The question of ages; or, Outlines of testimony in relation to life, death, and immortality

Morris William M.D

Sujets

• Immortality
• Christian anthropology

Informations

• Publié par: les_archives_du_savoir
• Nombre de lectures: 8
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 10 Mo

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TheNewHiNfcTHE QUESTION OF AGES;
OB,
OUTLINES OF TESTIMONY
IN RELATION TO
LIFE, DEATH, AKD IMMORTALITY.
BY
WILLIAM MOERIS, M. D.
" These (the Bereans) were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received
the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things
were so."—Acts xvii. 11.
PHILADELPHIA:
PUBLISHED BY THE SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDQE SOCIETY.
1862,Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1862, hy
WILLIAM MORRIS.
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court, for the Eastern District of
Pennsylvania.
Peiitted bt King & Baird, Sansom Street, Phiiada.— a
WHAT IS MAN
The "eighth Psalm is aprophecy concerning The Christ."
In it, David personates the Lord Jesus who is, therein,
;
—shown to stand as man " the second man"—at the head of
all terrestrial things. As standing on the earth, and address-
ing Jehovah, the Father, he expresses the sentiments of
perfect humility and adoring praise—a devout admiration of
the infinite "greatness, and the condescension of : WhenGod
I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and
the stars which thou hast ordained What is that thouman,
;
art mindful of him? and the son man, that thou visitestof
him ?" Ps. 8 : B, 4.
The question. What is man ?—as found in the psalm, is
intended to denote the humility and admiration now described
;
but the form of words used will serve to denote a question of
ages, among the speculative classes of mankind. Our present
purpose is to show, that to this question, men have offered a
reply, in the way of ecclesiastical teaching; and God has
supplied an answer, in the Scriptures of truth. Ourimmediate
concern is with the reply of wise and prudent men.
Prom the various schools of ecclesiastical tuition, a reply has
come forth, the substance of which may be :thus condensed
" Man is an immortal being—mortal, as to his body, but
immortal in his soul. The soul of man is allied angels—to
is allied to God. The soul of man is an immortal principle
to which consciousness always attaches. The soul man isof
an indestructible essence—an emanation from the Deity—;
WHAT IS MAX ?4
of the life of theof the Divinity. Man is a partakerspark
in the immortality of God."Lord God—a participant
*' of fire,The sun is but a spark
meteor in the skyA transient
soul, immortal as its Sire,The
!"Can never die
" magnifi-visible universe in all its magnitude andYea, the
bauble, and a transient meteor, as com-cence is but a gilded
one man—ofwith the inherent worth and dignity ofpared
one human soul."
question, What is man ?Such is the reply given, to the
estimate of man is said to be sustained and confirmedAnd this
nature of things andby the deductions of Reason, from the ;
teachings of Revelation, as found in the inspired Book.by the
immortality of man, fromI. The alleged evidence of the
—viz.deductions of Reason are, chiefly, as follows, :the
" man is immaterial and therefore is1. The soul ;of
IMMORTAL."
statement, an argument is present, but anBut in this
is merely a negative pro-evidence is not found. The premise
from which a positive conclusion cannot be justlyposition ;
what the soul is not. Thus : "thedrawn. It merely states
;" assertion,is not matter and from this negative thesoul
"that, therefore the soul is immortaV^ ispositive conclusion
logic found in this modeprofessedly deduced. The kind of
if fairly tested, will be discovered to be false.of reasoning,
Man is not an ant, therefore he is anIt may be tested thus :
itarchangel. This paper is not ivory, therefore is gold. In
the unsoundness of the above argument will be per-this way
little more than a confession ofceived. The premise is
ignorance, as to what the nature of the soul is, or of the kind
which its being and properties consist ; andof substance in
ignoranceit is unreasonable to claim that this confessed
supplies an evidence that the soul of man is immortal ; or that