gracious Influences of Christ, than thus judicially and totally separated from him.

No. IX.

Matt. viii. 12. But the Children of the Kingdom shall be cast out into outer Darkness: There shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth.

The Words, with the Verse before, shew the impartial Justice of God; that he will not damn or save his Creatures upon the account of any Privileges they have enjoy'd, or not enjoy'd, in this World; or out of any partial Fondness for his own Peculium: For they shall come from the East and West, and sit down with the faithful Patriarchs, in the Kingdom of Heaven; while the Children of the Kingdom (for their Disobedience) shall be cast out into outer Darkness. "This outer "Darkness (Mr. Whiston thinks1) seems only to agree "to the State of bad Men in Hades, before the Day of Judgment; which is still described as a Place of "Darkness. Wisd. xvii. 14, 17, 21. 2 Pet. ii. 4, 17. Jude ver. 6, 13. Josephus of Hades, §. 1. but not to

1 Page 36. Mr. Whiston has long been of opinion, and is still, (see p. 110.) that Hell will be in the Atmosphere of a Comet. Now surely there is some Darkness in the Atmospheres of Comets, since he himself tells us, that they best answer the Chaotick or primary State of Planets, of all other Bodies in the Universe. See his Astronomical Principles, page 90. And accordingly, having observed that Hell is described in Scripture, as a State of Darkness, of outward Darkness, of Blackness of Darkness, of Torment and Punishment for Ages, or Ages of Ages, &c., he adds, this Description in every Circumstance, exactly agrees with the Nature of a Comet, ascending from the hot Regions near the Sun, and going into the cold Regions beyond Saturn, &c. Astron. Prin. p. 156.

"Hell-Fire: We having no Notion of Fire and Flame "without Light, tho' it be never so dismal. Accord"ingly, when our Saviour uses the like Expressions elsewhere, There shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth, concerning those that are cast into Gehenna "or Hell-Fire itself, at the Day of Judgment, Matt. "xiii. 42, 50. xxiv. 51. Luke xiii. 28. he always omits "there the mention of that Darkness: Which is not a "little remarkable."

I think, there is little remarkable in all this besides Mr. W's Inattention. Good Men shall come from all Quarters of the World, and shall sit down (as it were at Table) with the ancient and holy Patriarchs in the Kingdom of Heaven, partaking of all the Light and Festivity of that glorious Kingdom; while the Wicked shall not be admitted into this luminous Place and happy Society, but shall be cast out into the exteriour, or outer, Darkness, There is no occasion that this Darkness should be total. It is Darkness, and dismal Darkness too, in comparison of the Light which they enjoy, who sit down in the Kingdom of Heaven. What if our Saviour sometimes omits the mention of this outer Darkness? He does not omit it at other times, where it comes in with the greatest Propriety, in opposition to the Light which they have who are within, and partake of the Feast. Thus Matt. xxii. 13. the Man who had not on a Wedding-Garment, is order'd to be bound hand and foot, and to be cast into the outer Darkness; There shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth. And what Time is it when the King comes in to see the Guests, but the same when he cometh, and reckoneth with his Servants, in the Parable of the Talents, Matt. xxv. 19. that is, at the Day of Judgment? It may be questioned too whether Mr.

Whiston's own References above, be all to his purpose: But the thing is not worth disputing. Be it that Hades is described as a Place of Darkness, surely Gehenna, or Tartarus, is so too, according to all Notions both ancient and modern.1 And as to our having no Notion of Fire and Flame without Light; we need only recollect, that Fire and Flame are by no means incompatible with very great Darkness : And the Mountain burnt with Fire unto the midst of Heaven, with Darkness, Clouds, and thick Darkness. Deut. iv. II.

No. X.

Matt. x. 28. But rather fear him which is able to destroy both Soul and Body in Hell. See No.

LXIX.

Upon which Text thus Mr. Whiston :2 "These Words "of our Saviour do much more favour the Destruction "of the Wicked in Hell, than the Preservation of "them to endure the Torments of an endless Eternity. 'Nay, they farther imply, that not the Body only, but "the Soul itself is capable of this Destruction there "also. Altho' it ought to be noted, that our Saviour "does not in this place affirm that both Soul and "Body shall actually be destroy'd in Gehenna;3 but

1 Vid. Windet de vita functorum Statu: Sect. ix. Ut autem Cœlo omnia Bona, ita Tartaro contraria mala tribuere solent. Cœlo Lucem, -Tartaro Tenebras, &c. p. 224.

2 Page 36.

3 It is unquestionable, that it is in the power of God to annihilate both Soul and Body either in Gehenna, or out of it; but it is far from being unquestionable that our Saviour affirms this here; since the original Word aroλéσai, as well as our English Word destroy, may mean quite another thing.

only that it is in the power of God to destroy them "there. Whence we may note farther, that as Worms "and Fire, which we shall see are to be the Agents in "this Destruction, are only of themselves capable of destroying the Body; and as no other Text, I think, speaks directly of the Destruction of the Soul; so is "there room for Hope, that the Soul may not be then "utterly destroy'd; but may remain capable of a "second Resurrection, after the second Death is 66 over; as seems to have been intimated by the 'Prophet Esdras, p. 29. prius."

Here we may observe that Mr. W. gives up, in effect, the System which he seems most inclined to favour, through his whole Book, viz. that of Annihilation, or utter Destruction of the Wicked: since he owns that our Saviour does not in this place affirm that both Soul and Body shall be destroy'd, but only that it is in the power of God to destroy them. Which no one denies; but then we are not to recur to the Power of God in such Questions as these, but rather to the Nature of things, and the Declarations of the Will of God. And as from the Nature of the Soul we have no reason to think that it will be utterly destroy'd, so, with regard to the Declarations of God's Will, Mr. W. himself again will tell us, that no other Text speaks directly of the Destruction of the Soul: That is, in short, neither this, nor any other Text in the Bible teaches us this Doctrine. And why then, when our Saviour is directing the Attention of Christians to the awful Sanctions of another World, will Mr. W. distract or divert this Attention, by suggesting something, which is not directly taught in any one Text of Scripture? However, he says, these Words do much more favour the Destruction of the Wicked in Hell,

than the Preservation of them to endure the Torments of an endless Eternity. If by Preservation he means that they are supernaturally, or præternaturally, preserv'd, above and beyond what the Condition and Powers of their Nature would otherwise extend to, only on purpose that they may endure these endless Torments; we say no such thing. This is a Misrepresentation of the Doctrine, in order to make it appear unjust and cruel. But then, as we, on our Principles, want no extraordinary Interposition of Power or Providence to preserve them in their Existence; so, on the other hand, it would be unphilosophical in our Adversaries, to have recourse to such extraordinary Interposition, without Reason, and without Proof, in order to annihilate, or destroy them. They must stand by the Consequences of that Nature which God has given them. How then, after all, do our Saviour's Words, in the Passage before us, favour the Destruction of the Wicked in Hell? Is it because the Word àπoλéoaɩ is used? That cannot be :1 A Word used a thousand times, where nothing of this Sense is intended. To go no farther than the thirty-ninth Verse of this Chapter; there our Saviour says o ἀπόλεσας τὴν ψυχὴν αὑτοῦ (which literally render'd is, he that destroyeth his Soul) for my sake, shall find it: Where, for certain, our Saviour cannot mean such Destruction as implies ceasing to exist. I will not multiply Instances in so plain a Case; but this I assert, that so far as the Import merely of this Word is concern'd, it is of too uncertain and ambiguous signification to build any Doctrine of this Consequence upon. The Body and Soul are truly destroy'd (in the common and vulgar Sense of the Word) in Hell, when they are cast into Hell, without any prospect of Deliverance 1 For the Proof of this, see No. LIX.