From ai815@freenet.carleton.caFri Feb 24 23:17:48 1995 Date: Wed, 15 Feb 1995 05:03:13 -0500 From: Greg Erwin To: ry94ad@badger.ac.brocku.ca, apabel@prairienet.org, perfecto@pcnet.com, Eric.M.Kidd@Dartmouth.Edu, ftp@locust.cic.net, rblair@shl.com, hbcsc056@huey.csun.edu, tmwe@maths.nottingham.ac.uk, kmc9@cornell.edu, hammond@bigdog.engr.arizona.edu, timbo@frungy.cbr.fidonet.org, mc.wilson@auckland.ac.nz, PITT_I@summer.chem.su.oz.au, p01664@psilink.com Subject: February 1995 Nullfidian The ezine that blames all its problems on the software. ########################################################### ########################################################### ______ / / / / / /__ __ / / ) (__ / / (__(__ __ |\ ( ) ) / / | \ | / / . _/_ . __ / . __ __ | \ | / / / / ) / ) / / ) __ ) / ) ) \| (__(__(___(__(__(___(__(__(__(__(__(__/ (__ =========================================================== *The*E-Zine*of*Atheistic*Secular*Humanism*and*Freethought** =========================================================== ############################################################ ###### Volume II, Number 2 ***A Collector's Item!***##### ################### ISSN 1201-0111 ####################### ####################### FEB 1995 ########################### ############################################################ nullifidian, n. & a. (Person) having no religious faith or belief. [f. med. L _nullifidius_ f. L _nullus_ none + _fides_ faith; see -IAN] Concise Oxford Dictionary The purpose of this magazine is to provide a source of articles dealing with many aspects of humanism. We are ATHEISTIC as we do not believe in the actual existence of any supernatural beings or any transcendental reality. We are SECULAR because the evidence of history and the daily horrors in the news show the pernicious and destructive consequences of allowing religions to be involved with politics and nationalism. We are HUMANISTS and we focus on what is good for humanity, in the real world. We will not be put off with offers of pie in the sky, bye and bye. ############################################################ ############################################################ =><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><== || Begging portion of the Zine || ==><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><== This is a "sharezine." There is no charge for receiving this, and there is no charge for distributing copies to any electronic medium. Nor is there a restriction on printing a copy for use in discussion. You may not charge to do so, and you may not do so without attributing it to the proper author and source. If you would like to support our efforts, and help us acquire better equipment to bring you more and better articles, you may send money to Greg Erwin at: 100, Terrasse Eardley / Aylmer, Qc / J9H 6B5 / CANADA. Or buy our atheist quote address labels, and other fine products, see "Shameless advertising and crass commercialism" below. =><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><= || End of Begging portion of the Zine || =><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><= Articles will be welcomed and very likely used IF: ( they are emailed to: ((ai815@FreeNet.Carleton.CA; or, godfree@magi.com), or sent on diskette to me at the above Aylmer address in any format that an IBM copy of WordPerfect can read; ) and they don't require huge amounts of editing; and I like them. I will gladly reprint articles from your magazine, local group's newsletter, or original material. If you wish to receive a subscription, email a simple request to either address, with a clear request for a subscription. It will be assumed that the "From:" address is where it is to be sent. We will automate this process as soon as we know how. Yes, please DO make copies! (*) Please DO send copies of The Nullifidian to anyone who might be interested. The only limitations are: You must copy the whole document, without making any changes to it. Or, at least clearly indicate the source, and how to subscribe. You do NOT have permission to copy this document for commercial purposes. The contents of this document are copyright (c) 1995, Greg Erwin (insofar as possible) and are on deposit at the National Library of Canada You may find back issues in any place that archives alt.atheism, specifically mathew's site at ftp.mantis.co.uk. Currently, all back issues are posted at the Humanist Association of Ottawa's area on the National Capital Freenet. telnet to 134.117.1.22, and enter at the "Your choice==>" prompt. ARCHIVES Arrangements have been made with etext at umich. ftp to etext.umich.edu directory Nullifidian or lucifers-echo. For America On-Line subscribers: To access the Freethought Forum on America Online enter keyword "Capital", scroll down until you find Freethought Forum, double click and you're there. Double click "Files & Truth Seeker Articles" and scroll until you find Nullifidian files. Double click the file name and a window will open giving you the opportunity to display a description of the file or download the file. And thanks to the people at the _Truth Seeker_, who edited, formatted and uploaded the articles to the aol area. /=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\ Shameless advertising and crass commercialism: \_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/ Atheistic self-stick Avery(tm) address labels. Consisting of 210 different quotes, 30 per page, each label 2 5/8" x 1". This leaves three 49 character lines available for your own address, phone number, email, fax or whatever. Each sheet is US$2, the entire set of 7 for US$13; 2 sets for US$20. Indicate quantity desired. Print address clearly, exactly as desired. Order from address in examples below. Laser printed, 8 pt Arial, with occasional flourishes. [NOT ACTUAL SIZE] _________________________________________________ |"Reality is that which, when you stop believing | |in it, doesn't go away." [Philip K. Dick] | |Greg Erwin 100 Terrasse Eardley | |Aylmer, Qc J9H 6B5 Canada | | email: ai815@FreeNet.Carleton.CA | |________________________________________________| _________________________________________________ |"...and when you tell me that your deity made | |you in his own image, I reply that he must be | |very ugly." [Victor Hugo, writing to clergy] | |Greg Erwin 100 Terrasse Eardley | |Aylmer, Qc J9H 6B5 Canada Ph: (613) 954-6128 | | email: ai815@FreeNet.Carleton.CA | |________________________________________________| Other stuff for sale: Certificate of Baptism Removal and Renunciation of Religion. Have your baptism removed, renounce religion, and have a neat 8" x 11" fancy certificate, on luxury paper, suitable for framing, to commemorate the event! Instant eligibility for excommunication! For the already baptism-free: Certificate of Freedom from Religion. An official atheistic secular humanist stamp of approval for only $10! Pamphlet on "how to get excommunicated" included FREE with purchase. Poster 8x11: WARNING! This is a religion free zone! All religious vows, codes, and commitments are null & void herein. Please refrain from contaminating the ideosphere with harmful memes through prayer, reverence, holy books, proselytizing, prophesying, faith, speaking in tongues or spirituality. Fight the menace of second-hand faith! Humanity sincerely thanks you! Tastefully arranged in large point Stencil on luxury paper. 4. Ingersoll poster: "When I became convinced that the universe is natural" speech excerpt. 11"x17" See the June 1994 issue of the _Echo_ for full text. This is in large Olde English type, and arranged as a sort of free verse. $15 Order from the same address as above. /=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\ ============================================================ Neat books available from H.H. Waldo, Bookseller! Books by Ingersoll! Henderson's 19th Century Freethought Cartoons! Holy Hatred, by James A. Haught......................$21.95 The Trouble With Christmas, (signed by the author) by Tom "Anti-Claus" Flynn............................$13.95 Evolution & the Myth of Creationism, by Tim M. Berra......................................$ 8.95 Freethinker's Pictorial Text Book, (1 & 2, separately) reproduction of 1890 and 1898 books by Watson Heston, by Bank of Wisdom Freethought Hero Emmet Fields .....$30.00 and many, many more. Ever changing inventory. Friendly letters and news from Robb Marks, Proprietor. add $2 postage/handling for first book & 0.50 for each additional book. Send 2 first class stamps for H.H. Waldo's current catalog. TO: H.H Waldo, Bookseller P.O. Box 350 Rockton, IL 61072 or phone 1-800-66WALDO !!! tell 'im: "that nullifidian guy sent me!" ============================================================ /=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\ TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. The Return of God, a phantasie. ...me 2. Statement on evolution and creation science ...me 3. In the defense of reason, by Gabor B. Levy 4. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Jonathan Edwards 5. Errata =========================================================== || BEGINNING OF ARTICLE || =========================================================== The Return of God, a phantasie. Another demonstration of the incoherence of the god idea. Suppose that you, as a parent, were unavoidably, by a war or some major natural disaster, separated from your children. Continents apart. After years, or even decades, you are able to see them again. Which ones would you love and embrace? ************************************************************ *I am feeling very 19th century, the result of rereading * *some Ingersoll speeches searching for quotes, so indulge * *me. * ************************************************************ Imagine the scene. The children (and maybe nephews and nieces) have grown up, you ask about their lives, they tell you of their struggles, successes and failures and ask you about the years of separation. You assure them of your love and tell of the troubles and money woes that kept you away, but assure them that they were ever on your mind, and that you worked incessantly to bring this day about. Now, how would you act in the following situations? Would you understand those who weren't sure any longer of how you looked, and weren't sure of the way you spoke? Wouldn't you sit down and talk and get reacquainted? Would you understand those who reasoned that you had died? Would you dance and sing together in relief that the apparently lost had been refound? Would you understand those who had lost the memory of your existence and denied that they had ever had known a parent? An uncle, an aunt? Would you weep with them and show them baby pictures and rejoice that you were together again? But suppose there were others, what if there were some who said that they always knew you existed and had never thought you had died; (although you were unable to communicate with them all this time), those who were always certain of exactly how you looked and what you would say; those who couldn't stand their brothers, sisters and cousins who said these terrible things about you, so that in your name they had had large numbers of these awful children of yours (all they could get hold of, in fact) these children that you had loved, and looked forward to meeting again...they had taken them and tortured them to death, delighting in their cries of anguish, and stolen their property from their unoffending relations after the painful deaths, so that these torturers were now the only official people remaining in some branches of the family? If there were a god and it had the attributes of a loving parent, which is what we are told, the last thing that a loving parent would want is to have its children killed off. The truth is that the bible god and its bible believing followers act like no parent we can imagine, except an insane and abusive one. However, we can say that the description of its actions and the history of its representatives, do exactly fit the description of every tyrant jealous of power and prerogative, bereft of reason and conscience, and possessed of no argument but brute force. But just and merciful? No way! ========================================================= || END OF ARTICLE || ========================================================= "If God exists, what objection can he have to saying so?" Lemuel K. Washburn, _Is The Bible Worth Reading And Other Essays_ =========================================================== || BEGINNING OF ARTICLE || =========================================================== Statement on evolution and creation science Evolution is the basis of modern biology. A student cannot possibly understand any of the life sciences without understanding the process of evolution that is the foundation of these sciences. It is the unifying web that links them together. Without evolution, biology is a series of disconnected facts. With evolution, comes a comprehension of adaptation to local ecologies, the relationships between species, and the relationships between plants and animals and environments. The physical sciences also depend on an accurate knowledge of the origins of the universe, radioactive decay, the age of the earth, chemical reactions and many physical relationships that change over time. All these facts complement and reinforce each other. To comprehend the age of the universe, students must learn about the speed of light, what a red shift is, and something about spectroscopy. To understand the age of the earth, they must understand sedimentation, fossilization, and radioactive decay. To understand human origins they must understand genetic drift, carbon dating, archeology and linguistic change. Then they can begin to appreciate how these different systems reinforce each other and mutually confirm many diverse facts. They will then grasp how a scientific hypothesis must fit in with all the observed and confirmed facts of the universe: gravitation, relativity, radioactive decay, molecular genetics; one odd observation or a new theory cannot overturn these well-established truths. For instance, Einstein's relativity did not change the observations Newton had made. Newton's laws of gravity and motion still work correctly, unless one is dealing with objects moving nearly at the speed of light. Students must learn that a new theory must still fit in with the old facts, while explaining observations that were previously unexplained. Evolution is an area where great strides are being made yearly, especially in the area of human origins. Students should learn how science changes because of new information. Students should learn how science progresses through the accumulation of facts, through testing theories to see if they explain the facts, or if any facts disprove the theory. Science education must avoid implying that science is a received and unchangeable set of truths for students to memorize, but must also teach those facts that are true. So-called creation science is merely misnamed religious propaganda. There is nothing of science in it beyond the name. Creationists do not accept any evidence that goes against their case and will not listen to any arguments that don't go their way. Science is interested in the truth, and seeks out tests that might disprove a new theory. Creationists do not recognize anything that contradicts their beliefs. They have simply decided in advance what the conclusion must be, and head toward it without consideration of any contrary evidence that may be in the path. Creationism is an attempt to sneak a narrow sectarian religious creed into public classrooms and impose it on everyone. It is based, despite denials, upon the Genesis texts of the Jewish and Christian bible. Only a few Christian denominations, and a few Jewish sects demand literal interpretation of these myths. It is a religious dogma. Most of all, it is false and it is inaccurate. There is no evidence to support the creationist argument. There is no room in science for believing without evidence. The whole of humanity's scientific enterprise is based on testing every belief and abandoning those that fail the tests. Any public school teacher or public school board that lets "creation science" into a classroom, has quit teaching and taken up preaching and should be stopped. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> from Greg Erwin, president: Humanist Association of Ottawa, for the Humanist Association of Canada and the Council for Secular Humanism, Atheism and Freethought. and all nullifidians worldwide. :-) originally sent to the National Centre for Science Education for use in the fight against creationism in schools. ========================================================= || END OF ARTICLE || ========================================================= "Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest." [Denis Diderot, "Dithyrambe sur la fˆte des rois"] =========================================================== || BEGINNING OF ARTICLE || =========================================================== >From a most unusual source (for us) _American Laboratory_. _American Laboratory_ seems to be a magazine about such stuff as "Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry of oligosaccharides", but right at the beginning of the December 1994 issue, there is this wonderful defence of rational humanism. Should you wish to let them know that this is appreciated, they can be reached at amlab@aol.com. In the defense of reason, by Gabor B. Levy (c) Copyright by International Scientific Communications, Inc. These are again times to try men's souls. We hear many voices denigrating rational humanism. A lead article in the July 11, 1994 _Wall Street Journal_ reports the break up of "secular rationalist humanism" because "chaos theory seeps into ecology debate." Such arguments remind me somehow of the times when the novel relativity theory was trivialized and quoted like the relative merit of a Ford vs. a Chrysler- -or the uncertainty principle invoked, whether it would rain or not. Chaos theory is an interesting new concept but it has a defined meaning, and chaos is not a synonym for randomness. It teaches that in very complex systems, small changes in initial conditions have large consequences in later outcomes. In ignorance of the details of beginning, no valid predictions are possible. It is not that such complex systems are capricious, but that we may be ignorant. Cosmology is an example. Because we cannot hope for a reliable report on the conditions at the initial "big bang." we shall stay ignorant of the eventual outcome. So be it! Technobabble of this type that pits reason against chaos will be, to quote Thomas Paine in this context, "words or sound only, and though they may amuse the ear, they cannot inform the mind." Of course, we need not accept the _Wall Street Journal_ as the fountainhead of philosophy, but it behooves us to pay attention to it. It is the voice of the financial and industrial establishment that runs the country. It also carried a review of a book by Nobelist Steven Weinberg that was characterized as "[a] last flicker of the dying flame of Enlightenment rationalism." These are not isolated voices. Irving Kristol, for example, talks about the collapse of secular, rationalist humanism. So do religionists turned politicians, although Jacques Maritain, the Roman Catholic Philosopher, finds humanism compatible with religion. Then again, David Ehrenfeld, in his _The Arrogance of Humanism_, ascribes the destruction of our ecosystem to humanism. This is quite a stretch since "human arrogance against Nature" left traces already in the Stone Age, and our Bible commands "be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion over fish...and every living thing...." Arguments, of course, always hinge on the definition of terms. It has been said that we live in "an era of midget philosophers." Let me join up too, and give a definition of humanism. We now know that _Homo sapiens_ shares 99% of its genetic information with the chimpanzee, and a visitor from outer space (so beloved by modern-day mystics) could classify humans as a third species of the chimpanzee. A humanist, as I define it, is a person who cultivates and promotes this measly 1%. Introspection, abstraction, logic, and spoken and written communication are the things that distinguish us. It is not irrelevant that the study of Greek and Roman literature is called "humanities," because they are the origins of philosophy, the love of rational thought. However, today's humanist knows that _Homo_ has a biologically fixed and limited nature that will never yield to some theoretical, ideal perfection. Moreover, perfection is in the eyes of the beholder. Beauty cannot be recognized without comparison to ugliness. Good only shines in contrast to bad. And human judgment is even more complex. Love not only contrasts with hate but also with indifference, and so on. Evidently, most important facets of human existence are connected with the 99%, i.e., our animal nature. However, the input of the 1% is decisive for civilized living. Of course, the modern humanist is well aware of limitations embedded in the human mind. Infinity, for example, is an abstract construct. It is most useful in mathematics, but it is impossible to feel because it is contrary to all of our sensory experience. Another important limitation is the explanation of consciousness; the most human attribute. My consciousness is self-evident to myself, but I know of no logical method to prove anybody else's. There is also the sheer complexity of things that can defy simple rational analysis. The mental processes themselves seem mysterious because of the complexity of the billions of neural connections. Psychology can only discover small isolated bits such as the Freudian slips and parapraxes that seem rationally explainable; the rest is so chaotic that it even allows the conclusion that the brain is a dual organ composed of substance and of spirit, although there is no evidence of that. Such are the things that abut our rational thinking and lead to fantasy. Psychologists tell us that a degree of fantasy is a healthful escape from the stresses of reality. Some judge that fantasizing is a positive thing that contributes to psychological well-being. This may be true, but I fear the return of mysticism that is widely popularized in its extreme irrational forms as petty miracles, extraterrestrial abductions, and a grab bag of extrasensory happenings. To discard human reason altogether because of its limitations is like throwing the baby out with the bath water. Yet, there is a pervasive trend to discredit science, logic, and reason and to promote pseudoscience, fear, ignorance, and mysticism. When it come to social sciences, the picture becomes even murkier because we are dealing with interactions between many individuals whose behavior is largely unpredictable. Humanists of the 18th century fancied that social systems would yield to simple rational analysis, but this proved to be naive. If we worry about chaos in physics, we should be even more concerned with social organization, economics, and politics, which are chaotic in every sense of the word. Humans are social animals driven by instincts of self- preservation and public interest. Thinkers such as Rousseau, Hobbes, Locke, and others struggled with finding a reasonable balance. Empirical, quasirational solutions to such conflicts proved possible in the past. Today we should strive to refine and intensify such efforts. Particularly so because instead of calm reason, emotion and passion are blatantly promoted. I don't know whether the mayor of Newark, NJ is considered a rational humanist, but his comments on a social problem were reasonable when he stated that "Kids don't go out at 2:30 in the morning to steal cars because the public libraries are closed or there are no basketball courts open." We don't know the details of their thought processes, but it is clear that the car thefts are due in part to a lack of training in reasoning and in thinking things through. However, instead of the laboratorious task of changing the mindset through education, anger and revenge are the predictable reactions. It pits passion against passion, which will surely prove to be dangerous. It would not take much to make a Beirut out of New York or a Sarajevo out of Los Angeles. And there is more to this. History has shown that when the social fabric is loosened, oppression and dictatorship follows. I strongly suspect that the rising humanism- bashing has little to do with scientific philosophy but is a prelude to a dark age of repression. As the antisocial habits are spreading in our land, autocratic leadership is just waiting in the wings. Senator Moynihan of New York voiced such an apprehension, and his predictions have been on the mark in the past. We must be wary of those who oppose rationality, and not be fooled by the babble and propaganda. It is certainly not modern and surely not post-modern to cite the founders of our republic. But I am not afraid to be considered conservative in this respect and advocate that we hold fast to the ideals of the founders who valued education and rational humanism. Most of those who oppose it now don't give a hoot for chaos theory or philosophy. They want our body and soul, our vote, and our money. We may readily abandon the labels "secular humanism" or "free thought," which have been besmirched, and just hold fast to our common sense and reason. ========================================================= || END OF ARTICLE || ========================================================= I have only a small flickering light to guide me in the darkness of a thick forest. Up comes a theologian and blows it out. [Denis Diderot] =========================================================== || BEGINNING OF ARTICLE || =========================================================== Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Following this introduction, you will find the text of the original sermon by Jonathan Edwards. The sermon was originally given during the Great Revival in Massachusetts on July 8, 1741. A contemporary account notes that people cried and moaned in despair upon hearing the sermon, others say that some in the audience despaired so much of pleasing god that they killed themselves. By the standards of the time, this meant that the sermon was a great success. A better indication of what Calvinism and its American incarnation, Puritanism, were all about, cannot be found. You may occasionally wonder what people like Ingersoll, Paine and Jefferson found so objectionable in Christianity, fondly imagining that the Christianity of their day had some relation to the "family values" "prosperity gospel" Christianity of today. It did not. Modern Christianity has been dragged, kicking and screaming, into a humanist stance on just about every facet of human life, insisting that this is what they *really* believed all along. Why Christians were previously motivated to kill witches and heretics after inflicting horrible tortures upon them if they didn't really take the whole thing seriously is beyond me...I guess I don't get the joke. Why people like Jonathan Edwards spent their lives defending the doctrine of Original Sin, if it really wasn't all that important, is hard to explain. Anyway, for the essential Christian vision of their loving God, as preached by an authentic Christian preacher, who was not a kook on the fringes of his society, but a respected minister of the day, a university president, revered by all... And, by the way, I come to reproduce this, because when I was a lad, in Connecticut, we all had to read this stuff. It was part of American Colonial Literature and was forced upon everybody in High School as part of that year that you took American Literature. In terms of impact and drama, I suppose that it does qualify as a supremely effective speech. How many orators can count the suicides they have caused? So, Jonathan Edwards ranks right up there, in speechifying and pernicious effect on society, with Hitler. However, I have occasionally mentioned this sermon as an example of what I object to in Christianity, and I found out that nobody recognizes what I am talking about. _Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God_ is part of your cultural heritage. The culturally literate should have read it. It is what Christianity is all about. And many thanks to: macgyver@xensei.com, who found and sent the text of the sermon, in response to one of my pleas. ==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+ Here is a copy of the sermon you requested... "Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God," by Jonathan Edwards. Winfield, Connecticut July 8, 1741 Deuteronomy 32:35 "Their foot shall slide in due time." IN THIS VERSE is threatened the vengeance of God on the wicked unbelieving Israelites, who were God's visible people, and who lived under the means of grace; but who, notwithstanding all God's wonderful works towards them, remained void of counsel (v 28), having no understanding all God's wonderful works towards them. Under all the cultivations of heaven, they brought forth bitter an poisonous fruit; as in the two verses next preceding the text. --The expression I have chosen for my text, Their foot shall slide in due time, seems to imply the following things, relating to the punishment and destruction to which these wicked Israelites were exposed. 1. That they were always exposed to destruction; as one that stands or walks in slippery places is always exposed to fall. This is implied in the manner of their destruction coming upon them, being represented by their foot sliding. The same is expressed, Psalm 73:18 --"Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction." 2. It implies, that they were always exposed to sudden unexpected destruction. As he that walks in slippery places is every moment liable to fall, he cannot foresee one moment whether he shall stand or fall the next; and when he does fall, he falls at once without warning: Which is also expressed in Psalm 73:18,19 --"Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction: How are they brought into desolation as in a moment!" 3. Another thing implied is, that they are liable to fall of themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another; as he that stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing but his own weight to throw him down. 4. That the reason why they are not fallen already, and do not fall now is only that God's appointed time is not come. For it is said, that when that due time, or appointed time comes, their foot shall slide. Then they shall be left to fall, as they are inclined by their own weight. God will not hold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go; and then, at that very instant, they shall fall into destruction; as he that stands on such slippery declining ground, on the edge of a pit, he cannot stand alone, when he is let go he immediately falls and is lost. The observation from the words that I would now insist upon is this. --"There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God." --By the mere pleasure of God, I mean his sovereign pleasure, his arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty any more than if nothing else but God's mere will had, in the last degree, or in any respect whatsoever, any hand in the preservation of wicked men one moment. 1. There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment. Men's hands cannot be strong, when God rises up. The strongest have no power to resist him, nor can any deliver out of his hands. He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it. Sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty in subduing a rebel, who has found means to fortify himself, and has made himself strong by the number of his followers. But it is not so with God. There is no fortress that is any defense from the power of God. Though hand join in hand, and a vast multitude of God's enemies combine and associate themselves, they are easily broken in pieces. They are as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind: or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames. We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we find crawling on us; so it is easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that anything hangs by: thus easy is it for God when he pleases, to cast his enemies into hell. What are we, that we should think to stand before Him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down? 2. They deserve to be cast into hell; so that divine justice never stands in the way; it makes no objection against God's using his power at any moment to destroy them. Yea, on the contrary, justice calls aloud for an infinite punishment of their sins. Divine justice says of the tree that brings forth such grapes of Sodom, "Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?" --Luke 13:7. The sword of divine justice is every moment brandished over their heads, and it is nothing but the hand of arbitrary mercy and God's mere will that holds it back. 3. They are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell. They do not only justly deserve to be cast down thither, but he sentence of the law of God, that eternal and immutable rule of righteousness that God has fixed between him and mankind, is gone out against them, and stands against them; so that they are bound over already to hell. John 3:18 --"He that believeth not is condemned already." So that every unconverted man properly belongs to hell; that is his place; from thence he is. John 8:23 --"Ye are from beneath;" and thither he is bound; it is the place that justice, and God's Word, and sentence of his unchangeable law, assign to him. 4. They are now the objects of that very same anger and wrath of God, that is expressed in the torments of hell; and the reason why they do not go down to hell at each moment, is not because God, in whose power they are, is not at present very angry with them; as he is with many miserable creatures now tormented in hell, who there feel and bear the fierceness of his wrath. Yea, God is a great deal more angry with great numbers that are now on earth, yea doubtless with some who may read this book, who, it may be are at ease, than he is with many of those that are now in the flames of hell. So it is not because God is unmindful of their wickedness, and does not resent it, that he does not let loose his hand, and cut them off. God is not altogether such a one as themselves, though they may imagine him to be so. The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow. The glittering sword is whetted, and held over them, and the pit hath opened it mouth under them. 5. The devil stands ready to fall upon them, and seize them as his won, at what moment God shall permit him. They belong to him; he has their souls in his possession, and under his dominion. The Scripture represents them as his goals --Luke 11:21. the devils watch them; they are ever by them, like greedy hungry lions, that see their prey, and expect to have it, but are for the present kept back. If God should withdraw his hand, by which they are restrained, they would in one moment fly upon their poor souls. The old serpent is gaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to receive them; and if God should permit it, they would be hastily swallowed up and lost. 6. There are in the souls of wicked men those hellish principles reigning, that would presently kindle and flame out into hell fire, if it were not for God's restraints. There is laid in the very nature of carnal men, a foundation for the torments of hell. There are those corrupt principles, in reigning power in them, and in full possession of them, that are seeds of hell fire. The principles are active and powerful, exceedingly violent in their nature; and if it were not for the restraining hand of God upon them, they would soon break out; they would flame out after the same manner as the same corruption, the same enmity, does in the hearts of damned souls, and would beget the same torments as they do in them. The souls of the wicked are in Scriptures compared to the troubled sea (Isa. 57:20). For the present, God restrains their wickedness by his might power, as he does the raging waves of the troubled sea, saying "Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further," but if God should withdraw that restraining power, it would soon carry all before it. Sin is the ruin and misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature; and if God should leave it without restraint, there would need nothing else to make the soul perfectly miserable. The corruption of the heart of man is immoderate and boundless in its fury; and while wicked men live here, it is like fire pent up by the course of nature; and as the heart is now a sink of sin, so, if sin was not restrained, it would immediately turn the soul into a fiery oven, or a furnace of fire and brimstone. 7. It is no security to wicked men for one moment that there are no visible means of death at hand! It is no security to a natural man, that he is now in health, and that he does not see which way he should now immediately go out of the by an accident, and that there is no visible danger, in any respect, in his circumstances. The manifold and continual experience of all the world, in all ages, shows this is no evidence that a man is not on the very brink of eternity and that the next step will not be into another world. The unseen, unthought-of-ways and means of persons going out of the world are innumerable and inconceivable. Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so wick, and these places are not seen. The arrows of death fly unseen at noon-day; the sharpest sight cannot discern them. God has so many different unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world and sending them to hell, that there is nothing to make it appear that God had need to be at the expense of a miracle, or to go out of the ordinary course of his providence to destroy any wicked man, at any moment. All the means that there are of sinners going out of the world, are so in God's hands, and so universally and absolutely subject to his power and determination, that it does not depend at all the less on the mere will of God, whether sinners shall at any moment go to hell, than if means were never made use of, or at all concerned in the case. 8. Natural men's prudence and care to preserve their own lives, or the cares of others to preserve them, do not secure them a moment. To this, divine providence and universal experience do bear testimony. There is this clear evidence that men's own wisdom is no security to them from death; that, if it were otherwise, we should see some difference between the wise and politic men of the world and others, with regard to their liableness to early and unexpected death; but how is it in fact? "How dieth the wise man? as the fool" --Ecclesiastes 2:16. 9. All wicked men's pains and contrivances which they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, do not secure them from hell one moment. Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do; every one lays out matters in his own mind, how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes will not fail. they hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the greater part of men that have died heretofore, are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he forms plans to effect his escape better than others have done. He does not intend to go to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take effectual care, and to order matters so for himself as not to fail. But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow. The greater part of those heretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell; and it was not because they were not as wise as those now alive, it was not because they did not lay out matters as well for themselves to secure their own escape. If we could speak to them, and inquire of them, one by one, whether they expected, when alive, and when they used to hear about hell, ever to be subjects of that misery, we, doubtless, should hear one and another reply, "No, I never intended to come here; I had arranged matters otherwise in my mind; I thought I should contrive well for myself; I thought my scheme good. I intended to take effectual care; but it came upon me unexpectedly; I did not look for it at the time, and in that manner; it came as a thief. Death outwitted me; God's wrath was too quick for me. O my cursed foolishness! I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what I thought I would do hereafter; and when I was saying peace and safety, then sudden destruction came upon me." 10. God has laid himself under no obligation, by any promise, to keep any natural man out of hell one moment. God certainly has made no promises either of eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal death, but what are contained in the covenant of grace, the promises that are given in Christ, in whom all the promises are yea and amen. But surely they have no interest in the promise of the covenant of grace who are not the children of the covenant, who do not believe in any of the promises, and have no interest in the Mediator of the covenant. So that, whatever some have imagined and pretended about promises made to natural men's earnest seeking and knocking, it is plain and manifest, that whatever pains a natural man takes in religion, what ever prayers he makes, till he believes in Christ, God is under no obligation to keep him a moment from eternal destruction. So that thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked: his anger is as great towards them as those that are actually suffering the execution of the fierceness of His wrath in hell; and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to hold them up for one moment. The devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and swallow them up; the fire pent up in their own hearts is struggling to break out; and they have no interest in any Mediator; there are no means within reach that can be any security to them. In short they have no refuge, nothing to take hold of; all that preserves them at any moment is the mere arbitrary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged forbearance of an incensed God. APPLICATION The use of this awful subject may be for awakening unconverted persons to a conviction of their danger. This that you have heard is the case of every one out of Christ. That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell's wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor anything to take hold of, there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up. You are probably not sensible of this; you find you are kept out of hell, but do not see the hand of God in it, but look at other things, as the good state of your bodily constitution, your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own preservation. But indeed these things are nothing; if God should withdraw his hand they would avail no more to keep you from falling, than the thin air to hold up a person who is suspended in it. Your wickedness makes you, as it were, heavy as lead, and to rend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell, and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink, and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf; and your healthy constitution, and your won care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you, and keep you our of hell, than a spider's web would have to stop a falling rock. Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God, the earth would not bear you one moment, for you are a burden to it; the creation groans with you; the creature is make subject to the bondage of your corruption, not willingly; the sun does not willingly shine upon you, to give you light and to serve sin and Satan; the earth does not willing yield her increase, to satisfy your lusts; nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be acted upon; the air does not willingly serve you for breath to maintain the flame of life in your vitals, while you spend your life in the service of God's enemies. God's creatures are good, and were made for men to serve God with and do not willingly subserve any other purpose, and groan when they are abused to purposes so directly contrary to their nature and end. And the world would spew you out, were it not for the sovereign hand of Him who hath subjected it in hope. There are black clouds of God's wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder; and were it not for the restraining hand of God they would immediately burst forth upon you. The sovereign pleasure of God, of the present, stays his rough wind, otherwise it would come like a whirlwind, and would be like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor. The wrath of God is like great waters that are restrained for the present; but they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped the more rapid and mighty is its course when once it is let loose. It is true, that judgment against your evil works has not been executed hitherto; the floods of God's vengeance have been withheld; but your guilt in the meantime is constantly increasing, and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of God that holds the waters back, that are unwilling to be stopped, and press hard to go forward. If God should only withdraw His hand from the flood-gate, it would immediately fly open, and the fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God, would rush forth with inconceivable fury, and would come upon you with omnipotent power; and if your strength were ten thousand times greater than it is, yea, ten thousand times greater than the strength of the stoutest, sturdiest devil in hell, it would be nothing to withstand or endure it. The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string; and justice directs the bow to your heart, and strains at the bow: and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being drunk with your blood. Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the might power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all you that never were born again, and made new creatures, and raised from the dead in sin, to a state of new, are in the hands of an anger God. However you may have reformed your life in many things and many have had religious affections, and may keep up a form of religion in your families and closets, and in the housed of God, it is nothing but His mere pleasure that keeps you from being this moment swallowed up in everlasting destruction. However unconvinced you may now be of the truth of what you hear, by and by you will be fully convinced of it. Those that are gone from being in the like circumstances with you,. see that it was so with them; for destruction came suddenly upon most of them; when they expected nothing of it, and while they were saying: Peace and safety. Now they see, that those things on which they depend for peace and safety, were nothing but thin air and empty shadows. The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much in the same way as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; His wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the fire; He is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in His eyes than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet, it is nothing else, that you did not go to hell last night; that you were suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep; and there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God's hand has held you up. There is no other reason to be given, while you have been reading this address, but His mercy; yea, no other reason can be given why you do not this very moment drop down into hell. O sinner, consider the fearful danger you are in! It is a great furnace of swath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of swath that you are held over in the hand of that God whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you as against may of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment. AND CONSIDER HERE MORE PARTICULARLY 1. Whose wrath it is. It is the wrath of the infinite God. If it were only the wrath of man, though it were of the most potent prince, it would be comparatively little to be regarded. The wrath of kings is very much dreaded, especially of absolute monarchs, l who have the possessions and lives of their subjects wholly in their power, to be disposed of at their mere will. Proverbs 20:2--"The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion; whoso provoketh him to anger, sinneth against his own soul." The subject who very much enrages an arbitrary prince, is liable to suffer the most extreme torments that human art can invent, or human power can inflict. But the greatest earthly potentates, in their greatest majesty and strength, and when clothed in their greatest terrors, are but feeble, despicable worms of the dust, in comparison with the great and almighty Creator and King of heaven and earth. It is but little that they can do, when most enraged, and when they have exerted the utmost of their fury. All the kings of the earth, before God, are as grasshoppers; they are nothing, and less than nothing; both their love and their hatred are to be despised. The wrath of the great King of kings, is as much more terrible than theirs, as his majesty is greater. "And I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them which kill the body, and after that, have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear; Fear him, which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell; yea; I say unto you. Fear him" --Luke 12:4,5. 2. It is the fierceness of his wrath that you are exposed to. We often read of the fury of God, as in Isaiah 59:18 --"According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries." So Isaiah 66:15 --"For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire." And so also in many other places. Thus we read of "the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God" --Revelation 19:15. The words are exceedingly terrible. If it had only been said, "the wrath of God," the words would have implied that which is unspeakably dreadful; but it is said, "the fierceness and wrath of God" --the fury of God! -- the fierceness of Jehovah! Oh how dreadful must that be! Who can utter or conceive what expressions carry in them? But it is also, "the fierceness and wrath of almighty God." As though there would be a very great manifestation of his almighty power in what the fierceness of his wrath should inflict; as though Omnipotence should be, as it were, enraged and exerted, as men are wont to exert their strength in the fierceness of their wrath., O then! What will be the consequence? What will become of the poor worm that shall suffer it? Whose hands can be strong; and whose heart can endure? To what a dreadful inexpressible, inconceivable depth of misery must the poor creature be sunk, who shall be the subject of this! Consider this, you that yet remain in an unregenerate state. That God will execute the fierceness of his anger, implies, that he will inflect wrath without any pity. When God beholds the ineffable extremity of your case, and sees your torment to be so vastly disproportioned to your strength, and sees how your poor soul is crushed, and sinks down, as it were, into an infinite gloom; he will have no compassion upon you, he will not forbear in the execution of his wrath, or in the least lighten his hand: there shall be no moderation or mercy, nor will God then at all stay his rough wind: he will have no regard to your welfare, nor be at all careful lest you should suffer too much in any other sense, than only that you shall not suffer beyond what strict justice requires. Nothing shall be withheld, because it is so hand of you to bear. "Therefore will I also deal in fury mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; an though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them" --Ezekiel 8:18. Now, God stands ready to pity you; this is the day of mercy; you may now cry with some encouragement of obtaining mercy. But when once the day of mercy is passed, your most lamentable and dolorous cries and shrieks will be in vain; you will be in vain; you will be wholly lost and thrown away of God, as to any regard to your welfare. God will have no other use to put you to, but to suffer misery; you may be continued in being to no other end! For you will be a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction; and there will be no other use of this vessel, but only to be filled full of wrath. God will be so far from pitying you when you cry to him, that it is said he will only "laugh and mock." "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me; for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: they would none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them" --Proverbs 1:24-32. How awful are those words of the great God. "I will tread them in mine anger, and will trample them in mine fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment" --Isaiah 63:3. It is, perhaps impossible to conceive of words that carry in them greater manifestations of these three things, namely, namely, contempt, hatred, and fierceness of indignation. If you cry to God to pit you, he will be so far from pitying you in your doleful case, or showing you the least reward of or favor, that instead of that, he will only tread you under foot; and though he will know that you cannot bear the weight of Omnipotence treading upon you, yet he will not regard that, but he will crush you under his feet without mercy. He will crush out your blood, and make it fly, and it shall be sprinkled on his garments, so as to stain all his raiment. He will not only hate you, but he will have you in the utmost contempt; no place shall be thought fit for you, but under his feet, to be trodden down as the mire of the streets. 3. The misery you are exposed to is that which God will inflict, to the end that he might show what the wrath of Jehovah is. Go hath had it on his heart to show to angels and men, both how excellent his love is, and also how terrible his wrath is. Sometimes earthly kings have a mind to show how terrible their wrath is, by the extreme punishments they would execute on those that provoked them. Nebuchadnezzar, that mighty and haughty monarch of the Chaldean empire, was willing to show his wrath, when enraged with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; and accordingly gave order that the burning, fiery furnace should be heated seven times hotter than it was before; doubtless, it was raised to the utmost degree of fierceness that human art could raise it. But the great God is also willing to show his wrath, and magnify his awful majesty and mighty power in the extreme suffering of his enemies. "What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?" --Romans 9:22. And seeing this is his design, and what he has determined, even to show how terrible the unmixed, unrestrained wrath, the fury and fierceness of Jehovah is, he will do it. There will be something accomplished and brought to pass that will be dreadfully witnessed. When the great and angry God hath risen up and executed his awful vengeance on the poor sinner, and the wretch is actually suffering the infinite weight and power of his indignation, then will God call upon the whole universe to behold the awful majesty and mighty power that is to be seen in it. "And the people shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut shall they be burned in the fire. Hear, ye that are afar off, what I have done; and ye that are afar off, what I have done; and ye that are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" --Isaiah 33:12-14. Thus is will be with you that are in an unconverted state, if you continue in it; the infinite might, and majesty, and terribleness of the omnipotent God, shall be magnified upon you in the ineffable strength of your torments. You shall be tormented in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and when you shall be in this state of suffering, the glorious inhabitants of heaven shall go forth and look on the awful spectacle, that they may see what the wrath and fierceness of the Almighty is; and when they have seen it, they will fall down and adore the great power and majesty. "And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring to all flesh" --Isaiah 66:23,24. 4. It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long forever, a boundless duration before you which will swallow up you thoughts, and amaze your souls; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverances, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all; you will know certainly that you must wear out long ages millions and millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. O, what can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: for "Who knoweth the power of God's anger?" How dreadful is the state of those who are daily and hourly in danger of this great wrath and infinite misery! But this is the dismal case of every soul that has not been born again, however moral and strict, sober and religious, they may otherwise be. Oh that you would consider it, whether you be young or old! There is reason to fear that there are many who will read this book, or have heard the gospel, who will actually be the subjects of this very misery to all eternity. We know not who they are, or what thoughts they now have. It may be they are now at ease, and hear all these things without much disturbance, and are now flattering themselves that they are not the persons, promising themselves that they are not the persons, promising themselves that they shall escape. If we knew the there was one person, and but one, of those that we know, that was to be the subject of this misery, what an awful thing it would be to think of! If we knew who it was, what an awful sight would it be to see such a person! How might every Christian lift up a lamentable and bitter cry over him! But alas! Instead of one, how many is it likely will remember these solemn reflections in hell! And some may be in hell in a very short time, before this year is out. And it would be no wonder if some readers, who are now in health, and quiet and secure, may be there before tomorrow morning. Those of you who finally continue in a natural condition who may keep out of hell the longest, will be there in a little time! Your damnation does not slumber; it will come swiftly, and in all probability, very suddenly, upon may of you. You have reason to wonder that you are not already in hell. It is doubtless the case of some whom you have seen and known, that never deserved hell more than you, and that heretofore appeared as likely to have been now alive as you. Their case is past all hope. They are crying in extreme misery and perfect despair; but here you are in the land of the living, blessed with Bibles and sabbaths, and ministers, and have an opportunity to obtain salvation. What would not those poor damned, hopeless souls give for one days opportunity such as you now enjoy? And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands calling, and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners, an day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing into the kingdom of God; many are daily coming from the east, west north, and south; many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in are now in a happy state with their hearts filled with love to Him who has loved them, an washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. How awful is it to be left behind at such a day and see so many others feasting while you are pining and perishing! To see so many rejoicing and singing for joy of heart, while you have cause to mourn for sorrow of heart, and to howl for vexation of spirit! How can you rest one moment in such a condition? Are not your souls as precious as the souls of those who are flocking from day to day to Christ? Are there not may who have lived long in the world, who are not to this day born again, and so are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and have nothing ever since they have lived, but treasured up wrath against the day of wrath? O sirs! Your case, in an especial manner, is extremely dangerous. Your guilt and hardness of heart are extremely great. Do not you see how generally persons of your years are passed over and left, in the dispensations of God's mercy? You had need to consider yourselves, and wake thoroughly out of sleep: you cannot bear the fierceness and wrath of the infinite God. And you, young man, and young woman, will you neglect this precious season which you now enjoy, when so many others of your age are renouncing all youthful vanities, and flocking to Christ? You especially have now an opportunity, but if you neglect it, it will soon be with you as it is with those persons who spent all the precious days of youth in sin, and are now come to such a dreadful pass in blindness and hardness. And you children, who are unconverted, do not you know that you are going down to hell, to bear the dreadful wrath of that God, who is now angry with you every day and every night? Will you be content to be the children of the devil, when so many of the children of the land are converted, and are becoming the holy and happy children of the King of kings? And let every one that is yet out of Christ, and hanging over the pit of hell, whether they be old men and women, or middle aged, or young people, or little children, now hearken to the loud calls of God's word and providence. This acceptable year of the Lord, a day of great mercy to some will doubtless be a day of as remarkable vengeance to others. Men's hearts harden, and their guilt increases apace at such a day as this, if they neglect their souls. Never was there a period when so many means were employed for the salvation of souls, and if you entirely neglect them, you will eternally curse the day of your birth. Now, undoubtedly it is, as it was in the days of John the Baptist, the axe is laid at the root of the trees, and every tree which brings not forth good fruit, may be hewn down, and cast into the fire. Therefore, let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and flee from the wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over every unregenerate sinner. Let every one flee out of Sodom --"Escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain lest you be consumed." ==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+ ========================================================= || END OF ARTICLE || ========================================================= "we ought even to hold as a fixed principle that what I see white I believe to be black, if the superior authorities define it to be so." -- Ignatius de Loyola =========================================================== || BEGINNING OF ARTICLE || =========================================================== Erratum "Errata", in the table of contents should read: "Erratum". ========================================================== || END OF ISSUE || ========================================================== Once again: ISSN: 1201-0111 The Nullifidian Volume Two, Number 1: FEB 1995. -- Autumn wind: Where there are humans Greg Erwin, pres., Humanist gods, Buddha-- you'll find flies, Association of Ottawa lies, lies, lies and Buddhas. ai815@freeenet.carleton.ca --Shiki --Issa godfree@magi.com