It is a grand mistake to suppose, that because the Bible is generally circulated, and churches and meeting-houses abound, therefore this is a Christian land. It is professedly Christian, we know, but profession, and practice are two things not always found united together. In order to be a christian, it is essential that the teachings of Christ be regarded. To disregard his teachings is a virtual denial of his name. No one has a right to it who does not believe his word, or the word of those whom he sent forth as his ambassadors. How important then to compare our faith and practice with the inspired word! "Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith." We purpose to notice a few things held in common by the sects of the day, which are subversive of the doctrines of the Bible, and therefore anti-Christian.

This may be called the cardinal doctrine of sectarianism. It is held by all parties, from the "Mother of Harlots" to the youngest of her daughters. Catholic and Protestant here meet on common ground. And more than this. Mohammedan and Pagan also admit and glory in the same doctrine, and, in this respect at least, need no "turning from darkness to light." It also bears the impress of age. Before Jesus brought "life and immortality to light by the gospel," it was taught by heathen philosophers in the schools of Greece. And, at the present day, it is pretended to be proved to a demonstration by a new order of fanatics known by the cognomen of spiritual-rappers.

But does this universal adherence to the doctrine prove the point in question? Not at all. Christianity is not built on Pagan philosophy, nor dependent on demonology for proof of the correctness of its doctrines. The Bible is the text book of Christians. "To the law and the testimony" alone they appeal for the truth of their articles of faith and practice.

The immortality of the soul forms no part of Christ’s teaching, nor is it found in the Bible at all. He taught that those who received and practised his word should not perish by death, but be raised from the dead at the last day, and that they should never die any more, but be like unto the angels of God—Luke 20: 35-36. The immortality he taught is not inherent in man, but dependent on character, is and to be manifested only in an incorruptible body, by a resurrection from the dead. It is those who are "worthy"—those "who by a patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory, honour, and immortality"—those who hear the voice of Jesus, and follow him, that shall have eternal life. See Romans 2: 6-7; John 10: 27-28; James 1: 12. The immortality taught in the Scriptures cannot be enjoyed without a resurrection of the body. This is plainly and forcibly taught by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15. He says that if the dead rise not, "then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." Now this is not true if the popular doctrine be correct. That which is immortal cannot perish or die. But God has said, "The soul that sinneth it shall die"—and "The wages of sin is death." The language of sectarianism is the language of the serpent, "Ye shall not surely die"—and therefore anti-Christian, because opposed to the teachings of Christ.

This doctrine has arisen out of the former, and became absolutely necessary, in order to make the thing consistent. If the soul is immortal, then it will live after the body dies, and must exist somewhere. If righteous, it will be borne aloft on angels’ wings to a paradise above the skies, of which the poet sings:

"There I shall bathe my weary soul

In seas of heavenly rest;

And not a wave of trouble roll

Across my peaceful breast."

But if unrighteous, then the immortal spirit

"Ascends to God, not there to dwell,

But hears its doom and sink to hell."

Such is the teaching of a majority of the sects. And yet this doctrine of an intermediate state has its difficulties. Hence there is a division in the camp on the subject: the majority or orthodox believing that the empire of death over the body is to exist only until the judgment, when the immortal spirits will be called back to their prison bodies, in order to receive judgment; while the minority reject the resurrection of the body as of no use, and look upon the spirit world as the final state. And certainly the last idea is the most reasonable, if we admit the soul to be immortal. But this is all foolishness—has no foundation in the Word of Wisdom. One error begets another. The Scriptures do not recognise any intermediate state of consciousness between death and the resurrection of the body. On the contrary, they teach that the "dead know not any thing;" that when man dieth, "in that very day his thoughts perish;" and that "the dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence." The word sleep, and consequently the idea it represents, is frequently made use of by the sacred writers to set forth the state of the dead. "Them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him," &c. So also Job says, "Man lieth down and riseth not; till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep"—Job 14: 12.

And what! is this teaching wrong too? Most assuredly. Compare the teaching of sectarian preachers on these topics with the revealments of the Bible, and you will certainly perceive a vast difference. The Bible says nothing about heaven and hell being located in the "spirit-world," or of their being the abode of "spirits blessed," of "spirits damned." True, the Bible speaks of heaven, where God dwells, in "the light which no man can approach unto," but that abode is not promised unto the sons of men. Of this heaven Jesus said, "No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven"—John 3: 13. To this glorious abode Jesus ascended, and is now there as the High Priest of his people in the Holy of Holies. None but the High Priest was permitted to enter the inner sanctuary, where the cherubim overshadowed the mercy-seat and the ark of the covenant. He entered that Holy Place for the people. Even Jesus will not abide in heaven, but will come to our planet again, and take up his abode in it for ever. Peter, speaking of the resurrection and ascension of Christ, says, "David is not ascended into the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool"—Acts 2: 34-35. Now if David is not in heaven—if no man hath ascended to heaven but Jesus, and he only for a limited time, as the representative of his people—what becomes of all the assertions of those who teach that the abode of the Eternal God is the dwelling-place of those who die in Jesus? And if Jesus did not enter in until he was clothed with an incorruptible and immortal body by a resurrection from the dead, how say some they can enter that glorious abode as naked spirits? The doctrine is full of absurdity, and shrinks into thin air when touched with the sublime doctrine of a future state as made known in the Bible.

"The earth hath Jehovah given to the sons of men." Paradise was first located here. And when the earth is redeemed from the curse resting upon it, then Paradise will be restored. All things will be created new, or renovated. "There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away"—Revelation 21: 4. Is there not something worthy of God in this? A renovated earth peopled with immortal beings? There is nothing fabulous or mythological about this heaven, but all is real and substantial. It belongs to those things of which it is said, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him"—1 Corinthians 2: 9.

And what shall we say about the hell of the sects? It is described as a place of inconceivable and unending torture, where the immortal spirit will be eternally conscious of a separation from God and happiness. What an idea! Suppose this world of sinners had been abandoned of God from the time our first parents sinned to the present, what now would have been the state of the race? Probably exterminated—or, if not exterminated, so far debased as to be little better than the brute creation. Such is the tendency of sin, unrestrained. And yet the popular doctrine teaches that man, if found worthy of death at the close of this probationary state, will not die, but be kept alive for ever and ever, in a sinful condition, in order to be tormented. What a libel is this upon the character of God! It converts a just, holy, and merciful Being into a revengeful, cruel, and malicious tyrant. The Scriptures declare—"If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die"—"He who sows to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption," or death—"Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death;" and who can gainsay his authority, or reverse his righteous decrees? Sin is an abomination in his sight. His holiness cannot approve those who practise it. Therefore it is said, "they which commit such things are worthy of death;" that "evil-doers shall be cut off;" that "the transgressors shall be destroyed together;" that "the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away,"—Psalm 37: 20; that "the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither ROOT nor BRANCH,"—Malachi 4: 1; that "He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire;" that "these (the wicked) shall go away into everlasting punishment,"—Matthew 25: 46; "whose end is destruction,"—Philippians 3: 19; "who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power,"—2 Thessalonians 1: 9; and that "the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death"—Revelation 21: 8.

From these references it will be seen that death, not life, is the result of sin; destruction, not endless torture, the punishment of the wicked. Sin has marred the perfect work of God, and renders the individual who loves it unfit and unable to fulfil the end of his creation; therefore He has wisely and mercifully proposed to destroy those whom he cannot save by his love, as made known by his Son Jesus Christ. The hell of the sects is not of God. The doctrine is heathenish and devilish. God is not implacable; when he punishes the transgressor with death, he does it because "one sinner destroyeth much good," and

"One sickly sheep infects the flock,

And poisons all the rest;"

Therefore, "the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it"—Proverbs 2: 22. Then "the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it."

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