earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains." Here fire is evidently used as a figure of punishment. The nature of this punishment may be learned from verso twenty-four. "They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with poison of serpents of the dust.” All this was of course to take place here on the earth. The next time it is rendered hell is in 2 Sam. 22: 6, where David says, "The sorrows of hell compassed me about," &c. The nature of this hell may be learned from verse seven. “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God." Again, in Ps. 18: 5, David says, "The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me." Verse 6, "In my distress I called upon the Lord," &c. In Ezek. 32: 27, hell plainly signifies the literal grave. "And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war; and they have laid their swords under their heads." If the reader will examine every passage where the word sheol occurs, and is rendered hell, with the connection in which they are found, he will see no reason for supposing this hell to be in another world.

2. Both David and Jonah are represented as being in hell, and David is not only represented as being in hell, but as being in the lowest hell; and yet both of these individuals were alive, and on the earth. Jonah 2: 2, "Out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice." Certainly, Jonah could not cry out of the belly of hell unless he was in hell. By consulting verse one,

it will be seen that this hell was the fish's belly. Ps. 116: 3, "The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me." To learn the nature of this hell, see the next words. "I found trouble and sorrow." Ps. 86: 12, 13, "I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart; and I will glorify thy name forevermore. For great is thy mercy towards me; and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell." We learn from this that it is not necessary to go into another world to find the lowest hell. Unless it can be shown that there is a hell lower than the lowest, it is in vain to talk about any other hell than that which exists in this world. It is sometimes said that "from hell there is

Verse 33. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers! how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

Mark 9: 43. And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.

Verse 45. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.

Verse 47. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell-fire.

Luke 12: 5. But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear: Fear him which, after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, fear him.

James 3: 6. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

SECTION VI.

The only passage in the BIBLE wherein allusion is made to TARTAROS, -rendered HELL in the common English Version.

2 Peter 2: 4. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.

SECTION VII.

Statement of facts, showing that the sacred writers did not use the words SHEOL, HADES, TARTAROS, and GEHENNA, to signify a place of ENDLESS MISERY.

SHEOL. -This word occurs sixty-four times in the Bible, and is rendered thirty-two times hell, twenty-nine times grave, and three times pit. That it does not signify a place of endless misery is evident from the following facts.

1. The connection of those passages where it is rendered hell shows that no reference is had to a future state of existence. Therefore, there is no proof that this hell is in any other world than the one in which we live. The first time it is rendered hell, and of course the first time the word hell occurs in the Bible, is in Deut. 32:22. By examining the hell there spoken of, it will be seen that it was the "lowest hell," and that it was to "consume the

no redemption." But we here read of a man who was redeemed from the lowest hell.

3. God is represented as being in hell. Ps. 139: 8, "If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou (God) art there." Hell here signifies the invisible state of the dead; or perhaps the literal grave. The obvious meaning of the psalmist is, that death could not carry him beyond the reach of God's presence.

4. David and Jonah are not only represented as having been in hell and as having been delivered from it, but the soul of David is spoken of as having been delivered from hell.. Ps. 30: 3, 0 Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave" (sheol). By soul, here, David evidently means himself, his own person; and by sheol, the literal grave, or invisible state of the dead. See the next words: "Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to

the pit."

5. God is represented as bringing men up from sheol. 1 Sam. 2: 6, "He (God) bringeth down to the grave (sheol), and bringeth up." By those who believe in a place of endless misery, called hell, in a future world, it is thought that when once a person gets to hell his doom is sealed forever, and that there is no prospect of his ever coming up. But, if sheol in the text just quoted means a place of endless misery, this opinion must be given up.

6. God is not only represented as bringing men up from sheol, but the Psalmist expresses satisfaction in the prospect of the redemption of his soul from sheol. Ps. 49: 15, “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave" (sheol). Now, if the word soul here means the immortal part of man, and the word sheol a place of misery after death, then it needs no proof that the Psalmist expected that the soul would go to this hell, and afterwards be delivered from it.

7. The patriarch Jacob expressed himself as if he expected to go to sheol. See Gen. 37: 35, 42: 38, and 44: 31. But does any man believe that this good old man expected to go to a place of either limited or endless misery after death? Certainly not. But, if sheol signifies a place of misery after death, Jacob certainly expected to go there.

8. To suppose that sheol signifies a place of endless misery after death, is to suppose that David, so far from being a man “after God's own heart," was a perfect monster in cruelty. In 1 Kings

2: 6, he enjoins it upon his son Solomon not to let the "hoar head of Joab go down to the grave (sheol) in peace." In verse 9 he enjoins it upon him to “ bring down the hoar head of Shimei to the grave (sheol) with blood." And in Ps. 55: 15, he says of his enemies, "Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell" (sheol).

9. The pious and patient Job prays that he might be hid in sheol. See Job 14: 13. But, is it to be supposed that Job wished to be hid in a place of endless misery?

10. Sheol is represented as a place from the power of which it is impossible for any man, good or bad, to deliver himself. Ps. 89: 48, "What man is he that liveth and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave (sheol)?" This question is one which was designed to involve its own answer, and that answer was designed to be a negative one. Hence, if we understand the words soul and sheol here as they have been commonly understood, then the text affirms that the souls of all men will go to a place of endless misery.

11. The bones of the Jewish people are represented as being scattered at the mouth of sheol. See Ps. 141: 7. But, is it to be believed that the bones of these people were scattered at the mouth of a place of endless misery in another world?

12. Sheol is represented as a place where "there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom." See Eccl. 9: 10. But, if there is no work there, of course it cannot be a place where devils are at work tormenting men. If there is no device there, it cannot be a place where devils are contriving how they may best torment their subjects. And if there is no knowledge there, of course it cannot be a place of misery.

13. The good old king Hezekiah, during his sickness, expressed himself as if he should die, and go to sheol. See Isa. 38: 10. But no man believes that Hezekiah expected to go to a place of endless misery.

14. Korah, Dathan and Abiram, and their company, and their wives and their little ones, are represented as having gone down alive into sheol. See Num. 16: 27-33. Here we learn that it is not even necessary to die in order to go to sheol. And, as these persons went alive into sheol, that is, went into sheol while living, -hence this sheol must have been in this world.