Mocking Eternal Torment to Christ's Face
The newspaper mocks eternal torment as immortal-soulism come to seed: biblical doctrine? Never, never! But it was Christ Himself who taught eternal punishment in Matthew 25:46.
Por Rodrigo Custódio ·
The moment
On Thursday, October 21, 1880, the Signs of the Times of Oakland, California — vol. 6, no. 39 — carried on page 461 the article "The Horrible Doctrine," signed by Elder D. T. Taylor. The title already announces the program: to treat the doctrine of eternal torment not as an error to be refuted, but as a horror to be exposed to ridicule.
The article's method is caricature. Taylor transcribes long passages from "Vision of Hell," a book by Father Furniss recommended for children in Catholic Sunday schools: "A dress of fire" — a girl with dress, cap and body in flames; "A boy boiling" — blood boiling in the veins, the brain bubbling in the head; "A roasted baby" — a baby in a red-hot oven, kicking its little feet against the oven floor, despair stamped on its face. Grotesque descriptions, made to frighten children.
After displaying the scenes, the article closes with a quotation from the periodical Bible Banner, adopted as the final verdict: "But enough. Here we have immortal-soulism and endless suffering come to seed. Is this biblical doctrine? Never, never!" The mockery is sealed with a double "never" — no exegesis, no biblical text, only scorn presented as argument.
Note honestly: the "Never, never!" is a phrase from the Bible Banner, not from Taylor. But Taylor quotes it approvingly as the close of his article, and the Signs of the Times publishes it as its own. The mockery is endorsed by the publication — the newspaper laughs along, and the laughter is the refutation.
Abandoned interior of a wooden chapel with empty pews — atmospheric illustration.
The absurdity
Mocking the doctrine of eternal punishment by attacking its most grotesque caricature. Instead of confronting Christ's words about judgment, the article displays the morbid fantasies of a Catholic children's book — and laughs. The phrase "come to seed" treats eternal torment as a rotting relic, something enlightened people no longer speak of. And the double "Never, never!" dispenses with proof: scorn replaces Scripture. Here is the close of the article, with the exact words of the print — the entire method of the text: to exchange exegesis for scorn:
"But enough. Here we have immortal-soulism and endless suffering come to seed. Is this biblical doctrine? Never, never! — Bible Banner."
Source: Signs of the Times, vol. 6, no. 39, October 21, 1880 — p. 461.
Highlighted clipping of the printed page with the quoted passage, edition of October 21, 1880, p. 461.
Why this is serious
The tactic is dishonest: to ridicule the crudest version in order to bring down the true doctrine. No one defends Father Furniss's "roasted baby" as theology — but the article pretends that, by laughing at the children's book, it has refuted eternal punishment. It is the classic straw man: one builds a cartoon hell, sets the dummy on fire, and declares victory over the doctrine. Christ's words about judgment do not even enter the scene — the newspaper prefers to quarrel with the priest.
The label "immortal-soulism" is the second trick. Turning the doctrine into an "-ism" with a foreign name makes the reader feel that it is imported philosophy, not biblical teaching. But eternal punishment was not born of any "-ism": it was born from the lips of Jesus. Labeling does not refute; it merely disqualifies by association, dispensing with the work of opening the Bible.
And the double "Never, never!" reveals the emptiness of the argument. A serious refutation would show texts, context, exegesis. The article shows scenes of childish terror and closes with a typographic laugh. When scorn replaces Scripture, the reader has not been convinced — only trained to laugh instead of examine. Laughing is easier than studying; the newspaper chose the easy path.
The most serious thing, however, is the real target of the mockery. The article does not laugh only at Father Furniss — it laughs at the doctrine Christ taught with solemnity. "Never, never!" is biblical doctrine, says the newspaper. But it was Jesus Himself who said: "these will go away into eternal punishment" (Mt 25:46). To mock eternal torment is to mock Christ to His face — and the newspaper's "Never, never!" collides head-on with the Lord's "truly I say to you."
Wooden floor covered with dry seeds in an abandoned building — atmospheric illustration.
The verdict of the Scriptures
Matthew 25:46 records the words of Christ Himself: "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." The same adjective — "eternal" — qualifies the punishment and the life, in the same sentence, from the same mouth. Whoever denies the eternity of punishment, by the logic of the verse, denies the eternity of life. There is no way to keep one and discard the other without tearing Jesus' sentence in half.
Revelation 20:10 confirms it: the condemned "will be tormented day and night forever and ever." And Revelation 14:11: "the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night." Day and night, without rest, forever and ever — the Bible leaves no room for the newspaper's "never." The doctrine does not depend on Father Furniss or on any "-ism": it is written in black and white in the last book of the Bible.
Jesus repeated the teaching with solemnity in Mark 9:43-48: "where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched" — three times in the same passage, like one engraving the truth on the memory of his hearers. This is not a description from a children's book; it is the Lord describing the destiny of those who reject God. In the face of this, the newspaper's "come to seed" sounds like what it is: scorn in the presence of Christ's solemnity.
The question of the Bible Banner — "Is this biblical doctrine?" — has an answer, and it comes from the mouth of Jesus: yes. Yes, the punishment is eternal; yes, the torment is conscious; yes, it was Christ who taught it. The newspaper's "Never, never!" is therefore a "never" spoken against the "truly I say to you" of the Son of God. Between the two, the believer chooses: either laugh with the newspaper, or tremble with the Word — and believe what Christ said.