Page:The Annihilation Theory Compared with Holy Scripture.pdf/7

Rh an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: if so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.”

(f) Just one other passage on this head, John xi. 26, “Whosoever liveth and believeth in Me, shall never die.” The proof is here complete that there is no such thing as an interval between death and the resurrection.

So far we have only adduced what we may call the affirmative evidence in favour of immortality. We are aware, however, that there is a good deal to be said on the other side, and we will endeavour in fairness to meet the most salient points relied on in favour of the theory of the annihilation of the wicked.

Objection I. That “Hades,” often translated “hell,” simply means the grave. We may, in passing, recall to the reader’s mind that we have not based our arguments upon words merely, but upon the broad ideas involved in the passages we have quoted. But apart from this consideration, the objection is not a true one. Hades is sometimes translated hell, and sometimes the grave, but really it does not mean either exactly. It means the first home of the dead. Hence Josephus, in his discourse concerning Hades, says, “Now as to Hades, wherein the souls of the righteous and the unrighteous are detained, it is necessary to