This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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The New View of Hell.
THE
New View of Hell.
SHOWING
ITS NATURE, WHEREABOUTS, DURATION, AND HOW TO ESCAPE IT.
BY
B. F. BARRETT,
Author of "Lectures on the New Dispensation," "The Golden Reed," "Letters to Beecher on the Divine Trinity," Etc., Etc.
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PHILADELPHIA
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.
1872.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
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Lippincott's Press, Philadelphia.
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CONTENTS.
| I.— | 9 |
| II.— | 26 |
| III.— | 36 |
| IV.— | 46 |
| V.— | 73 |
| VI.— | 87 |
| VII.— | 100 |
| VIII.— | 112 |
| IX.— | 125 |
| X.— | 145 |
| XI.— | 163 |
| XII.— | 177 |
| XIII.— | 193 |
PREFACE.
There are few subjects within the compass of revealed or speculative Theology, upon which inquiring minds have been more exercised within the last hundred years, than the subject of Hell. And there are few, perhaps, which have been the occasion of more strifes and divisions in the churches, which have caused more trouble to Christian believers, or upon which there are at this moment more anxiety, doubt and disagreement among religious teachers themselves.
There is no doubt that the popular mind of Christendom has undergone a considerable change on this, as on many other subjects, since the commencement of the present century. The old representations of the Divine justice, and of the condition of the wicked in the great Hereafter, would hardly be listened to with patience—certainly not with satisfaction—by any intelligent Christian congregation of to-day.
"The idea which men once had of hell and of divine justice," says the distinguished occupant of Plymouth Pulpit, "was a nightmare as hideous as was ever begotten by the hellish brood itself. And it was an atrocious slander on God. I do not wonder that men have reacted from these horrors—I honor them for it."
But what have the Christian teachers of to-day to offer as a substitute for the old idea, which is confessedly becoming obsolete in nearly all of the churches? Many of them, nothing—literally nothing, that can at once satisfy the reason of thoughtful inquirers, and meet the demands of the language of Scripture. And some are frank enough to confess their destitution. Said a distinguished Presbyterian clergyman, writing on this subject some time ago: "It is all dark, dark, dark, to my soul; and I cannot disguise it."
The aim of the present work is to unfold and present the New view of Hell, as set forth in the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg; to show that it is at once rational and Scriptural, in harmony with the perfect love and wisdom of God, as well as with the teachings of human experience and the profoundest spiritual philosophy; and that its practical influence upon the character of believers, cannot be otherwise than beneficent.
How far I have succeeded in this, the reader himself must judge. But if I have achieved even a partial success, and presented the subject in a light to relieve and profit only a few troubled souls, I shall be more than satisfied—I shall be thankful.
Philadelphia, November 15, 1871.