In his first speech on the proposition relating to endless punishment, Mr. Jeffries boasted that he should make short work of me and of my faith. “I have,” said he, “one text to quote, and one question to ask. The text is Matthew xii. 31, 32. ‘Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.’ And this is the question: If the sin against the Holy Ghost was not to be forgiven in this world, or in the world to come, where will it be forgiven? I once had a debate with Jonathan Kidwell, and I cited this verse, and asked this question, and it brought the discussion to a close, for Mr. Kidwell could neither answer the question nor explain the passage so as to save Universalism from total destruction. The debate was to continue four days, but it lasted twenty minutes.”
I responded as follows: The gentleman pretends that he once “used up” one man by one question, and one text, and he expects to demolish me in the same easy and summary manner; but the sequel may show that he is over sanguine. I will show that the passage on which he so confidently relies to sustain his monstrous proposition, affords it no aid whatever.
1. If the words, “this world and the world to come,” mean this life and the life to come, as my friend supposes, then all sin, save the one sin against the Holy Ghost, may be forgiven in the future state. The passage reads, “All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men.” The parallel passage (Mark iii. 28) reads thus: “All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and [all] blasphemies wherewithsoever they shall blaspheme.” It is as clear as daylight, from these passages, that all sins, except the one specified, can be forgiven “in this world or the world to come.” If the gentleman is right in his application of the passage, all sins but one, may be forgiven in the future state of being, and his creed is consequently false, for it asserts that God will not permit a sin to be forgiven on the other side of the river, but every sin the soul harbors when it shuffles off its mortal coil, becomes fossilized, immortal as God himself. He must either abandon his text or his unforgiving creed.
2. The gentleman relies on the word, shall—the sin against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven. That word occurs twice in the passage, and I wish to call his special attention to where it occurs the second time. All sins shall be forgiven. If shall is to be understood in the absolute sense in one place, it must in the other, and then the passage means, that all sin, except that one against the Holy Ghost, SHALL be forgiven somewhere, either in this world or the world to come. The passage, then, instead of blasting our blissful hope and cherished faith, that all sin and wrong will ultimately end, strikes a death-blow at the gentleman’s creed concerning the immortality of wickedness of every name and grade.
3. It is by no means certain, that “this world and world to come,” means this life and life to come. The most learned men of all schools tell us, that the passage should be translated, this age and age to come, meaning the Jewish age or dispensation, and Christian age or dispensation. Dr. Adam Clarke takes this view of the words: “Though I follow the common translation, yet I am FULLY SATISFIED the meaning of the words is, neither in this dispensation, viz., the Jewish, nor in that which is to come, viz., the Christian. Olam ha-bo, the world to come, is a constant phrase for the times of the Messiah, in the Jewish writings.” Bishop Pearce says, “Rather, neither in this age, nor in the age to come;” meaning the Jewish and Christian dispensations.
“Ah!” said he, in his next speech, “if the sin against the Holy Ghost was not to be forgiven in the Jewish age or Christian age, when was it to be forgiven? The Jewish age commenced in the days of Moses and ended when Christ was crucified; the Christian age commenced then, and will not end till death shall be swallowed up in victory. When and where can that sin be forgiven? Will Mr. Manford answer that question?”
Reply. The Jewish and Christian ages belong to this stage of existence, and when the Jordan of death shall be passed, we shall not be living in the Jewish age or Christian age, but in the spirit age, spirit world, and the passage does not intimate that sin or any other sin cannot be forgiven there. The truth is, that the wisdom, the light, the glory of the spirit world will soon transform every soul into its image. When the sun crosses the equator, on the twentieth of March, how dead the vegetable kingdom lies, horror wide extends his desolate domain. But the sun soon begins to impart his renovating grace to root and seed, and the result is, a general resurrection on hill, dale and plain. Nothing can resist his influence; all vegetation comes forth to newness of life. So the wisdom and love of heaven, corresponding to the light and heat of the sun of this world, illuminates and warms every soul, and quickens each and all into newness of life. Say not, then, that sin cannot be put away from the soul on the other side of the river. We should not cheat ourselves by delaying to live a Christian life till middle age, or till we enter the spirit land, but in the words of Dr. Watts,
“While the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return.”
The lamp of life will burn forever, and the time or place will never be known, where and when, the sinner cannot return to truth, to virtue—to God. Every tree and shrub is invigorated and developed by the sun’s life-giving beams, so the great spiritual Sun does not shine in vain; every soul will be blessed by his divine emanations. In the language of the Bible, “All nations whom thou hast made shall go and worship before thee O Lord, and glorify thy name.”