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Gehenna, as used here, Mr. Cox tells us, signifies a place "in which, after brief torment, both soul and body might be destroyed" (86). That by destroyed" here Mr. Cox means annihilated, is plain to our judgment, from what he says in the context. "In what sense," he asks, at p. 85,"would the disciples understand it? (ie., Gehenna) ? What thoughts and associations would it quicken in their minds? They had been trained to believe that at death the souls of the unrighteous would descend into a frightful region, in much resembling the polluted and abhorred valley outside the walls of Jerusalem; that they would suffer dreadful torments in it for a brief space of time; and that then their very souls would be burned up and scattered, like dust by a wind, under the feet of the just." This is, in substance, our theory of annihilation That Mr. Cox also holds that it is, we see from his own words at page 75. He is there describing our theory of destruction, or annihilation, as one of the opinions held among the Jews. Others," he tells us, "he'd that it would issue in their destruction, the very souls of sinners being burned up and scattered by the wind." Judging from those passages connected together, we see that Mr. Cox describes Gehenna as a place of utter destruction, or annihilation; and says that our Lord puts it before us in this light in His teaching, as recorded in Matt. x. 28.

Now it appears to us that Mr. Cox here concedes to us our whole argument. We know that in other parts of his book he rejects it, but here, it appears to us, that he grants it. Gehenna is here,

with him, a place where God is able to destroy body and soul, and where body and soul might be destroyed. For destruction, as here spoken of by Christ, he does not give us the miserable Angustinian subterfuge, and tell us that it means moral disorder and misery. He allows that destruction here means annihilation. Now it is thus that we describe Gehenna. Mr. Cox's sense is the sense which we, too, put upon Matt. x. 28.

And has Mr. Cox any escape from this conclusion? We fear he has, though a sadly insufficient one. Others have used this mode of escape, and we are afraid Mr. Cox will avail himself of it. The very attempt only convinces us the more of the correctness of our view; for we venture to assert that, except under pressure of the most dire necessity, no man of ordinary sense would dream for a moment of availing himself of it.

The mode of escape is this: Our readers will remark that our Lord, in Matthew's text, says that "God is able to destroy both body and soul in hell." They will also remark Mr. Cox's expression in a passage we have quoted from p. 86, that in Gehenna, he says, "Soul and body might be destroyed" We suppose that here is indicated the mode of escape from our conclusion. It may be said-"God is able to destroy both body and soul in Gehenna, but He will not do it; soul and body might be destroyed in Gehenna, but no such fute will happen to them." We will say a few words on this. We do not think it unfair to suppose that Mr. Cox avails himself of it, for we cannot really see any other possible escape for him. If we judge him wrongly we will feel obliged by his telling us so.

Now, we say, without the smallest hesitation, that the conduct

which Mr. Cox attributes to Christ in this matter, cannot be maintained for a moment. He supposes our Lord to hold out a threat which He not only does not mean to execute, but which He and all the inspired writers of Scripture declared over and over again, would not, and could not, be executed in any one imaginable case. It is always the mark of weakness on the part of a ruler to hold out a threat which he never means to put in force. But to hold out a threat in one place, which in other places he has said could not be put in force, is a sign of the most utter silliness. Yet this is what Mr. Cox seems to attribute to Christ. He makes Him, in Matt. x. 28, utter a threat of destruction to the ungodly, which, in other places, according to Mr. Cox, He has assured us will not be put in force upon a single offender. This view of Mr. Cox is so extraordinary that we hesitate to attribute it to him. And yet we know not what else to do. At page 86 he tells us that Christ holds out the awful warning of destruction to the wicked, using this word destruction, as we use it, to signify their annihilation; while, throughout the whole argument of his book, he tells us that not one single soul shall be destroyed, because it is the plain, explicit teaching of God's Word, both in Old and New Testament, that it is the "Divine purpose that every human being, from the first age of the world to the last, shall be brought, sooner or later, to eternal life." We cannot, then, escape from the conclusion that he makes our Lord utter the threat of a penalty which he elsewhere declared would be utterly incompatible with God's character and God's expressed will to execute. Mr. Cox, however, is

not the only theologian who has thus treated the text of Matt. x. 28. It is a sad obstacle in the way, both of the school of Origen and Augustine, and many men who have been, and are, esteemed "pillars' of truth have attributed to our Lord the very conduct which Mr. Cox appears to us to do.

Conduct such as this we could not attribute for one moment to any earthly ruler above the mental condition of an idiot. Suppose a ruler to say to his subjects-"If you commit murder, the gaol is there, the gibbet and the rope, and all the preparations are there that are able to take away your life, but-they will certainly not be used for this purpose!" What would be our idea of such a ruler and such a mode of legal procedure? The whole thing would be regarded as a silly farce. Law and lawgiver would be overwhelmed under the breath of a universal ridicule. And yet this is the conduct which every one attrioutes to Christ, who supposes that in Matt. x. 28 He holds out a solemn threat which He, and His prophets and apostles, have over and over again pronounced impossible of execution upon all moral grounds.

But of what use is it to attempt to argue from Matt. x. 28, that because we are there only told that God is "able" to destroy body and soul in Gehenna, therefore, it is quite possible that He will not, when we have passages by the score which tell us that He certainly will do what He is here said to be able to do? Suppose that this text were, from its form, of a doubtful sense, there are hundreds which are not doubtful. There is no doubt in the teaching of St. Paul, in Philippians, where, speaking of professing Christians acting unworthy of their profession, he tells us that their "end is destruction." Nor is there any doubt in his teaching when he assures the persecuted Thessalonian Christians

that they who persecuted them should be "punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord." Texts of this positive kind abound in Scripture (Phil. iii. 19; 2 Thess. i. 2; Psalm xxviii. 5; lii. 5; cxlv. 20; 2 Thess. ii. 18; Prov. xiii. 13; Matt. vii. 13; 1 Thess. v. 3; 2 Pet. ii. 1). We take, then. the warning of our Lord in Matt. x. 28, as a solemn warning of what will take place in Gehenna; and, in agreement with Mr. Cox's own admission as to the meaning of the penalty spoken of there, conclude that Christ has there plainly and unequivocally taught that destruction, ie., annihilation, is the doom of the ungodly. As Ge-Hinnom had its real purpose, and that a good one, viz., to remove by consuming the refuse of Jerusalem, so Gehenna, derived in name and purpose from the valley of Hinnom, has its end and purpose, viz., to remove the ungodly from that world of God which they pollute by sin. Such is, apparently, the sense in which Gehenna, when spoken of by Christ in Matt. x. 28, was, according to Mr. Cox himself, understood by those who heard Him speak. We gather this from his own words, “In the one or two cases." he says, "in which it (ie., Gehenna) veils a reference to the punishments of the world to come, it would be understood by those who heard it as denoting that brief agony which, as they thought, would precede the entire destruction of the wicked" (88). Here, Mr. Cox seems to admit that the hearers of our Lord understood His words in Matt. x. 28 exactly as we do. We take his admission here, though we do not see its agreement with what he has said elsewhere.

There are two other passages in the New Testament where Gehenna is spoken of, but they do not appear to throw any additional light upon the subject (Mat. xxiii. 15; James iii. 6).

We think, then, that from our careful examination of the various passages in which Gehenna is used in the Gospel, and from all rational deduction, we may arrive at the following conclusions. In the first place, then, we gather that Christ used this word as His people used it, viz., as significant of the place of doom. We do not suppose Him to use it thus in exceptional cases, but always, unless overpowering evidence forces us to put on the word a different meaning. In the next place, we gather that the idea of the nature of the punishment of Gehenna varied so much among the Jews that we cannot take their opinion on this point as any guide to the sense in which Christ used it; while, at the same time, the usage of the Jews, before and at the time of Christ, seems to have been always opposed to that which Mr. Cox would adopt. And in the third place, we gather that our only true and trustworthy guide to the sense in which Christ used Gehenna are His own words about it. This sense we shall expect to see corroborated in the sayings of other inspired men among prophets and apostles.

From our Lord's own words, then, we gather that He taught our view as opposed to that both of Origen and Augustine. In Matt. v. 22, He represents Gehenna as the extreme punishment for murder. In Matt. v. 29. He represents it as the place where the whole body perishes as a member of the body, when cut off and cast away, perishes. In Matt. x. 28, He speaks of it as the place where the body and soul may be destroyed, using "destroy" as, at least. equivalent to "kill." In Mark ix. 43-48, He speaks of it as a place of unquenchable fire, and we need only turn to any dictionary in any language to know that the awful sense of

an unquenchable fire is a fire which cannot be extinguished until it has thoroughly consumed all on which it preys. Such is the teaching of Christ relative to Gehenna. There is not a cheerful, hopeful word about it in all He says. And we are, therefore, not only warranted, but compelled, by His language, to conclude that our Lord's idea of it was that of a place and a state of utter and hopeless destruction. The theories alike of Augustine and Origen are condemned by the words of Christ. HENRY CONSTABLE.

CELESTIAL SAINTS AND SAINTS TERRESTRIAL. IN studying the Holy Scriptures, and in order to a sound acquaintance with the progressive revelation contained therein, the Christian student needs continuous light from Christ and inward guidance by the Holy Spirit. It is necessary also, that he be conversant with the style and usages of biblical language, and that he should have the mental habit of distinguishing between things that differ; which habit is especially requisite in those instances in which the same term is used to designate objects which are diverse the one from the other.

For example: the term "saints" is used to designate beings of a celestial origin and sphere of occupation. It is also used to designate beings of a terrestrial origin and history; to whom, as a family or nation, a terrestrial inheritance is promised. And further, the same term is used to designate beings of a terrestrial origin and history; to whom, as the subjects of a second and supernatural genesis or birth, a celestial inheritance is assured.

The ideal meaning of the original terms which are represented by the word "saints" need not be here shown, being well known and understood. It will suffice to remark that those terms may, with equal propriety, be translated by the phrase holy ones.

In the prophetic benediction of Moses on the tribes of Israel, the movements of the LORD in power and glory on their behalf is noticed first; as it is said, "And He came with ten thousands of saints." Those attendants of the LORD were celestial saints holy angels.

In the same connexion we read thus: "Yea, He loved the people; all His saints are in thy hand: they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words." In this sentence the term "saints" relates to the nation of Israel. The sentence had a then present and representative application. It was also prophetic, and shall yet come into national and consummate application; when the LORD shall have come again in power and glory, and the nation of Israel shall know Him as their Divine Redeemer and Saviour, their King and their God.

In David's prophetic celebration of the ascension of the Lord Christ from the Mount of Olives, allusion is made to the celestial attendants who had come with the LORD into association with Mount Sinai. Thus: "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, many thousands of angels; the Lord is among them as on Sinai, in the holy place." And in this prophecy the Psalmist showed that the same celestial attendants who had come with the LORD on the behalf of the tribes of Israel should be

His attendants when-consequent on His incarnation, self-sacrifice, and resurrection-He should be "received up in glory."

In Zechariah's prophecy of the descent of the Lord Christ on the Mount of Olives; when, in power and glory, He shall come again; the prophet exclaims, saying, "And the LORD my God shall come, and all

the saints with Him.'

Moses, David, and Zechariah testified of the same celestial saintsthe same angelic holy ones; and their testimony is completed by the words of the Lord Himself, thus: "He shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him; "He cometh in the glory of His Father, with the holy angels; "When He shall come in His own glory, and

the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels."*

With a firm and reverent faith in the testimony of the Lord, and as inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul sought to comfort true believers, suffering under persecution; saying to them, "It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels."

In the Christian Scriptures, the celestial saints or holy angels are mentioned in connexion with what is taught concerning true believers. in respect to the predicted revelation of the Lord Jesus. This fact will come under present notice, if we read again the words of the apostle for comforting the faithful when under persecution. Thus: "Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, yielding retribution to them who know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with eternal destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from His glorious power, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe in that day."

In the last clause, the celestial saints, the holy angels, are particularly mentioned in distinction from, and in association with, all true believers in Christ.

"In that day," the Lord Jesus shall be glorified in His celestial saints, the holy angels, within the view of the world that had rejected Him, and had cast out His name as evil; for the world shall then witness the fulfilling of the ancient decree, which commands all the angels of God to worship the Christ. And at the same time the Lord Jesus shall be admired in all them that believe," admired by His celestial saints with adoring admiration; for in each of that saved and immortalized company, they shall behold the perfect likeness of the Son of God Himself-Himself."the Firstborn among many brethren."

In the apocalypse also, the celestial saints, the holy angels, are mentioned in the way of distinction from "the church of the firstborn;" which mention is made in the anticipative celebration of "the marriage supper of the Lamb." As it is written : "His betrothed one hath made

* In an antediluvian prediction (the prophecy of Enoch) preserved by tradition, and cited by the Apostle Jude, the ten thousands of saints" are the same angelic holy ones testified of by Moses, David, Zechariah, and the Lord Christ Himself."