e for meditation. People usually reject all
thoughts of eternal unhappiness. Because of its unpleasantness many have
sought to explain the doctrine away. However it is as positively declared
in the sacred volume as the doctrine of eternal happiness. "And these
shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life
eternal." Mat. 25:46. The punishment of the wicked in duration is equal
with the life of the righteous, but some, who no doubt have not been
rescued from the fears of hell, have endeavored to make the words
everlasting and eternal as used in the above texts differ in meaning with
respect to time.

Upon this subject we will quote from the treatise entitled, "What Is the
Soul?" by D. S. Warner: "The words 'eternal life,' as the great gift of
God to men, occur in the New Testament just twenty-nine times, and in
every instance the word eternal is derived from the Greek word _aionios_;
the same word which tells how long the punishment of the wicked shall last
in Mat. 25:46, and elsewhere. The words 'everlasting life' and 'life
everlasting' occur in the New Testament fourteen times, and by reference
to the Greek Testament you will find the word everlasting is, without a
single exception, translated from the same Greek word--_aionios_. Here then
we learn the wisdom of Heaven finds and uses no stronger term in all the
forty-three promises and statements of eternal and everlasting life to the
righteous in the New Testament than the word _aionion_, the very same word
which he uses to declare the eternal and everlasting punishment of the
wicked.... The Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit have described the
duration of their own existence, attributes and glory by the use of the
same word which we have seen fixes the eternal punishment of the wicked.

"In Heb. 5:9 we read that Christ became the author of 'eternal [_aionion_]
salvation unto all them that obey him.' If therefore this word does not
mean eternal, our salvation will finally fail and drop us back into the
hands of the devil. In Heb. 9:12 we read that Christ has obtained eternal
(_aionion_) redemption. If then the word only means a long period of time
our eternal redemption is not yet secured. In Heb. 9:15 we are told that
by means of Christ's death for our redemption, we have 'received the
promise of eternal [_aionion_] inheritance.' Will the inheritance that
Christ has purchased by his death come to an end?"

In speaking of hell-fire in the n