A Few Words For Plain People.
THE doctrine of Everlasting Punishment having been much called in question, and the minds of the simple shaken and the faith of some overthrown, I have thought a warning will needed for plain people. To such I would suggest to distrust those who talk much about Greek to those who do not understand it. It is easy thus to impose on people.
It is useful to know Greek, no doubt, in studying the New Testament, because it was written in Greek; and it is perfectly fair to refer to it with those who, knowing Greek, can judge of what is said; but it is very suspicious when much quoted to those who do not: for how can they judge about it? A man tells you “Eternal” does not mean “Eternal” in Greek. That sounds very conclusive; but how can you judge whether it does or not? Now in all those who talk much about Greek to plain people I have generally found trickery, and that their Greek has not been worth much when put to the test by those who did understand it.
Without pretending to be very learned, I know Greek, and I have studied the Greek Testament, and I have not been led to place any confidence in their statements about the Greek, but the contrary. The Spirit of God will guide more surely a plain man, if he is humble, in fundamental truths, than a little Greek will those who trust in it.
Now, to a plain man, the statements of his English Bible leave not a doubt on the mind that the punishment of the wicked is eternal.
These statements, I feel assured, are substantially right. No doubt, being a human work, translations are imperfect, and the translators’ views and feelings are apt to be transfused into them. But in the main, the doctrine presented by the English Bible, and the faith produced by it in a plain believer’s mind, is sound doctrine and divinely taught faith, though it is possible some passages might be more exactly rendered, None, however, that. I am aware of, affecting this truth, are misrepresented by the translation.
It is quite evident to me, and to any plain honest man, that God meant to produce on the mind of the reader the conviction that eternal misery is the portion of the wicked, and I do not believe that He meant to produce the conviction of a lie, nor frighten them with what is not true, It is my unhesitating conviction that the attempts to undermine this doctrine of Scripture have entirely failed, and that the arguments used are either dishonest, some of them flagrantly so, or contradictory and fallacious, and that all of them subvert other fundamental truths. I declare also my conviction that a sound knowledge of Greek confirms the plain man’s Scriptural faith. If God had meant to convey the’ idea of eternal punishment, He would not have used expressions stronger than He has used; nor dc any exist.
J. N. D.