There are perhaps no texts or verses of the Bible which furnish more ground for the conception of eternal punishment, or upon which this doctrine is more especially based, than thethirty-second and thirty-third verses of the 12th chapter of Matthew:
"Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come."
To get a correct understanding of the meaning of these verses, it is necessary, and we suppose quite admissable, to consider the use and significance of the language employed. All previous interpretations surely have been arrived at in this way. The translators from the original tongues were obliged, in making their translations, to give the best meaning they were able to the terms employed in such original tongues, and inasmuch as there are varied meanings attaching to nearly all of the original words, they very naturally selected such rendition as would give the clearest and best meaning from their standpoint. It is therefore of the first importance that we know as best we can, whether or not the translation is made from the true standpoint.
