredmysteries, if his teaching upon all important and funda-mental points be true, or such as meets the approval ofheaven's own King.

But though it is, or claims to be, a New Dispensation,it is a dispensation of rational religious truth. It ad-dresses us as rational beings, endowed with the capacityof discriminating between right and wrong

truth andfalsehood. It declares that Rationality, or the ability tounderstand spiritual truth when presented, and to judgebetween it and error, is one of the noblest gifts of God.And it holds it to be every one's solemn duty to respectthis gift, by faithfully exercising his own understandingupon whatever is offered him for religious truth. Itteaches that no one ought to accept what his own under-standing rejects, even though it should be proclaimed bya messenger from heaven, or have the unanimous vote ofall Christendom in its support.No one, therefore, is expected to receive for truth what

Swedenborg has taught on any subject, unless the teach-ing approve itself to his rational intuitions ; that is, un-less he himself sees it to be true. Each one must usehis own eyes, and not allow another to see for him. Thegreat seer himself says :


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THE NEW DISPENSATION. 21"This tenet, that the understanding is to be kept in

subjection to faith, is rejectedin the New Church ; and

in its place, this is to be received as a maxim, that thetruth of the church should be seen in order that it maybe believed. . . . What is truth not seen, but a voicenot understood ?" And again he says: "The angelshave wisdom in consequence of seeing truths. Where-fore when it is said to any angel that this or that is to bebelieved although it is not understood, the angel replies,Do you suppose me to be insane, or that you yourselfare a god whom I am bound to believe ?"

This Dispensation, moreover, is catholic, comprehen-sive, universal, in its spirit. It breathes throughout thesweetest charity. It inculcates the largest liberty ofthought. It encourages the utmost freedom of religiousinquiry. It asserts with new and increased emphasis thegreat Protestant principlethe right of private judgmentin matters of faith, however that judgment may differfrom the solemn decree of popes, prelates, councils,synods, assemblies or conventions. It upholds, there-fore, and furnishes new and powerful weapons in defenceof religious liberty. It is tolerant of all forms of error,innocently imbibed and conscientiously held, and showsthe possibility of salvation under all of them. It con-demns no individual, no sect, no peoplenot even Ma-hometans or Pagansmerely on account of their beliefs ;but teaches that infinite Love is for ever brooding overall ; and for ever seeking, through such forms of faith


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22 NEW VIEW OF HELL.and modes of worship as are best suited to the wants ofeach, to lift them up into clearer light and a higherlifeinto fuller communion and sweeter fellowship withitself. It is full, thereforethis New Dispensationof the all-embracing and all-reconciling spirit of theLord.The following extractsand a volume of similar ones

might be quoted from the writings of Swedenborgwillexhibit something of the large and catholic spirit of thisNew Dispensation :" Notwithstanding there are so many various and dif-ferent doctrines [believed by Christians], still, if all whohold these doctrines did but acknowledge charity asthe essential of the church, or what is the same, if theyhad respect to life as the end of doctrine, they would to-gether form one church ; ... for every one in the otherlife is gifted with a lot from the Lord according to thegood of his life, not according to the truth of his doctrineseparate from that good."Arcana Ccelestia 3241." If charity were in the first place and faith in thesecond, the church would have another face. For then,none would be called Christians but they who lived thelife of charity. Then, too, there would not be manychurches distinguished by their different opinions con-cerning the truths of faith ; but the church would becalled one, containing all those who are in the good oflife."Ibid. 6761.

" Schisms and heresies would never have arisen if


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THE NEW DISPENSATION. 23

charity had continued to live and rule in the church.For then they would not have called schism by the nameof schism, nor heresy by the name of heresy \ but theywould have called them doctrinals agreeable to eachone's particular opinion or way of thinking, which theywould have left to his individual conscience ; not judgingor condemning any for their opinions, provided they didnot deny fundamental principlesthat is, the Lord,eternal life, and the Wordand maintained nothing con-trary to the commandments of the decalogue." Ibid.1834."He who is in goodness of life does not condemnanother because he differs from him in opinion, butleaves it to his faith and conscience ; and he extends thisrule even to those who are out of the church[those,that is, in heathen lands]. For he says in his heart thatignorance cannot condemn any, if they live in innocenceand mutual love."Ibid. 4468." Within the church there are some of all denomina-tions who have a conscience ; though their conscience,however, is more perfect according as the truths whichform it approach nearer the genuine truths of faith."Ibid. 2053." Every one, of whatsoever religion he be, may besavedeven the Gentiles who have no truths from theWordif only he has had regard to the good of lifeas an end."Ibid. 10648.

"Let this truth be accepted and confirmed in the out-


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24 NEW VIEW OF HELL.set, that love to the Lord and charity toward the neigh-bor are the essentials of all doctrine and worship, thenheresies would be no more ; and one church would beformed out of many, however they might differ in doc-trine and ritual. ... In this case, all would be gov-erned as one man by the Lord ; for they would be likethe members and organs of one body, which, thoughdissimilar in form and function, still have reference toone heart, on which they all depend both in generaland in particular, however various their forms. Then,too, every one would say of another, in whatsoever doc-trine or external worship he might be, This is my broth-er ; I see that he worships the Lord, and that he is agood man."Ibid. 2385.u Persons in a blind or persuasive faith, since they donot see truths, are not willing that the doctrines of theirchurch should be approached and examined rationallywith the understanding ; but they say that these are tobe received from a principle of obedience, which is calledthe obedience of faith ; and it is not known whetherthe things received in such blind obedience be true orfalse ; nor can they open the way to heaven, for in heavennothing but what is seen, that is, understood, is acknow-ledged as truth."Apocalypse Explained 1100."The dogma that the understanding is to be kept insubjection to faith, is rejected in the New Church ; and inits place this is to be received as a maxim, that the truthof the church should be seen in order that it may be be-


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THE NEW DISPENSATION. 25lieved ; and truth cannot be seen otherwise than ration-ally. How can any man be led by the Lord and con-joined to heaven, who shuts his understanding againstsuch things as relate to salvation and eternal life? Is itnot the understanding that is to be illumined and in-structed? And what is the understanding closed byreligion but thick darkness, and such darkness, too, asrejects the light that would illumine ?"Apocalypse Re-vealed 564.These quotations might be extended indefinitely. But

the reader may gather from the few here given, some-thing of the large, free, tolerant and truly catholic spiritof this new Dispensation. And if we recognize innearly all the churches of to-day, a steady increase ofthis same spirit, that is only additional evidence that"old things'*the old bigotry, narrowness, intolerance,denominational hatreds, and high partition walls of thelast centuryare passing away, and a new and moretruly Christ-like spirit taking their place ; agreeably tothe Divine promise: "And he that sat upon the thronesaid, Behold I make all things new."


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If.THE OLD DOCTRINE OF HELL.

A TORE than a hundred years ago, Swedenborg an--L^X nounced the end or consummation of the firstChristian Church or Dispensation, and the commence-ment of a new one. Repeatedly, and in the calmest andmost emphatic language, did he declare that the Lordhad manifested Himself to him in person ; had openedhis spiritual senses ; had permitted him to see and con-verse with the denizens of the other world as men seeand converse with each other ; had vouchsafed to him aclear understanding of the spiritual and true meaning ofthe Sacred Scripture ; and had authorized and directedhim to make a new revelation of heavenly truth for theinstruction of all Christians and for the benefit of man-kind.Up to this time comparatively few have openly em-braced this new revelation. Yet its power has been seen

and its influence felt in the gradual and steady modifica-tion of the old theological beliefs, which has been goingon in nearly all of the sects for the last hundred years.This is admitted by some of the keenest observers and26


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THE OLD DOCTRINE. 27most advanced thinkers in all the churches. Says alearned critic of rare candor in the New York Independ-ent (March 18, 1869):"More than any other form of religious thought, Swe-

denborgianism is a leaven i hid in three measures ofmeal.' To a careless reader of ecclesiastical statistics,the Swedenborgian Church would seem to be one of theleast of the great household of faith. To a careful stu-dent of religious thought, it appears to be among themost important. It has made very few converts from thefaith of orthodoxy ; but it has materially modified thatfaith. ... As a little salt changes the contents of a largevessel of water, so Swedenborgianism, seemingly lost inthe great multitude of churches, has more or less modi-fied the form offaith of all."And this very candid writer, and careful observer of

the theological and religious tendencies of these newtimes, specifies some of the modifications already wroughtin the old theological beliefs by the teachings of Sweden-borg. After referring to the old doctrines of the Trin-ity, the Atonement, and the Sacred Scripture, and show-ing how these have been already modified by the writingsof the Swedish seer, he concludes his list of specifica-tions thus :"The church [meaning all the so-called orthodox de-

nominations] holds fast to the solemn truth, which noone has ever taught more vividly than Christ himself, thatafter death is the judgment, and after judgment heaven


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28 NEW VIEW OF HELL.and hell ; but it has accepted, unconsciously, from Swe-denborg, his teaching that rvery man carries heaven orhell in his own bosom ; and remits to the Past the fear-ful pictures of Edwards and his cotemporaries, of literaltorments and a remorseless and pitiless God."And with equal truth and plainness (though with a

little less candor, perhaps, in not hinting at the real cause)the distinguished pastor of Plymouth Church (Brooklyn),said in a sermon on "Future Punishment* ' preachedsome months ago: "that -the educated Christian mindof all lands, for the last hundred years [note the period]has been changing*

* in regard to the nature of punish-ment in the great Hereafter."It is certainly true," he continues, "that theories

have been changing from gross material representations[of hell], more and more in the direction of moral repre-sentations. It is very true that this subject is not preachedas it used to benot as it was in my childhood. It hasnot been preached so often, nor with the same fiery andfamiliar boldness that it used to be. Multitudes of menwho give every evidence of being spiritual, regenerate,devout, laborious and self-denying, 'find themselvesstraitened in their minds in respect to this question,and are turning anxiously every whither to see whencerelief may come to them. There has been a profoundchange [within the last hundred years, observe] in thesentiment of Christendom in regard to those gross rep-resentations of future punishment, which were handed


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THE OLD DOCTRINE. 29down to us from the past." And he gives, as among thereasons of those gross representations, " the mediaevalliteralization of the Bible figures.' 'Now, to judge correctly of the need there was of a

new revelation a hundred years ago, we should go backto the time when Swedenborg wrote, and see whatwere the then accepted teachings upon the variouspoints of Christian theology. Since that time the be-liefs of Christians have, through the light of the NewDispensation (which is "as the lightning that comethout of the east and shineth even unto the west"), be-come so modified, that, on many subjects, they bear butlittle resemblance to those held previous to that time.Very few are aware of the changes in theological opinionthat have taken place in nearly all the churches duringthe last hundred years, and that are still going on at arapid pace ; and fewer still are aware of the cause ofthese changes.

Take, for illustration, the doctrine concerning hell, orthe future punishment of the wicked. At the time Sweden-borg wrote, the commonly received doctrine in all thechurches was according to the literal teaching of theBible. It was believed and taught for Christian veritythat hell is literally a lake of fire and brimstone ;aplace created by the Lord at the beginning for the ex-press purpose of inflicting upon all who die in their sinsas much suffering as infinite ingenuity could possibly de-vise. It was held that sinners, after death, were to be3*


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3 NEW VIEW OF HELL.cast alive into this burning lake by order of the SupremeJudge of the universe, as criminals on earth are cast intoprison by order of the judges of criminal courts. Andthat they were always to remain there, perfectly con-scious, indued with the most exquisite sensibility topain, forever burning yet never consumed, writhing andgroaning in eternal agony. And as if this were not tor-ment enough, the gross imaginations of religious teachersoften added other horrors equally revolting. Mr. Buckle,in his History of Civilization in England, speaking of theclergy of the seventeenth centuryespecially the Scotchclergy

and their view of hell and its torments, says :" In the pictures which they drew, they reproduced andheightened the barbarous imagery of a barbarous age.They delighted in telling their hearers that they wouldbe roasted in great fires and hung up by their tongues.They were to be lashed with scorpions, and see theircompanions writhing and howling around them. Theywere to be thrown into boiling oil and scalding lead.A river of brimstone broader than the earth was preparedfor them ; in that they were to be immersed. . . . Suchwere the first stages of suffering, and they were only thefirst. For the torture, besides being unceasing, was tobecome gradually worse. So refined was the cruelty,that one hell was succeeded by another; and, lest thesufferer should grow callous, he was, after a time, movedon, that he might undergo fresh agonies in fresh places,provision being made that the torment should not pall


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THE OLD DOCTRINE, 3 1on the sense, but should be varied in its character as wellas eternal in its duration.

11 All this was the work of the God of the Scotch clergy.It was not only his work, it was his joy and his pride.For, according to them, hell was created before mancame into the world ; the Almighty, they did not scrupleto say, having spent his previous leisure in preparing andcompleting this place of torture, so that, when the humanrace appeared, it might be ready for their reception.Ample, however, as the arrangements were, they were in-sufficient ; and hell not being big enough to contain thecountless victims incessantly poured into it, had, in theselatter days, been enlarged. But in that vast expansethere was no void, for the whole of it reverberated withthe shrieks and yells of undying agony. . . . Both chil-dren and fathers made hell echo with their piercingscreams, writhing

in convulsive agony at the tormentswhich they suffered, and knowing that other tormentsmore grievous still were reserved for them." (Vol. II.pp. 294, 295.)Now every statement that Mr. Buckle here makes,finds ample confirmation in the works of distinguishedtheologians of that period and some of the previous cen-turies. Rutherford in his Religious Letters, speaking ofthe future punishment of the wicked, says: "Tongue,lungs and liver, bones and all, shall boil and fry in a tor-turing fire" (p. 17);"a river of fire and brimstonebroader than the earth." (p. 35.) And Boston, in his


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3 2 NEW VIEW OF HELL.Human Nature in its Fourfold State, treating of this samesubject, says: "They will be universal torments, everypart of the creature being tormented in that flame. Whenone is cast into a fiery furnace, the fire makes its way intothe very bowels, and leaves no member untouched : whatpart then can have ease when the damned swim in a lakeof fire burning with brimstone ?" (p. 458.) And Rev.Thomas Halyburton, in his Great Concern of Salvation,says : " Consider, Who is the contriver of these torments.There have been some very exquisite torments contrivedby the wit of men, the naming of which, if ye under-stood their nature, were enough to fill your hearts withhorror ; but all these fall as far short of the torments yeare to endure, as the wisdom of man falls short of thatof God." (p. 154, Edinburgh edit., 1722.)Such was the generally accepted doctrine concerning

hell in all the Christian churches at the time Sweden-borg wrote. Such, too, had been the doctrine for cen-turies previous, as we learn from Christian writers andChristian artists. These latter aimed to embody or repre-sent upon canvas the prevalent Christian thought of theperiod in which they lived. Thus Michael Angelo, inhis picture of the Last judgment, tells us more plainlythan words could tell, what idea Christians of his dayhad of the future punishment of the wicked. Truly didMr. Beecher say in one of his sermons not long ago :

"If you will take this picture, you will better under-stand what was the real feeling of the age in which he


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THE OLD DOCTRINE. 33lived on the subject of reward and punishment, than byreading any amount of theological treatises. Let anyone look at that ; let any one see the enormous giganticcoils of fiends and men ; let any one look at that defiantChrist that stands like a superb athlete at the front,hurling his enemies from him and calling his friendstoward him as Hercules might have done ; let any onelook upon that hideous wriggling mass that goes plung-ing down through the airserpents and men and beastsof every nauseous kind, mixed together ; let him look atthe lower parts of the picture, where with pitchforksmen are by devils being cast into caldrons and into burn-ing fires, where hateful fiends are gnawing the skulls ofsuffering sinners, and where there is hellish cannibalismgoing onlet a man look at that picture and the sceneswhich it depicts, and he sees what were the ideas whichmen once had of hell and of divine justice. It was anightmare as hideous as was ever begotten by the hellishbrood itself; and it was an atrocious slander on God.... I do not wonder that men have reacted from thesehorrorsI honor them for it. M {Plymouth Pulpit for Oct.29, 1870.)And this bold and eloquent divine further adds in thesame discourse :" To allow such a stream of human existence to be fed

and renewed in every generation, which was pouringover the precipice at the rate of thirty millions a year,into such torments as the old method of representationc


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34 NEW VIEW OF HELL.presented to us, and at the same time to teach that Godwas a loving Fatherthese two things have seemed sodifficult to multitudes of persons, that they have fledfrom the attempt to reconcile them, and have abandonedall belief in them."And how does Mr. Beecher himself reconcile them?

Or how does he understand and interpret the languageof the Bible which refers to the future state of the wicked ?He frankly confesses his own blindness and confusionhere. He don't know what to make of this language." It goes to my heart to say these things,' ' he saysi. e.the things he finds in the Bible. "Yet it is there, andif I am faithful to my whole duty I must preach it. Asa surgeon does things that are most uncongenial to him-self, so sometimes do I. And I do this with tears andwith sorrow. It makes me sick."

It is plain, then, what was the old and universally re-ceived doctrine among Christians concerning hell at thetime Swedenborg wrote.Very few, however, believe this doctrine now. The

light that has been flowing into all minds from out thenew angelic heavens for the last hundred years, has soclearly revealed its hideousness, that you will hardly findan intelligent Christian of any denomination now-a-days,who does not reject it. Most people have no rationaland clearly defined doctrine to take the place of the old ;but this latter nobody now accepts.The old doctrine, therefore, being such as we find it


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THE OLD DOCTRINE. 35so irrational and monstrous and cruel in itselfso utterlyrepugnant to every true Christian feeling and to everyjust conception of the character and government of Godis it unreasonable to suppose that the Divine Beingwould some day vouchsafe a further revelation to hischildren on this subject ? If there ever was a subject onwhich the minds of men were in utter and impene-trable darkness, and on which, therefore, a further reve-lation was needed, is it not the very subject we are con-sidering ? And at what time should we expect the reve-lation to be made, other than that when it seemed mostnecessarythe time of densest spiritual darkness, whensuch preposterous ideas as to the nature of hell and futurepunishment as those I have here presented, were gener-ally taught and accepted for revealed truth ?


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III.THE NEW VIEW.

AI7E have seen what the doctrine of hell was, which* * was generally taught and accepted by Christiansa hundred years ago. It was a doctrine quite in agree-ment with the sensuous appearances of truth in the letterof the Word ; and in agreement, therefore, with the grossconceptions of men in a carnal and sensuous state. Ittaught that hell was, literally, a lake of fire and brim-stone ;a place into which the wicked were to be finallycast, not out of mercy to them, or from any considerationof their comfort, improvement, or best welfare, but froma feeling of Divine wrath and vindictiveness. It wasthe generally accepted belief when Swedenborg wrote,that this fiery lake was created for the express purpose ofinflicting upon sinners the most excruciating tortureswhich Divine ingenuity could invent.

Moreover, according to the doctrine of that period,the Supreme Judge of all the earth took a fiendish delightin casting his rebellious offspring into that fiery gulf,listening to their agonizing shrieks, and gazing on theirceaseless and indescribable sufferings ! And no incon-siderable part of the joys of heaven, it was also believed

3


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THE NEW DOCTRINE. 37and taught, would spring from a clear view, given tothose there, of the dreadful torments of the damned,and from a contemplation of the contrast between themiserable condition of these latter, and their own happycondition in the realms of bliss I

Such was the dreadful doctrine taught from most ifnot all of the pulpits in Christendom a hundred yearsago !taught for the revealed truth of God !taught bythe professed expounders of the Word of God !by theacknowledged teachers and guides of the people in mat-ters pertaining to man's immortal life !

Yet intelligent people gravely ask, What need was thereof any new or further revelation at the time Swedenborglived and wrote? Considering how the Word of Godwas then misunderstood and falsified by its professed ex-poundersin what fearful darkness the minds of pro-fessing Christians were then immersed, not only uponthis subject but upon others also pertaining to religion,it would, indeed, have been strange if a new revelationhad not then been made.Nor need we wonder, in view of this horrible doctrine

concerning hell, which was commonly taught a hundredyears ago for Bible truth (to say nothing of other doc-trines equally revolting), that so many in Christian landsshould have lost all faith in the Bible as a Divine revela-tion ; and that many others who retain their faith, shouldhave come to deny the existence of any hell whatever inthe other world. Among the last and sure results of

J^O* OF THE^J^\


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3S NEW VIEW OF HELL.false teaching, are suspicions, doubts, denials, and finallythe total eclipse of all faith.

See how good menministers of the gospel evenwhohave not accepted the rational and heart-cheering truthsof the New Dispensation, are troubled even in this ourday by what they suppose the Bible to teach in regard tothe future state of the wicked. Says the late Rev. Dr.Barnes, one of the most distinguished of the Presbyterianministers of our country:" That any should suffer for ever, lingering on in hope-less despair, and rolling amidst infinite torments withoutthe possibility of alleviation and without end ; that sinceGod can save men and will save a part, He has not pro-posed to save allthese are real, not imaginary, difficul-ties. . . . My whole soul pants for light and relief onthese questions. But I get neither ; and in the distressand anguish of my own spirit, I confess that I see nolight whatever. I see not one ray to disclose to me whysin came into the world ; why the earth is strewn withthe dying and the dead ; and why man must suffer to alleternity. I have never seen a particle of light thrownon these subjects, that has given a moment's ease to mytortured mind. ... I confess, when I look on a worldof sinners and sufferersupon death-beds and grave-yardsupon the world of woe filled with hosts to sufferfor ever ; when I see my friends, my family, my people,my fellow-citizenswhen I look upon a whole race, allinvolved in this sin and dangerand when I see the


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THE NEW DOCTRINE. 39great mass of them wholly unconcerned, and when I feelthat God only can save them, and yet He does not do so,I am struck dumb. It is all dark, dark, dark, to mysoul, and I cannot disguise it."How many other good men are there among the Chris-tian ministers of to-day, who, if they would but confessthe honest truth, would tell you that they are in just thesame darkness and distress that Dr. Barnes here confessestoif not upon the same subjects, then upon some othersno better understood. Yet Dr. Barnes himself, I pre-sume, was so confirmed in all the dogmas of the Presby-terian church, that the light of heaven as it beams outfrom the luminous pages, of Swedenborg, would haveseemed to him darkness as thick, perhaps, as that inwhich he confessed himself to be ;it could hardly haveseemed more dense. Verily, " the light shineth in dark-ness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not."

Certainly, then, a new revelation concerning the natureof hell, or concerning the condition of the wicked inthe great Hereafter, was greatly needed when Sweden-borg wrote ; and therefore it was to be expected.

Let us now examine the New doctrine on this subject,and see whether it is really worthy of the origin claimedfor it; or whether it be as irrational as the Old onewhich it comes professedly to displace.

According to the new doctrine of the immortal life,the human soul is in the same form as the material bodythat is, the human form. It is organized of spiritual


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4 NEW VIEW OF HELL.substance, as the natural body is of material substance.It is the real individualman, woman or child. It isthat in us which thinks, remembers, reasons, loves. It isendowed with the senses of seeing, hearing, feeling, etc. far more acute and perfect, too, than the bodily senses.It is not subject to decay or death, but lives on after thenatural body dies. When that change which we calldeath (and which is the death of the body) takes place,the soul passes consciously into the spiritual world. Itwas there before death, but aw-consciously while its out-look was into the realm of nature ; just as the body in astate of sleep is, unconsciously, in the natural world ;and when it awakes, it becomes fully conscious of itsabode here.

While the soul tabernacles in the flesh, its senses areordinarily closed; but when released from all connec-tion with the body, its senses are all opened. It awakesto a consciousness of its existence in the spiritual world.It is then brought into open and sensible intercourse withthe people and objects of that world. Its eyes and earsbeing opened, it sees and hears other spirits as plainly aswe see and hear one another.And when the body dies, the character of every soul

is, and continues to be, essentially the same as it wasbefore death. And every one's character depends onthe nature of his supreme or governing purposethatis, on the character of his ruling love. If he were wiseand righteous before death if he took delight in serving


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THE NEW DOCTREXE. 41and blessing others, he will be wise and righteous after,will find still greater delight in serving and blessing, andfeel a more intense desire to serve and bless. But if heloved himself supremelyif his chief aim in life was toget gain for himself alone, to secure his own ease, com-fort and advancement, and promote his own welfare,careless of the welfare and the rights of others, he willbe in precisely the same state after death ; he will bejust as indifferent to the wants, the woes, the welfare andthe rights of others as he was before. If he had nogenuine love of the Lord and the neighbor before, hewill have none after. If meanness, dishonesty, lust,tyranny, hatred, contempt of others in comparison withhimself, and selfish greed of gain, were in his heart be-fore, he will be full of these same unclean and hatefulvermin after. As it is written : " He that is unjust, willbe unjust still ; and he that is filthy, will be filthy still ;and he that is righteous, will be righteous still ; and hethat is holy, will be holy still. "Heaven is within the soul ; so says the new doctrine.

It is essentially a state of life, not a place ;a state ofsupreme love to the Lord and the neighbor. It consistsin the reception and exercise of the Lord's own unselfishlove, which for ever seeks not its own, but the welfareand happiness of others. The happiness of heaven re-sults from the exercise of unselfish love. This love isthe angels' breath of life ; and the purer and more in-tense it is, the more exalted is their bliss.4*


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42 NEW VIEW OF HELL.We see how well this agrees with the teaching of our

Lord. For not only does He tell us that the sum of allwhich the Law and the Prophets teach, is comprehendedin the two great commandments which require us to lovethe Lord supremely and our neighbor as ourselves, butHe says also that "the kingdom of God is within you."And the kingdom of God is the same as the kingdom ofheaven. Wherever lovepure, unselfish lovereigns,there the Lord reigns ; there his kingdom is establishedand his laws obeyed.And as the kingdom of heaven is within, so also (says

the New doctrine) is the kingdom of hell. As heavenconsists essentially in love to the Lord and the neigh-bor, which is the love of doing good and serving, sohell consists essentially in the opposite kind of loveinthe love of one's own self; and this love is real hatred ofthe neighbor.

Hell, therefore, is a state of life the very opposite tothat of heaven. It is a state in which the love of selfhas absolute dominion in the heart. This love is thefountain of all other evil loves. It is the primal sourceof all infernal deeds. When it reigns supreme in theheart, there is no evil thing which a man will not dounless restrained by force, or by fear of loss, suffering ordamage of some sort. Hence the Lord says: "For outof the heart proceed evil thoughts, muxders, adulteries,fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemy"all the


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THE NEW DOCTRINE. 43things which defile a man, or render him spiritually un-clean.We see, then, where hell is and what it is, accordingto the New doctrine. It is in the soul, and consists essen-tially in the supreme love of self which prompts to allinfernal deeds. To have hell in the soul, or to be in astate of supreme self-love, is to be in hell; just as havingheaven within, or loving the Lord supremely and theneighbor as one's self, is to be in heaven.Now all men are by natural inheritance more or lessselfish. Naturally, therefore, we are all in the low statedenoted by hell ; for we are dominated more or less abso-lutely by the love of self. This is a lowa merely ani-mal love; and as our corporeal or animal life unfoldsand matures, this love also unfolds and strengthens ; sothat when we have attained to full maturity, it is usuallythe strongestthe ruling love. But this is not our truestate. It is not the properly human state. It is not theorderly or blissful state for which we were created. Itis not the state in which the Lord desires that we shouldremain, because He desires that all should be happy.Therefore He is in the constant effort to lift us out ofour carnal selfish state, and to make us unselfish andloving like Himself. For this end He assumed ournatural humanity. For this end He has revealed the lawsof our higher or heavenly life. For this end He hasshown us very clearly the way to rise out of our naturalstate of self-love, which is hell, into that higher and


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44 W VIEW OF HELL.nobler statethat state of sweet unselfish love, whichis heaven.

This great change (for it is, indeed, a great change), orthis passing out of a low, natural, selfish state of life, intoone that is higher, richer, noblerin short, into thetruly human state, is spoken of in the Bible as a " resur-rection to newness of life;" as a "putting off of theold man, which is corrupt according to the deceitfullusts," and a "putting on of the new man, which afterGod is created in righteousness and true holiness ;M as" passing from death unto life ;M as being " born again M" born from above M" born of God," without which,we are assured, no one can enter the kingdom of heaven." Except a man be born again, he cannot see the king-dom of God."Now although the Lord desires that we should all pass

out of our low or hellish state, into that high and heav-enly one which He has made us capable of attaining,although He has told us how we may do sohas madethe way very plainhas assumed our nature with all itshereditary and selfish proclivities that He might therebybecome to us THE WAYyet He uses no compulsion.He leaves all in freedom to either remain in their lownatural state, which is hell, or to rise out of it into thatexalted and unselfish state, which is heaven. He hasmade known the conditions upon which alone we canrise ; and He is ever ready to lend us all needed help.He is continually calling to us and saying, This is the


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THE NEW DOCTRINE, 45way ; walk ye in it. But He does not take hold of uslike a policeman, and force us to walk in that way. Noone can be forced to heaven ; for no one can be forcedto shun evils as sins, nor to love what is good and true forits own sake. To go to heaven, we must freely complywith the conditions; and the conditions are, that wevoluntarily obey the laws of the heavenly life ;that westruggle with and overcome our selfish and evil propen-sities;that we deny self, take up our cross, and followthe Lord in the regeneration.

Such, briefly, is the New doctrine concerning hellwhere it is, what it is, and how to escape it. Is thereanything in it absurd and revolting, as we have seen thatthere is in the Old? Is there anything here againstwhich enlightened reason utters its emphatic protest?anything which impugns the wisdom or love of ourHeavenly Father ?

But how does this doctrine, it will be asked, accordwith the teaching of Scripture? It may be reasonablefar more reasonable than the Old doctrine. But is italso Scriptural? This is the questionand an importantone it is, toewhich next claims and will receive atten-tion.


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IV.THE SCRIPTURE ARGUMENT.SHEOL, HADES, GE-

HENNA, AND THE LAKE OF FIRE.I HAVE said that while the Old doctrine of hell issensuous, and in agreement with a sensuous philoso-phy and a sensuous interpretation of Scripture, the Newis eminently spiritual, and in harmony with the higherspiritual philosophy and with the spiritual interpretationof the Word.

For the essential difference between the Old and theNew doctrine, lies in this : That the Old represents* hellas a place, created by the Lord at the time of man'screation, previous to his lapse into sin, and for the expresspurpose of tormenting sinners ; while the New declaresit to be a certain internal state, wrought out in freedomthrough the voluntary infraction of the soul's own laws,or the laws of our higher life. Your child may reside inthe same J>/ace with yourselfbeneath the shelter of thesame roof, and surrounded by the same beautiful objects.But by a course of willful disobedience or unreasonableself-indulgence, that child may have destroyed its health,impaired its senses, and rendered itself miserable andwretched generally. And until its habits are changed

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SHEOL, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 47and its health renewed, it will find rest and comfort inno place however beautiful.

Both hell and heaven, according to the New Theology,are within men. They are not places but states of life.But in the other world, these states project themselvesoutwardly, making all the surroundings of each spirit aperfect mirror, as it were, of himself;reflecting withmathematical precision his own affections and thoughts.Heaven is a state the very opposite of hell ; as oppositeas day is to night, light to darkness, health to sickness,love to hate, good to evil. The essential life of heaven,is the life of disinterested lovelove to the Lord andthe neighbor. The essential life of hell, is the life of .self-love; and this is real hatred of the neighbor.Heaven is a state in which the understanding is illu-mined by the light of truth ; hell is a state in which it isobscured by the darkness of falsity. Heaven is a stateof spiritual health, order, peace and joy unutterable;hell is a state of spiritual sickness, disorder, unrest andcomparative sorrow. In the most exalted heavenly state,every one loves others even more than he loves himself;in hell, and in all hellish states, every one hates othersin comparison with himself. Heaven is a state of hu-mility, self-forgetfulness, and of sweet and serene trustin the Lord ; hell is a state of pride, self-seeking, andinward alienation from and opposition to the Lord.Heaven is a state of the most delightful freedom, inwhich every one finds his highest gratification in the


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48 NEW VIEW OF HELL.performance of good uses from love to the Lord andhis neighbor; hell is a state of spiritual thraldom, inwhich no useful act is performed from love of or delightin the use, but only by compulsion, as a slave worksunder the lash.

It should be said, however, that the love of self is eviland makes man an infernal only when it is the supremeand ruling love. Then it is out of its place and the soul

in disorder. In its right place, which is a state ofsubordination and complete subjection to the noblerlove of heaven, it is good and useful. Says Sweden-borg:

" These three loves [the love of heaven, the love ofthe world, and the love of self] are related to each otherlike the three regions of the body, the highest of whichis the head, the intermediate the chest and abdomen,while the legs and feet and soles of the feet form thethird. When the love of heaven forms the head, thelove of the world the chest and abdomen, and the loveof self the feet with the soles of the feet, then man is ina perfect state according to creation, because the twolower loves then subserve the highest as the body andall its parts subserve the head." {True Christian Relig-ion, 403.)

But when the love of self or of the world is as theheadis supremethen the true order is reversed ; theman is turned, as it were, upside down; the love ofheaven is as tre feet, and he tramples on the laws of


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SHEOL, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 49justice and neighborly love as often as his ruler (self-love) dictates.

Such, according to Swedenborg is the essential natureof heaven and hell. They are both within the humansoul, and consist in essentially opposite states of lifeopposite kinds of loveresulting by inevitable sequence,in character, conduct, modes of government, and anoutward or objective world, as different as are the lovesthat rule in these two kingdoms respectively.

Surely there is nothing unreasonable in all this. Buthow does it agree with the teachings of Scripture? Thatis the question for present consideration. And the firstthing that claims attention, is the meaning of the wordHell. To ascertain this, we must go to the original lan-guages of the Bible.

SHEOL AND HADES.The Hebrew word translated Hell, is Sheol. And

Sheol, according to its primary literal import, means theunder world, or a vast subterranean place pervaded bythick darkness. Hence this word is sometimes translatedthe grave, as in Genesis xxxvii. 35 ; xlii. 38. The corresponding Greek word is Hades. This has the samemeaning as Sheol, and is always used instead of it in theGreek version of the Old Testament. And as furtherevidence of their identity of import, we find the passagefrom the sixteenth Psalm, "Thou wilt not leave my soulin hell " etc., quoted in the Acts of the apostles (ch.ii.).

5 D


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SO NEW VIEW OF HELL.And in the Old Testament the Hebrew word for Hell inthis passage is Sheol, and in the New it is Hades,prov-ing that these words have one and the same meaning.

Such being the plain literal import of the HebrewSheol, and its Greek equivalent Hades, some theologianshave contended that our English word hell ought to berestricted in its meaning to the natural world; for,according to the strictly literal import both of the Greekand Hebrew word, it means simply the grave, or a low anddark placea place underground; and has no referencewhatever to the condition of the wicked in the otherworld, or to anything beyond the natural realm.And if the Bible is to be literally interpretedif itcontains no meaning beyond that which lies upon the

surface, and which is obvious to the merely natural orsensuous mind, these theologians certainly have the bestof the argument. What answer can the literalist consist-ently give? For how, according to his theory, is thisword hell made to refer to the condition of the wickedin the other world ? Why should it not be restricted inits meaning, to that which it literally denotes, viz., thegrave, or a dark subterranean region ?

Yet there are insuperable difficulties which those whocontend for such a limitation of the meaning of thisword, have to encounter. For, to be consistent in theirhermeneutics, they should limit the meaning of the termheaven in precisely the same way. They should insiston restricting the meaning of this word also to the realm


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SHEOL, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 5 1of nature ; and should maintain that it has no referenceto the condition of the righteous in the other worldfor,in its obvious literal sense it has not.The word in the original Hebrew, translated heaven in

our English version, is shdmayim; and the literal signifi-cation of this is, the firmament, or the space above theearth. It comes (so the best linguists tell us) from anobsolete root, shdmd, whose meaning in the cognateArabic language is, to be high, or lifted up. And to thisArabic radical lexicographers refer the Hebrew term asdenoting an elevated localitya high place. The Greekequivalent of this Hebrew word is ouranos, which is alsotranslated by our English heaven, and means the same asshdmayim ; that is, the space above the earth, or the vastconcave that surrounds the earth. And according tomost philologists it comes from the Greek radical orao,which means to seereferring to the space above oraround the earth, where by means of the sun's lightobjects are visible.We find, therefore, that the words heaven and hell,which occur so often in the sacred Volume, referintheir plain, obvious, literal sense, as gathered from theHebrew and Greek termsto merely natural localities ;one, to a place that is high, or to a region above theearth, involving also the idea or possibility of clear-seeing ; the other, to a place that is low, or to a regionbeneath the earth, involving also the idea of darkness,or great difficulty in seeing. And if the literalists, or


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5 NEW VIEW OF HELL.those who deny that the Scripture everywhere contains aspiritual sense, would be consistent, they should restrictthe meaning of both these words to the natural worldand to things without, not within the soul of man. Forall good Biblical scholars know that neither heaven norhell, according to the literal import of their equivalentGreek and Hebrew terms, conveys an idea of anythingabove the realm of nature.

But there is abundant Scripture evidence that theseterms are not to be thus restricted in their meaning.There is evidence that they refer to states and conditionsof two widely different classes of people in the spiritualworld. Thus the seer of Patmos tells us of persons andthings that he saw in heaven, when he was " in thespirit," or when "a door was opened" to him inheaven. Surely the myriads of angels whom he beheld,were not seen with his natural eyes, nor in that region ofnatural space above our earth. No : John's spiritual eyeswere opened, and this enabled him to see the beingsand objects of the spiritual world.The Apostle Paul tells us that, on a certain occasion,

he was "caught up to the third heaven," and heardthere things which natural language cannot express.How "caught up"? Was the apostle's material bodylifted through natural space into the upper regions ofthe air? No one, I presume, believes this. No one sup-poses that his corporeal part underwent any change ofplace. No doubt there was to the apostle the appearance


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SHEOL, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 53of being suddenly lifted up; but this appearance wascaused by, and was in perfect correspondence with, achange which took place at that time in the conditionof the apostle's own mind. It was produced by a suddenopening of his spiritual senses even to the third degree.*No one ever was or ever can be carried to heaventheheaven of which the Bible speaksby being elevatedbodily to the upper regions of space ;no, not even ifhe were lifted higher than the stars.Then in the parable of Dives and Lazarus, we find the

rich man represented as alive and in hell after the deathand burial of his material body; which proves conclu-sively that the hell of which the Bible speaks, is not anyregion of natural space, but the state or condition of thewickedand a state, too, in which they find themselvesafter the death of the body.How, then, are we to arrive at the true Scripture im-* According to Swedenborg, man is endowed with spiritual senses,

which are ordinarily closed during his sojourn in the flesh. Yetthese senses may be and sometimes are opened during his abode onearth ; and when opened, he is intromitted into the spiritual world,and sees the objects and hears the sounds of that world as plainly aswith his natural senses he sees and hears the objects and soundsof the natural world. And if the spiritual senses are opened tothe third or inmost degree (for there are three degrees to the mindcorresponding to the three angelic heavens) the individual is there-by intromitted into the third or highest heaven. This, Swedenborgtells us, is the way in which he was admitted into heaven while onearth. And it was the way in which Paul was " caught up."5*


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54 NEW VIEW OF HELL.port of the terms heaven and hell?for in their obviousliteral sense, they are both used to designate naturallocalitiesone a high and illumined, the other a low anddark place. According to what principle or law is theirtrue meaning to be elicited?Swedenborg answers this question, as no one else has

ever answered it. (Let the reader, if he would appre-ciate the full force of the answer, bear in mind that theBible everywhere represents heaven and hell as oppositekingdomsopposite as light and darkness, love and hate,truth and falsity, righteousness and sin, happiness andmisery)He tells us that the written Word is composedthroughout upon the principle of correspondence ; that,between all natural and spiritual things, there is a cor-respondence like that existing between the body and thesoul ; and that the Sacred Scripture, therefore, in eachand all its parts, contains both a spiritual and a naturalsense, which stand related like the spiritual and the nat-ural worlds, or like the soul and body of man. Thespiritual sense is as the soul ; the natural sense, as thebody. As the body's life is from the indwelling soul orspirit, so the life of every part of the written Word isfrom the spiritual sense. The body of man without thesoul, has no life ; neither is there life in the letter of theWord when divorced from its inner spiritual meaning.It is by virtue of their spiritual sense that the Lord'swords are spirit and life ; for he says : " The words thatI speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." And


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SHEOL, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 55the apostle also clearly recognizes the same truth whenhe says :

" The letter kiileth; but the spirit giveth life."Agreeably to this doctrine of the Sacred Scripture,

therefore, the words heaven and hell have each a naturalsense such as I have already explained, and a spiritualsense with which the natural corresponds. Natural spacecorresponds to spiritual or mental state. Hence allwords of Scripture, which in their natural sense refer tospace, in their spiritual sense denote states of the mind.Accordingly there is natural elevation, and spiritual eleva-tion ; elevation in space and elevation in state. And theterm heaven, which in its natural sense refers to elevationin space, in its spiritual sense denotes elevation of state ;that exalted condition of mind and heart, that state ofclear perception of whatever is beautiful and true, and ofdisinterested love for all that is good and right, in whichthe angels are.

So, too, there is natural lowness, and spiritual lowness ;the former having reference to space, the latter to state.And the term hell, which in its natural sense denotes alow place or a region under ground, in its spiritual sensedenotes a low groveling state of mind ;that state ofcarnal desire and selfish craving and obscure perceptionand blunted moral sensibility, in which the devils are.We often use the words high and low in their spiritualsense in familiar discourse ; and always when we haveoccasion to apply them to moral or human qualities,though in their primary literal signification they have


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5^ NEW VIEW OF HELL.reference only to natural space. We employ them todesignate superiority and inferiority of character, or ofmental and moral attributes. Thus we speak familiarlyof a high order of intellect, of a ^/^-minded man, oflofty souls, superior worth, exalted wisdom and love.We say of an individual that he stands high in the com-munity, high in the church or in the state, that he isabove others, etc., when our meaning is that he is spirit-ually or mentally above themsuperior in wisdom, skill,integrity, and moral worth. And equally often in famil-iar discourse is the word low used in a similar way. Aswhen it is said of a mean and selfish man, that he is aperson of a low mjnd, low desires, low motives, or thathe is a low fellow. Indeed, the correspondence betweenthe natural and spiritual import of these terms, is soobvious that it has never been lost sight of. Every oneperceives it from common influx.The Lord is called the Most High in Scripture, and is

said to dwell on high, above the earth, and above theheavens. Surely it is not with any reference to naturallocality that such things are predicated of the omnipresentOne. No rational mind thinks of interpreting such lan-guage literally ; for no one thinks of localizing the DivineBeing. He is in all spacein the depths beneath astruly as in the heights aboveyet is Himself withoutspace. But on account of the infinite purity and excel-lence of his characterbecause, in respect to the humanattributes of love, wisdom and power, He is infinitely


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SHEOL, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 57exalted above men and angels, He is said to be above allthe earth, above the heavens, the Most High, etc.

Yes :The Scripture has everywhere a deeper meaningthan that of the letter. It was given, not to teach usnatural but spiritual truth. And it is by means of thelaw or rule of correspondence now revealed, that its truespiritual meaning is to be elicited. Space correspondsto state. And the words high and low, therefore, whichin their natural sense refer to opposite regions of space,in their spiritual sense denote opposite mental statesopposite kinds of love. The Lord is spiritually the MostHigh. Therefore those who draw near to Him spirit-ually, who become like Him in the spirit and temper oftheir minds, are spiritually exalted. And because all theangels are images and likenesses of Himselfbecausethey resemble Him in their love, wisdom and worksbecause their affections, thoughts, motives, purposes areall pure, noble and elevated, therefore they are said todwell on high ; or, what is equivalent, in heaven.And on the other hand those who are spiritually most

remote from the Lord, who are most unlike Him in dis-position and character, whose aims are altogether selfish,whose affections, thoughts, motives and actions are lowand ignoble, and contrary to the nature of the DivineLove, and who are, therefore, in a state the very oppositeto that of the angels, are said to dwell in a low place,beneath the earth ; or what is the same, in helL

I have said, moreover, that the Greek word translated


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58 NEW VIEW OF HELL.heaven, involves the idea of light, being derived from averb which signifies to see ; and that the original wordtranslated hell, involves the idea of darkness, beingcomposed of two words, which together mean impossibleto see, or where one cannot see. Here, again, let thatmagic Key, the law of Correspondence, be applied ; andobserve the result.

Light and darkness, like all other objects, have a two-fold significationan outer and an inner, or a naturaland a spiritual meaning. Light in its natural sense, isthe light of the natural world, which affects our naturalorgans of vision. But spiritual light is of a differentnature, though in perfect correspondence with the natural.It is the light of the spiritual world ; and although in itsessence it is divine truth, it appears before the eyes ofthe angels as light. They see by means of it. This lightproceeds from the Lord who is the Sun of the spiritualworlda Sun that appears to the angels immeasurablymore brilliant than the sun of our world appears to us. Itis the light of this spiritual Sun which illumines the mindsof both angels and men. This is " the true light whichlighteth every man that cometh into the world."And as natural darkness is the absence of natural light,

so spiritual darkness is the absence of spiritual light.But there are two causes of natural darkness ; one is theabsence of light, and the other is a diseased state ofthe organs of vision. The darkness from the first ofthese causes is seldom of long duration; and if the


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SHEOL, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 59organs of vision are preserved in a healthy condition,we shall be able to see when the light comes. But thedarkness produced by the second cause is, indeed, de-plorable. However brightly the light may shine, it is (ifthe eye-sight be gone) as if the sun were blotted out.The brightness of noon-day is as midnight darknessto us.

So, likewise, there are two corresponding causes ofspiritual darkness. One is, the absence of truth, orspiritual light. But this kind of darkness may soon bedispersed. For a person may be ignorant, and thereforein spiritual darkness ; yet he may preserve his mind insuch an honest and healthy condition, that he will beable to understand and receive the truth so soon as it ispresented to him. But there is another and far moredeplorable kind of spiritual darkness. It is that whichresults from disobedience to the known laws of theheavenly life. It is the darkness into which those fall,who, under the influence of selfish and evil loves, confirmthemselves in various false ideas contrary to the revealedWord of the Lord. Fot everywhere and always is ittrue, that "he who doeth evil hateth the light, neithercometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved.* 'Persons who, under the prompting influence of infernalloves, disregard and trample on the laws of their innerlife, and so obscure their moral perceptions, come at lastto hate the light of truth, and shun it as owls and batsshun the light of day. Their understanding becomes


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60 NEW VIEW OF HELL.diseased ; their mental eye, adjusted to error. And how-ever bright the truth may shine, they do not see it. Tothem it appears as falsity. They " put darkness for lightand light for darkness.' ' Therefore the Lord says : " Ifthine eye be single [or more correctly, sound, healthy]thy whole body shall be full of light ; but if thine eye beevil [i. e., #;/-sound, diseased], thy whole body shall befull of darkness. If, therefore, the light that is in theebe darkness, how great is that darkness |M Matt. vi.22, 23.Agreeably to this, Swedenborg often tells us that the

denizens of heaven dwell in light inconceivably morebrilliant than the light of this world ; while those inhell live in great darknessfor their understandings aredarkened by innumerable falsities originating in evillusts. Milton had a perception of this great truth whenhe sang :

" He that hath light within his own clear breast,May sit in the centre and enjoy bright day ;But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts,Benighted walks under the mid-day sun,Himself is his own dungeon."

There is a great darkness within all evil spirits, and thisproduces the darkness without; for in the other worldeverything without is but the reflection, under the greatlaw of correspondence, of the state or quality of lifewithin. But evil spirits do not appear to themselves to


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SIIEOL, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 6lbe in such darkness as they really are. Neither do evilmen, whose understandings are darkened by falsitiesoriginating in evil loves. They even imagine* themselvesin clearer light than others. And so do the devils thinkthey see far better than the angels. But their light is thelight of fatuitythe dim (yet mercifully accommodated)light of perverted natureswhich, compared with thelight that shines in heaven, is as the light from ignitedcoals compared with the splendor of the noon-day sun.From what has been said, and from the correspond-

ence of light and darkness, we may see why the DivineSaviourthe embodiment and living manifestation ofthe Truthcalls himself " the light of the world M ; andwhy He says to those who had not previously known thetruth, but had nevertheless kept themselves in a state toreceive it, "They that sit in darkness and in the shadowof death, upon them hath the light shined." We maysee also why it is said that " God is light, and in Him isno darkness at all"; and of the wicked, that "theywalk in darkness," and will finally be "cast into theouter darkness where there is weeping and gnashing ofteeth."

All who do not, while here on earth, resist and over-come their evil loves, find themselves in that "outerdarkness " when they enter the other world ; for throughthe indulgence of their evil lusts they shut out the lightof God and the things of his wisdom from their minds.They are, therefore, excluded from the kingdom of


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62 NEW VIEW OF HELL.heaven, having no heaven, and no love for the thingswhich constitute heaven, in their hearts. Whatevertruths they have ever known, they now reject and turnaway from, because such truths condemn their evil loves.And so they immerse themselves altogether in falsities,for these are in agreement with their evils. Hencethere are endless strifes and bickerings among them ; foreach one fights for his own falsity, and calls it truth.And the jarring discord and angry disputes among thosewho are in falsities, joined also with mutual hatred,derision and contempt, are what the gnashing of teethcorresponds to, and what it, therefore, spiritually denotes.

GEHENNA AND THE LAKE OF FIRE.But the Bible speaks of a fire fh the great Hereafter

of the fire of hell, the everlasting fire, a furnace of fire,a lake burning with fire and brimstone, etc. And inthis hell-fire, or lake of fire, it is said that the wickedwill have their part. And the rich man in the parable isrepresented as saying, " I am tormented in this fiame ; Mand this, after he had died and was buried.

I presume few intelligent Christians now-a-days thinkof interpreting such language according to the strictsense of the letteras it was interpreted a hundred yearsago. They will tell you that this language is figurative,though none of them may be able to tell precisely whatwas meant to be conveyed by it. But Swedenborg, inhis great doctrine of Correspondence, has furnished the


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SHEOL, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC, 63true key to its meaning. He has given us the spiritual _meaning of hell-fire, or the Gehenna of fire, and told uswhat it is in the human soul that fire corresponds to.

But as the literal sense is the foundation of the spir-itual, it is necessary always to give careful attention tothis first.

In the original Greek, Gehenna is the word translatedhell, where the fire of hell, or the hell of fire, is spoken of.And Gehenna is a Hebrew word transplanted into theGreek, with but little variation in its form. It is composedof two other Hebrew words, Gat or Ge, which means avalley, and Hinnom, the name of a man. The literalmeaning, therefore, of Gehenna is, the valley of Hinnom.This valley was south-east of, and near to, Jerusalem.The brook Kedron ran through it. Here the Jews atone time practiced the most impious idolatry. Theyhad an image dedicated to Moloch, to which they offeredin sacrifice not only bulls, lambs, rams, etc., but eventheir own children, who were placed in the arms of theimage previously heated by a fire within, and thus werequickly destroyed. On this account the place subse-quently came to be regarded with such abhorrence, thatit was made the common receptacle of all the filth andrubbish of the city. The dead bodies of animals aswell as of the most notorious criminals, were therethrown into one common heap. And a fire was keptcontinually burning to prevent the atmosphere from be-coming pestilential

the worms, meanwhile, reveling in


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64 NEW VIEW OF HELL.a luxurious repast upon the remains of the rubbish whichthe fire failed to consume.Here we have the primary, literal signification of the

Gehenna of fire, which our translators have rendered hell-fire. It means the fire that burned in that loathsomevalley of Hinnom. And as the last punishment and dis-grace of condemned criminals was, to cast their deadbodies into that valley or that fire, the place came to beused as an appropriate symbol of the condition of thosein the other world, who had violated, and persisted inviolating, the laws of eternal love and justice revealedin the Divine Word.

But what is the precise spiritual meaning of this hell-fire, or Gehenna offire, as elicited by Swedenborg'sgrand Keythe rule

b f barrett the new view of hell philadelphia 1878

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