spiritual or figurative sense, then the reference to gehenna must be taken

figuratively also.  We must not omit to draw attention to the fact that the

Lord speaks of the 'perishing' of one member, in contrast to the whole body

being cast into hell.  If He knew that the body that was cast into hell would

never perish, how can we explain this apparently misleading word?  Then

again, those who teach eternal torment stress that hell is the place to which

the never -dying souls of men go, whereas the Lord unhesitatingly speaks of

the body.  Nor is this all, the next reference reveals the utterly wrong

conception that is held by orthodoxy, for in Matthew 10:28 we read:

'Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul:

but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in

For believing and for teaching this as truth, men of God have been

branded as heretics of the deepest dye.  Here it is taught that the soul as

well as the body can be destroyed in gehenna, and if that truth were held by

the church of God this article would be unnecessary.

Matthew 10:28 does not teach that the soul is immortal, but affirms,

with the rest of Scripture, that 'the soul that sinneth, it shall die'.  It

teaches that destruction and not torment is the punishment of hell, and its

presence in the Scriptures is a standing witness against those who virtually

make void the Word of God that they may keep their traditions, however

honestly those traditions may be held.

It may be objected that until we have included the teaching of Matthew

25, we, too, are exposed to the charge of bias.  Now it cannot be that one

can hold Matthew 10:28 and deny Matthew 25, any more than one can hold

Matthew 25 to the exclusion of Matthew 10:28.  Both passages must be held as

truth, and held together; destruction of soul and body not being understood

in such a way that 'everlasting punishment' be denied, and everlasting

punishment must not be so understood that it makes one single word of Matthew

10 untrue, unnecessary, or even undesirable.

We found that the ignoring of the context was responsible for a good

deal of untenable teaching being foisted upon Matthew 5, and we shall surely

find that a survey of the whole passage that contains the one and only

reference to everlasting punishment in the Scriptures will illuminate the

passage with true and certain light.  Matthew 24 and 25 form one section, and

must be read together.  Three questions were asked, and three answers were

The Questions. -- 'When shall these things be? and what shall be the

sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world

(age)?' (Matt. 24:3).

The Answers.--

'The end' (24:4 -24.  See verses 6,8,13,14).

'The sign' (24:25 -35.  See verses 27, 30, 33).

'When shall these things be?' (24:36-41.  See verses