• Table of Contents
• Preface To The Third Edition
• Preface To The First Edition
• Chapter 6 - The Orthodox Doctrine On The Nature And Destiny Of Mankind
• Chapter 7 - On The Possibility That Christendom Has Erred On The Doctrine Of Human Destiny
• Chapter 8 - On the Immortality of the Soul
• Chapter 9 - On The Account Given In Scripture Of The Original Constitution Of Man
• Chapter 10 - On The Nature Of The Death Threatened To The Ancestors Of Mankind In Paradise As The Penalty Of Sin.
• Chapter 15 - The Doctrine Of Future Rewards and Punishments in the Old Testament
• Chapter 25 - Examination Of The Principal Scripture Texts Supposed To Teach The Everlasting Duration Of Sin And Misery

Life In Christ

Grk/Heb Fonts

Over 75 Free Online Bible Commentaries

by Edward White

Elliot Stock, 62 Paternoster Row, London 1875

Preface To The First Edition

THIRTY years ago, in 1846, I ventured to publish a volume setting forth the doctrine of Immortality through the Incarnation, which at that time had few other public advocates in this country. If the idea had been original it would have been self-condemned. It was but a revival of the oft-repeated and unsuccessful protest of better men. For example, Dr. Isaac Watts himself, the flower of Nonconformist orthodoxy, had maintained, one hundred and fifty years before, all the essential principles of that work in his book on The Ruin and Recovery of Mankind. Speaking of the sentence of Death passed upon Adam he says (Question xi.),

'Who can say whether the word death might not be fairly construed to extend to the utter destruction of the life of the soul as well as of the body? For man by sin had forfeited all that God had given him, that is the life and existence of his soul as well as of his body; and why might not the threatening declare the right that even a God of goodness had to resume all back again, and utterly destroy and annihilate His creatures for ever? There is not one place of Scripture that occurs to me, where the word death, as it was first threatened in the law of innocency, necessarily signifies a certain miserable immortality of the soul, either to Adam, the actual sinner, or to his posterity.' And again, building on that foundation, he maintains the total destruction of their spirits, in the death of the children of wicked men, all over the world (a detail in which I do not agree with Dr. Watts); denying the natural immortality of their souls. 'It does not follow that the Great God will punish the mere imputed guilt of Adam's infant posterity in so severe a manner [as to consign them to eternal misery], or that He will continue their souls in being, whose whole life and being is forfeited by Adam's sin.' (Question xvi.)

These premisses carry with them logically all the critical and theological conclusions which have been deduced from them by us, in relation to the Christian economy; yet the whole church of Christ has continued to honour Dr. Watts as oneof the chief singers of the orthodox faith. The modem reproduction of the same ideas was nevertheless assailed on all sides as heresy, and the inevitable penalty for that offence in England has ensued in ecclesiastical experiences nonetheless painful because cheerfully endured in humble trust of the Highest Approval.

The volume with which, after so many years of additional thought and experience, I now appear before the public, excepting a few pages revised from its earlier predecessor and later pamphlets, is entirely new; though for convenience in future reference bearing the old title. After the labours of so many learned writers the question may fairly be asked whether there was room for another discussion; above all, whether there was room for so large a volume treating on a wide range of topics in which, partly through want of space, and partly through lack of ability, few of the subjects could be exhaustively handled. The defence is simple, and I hope sufficient; firstly, that my early ideas have somewhat cleared up in certain directions in the course of subsequent reflection; and next, that the object of this book is to exhibit the bearings of the central doctrine of Immortality on the present state of Anthropology, and on the acknowledged truths of Revelation, rather than to elaborate any one branch of the argument. No one hitherto has treated the question precisely in this coherent method: and yet conviction often comes when men can be persuaded to look round a large circle of ideas, while doubt remains so long as they consider only a few of its degrees. The reader, therefore, will not anticipate a treatise exclusively or chiefly on Future Punishment, but rather a discussion of the Source and Conditions of human Immortality; and no one will even comprehend the scope of this book who regards it merely as an argument for 'Annihilation.'

In contemplating the reception which may be given to my labour, I know that no one who questions an ancient and established belief, supported by a large majority of learned Christians, has. either right or reason to expect contemporary praise. For his mistakes he does not deserve it, and his demerits therein will be plentifully rewarded. For the truth which perchance he may also maintain society is scarcely prepared. Such an enterprise, therefore, should be taken in hand by those alone who, feeling what Roger Williams called 'the rocky strength of their grounds,' are satisfied, for the present, with an appeal to the Master of Truth in Heaven, to the judgment of some few careful and thorough readers on earth, and to the better opinion of posterity. This is indeed an appeal which is made by every futile dreamer, but it has been also made by all who have laboured and suffered effectually for forgotten truths in times gone by. The system of ideas here presented has yet scarcely passed through the stage of obstinate British misrepresentation. When our notice-writers and preachers have ended their declamations against the' miserable doctrine of Annihilation,' the public will begin to see that 'the more part' have mistaken the general question altogether ;—and then religious students will probably gather courage to proclaim—what must first be held somewhat in reserve. Perhaps all lasting and beneficial changes of belief are brought about with less danger to the fabric of faith when thus allowed slowly to percolate through society, rather than when forced indiscriminately or before their time on the attention of the multitude. It is inevitable, then, I regret to acknowledge, that even in a tolerant age, this work, if regarded at all, should incur at present in many quarters severe reprehension. Its basis, a thorough belief in the Divine Authority of Christ and His Apostles, in-cluding faith in their Doctrine of Evil Spirits, as an essential part of Christianity, will deeply displease some, as old-fashioned and uncritical. It will also incur the reproof of the easy-going thinkers in all churches, by whom definite persuasion, founded on painstaking interpretation of Scripture, is declared to be the certain mark of a narrow and shallow capacity: as though it were quite certain that the subject which is most obscure and beyond our reach, in a Divine Revelation, would be the very scope of Redemption; or, if not obscure, then unimportant; as though anything whatever is important, if not to know the revealed character of God, the true end of the Incarnation, and the real nature and destiny of Man. The issue of this argument, the supposed establishment of the Evangelical Theology on a firmer foundation, will displease perhaps still more, since this form of faith is just now much out of fashion. The organs of opinion appointed to defend systems of belief already established, rather than to inquire into their truth, cannot be expected, however generous the spirit of their writers, to regard favourably a book which combines ideas gathered from so many schools and churches. Its abandonment of the doctrine of endless misery will be denounced as dangerous by men whose disapproval cannot but occasion regret; while its earnest inculcation of a 'wrath to come,' ofthe nature of positive and even physical infliction from the hand of Heaven, will be regarded as intolerable by nearly all parties alike. A long experience has made known the price which must be paid for so much individuality of faith, and so much freedom of confession.

Nevertheless, although this book, having so hard and unequal a battle to fight, may be found too sceptical by the orthodox, and by far too orthodox for the sceptical, I believe that its main argument (to be carefully distinguished from those secondary opinions which accompany it) will gradually win the adhesion of a large and growing class, who, knowing the outlines of present scientific doctrine, and likewise the history of theology, have found the truth to lie partly in what is termed scepticism, and partly in the ancient creeds of Christendom. My chief desire is that these pages may assist the Christian belief of some whose faith is a half doubt, and also of some whose doubts have expelled faith altogether. For there are many scientific men who have concluded too hastily, that because biology reveals no future state, there is therefore neither' Judgment to come' nor 'Life everlasting.' I meet such reasoners here, on their own ground, with 'glad tidings,' and proclaim to them'JESUS AND THE RESURRECTION.' Unless there were a loftier object in view than a negative reform of the doctrine of retribution, my life should not have been devoted to the promulgation of these principles. It is the positive truth on Christ's Salvation, now more than ever endangered in Europe, which has been throughout the main concern; and it is with such aims that I now respectfully submit these endeavours to the judgment, not however exclusively, of the theological public.

E. W.

BRATHAY HOUSE, TUFNELL PARK, LONDON,

September, 1875.