History of the Second Advent message and mission, doctrine and people / by Isaac C. Wellcome.

  • Wellcome, I. C. (Isaac Cummings), 1818-1895
Date:
1874
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: History of the Second Advent message and mission, doctrine and people / by Isaac C. Wellcome. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    for the interposition of what are called “ theological definitions.” There is no difference of oi)inion among men anywhere concerning the literal meanin2; of the words life and death. Without attempting a scientific definition of these terms, it will suffice for the present to say that life means vital existence^ and that its opi)osite death means the extinction of life or the cessation of vi- tal existence} These definitions will be generally accej)ted as the true meaning of the words life and death when applied to the lower animals, although they are not commonly allowed when spoken of man. But in popular theology man is regarded as an immortal be- ing, and the terms life and death, when applied to him in a future state, are necessarily understood in a figurative sense. Says a dis- tinguished English writer : “A being who believes he has life already by original creation, in the sense of an unending or immortal existence, is necessiated to un- derstand the promise of life as synonymous with the promise of hap- piness, and when death is predicated of such a being, it also must be understood in the metaphorical sense of misery, since it is presumed that this native immortality will never be alienated. “Does not this conversion of the most commonplace terms from their fimiliar and natural use to a use both unfamiliar and unnatural appear, to say the least, a very singular circumstance ? If the lan- 1 The words life and death, with their derivatives, appear to be employed in Scripture to denote the following ideas : Life stands for the idea of— 1. existence, as distinct from the death or dissolution of vegetable or animal struct- ures; and as opposed to the insensibility of material things. Also, it signifies eternal life. 2. Activitu of movement or agency ; as “ living waters; ” “ the word of God is quick [living] and powerful; ” “ quicken thou me in thy way.” 3. Happy existence; not happiness alone, but happy life. “In thy favor is life;” “wis- dom is a tree of life; ” “ now 1 live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.” 4. “ To he alive in the Spirit ” is to be living a spiritual life, in opposition to tliat carnal one of which Faul says, “If ye after the flesh, ye shall die” (Rom. vi. 11), and the “life of God,” or godly life.(Eph. iv. 18.) But LIFE never seems to stand for holiness alone, or a state of union with God, as is com- monly supposed. This appears to be a purely gratuitous assertion; on which rests the whole fabric of the opinions whicli we are venturing to reject. At the same time, it is readily granted that the term life is properly associated in the case of the righteous with the idea of holiness, as it is also with the idea of happiness: hut that it ever loses its j^foper radical meaning of existence has yet to be proved, and of course the burden of proof lies with the opposite party. Death, on the other hand, stands for— 1. The loss or destruction of vegetable or animal life. “A dead tree;” “a dead lion;” “ a dead body.” 2. The state of condemnation to such literal death. “Thou art but a dead man.” (Gen. XX. 7.) 3. Danger of death. “ Thanks be to God who hath delivered us from so great death.” So also “de.struction of the flesh,” in 1 Cor. v. 5, is used for a mortal disease. _ . 4. To be “ dead to” anything, signifies to cease to be or to live in certain relationships to if. “ Dead to the world ”—“ to sin ”—“ to the law.” But the phrase “ dead to God” never occurs. 5. To mortify, or put to death, signifies to destroy the life of anything, eitlier literally, or in the sense of its activity and power; as when it is said “ NabaTs heart became dead within him.” G. It has never been sliown that death stands for a state of misery, or of sinfulness, apart . from the idea of that literal destruction, or death, which is the wages of sin. 7. Tlie expression, sphritual death, and the distinction between temporal and eternal death, are alike unknown to the Holy Scriptures. They are, we venture to tliink, the necessary crea- tions of an erroneous theory.—Life in Christ, by the Rev. Edward White.
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