16
On the Eternal Fire of Hell.
from it and it will not grow less. Cain is now in hell for some thousands of years, but lie has not lessened his eternity by a moment; he can say: I have now been burning in hell for so many thousands of years; but he cannot say: now I have one hour less to suffer. Eternity remains just as long as it was when he first entered hell.
Explained by similes.
O my God! what is this that I hear? Is it then irrevocably fixed with Thee never for all eternity to release a lost soul out of hell? Allow me to propose some conditions to Thee. How long does it not take a snail to crawl a mile? Now do Thou, O Lord! keep a snail alive for the necessary time, allow him to change his position only once a year, and let him continue that until he has wandered over the whole earth; how many years he would take to do that Thou alone canst tell. But when all these years are at an end, will not the lost soul have suffered enough in hell? No; not enough yet. Create, O Lord! a heap of millet-seed as large as heaven and earth; let an ant come once every thousand years and take away one grain from the heap (ah, unhappy Cain, only five grains would now be taken away since you have been in hell!); how many years would elapse before a heap of grains as large as this church would be thus carried off, to say nothing of a heap great enough to fill heaven and earth? And yet, suppose it all carried away to the last grain, and it should come to an end some time; gracious God! even then shall there be no end to the fire of the damned? No: even then there shall be no end, and that fire shall burn as it did in the beginning. Mercy, O God! At least when the soul has suffered as long as it takes a sparrow, that is allowed merely to wet his beak but once in a hundred thousand years, as long as it takes him to drink dry all the rivers and seas in the worlds at least then, I say, Thy justice will be satisfied? No; there is no mercy to be hoped for! That soul must burn forever! Yet permit me once again; I will make eternity long enough for Thee! Suppose the whole earth to be one vast brazen ball, and Thou canst make it bo with one act of Thy will; let the lost soul come once in a million of years with a small hammer, and strike one blow at this ball, and continue that until he has worn away the whole mass; wilt Thou allow that soul to burn all that time? Truly I will! But when that time is at an end, will not that suffice? Hear, ye reprobate, at the end of that long period you will be released! Are you satisfied? Ah, would that even that hope