The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1
V. Wicked Cease and Wrong Disappears Forever
1. WICKED WILL CEASE TO EXIST
Turning to the “Commentary on Psalm 37” (Fragment A: col. i), verse 10—“Yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be. Though I look well at his place, he shall not be”—the commentator in the Qumran scroll says, “They shall cease to exist, and no wicked man shall be found on earth.” 70 CFF1 752.2
2. FINAL CLASH OF GOOD AND EVIL
The “Triumph of God” in the final age portrays “The War of the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness.” In the Prologue (i, 1-17), the battle it pictured as between the “Sons of Light” and the “host of Belial.” 71 As to the forces engaged in that final clash the writer says, “For [with Thee] in heaven are a multitude of holy beings, and armies of angels are in Thy holy abode, to [serve as] Thy [legionaries]; and down on earth Thou hast [likewise] placed at Thy service the elect of an holy people.” Then he speaks of the “charter of [Eternal] Life—an assurance that throughout all the epochs of time Thou wilt be their king.” 72 Next, in contrast with the “Angel of Light,” and his “spirits of truth” he speaks of Belial, the “angel of hostility,” and his evil “angels of destruction,” following the “laws of darkness.” 73 CFF1 752.3
3. “EVERLASTING REDEMPTION” VS. “ANNIHILATION.”
Then, in “Preparations for Battle” (xv, 1, 2), after speaking of the “time of trouble for Israel,” and of the “[visita]tion of war upon all nations,” the writer adds: “They that have cast their lot with God shall [be blessed] with everlasting redemption, but annihilation shall overtake all the wicked nations.” 74 CFF1 753.1
Similarly, in the “New Covenant” (Column 1), in contrasting the “wicked” and the “righteous,” the further words appear, “[Thou wilt make] an end of all that oppress us.” 75 CFF1 753.2
4. WRONG WILL DISAPPEAR FOREVER
And finally, in The Coming Doom the writer closes by declaring: CFF1 753.3
“Wrong is going to depart before Right, as darkness departs before light. As smoke disappears and is no more, so will Wrong disappear forever. But Right will be revealed like the sun .... The thing is certain to come. The prophecy is true, and by this you may know that it will not be revoked.” 76 CFF1 753.4
Such is the sustained Conditionalist emphasis of these remarkable scrolls of Qumran written in a time of change and uncertainty in other sections of Jewry. The Old Testament refrain echoes and re-echoes throughout these writings in direct antithesis to the contemporary contentions of Philo of Alexandria, noted exponent of Immortal-Soulism for all and Eternal Torment for the incorrigibly wicked. The contrast could not be more complete or vital. Two schools of thought prevailed as the period of the Old Testament gave way to the New. CFF1 753.5
5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GREAT DIGRESSION IN JEWRY
Thus we rest our case after presenting the fateful intrusion of Platonic philosophy into the Alexandrian wing of the Jewish Church, nevertheless paralleled by the refreshing fidelity of others in Palestine to the historical positions of the Old Testament Scriptures on the true nature and destiny of man. The great departure has been witnessed. The split over basic concepts concerning the soul has become a reality—not only permanently affecting the Jews but soon destined tragically to influence the rapidly expanding Christian Church as well. CFF1 753.6
Alexandria, scene of the Jewish departure, is before too long to become the spawning ground of a similar devastation of faith on the part of a large segment of the Christian Church. The new concepts were introduced by converts from the ranks of Neoplatonic philosophy, trained in or influenced by the Alexandrian ideology and appeal. These they brought with them into the church they had espoused. And these converts soon became the leaders in the digression. It is a story without a parallel in the annals of two great related churches. It is the record of the successful impact of a fascinating fallacy that captivated the mind and has so changed the course of thought as to become predominant throughout the Christian Era. It presents a virility unmatched in the annals of these paralleling religious movements. CFF1 754.1