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Tous les autres exemplaires origmaux sont filmds en commengant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaTtra sur la dernidre image de c\ aque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ^ signifie "A SUIVRE " le symbols V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Stre tilmds d des taux de r6duction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour §tre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est film6 d partir del angle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre dimages ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 32X I N HI y IMMORTALITY versnailHlL ATM: AN INQUIRY CONOBRNINO THE NATURE AND DESTINY OP THE HUMAN SOUL. BY \YTLLTAM JACKSON, WK8LKYAN MBTHODIST MIKI8TEB. MELBOURNE, F. Q. " There is a Spirit in Man."-JoB. u Absent from the body, present with the Lord -^aul. .. These shall go away into everlasting pumshmeat. -Jksus. F. E. GRAFTON, 182 ST. JAMES STREET. 1872. / ' Entered, according to the Act of the Provincial Parliament, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, by Rbv. Wm. Jackson, in the OflBce of the Registrar of the Dominion of Canada. PRINTED AND BOUND BT JOHN LOVELL, 23 ST. NlOHOLAa ST., MONTREAL. PEEFACE. The need of such a book as this, at the present time, is a question upon which there cannot be two opinions. Many of the works in circulation on this subject are so lare dead, but of the living 78 § 4. The rich man and Lazarus 80 § 6. The penitent thief 99 § 6. Stephen's dying prayer. . . 105 § 7. Absent from the body, present with the Lord 107 § 8. Paul in the third heaven 110 § 9. Part of God's Church now In heaven 113 §10. Paul's desire to depirt and be with Clirist 115 § 11. The spirits in prison 120 § 12. Tiie souls of the martyrs under the altar 123 § 13. A description of the present condition of the pious dead 1-5 § 14. The blessed dead 129 ^' CONTENTS, vii CHAPTER Iir. DIRECT TESTIMONY OF THE OLD TEBTAMrST. § 1. The Tatriarcha gntlien d to their Fathers 132 i 2. The conduct of David on the loss of his child 188 § 3. Chrif.t'8 soul not left in holl . I44 § 4. The spirit returns to God at death 149 J 6, Meaning ol the word "sleep " when applied to the dead. ... 148 CHAPTER IV. Objections AWBWEBED 151 CHAPTER V. TESTIMONY OF THE JEWS AND EARLY CHRISTIANS. § 1. 'lestlmouy of the Jew« 162 $ 2. Ttstimouy of the early Fathers 164 PART III. THE FINAL CONDITION OF THE WICKED. CHAPTER I. The position stated , 179 CHAPTER II. ANinmLATIOKISTS' USB of ScBIPTUBK TXBM8 XXAJCIirXD. . 181 CHAPTER III. ThX final PUNISHMSNT of the wicked will consist TBI coMsoioua buffebino 195 viii CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. PAGB The OONflOIOTTS STTFPKRINO of the finally IMPENITKNt" WILL BE HTIIIOTLT AND LITERALLY ETERNAL 218 CHAPTER V. Concluding observations 242 APPENDIX. A. The true and proper Dkitt of Christ 249 B. Dkity and personality of the Holy Ghost 261 I PART I. THE HUMAN SOUL SPIRITUAL SUBSISTENCE. 1 ! CHAPTER 1. THE POSITION STATED. 1. The whole of creation, sc far as we know, is composed of two distinct substances , viz., matter and spirit. These substances possess ittributes entirely differert from each other, attributes which serve to distinguish the one from the other. Of the essence of these two substances we are utterly igno- rant ; we only know them by their attributes. Matter possesses such properties as extension, figure, divisi- biUty, attraction, inertness, &c. Spirit possesses such properties as perception, reason, conscience, will, &c. These properties are never fount, commingling with each other ; or, in other words, one of these substances never manifests the properties of the other. Their contrariety of nature is so strongly marked that they cannot be made to coalesce. Now, of which of these two elemental substances is man com- posed ? Is he a material or a spiritual being ? Answers as diverse as the poles have been given to these inquiries. Baron Swedenborg, a learned and pious Swede, taught that man is only a spirit. According to this 12 THE HUMAN SOUL writer, the body is not an essential part of man, and is at death to be laid aside for ever. This is in substance the theory advocated by Dr. Bush. We regard this doctrine as contrary to Scripture as it is to the evidence of our own senses. 3. Dr. Edward Beecher, in his " Conflict of Ages," teaches a theory somewhat ditferent to the above, which may be briefly stated thus : When man was first created, he was a pure spirit, but failing in his first probation, a material body was prepared for him, and he was sent into this world to try again. Some of the reviewers of Dr. Beecher seem to regard the idea as originating with him, but this is a mistake. In one form or other, it has existed in the Church from the beginning of the third century. The germ of the theory may be found in the Grecian philosophy. In modern times, the Germans have shown it some favor; but it is well nigh abandoned now, even by them. Not only are the Scriptures silent on the pre-existence of the human soul, but such a notion is at variance with many of the plainest of its state- ments. It is impossible to accept tliis theory and at the same time believe the Bible account of the crea- tion of man and the origin of evil. 4. In direct opposition to the above theowes there is another which tells us that man is wholly a material being. This theory is far more widely diffused at present than the others, and is far more dangerous in its tendency. Messrs. Dobney, White, Ham, and r i I I \ A SPIRITUAL SUBSISTENCE, 13 r ! Moncrieff, in Great Britain ; and Hudson, Hastings, Stors, Ellis, R(3ad, Blain and Grant, in America, are among its principal advocates. This theory is known among theologians as Materialism. As we purpose to examine this theory at length, we subjoin a state- ment of it in the words of its avowed advocates : ** The manifestations of the soul, of life, of mind, of sight, thought, feeling, love and envy, and the effects of electricity, sound, heat, and so on, are all alike the effects of physical, or, if you please, of mate- rial causes."* Again, the same autlior says, " Man is dependent upon his organization for all his thoughts, feelings, sensations, and for all the developments of his soul, or life."f "■ For the production of any mental or moral action, there is required a body, brains, lierve-fibre, and bright-red arterial blood. "J (A sheep has all the elements and powers mentioned in the last extract ; therefore, according to Mr. Moncrieif, a sheep is capable not only of mental but moral action. An angel, according to Christ, has neither flesh nor bones ; therefore, according to the above writer, an angel is incapable of either mental or moral action. This is indeed "/oo?osophy.") Another author of the same school goes so far as to degrade man into a mere machine. " The bones, muscles, blood-vessels, blood, nerves, and brain constitute a * Reid's " Immateriality of the Soul," p. 4. t Ibid. X MoncriefiTs " Dialogues on Future Punishment," p. 24. 14 THE HUMAN SOUL thinking and feeling machine working on cheraical and mechanical principles.'* This is a fair view of the T)hilosophy of materiahsts as stated by themselves. The reader will bear them in mind throughout the discussion. 5. In opposition to all these theories, we believe man possesses both a material and a spiritual nature. In popular language, he has both a body and a soul. This we regard as the teaching of sound philosophy and Scripture. We shall therefore proceed to the proof of our position froiu both these sources. y mmsm A SPIRITUAL SUBSISTENCE, 15 d 8. 3. 1. t k CHAPTER II. THE PHILOSOPHIC ARGUMENT. SECTION I. S-ALSK ASSUMPTIONS OF MATERIALISTS. The theory of the materialist is built upon the false assumption that man's power of thought and will is the result of his physical organization, just as the power of the steam engine is the result of well adapt- ed machinery. But we must remember that the machinery modifies as well as originates the power of the steam engine. With man, the case is just the reverse ; his mental power controls his physical organ- ization. If thought and will were the result of his organization, then the physical organization would control his power of thought and will ; but this is con- trary to experience. We are daily conscious of the power of the soul to control the body ; nay, so strong is the rule which the soul exercises over the body, that even its animal appetites are subject to the human will. If, therefore, we accept the idea of the materialist, we shall be forced into the ridiculous conclusion that the eflfect controls the cause. Reid says, " This foolish opinion could only take its rise from observing the constant connection which 16 TBE HUMAN SOUL the Author of nature has estabhshed between certain impressions made upon our senses, and our perception of the objects by which the impression is made ; from which they weakly inferred, those impressions were the proper efficient causes of the corresponding per- ception, " But no reasoning is more fallacious than this, that, because two things are always conjoined, there- fore one must be the cause of the other. Day and night have been joined in a constant succession since the beginning of the world ; but who is so foolish as to conclude from this that day is the cause of night, or night the cause of the following day ? There is indeed nothing more ridiculous than to imagine (hat any motion or modification of matter should produce thought, " If one should tell of a telescope so exactly made as to have the power of seeing ; of a whispering gallery that had the power of hearing ; of a cabinet so nicely framed as to have the power of memory; or of a machine so delicate as to feel pain when it was touched ; such absurdities are so shocking to common sense, that they would not find behef even among savages ; yet it is the same absurdity to think that the impressions of external objects upon the machine of our bodies can be the real efficient cause of thought and percep- tion."* -f f * " Intellectual Powers of Man," Essay II., chap, iii., sec. I. A SPIRITUAL SUBSISTENCE. 17 From this, then, we conclude that the soul, though dwelling in the body, is distinct from it and of a nature totally different. SECTION II. S THE 80UL IS NOT SUBJECT TO THE ACCIDENTS OF THE BODT, KEITHER DO THEY AFFECT ITS POWERS OF OPEUATION. If man were dependent on his physical organization for his mental power, then we might naturally infer that, as the body becomes enfeebled by age or disease, the mind would suffer in proportion, and this with out an exceptional case. But is this according to fact ? Does the mind uniformly siidc with the body ? Does the material organization drag the intellect with it in its earthward tendency ? Nay ! often, as the hour of death draws near, the intellect asserts not only its supremacy, but its independence of the organ- ization. While the body sinks under the influence of disease and death, the intellect soars superior to either. Dr. Clark says that Dr. Fisk exclaimed, when dying, " I now feel a strength of soul and an energy of mind which this body, though afflicted and pained, can- not impair. The soul has an entrgy of its own. And so far from my body pressing my soul down to the dust, I feel as if my soul had almost power to raise the body upwards and bear it away." * He says of the Rev. Alanson Reed, half an hour before he died, that he spoke to him in person thus : " I know full « « Man All Immortal," p. G3. 18 THE HUMAN SOUL well that I am at the point of death, but the idea of the spirit being extinguished in death is utterly incon- ceivable. The soul is going forth, but it has no con- sciousness of dying; rather the consciousness of living on rises above every other feeling, and it is impossible for me to doubt." * Halyburton said to a minister " I think my case is a pretty fair demonstration of the immortality of the soul. My hones are rising through my skin. The body is going away to corruption, and yet my intellectuals are so lively, that I cannot per- ceive the least alteration or decay in them."f Th5re are few men but what instancies of this kind have come under their observation at one time or another. Now, if the intellectual nature of man were the mere result of physical organization, this kind of thing could not occur. As the " machine^^ wore out, its power or force would of necessity be dimin- ished. But this is not the case, of which the above- mentioned facts are proof. Therefore we* conclude that man is not " dependent upon his physical organiza- tion for all his mental and moral phenomena." From facts like the above, we learn that the soul is indepen- dent of the body — that it remains uninjured by the accidents to which the body is liable. This would be impossible if it were the result of physical organization. As Butler remarks : '* It does not appear that the relation of this gross body to the reflective being is, in * « Man All Immortal," p. 68. tibid. A SPIRITUAL SUBSISTENCE. 19 any degree, necessary to thinking ; to our intellectual enjoyments or sufferings ; nor, consequently, that the dissolution or alienation of the former by death will be the destruction of those present powers, which render us capable of this state of reflection." * That in some cases men drivel into a second child- hood, or lose their intellectual power by injuries or disease, we are quite willing to admit. It is only what we might expect from the circumstances of the case, and it leaves our argument untouched. The body is the house in which the soul dwells, the medium through which it acts. Destroy the eyes of man and he can no longer see the objects around him. No one will pretend that you have destroyed the power of the mind to see. You have only destroyed the organ through which it sees, and not the power of sight. It is not the eye that sees, it is the soul, which uses the eye as an instrument. The same may be said of most of the senses. Destrov the ear and the soul has no perceivable method of hearing^ but you have not destroyed its inherent power of hearing, only the instrument it employs for that purpose. When we come to speak of the human brain this idea will be more fully developed. FroTii what has been already said, we perceive that the soul is as distinct from the body as the agent is from the instrument he em- ploys. « « Analogy," Part I., chap, i., sec. 3. 20 THE HUMAN SOUL SPXTION III. !■ TUK MATKRIALIBTIO PHILOSOPHY IS DESTIlUOnVK OF PKR80NAL IDKNTITY. If man Avcre -wholly a material being, there could not be anything like permanent personal identity, for, as Dr. Reid remarks, ** All mankind place their per- sonality in something that cannot be divided^ or con- sist of parts." * The human body, however, is not only formed of parts, but of parts which are in a cons^tant state of change. According to established facts in the science of pljysiology, our entire bodies are renewed every seven years. Every hour the physical man throws away part of his substance and something new takes its place. But amid all the changes that come over our physical organization, we are conscious of retaining our personal identity. Tliough every element of our bodies may have changed again and again, we are conscious that we are the same in person as when we were children. If, therefore, man retains his per- sonal identity while his body is in a constant state of change, he must have a nature other than material. " Identity supposes an uninterrupted continuance of existence. That which has ceasad to exist cannot be the same with that which afterwards begins to exist ; for this would be to suppose a being to exist af<"er it ceased to exist, and to have had existence before it was produced, which are manifest contradic- tions. Continued uninterrupted existence is therefore • " Intellectual Powers of Man," p. 242. A SPIRITUAL SUBSISTENCE. 21 necefmrily implied in identity." * Personal identity, then, cannot consist in our material bodies, for they are not the same as they were yesterday, nor in amj part the same as they were seven years ago. Only by a recognition of this fact can we punish a man for a crime which he committed ten or twenty years before, Ilis mere physical organization is not the same in any single particle of it ; but he is the same identical man who committed the crime, and, as such, we punish him. If the theory of our opponents were true in this case, we should not punish the man who committed the crime but some other man. The reader will see then, how, in practical life, we adopt the soundest philosophy concerning personal identity. We do not regard the body as the man, only as the instru- ment, and we look for his identity in something else, something that does net change or consist of parts. Such we conceive the human soul to be. The argu- ments of Butler on this subject are unanswerable. (See "Analogy," Part I., chap, i., sec. 2.) SECTION IV. THE BRAIN 18 BUT TIIK OUOAN OF THE SOUL. The brain is the organ which materialists suppose to be the originator of thought and action. We readily grant that it is the organ through which the soul acts — it is the instrument by which it carries on its work ; but that it originates either thought or action we utterly deny. Ihis is to confound the instrument * "Intellectual Powers of Man," p. 241. 22 THE HUMAN SOUL with the person who uses it — the channel with the river that flows therein. What is the hrain but matter? If you analyze it you find that it is mostly water, with a small portion of albumen, acids, salts, phosphorus and sulphur. Now all these substances possess the proper- ties of matter. This combination gives them no new attributes. It these substances do not possess the power of thought in themselves, no combination can give it to them. Though combined they are matter, and possess all the properties of matter, and no others. But thought, will, and action, cannot be predicated of matter, because they are not among its properties. But man thinks, wills and acts, therefore, he must possess a nature other than material. The facts brought to light by the progress of the science of physiology all go to prove the correctness of our position. From well-authenticated facts, we learn that any part of the human brain may be diseased while the power to think and feel is unimpaired. Dr. . Mattison refers to a remarkable case whicli appeared in the Medical and Pkydological Commentaries^ which I will transcribe f :r the benefit of the reader : " A lad, aged eleven years, received a kick from a horse, which fractured the froi^tal bone. In two hours after he recovered every faculty of his mind, and they continued vigorous for six weeks, and to the hour of his death, which took place on the forty-third day. He sat up every day, often walked to the win- dow, frequently laughed at the gambols of the boys in A SPIRITUAL SUBSISTENCE. 23 the siioots, &c. On dissection, the space of tlie skull previously occupied by the rijht anterior and middle lobes of the cerebrum presented a perfect cavity, filled with sero-purulent matter, the lobe having been destroyed by suppuration. The third lobe was much disorganised. The left hemisphere was in a state of ramollisscment (softening) down to the corpus calloaum." Dr. Clark mentions a case from Dr. Fer- rier, of a man who retained his intellectual faculties to the last moment of his life. When dissected, it was found that the whole of the right hemisphere was destroyed by suppuration. We have open before us, as we write. Dr. Abercrombie's work on '' The Brain." It would be easy to select any number of illustrations, but we must confine ourselves to a very few. In the case of a man who retained his intellect and speech entire up to the time of dying, on dissection, *' there appeared on the mid .le of the right hemisphere a remarkable depression, which, when cut into, was found to arise from an extensive mass of pure ramol- hssement — the part being in a state of a soft white pulp, without any appearance of pus, and without fetor; it extended the whole depth of the hemisphere." Of another case the Dr. says : '' At my last visit he had raised himself in bed with little assistance, answered questions distinctly, and knew every person about him." In this case it was found on dissection that " the whole of the posterior part of the left hemisphere of the brain was one mass of undefined suppuration. rn r 24 THE HUMAN SOUL u ill There was considerable deposition of coagulable lymph on the surface of the brain in several places, especially under the anterior lobes. Tliere was a very small quan- tity of fluid in the ventricles, aiid considerable ramoUi's- sement of the fornix. In the substance of the brain, near th'^ base, there was a small tumor of an ash colour, which contained a cheesy matter, approaching to suppuration." One other case must suffice. A lady who had been spending an evening with some friends, returned home and was found dead in her room the next morning at eight o'clock. Dr. Aber- crom.bie mves the followinii; account of the dissection : " The brain externally appeared healthy, but when a thin section was cut from the upper part of the left hemisphere, a cavity was exposed, through which a probe passed in every direction without any resistance, through nearly the whole extent of the hemisphere. This, upon further examination, v as found to arise from the whole hemisphere being in such a remarkable state of decomposition or softening, that it formed one great cyst, full of soft pultaceous mattf r, enclosed in a very thin covering, formed by the healthy cerebral matter on the surface. ...,..,. It appeared to every one who witnessed the dissection, that the left hemi- sphere had been considerably enlarged, and the right diminished in proportion, the falx being sensibly pressed towards the right side." Before we read the work from which we have quot- ed these facts, we were quite inclined to doubt the l|^: A SPIRITUAL SUBSISTENCE. 25 truth of the statements of the French anatomists on this subject; but if it were in harmony with our design, we couhi substantiate the statement of Morgani and Haller, who tell us that " every part of the brain has been found to be destroyed, in one ini ance or another, while yet the individuals have not been deprived of mind, or even atfected in their intellectual powers." The exceptional cases cited by our opponents, in which, to all appearance, the power of thought has been suspended by injuries on the liead,only serve to prove the rule. If we were in a position to account for all the circumstances of these exceptional cases, ifc may be we should find that they do not conflict with the general rule. What, then, do these facts teach us but that, while the brain is the organ through which the soul acts, the soul possesses a distinct and independent power of its own ? The testimony of all sound philosophy is in favour of the twofold nature of man. He has a material body and a reasonable soul. 26 THE HUMAN SOUL ill H: CHA.PTER III. THE SCRIPTURE ARGUMENT. SECTION I. DIRECT BCRIPTURK TESTIMOITT. It may not be out of place for us to remark that the only purpose for which we introduce the state- ments of Scripture at this stage of the argument, is to show how it everywhere recognizes the complex nature of man. It teaches that he is neither a pure spirit nor a mere material organization, but a compound of both. And we may also remark that we use the words soul and spirit to indicate the same thing. The first Scripture in which man is mentioned is Gen. i. 26, 27, '' And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness .... So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him." The question here is, in what did that image con- sist ? Certainly not in man's body, lor " God is a spirit ;" John iv. 24. In no conceivable sense can a material body be like a spirit. To this I know it is replied that man was created in the moral image of Cod. To deny this would be to contradict the plainest A SPIRITUAL SUBSISTENCE. 27 statements of Scripture. ( See Eph. iv. 24 ; Col. iii. 10, &c.) But if man was created in the moral image of God, he must, of necessity, possess the natural faculties for the reflection of that image. Now a mere material organization could not possess any moral quality, or perform any moral action. In con- nection with the material, therefore, man must possess a spirit nature, or he could never reJBlect the Divine image. In the account of the creation of man we read : Gen. ii. 7, '* And the Loi'd God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Here we have a distinct proof that the body was created first, was perfect in all its organization before the soal was added thereto. When God had '' formed man of the dust," then " He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." " He did not merely possess it," remarks Coleridge, " he became it. It was his proper being ; his truest self ; the man in the man. All ort^anized beiniiis have life in common, each after its kind. This, therefore, all animals possess, and man as an animal. But, in addition to this, God transferred into man a higher gift, and spe- cially inbreathed even a living — that is. self-subsisting — soul ; a soul having its life in itself." The writers of the materialistic school seem to regard this inspira- tion of the breath of the Almighty as the comma nicatiou of mere animal life. Now, if this supposition m II ii 28 THE HUMAN SOUL IIH'i be- true, what better is man than a mere animal ? All their show of criticism upon the original of the passage is not worth a straw. If the inferior animals are called " living creatures," an ass, for instance — is man no mere than that ? The whole of the Scri[)tures proceed upon the assumption that, united to the animal organi- zation of man, there is a spiritual subsistence, so closoly resembling in spirituality its Great Author, that it is spoken of as an " infusion of His breath." To accept the interpretation these writers put upon this text, we must not only believe in a material God, but that He also possesses an animal nature similar to our own. If the text is to be understood as the commu- nication or mere animal life, or breath, to man, then God must have lungs and breathe in a manner similar to ourselves. Unless we are prepared for a whole chain of absurdities like this, we must renounce the whole of this theory and the principles of criticism by which it is sustained. , If we turn to Zech. xii. 1, where the sacred writer refers to the account of the creation of man as given by Moses in the Book of Genesis, in such a way as serves to prove the correctness of our inter- pretation : " The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and fornieth the spirit of man within him." A reference to the context (v. 1-9) will show the reader the promises of protection it affords to the people of God. m mm A SPIRITUAL SUBSISTENCE. 29 The verse we have quoted gives them a threefold assurance of God's ability to protect them. This threefold assurance is the power of God as displayed in the creation of the heavens, the earth, and the " formation of the spirit of man within him." How does the creation of man display the Almighty power of God ? If it consisted in the mere formation of the body from the dust of the ground, it does not contain so rich a display of His Divine power as many objects around us. Materialists reason as though the display of Divine power, as intimated in this Scrip- ture, consisted in the formation of a machine from the dust which the Almighty set in motion by the inspira- tion of His breath. But God declares that it consisted in the "formation of the spirit of man within him." A work which He classes with the creation of the heavens and the earth. A work which displays His Divine power more than the heavens and the earth, because it is superior to them both. This cannot be said of the mere material organism of man. This passage, theiefore, ex|ilains the meaning of the expression in Gen. ii. 7, where God is said to have breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. This was no mere motive- power supplied to a mere machine, but the creation of a new existence. It was *' the formation of the spirit of man tvithin him." The word translated ^'formed " in this passage is often used in Scripture in the sense of creation. (See Gen. ii. 7, 8, 19 ; Psalm xciv. 9,&c.) 30 THE HUMAN SOUL \\ I : From this passage, therefore, we not only conclude that man possesses a spirit nature in union with a material organization, but that the creation of his spirit is of all God's works the most glorious, mani- festing both His wisdom and His power, as no material creation can. This passage must stand as the testi- mony of God against the doctrine of materialists. The same truth is taught in the same way in Isa. xlii. 5, which I need only quote : '' Thus saith God the Lord, He that created the heavens, and stretched them out ; He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it ; He that giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein.'* The same doctrine — that within man*s body there is a soul or spirit — is taught in the following passages of the Old Testament : Jobxiv. 22, " But his flesh upon him shall have pai«, and his wul within him shall mourn." Job xxxii. 8, " But there is a spirit IN man ; and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding." Isaiah xxvi. 9, '^ With my 802tl have I desired thee in the night ; yea, with my apirit within me will I seek thee early." Such is the teaching of the Old Testament on this important subject. It gives no sanction whatever to the notion that man is a mere material organization. It recog- nizes everywhere that his nature is twofold, viz., material and spiritual. More emphatic, if possible, is the voice of the New Testament on this subject. Matt. x. 28, *' Fear not Ift ll - liXI I I) '^^IMltf, A SPIRITVAL SUBSISTENCE. 31 them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul ; but rather fear Ilira which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell." Here there is a dis- tinct recognition of the twofold nature of man, the "-body;' and the '^ souV Luke i. 46-47, *' An(i Mary said, my soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Here the words seem to be used interchangeably. If the soul of Mary magnified the Lord, and her spirit rejoiced in her Saviour, how say some that she possessed no such thing ? 1st Cor. ii. 11, '^ For what man knoweth the things ot a man, save the spirit of man that is within him ?'* Here it is expressly asserted that there is a spirit in man which thinks and knows. In the face of a Scrip- ture like this the doctrine of materialists is unten- able. 1st Cor. V. 5, "To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." 1st Cor. vi. 20, " Therefore gl^^rify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1st Cor. vii. 34, " The un- married woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit." 2nd Cor. vii. 1, " Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." According to these Scriptures ^and it would be easy to multiply them), man not only possesses a mate- 32 THE BUM SOVL !l rial organization called a bodi/^ but a spirit, which is the most essential part of his nature ; a spirit which thinks and knows ; a spirit capable of glorifying God and reflecting the holiness of His Divine nature ; a spirit which controls the body as it wills, thus demon- strating the superiority of its nature. 1st Thess. V. 23, " And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and bodi/ be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." The. philoso- phy on this subject, as taught in Greece at the time the Apostle wrote this Epistle, was as follows : — Man consists of three parts. First, spirit, in which they included the reason, conscience and will, which they believed to be immortal. Second, soul, in "which they included the sensations and passions which man possesses in common with the animals ; this they believed to perish with the body. Third, body, by "which they meant his material organization. Now, if this philosophy had been radically wrong, we cannot suppose that the Apostle would have lent his name to it. He was the champion of truth, the defender of the faith in apostolic times ; he was pre-eminent among his brethren in his zeal to preserve the truth from corruption. Yet we find him writing to a Church ■where this philosophy prevailed ; and, instead of warn ing them against the error, he adopts the formula of the philosophers, and prays that *' their whole spirit and soul and bodi/ may be preserved blameless wWiiiwiniUiiWiiiWini A SPIRITUAL SUBSISTENCE. 33 unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Such writers as Storrs, Ellis, Road, Blain, &c., when describing the doctrine we teach, are very fond of indulging in such epithets as, — '* Pagan notion," " Heathen fable ;" a doctrine which Christian teachers found in the " Philosophy of Plato and not in the Bible.' These things are beneath notice were it not for the influence they exert on a certain class of simple minds. Wherever we find it truth is one. In Plato or Paul truth is the same. Paul and Plato, the Bible and what some are pleaseil to call *' Heathen philosophy,'* are at one on the vital ques- tion of the constituent parts of man's nature. These sneers of materialists at the " Pagan philosophy " only betray the weakness of their cause. Conscious of their want of logic to sustain their theory, they try to blacken the good name of its opposite. But one thing the unprejudiced mind will always recognize, that calumny and argument are very different things. This agreement of Paul and Plato is manifest also in Heb. iv. 12, " For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow ; and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" This exposition is in harmony with the teaching of the early Fathers. Hagenbach meivlons this jjs the opiuion of Justin Martyr, Clement, Origen, &c.* * Hagenbach's " History of Doctrines," Vol. I., p. 149. ^ 34 THE HUMAN SOUL Some of the Fathers understood the term " iouV^ in 1st Thess. V. 23, as the connecting; link between the spiritual and material part of man's nature.* Knapp not only says '* This doctrine (trichotomy) was believed by mmy distin.L^uishod Christian teachers" in the early part of the Christian era ; but he also says that *' It seems to have been generally believed by those of a more deep and spiritual religion, and is at present the doctrine of the evangelical part of the Lutheran Church."! Ilahn gives the following scheme of the nature of man : — 1. 2. 3. Spirit. Soul. I Body. Peculiar to man, with r~7; ; ~ '"^ TT ', 777 ' I Uommon both to man and brute, with (a) Reason. (a) [Jnders landing. the same properties (6) Will. (i) Desire. as other matter, and (c) Conscience. (c) Feeling. the external senses. as principal attributes. t Those who make this division hold that man has not only the same power of apprehension, desire and feel- ing which is common to the animal creation, included in two and three of the above division, but that he also possesses a nature different in kind to theirs — a nature which raises him to the rank of a moral agent, which nature is indicated by number one in the above division. This division is reasonable and plain, and in perfect harmony with the inspired volume. ♦ Hagenbach's " History of Doctrines," p. 149. t Knapp's " Christian Theology," p. 180. t Ibid. p. 181. A SPIRITUAL SUBSISTENCE. 35 SECTION II. MATKRIALI8TI0 USE OP THE WORD SPIRIT " EXAMINED. Tha3 far we have ascertained from pliilosophy and Scripture that man is a complex bein,i^, possessing a material organization, and a soul or S[)irit, which not only animates the material organization, but which raises man above a mere animal to the nobility, privi- leges, and responsibilities of a m )ral agent. Such is man, and such arc the constituent elements of his nature. But materialisrs endeavour to explain away the meaning of the words '' soul " and '* spirit " by the adoption of a mode of criticism which Landis appro- priately calls the '* Democratic.''* By their plausible utterances, their perpetual juggling of words, and their base misrepresentations of Scripture, many unwary ones have been drawn away from the truth of the Gospel to the inventions of men. It will be necessary, therefore, to expose their fallacious method of dealing with God's Holy Word. We will ivy, first, to follow them in the construction they put upon the word '•'spirit.''^ '-i'hey start out with the proposition that " man is a mere corporeal organization," nothing more. " Spirit," say they, " is not a living entity." A writer belonging to this school says, the words translated spirit have the following significations : — " 1. They denote the air we breathe, which is essen- tial to sustain life. V, 36 THE HUMAN SOUL 2. A heitHj either good or evil. 8. An inji tenet' proceedin;^ from a being. 4. A Btate of fcelhtg in any individual.* " Now all this wo arc prepared to accept most heartily. But the above writer attempts by a kind of clever cunning, not by honest criticism or sound exegesis, to prove that this word is never applied to a conscious entity in man's nature. This word, how- ever, is often used by the sacred writers in such a way that it cannot be understood of anything but a conscious entity in man's body. Take some examples. Num. xvi., 22, *' And they fell upon their faces, and said, God, the God of the S[)irits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation ?" *' It will be observed," says the writer just quoted, "• that ' all flesh ' has a portion of this spirit or breath of life. All the animal creation have received the breath or spirit of life from the Creator, hence He is ' the God of spirits,' or breath, ' of all flesh.' "f But breath canr.ot be the signification of the word here. The whole drift of the passage precludes the possibility of such an interpretation. The fundamental idea in the word *' God " is a being who is the proper object of worship, as we shall have occasion to notice in the sequel ; but mere animals have not the necessary faculties to worship God. Therefore, the word ^'jiesh " in this * " The Spirit in Man," p 28. t Ibid, p 12. '^^'^^^WHWHPIIHIiPi A SPIRITUAL SUBSISTENCE. 87 text cannot be used in its \vi I 44 THE HUMAN SOUL Psalm xxvi. 9, " Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men." Nothing can be plainer than the distinction in this text between the life of the body and the soul of man. The Psalmist deprecated two evils ; one that had respect to his soul, and another that might occur to his life. There- fore the soul and the life are not the same thing, as often represented by materialists. Psalm xli. 4, " I said, Lord be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.'* Under Gen. i. 26, 27, we intimated that no mere material organization could be capable of moral actions, good or evil. In this Scripture, therefore, the word soul cannot apply to the whole man. His mere animal organization is as incapable of sin as the beasts that roam the forest. So far as sinning is con- cerned, the bo'ly can only be the servant of the soul. That which we call the soul is the only part of man's nature that is capabb of sin ; and here it is repre- sented as crying for mefcy. lljre again, then, the word soul is used to designate the inner and most essential part ot man's nature. Psalm xlii. 1, 2, 5, 6, 11. Here the Psalmist speaks of his soul '•'' punting al'tcr God;" '' thirsting for God ;" '' cast down," and '' disquieted within him." Not a single interpretation our opponents put upi)n this word will express its meaning in this psalm. It certainly does nut signify the whole man as they sometimes use the word, the Psalmist (ver. 6 and 11) A SPIRITUAL SUBSISTENCE. 45 speaks of it as the soul '^ within him." It cannot indicate the mere " life " of the body, for mere life has no power to think or know, to desire or be cast down and disquieted. Nor can the word mean ** desire," for the soul is here represented as the agent desiring God — " panting after him,'' " thirsting for him." The only signification the word will bear in this connection is that commonly put upon it. It signifies that within us which thinks and knows is capable of being cast down and dis- quieted. Psalm Ixvi. 9, " Which holdeth our &oal in life '' — niar;j:in, '•'' pntfeth our soul in life." Life, then, according to the Psalmist, cannot be the same thing as soul, notwithstanding our materialistic friends to the contrary. The reader must choose for himself whom he will believe. Again, in verse Iti, we rea him because of his belief in the pre-existence of the 3oul — a doctrine which is intimately connected with that of transmigration. This doctrine, in its various molifications, was the eTort of unassisted reason to grasp and work out the Scripture doctrine of atonement and final salvation. It was the invention of unaided reason in Search of a propitiatory offering for the sin of which it was oppressively conscious — for a means of purgation by which it might be fitted for intercourse with the Deity fr(»m whom its guilt and impurity had severed it. Absurd, therefore, as the doctrine may appear to us, it was an invention of unaided reason to satisfy man's greatest needs. That this doctrine had taken a deep hold upon the world before the advent of Christ there can be no doubt. It was one of the fundamental doctrines of faith in the Eastern world. It rested on a religious foundation, and Schlegel thinks that, from the earliest time, it was connected with the idea of retribution and sanctification. *' The soul, it is supposed, after having M^ BET^VEEN DEATh AND THE RESURRECTION. 67 the no Bs of been soiled and corrupted by its contact witii the body and the world, must expiate its sins by wandering, for an a[)pointed cycle, through various forms of uncon- genial matter. By enduring these penal sufferings for a long time it becomes purified, and prepared to mingle agaiu in the original pure fountains from which it proceeded. At the bottom of this whole beUef lies the deep and just feeling that, after man has wandered so faj* from God, in order to approach Ilim again he must travel with great labour through a long and dreary way ; and also the conviction that nothing which is imperfect or stained with sin can enter into the pure world of blessed spirits, or be for ever united with God." * SECTION III. THE SOUL IN AN UNCONSCIOUS STATE AFTKR DEATH. The first trace of this idea we find in the Christian Church was in the third century. It was first taught in Arabia by one Arnobius. (See the section on the Testimony of the Fathers.) This doctrine is as utterly repugnant to the instincts of the human heart as it is to the teaching of inspiration. " Surely that philo- sophy which rolls up the shadows of sleep from the grave's mouth to heaven's gates " can have no founda- tion in truth. " It might suffice it that the body sleeps, so soundly sleeps, that corruption's gnawing tooth does not awake itv And perhaps it needs the rest, foul as the bed is on which it lies. At all events, when we ♦Kuapp's " Christian Theology," p. 524. 58 ^mmmm^ CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL have wrapped it in its winding sheet and covered it over with the pressed mould, we do not look for any- thing else but that it will sleep out its slumber until the resurrection-trump shall awake it. But the soul which we wound in no shroud, nor enclosed in any coffin, nor buried in the loam — to tell us that it also b! "^eps, would be to quench some of our fondest long- ings, and to dry up one of the sweetest mitigants of our sorrow for the dead." * As we purpose to examine this theory at length, it may not be out of place to transcribe a statement of it by some of its most prominent advocates. " The soul has not and cannot have a conscious existence in- dependently of the organized being animated." '* All the dead are unconscious in their graves." " The compound being man becomes entirely unconscious in death."t ''The Bible teaches that man, the soul as well as the body, dies."^ " I think I am fairly per- mitted to affirm that what has already been advanced under the preceding sections is sufficiently definite and unmistakeable to justify the conclusion that both our Lord and His apostles taught no such doctrines as that the disembodied soul is the human personality, and that the soul or spirit exists after death in a state of con- sciousness ; but that, on the contrary, they taught the state of death to be a complete decease of the conscious being, and that the life will not be rekindled until the * " Unseen Realities," by Trail, t "Bible versus Tradition." X "Intermediate State," by Grew. BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 69 period of the resurrection. " * " The whole man, whatever are his component parts, suffers privation of Hfe in what we call death." ''The period which elapses between the time of death and the resurrection is spent in unconsciousness and inactivity ; the soul is either extinct or in a profound and dreamless sleep, forgetful of all that is past, ignorant of all that is around it, and regardless of all that is to come." These quotations are gathered from a variety of Eng- lish and American publications, and they will furnish the reader with a comprehensive view of the doctrine held by our opponents. Having stated the position in the words of our op- ponents, we do not wish to commit a fr'^quent blunder of theirs by begging the whole question, but proceed at once to the Scripture testimony. Before we do this, however, we would like to remind the reader of the argument to be derived from the first part of this volume. The idea of the unconscious state of the dead is built upon the assumption that the human soul is the result of material organization. To con- tradict this theory, sound philosophy and Scripture unite their testimony. Let the reader apply this argument, as presented in Part I., and he will see how unfounded this assumption is. If, therefore, the premises of our opponents are false, their conclusion must be so also. Their attempt to prove it from Scripture will be examined in subsequent chapters. ♦Ham's "Life and Death." 60 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL II 'A 11 SECTION IV. IS THE HUMAN SOUL IN AN INTKKMBDIATE PLACE BETWEEN DEATH AND THE BE8UUBECTION, OU DOES IT GO IMMEDIATELY TO HKAVEN OR HELL? At a very early period in the world's history the home of departed spirits was supposed to be in some undefined place under the earth. The souls there separated from their bodies were regarded as a sort of aerial beings, or shades This place the Hebrews called sheol, and the Greeks hades, which signifies a place of darkness. It was used both by the Hebrews and Greeks to describe the state of departed spirits without any reference whatever to their condition. For ages they made no distinction between the inhabi- tants of this subterranean abode ; but after awhile they supposed the place to be divided, and the righteous and the wicked were supposed to have a separate dwelling there. This we regard as the germ which afterwards grew into the Romish doctrine of purgatory, with its colla- teral errors and monstrosities. The adopting of thia pagan idea of a separate place led to prayers for the dead and the oflfering of mass for the release of souls from purgatory, a practice that has done more to fill the exchequer of a corrupt Church and bind the consciences of men than any other error Satan ever invented. > This underworld theory, as it is sometimes called, has, in our opinion, given rise to another error, which has been held by many pious and devoted Protestant divines ; viz. : that the soul is detained in a separate I la- hliS ;ant :ate BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 61 place — not in heaven or hell — until the resurrection. This is the received doctrine of the Church A Eng- land, and it is held by many in all branches of the Christian Church. That this opinion was held by some of the early fathers cannot be denied. Justin the Martyr, Irenaeus and Tertullian may be mentioned as examples. But the opposite opinion was also held by a number of their contemporaries. And it is worthy of remark, that most who held this doctrine also taught that certain privileged persons went immediately to heaven, e. g,, the martyrs. They also held that very wicked men went immediately to hell.* (See Ilagenbach, Vol. I., p. 121-128.) The testimony of the fathers during the first and second centuries, on this point preponderates in favor of souls going immediately to heaven or hell. The idea of a third place existed, and this is the most that can be said. The idea as held hy modern Chris- tians was of a later origin. It arose from the amal- gamation of the Grecian philosophy with Christianity. And in our opinion it savors much more of the former, than it dues of the latter. The doctrine as held in our day is well pat by an Episcopalian writor in the following paragraph : — " The greater majority of those who die in the Lord are very far from being eminent saints. They leave the world pardoned and free from sin, indeed, but very imperlect, ignorant, feeble, and unfit for the ineffable blaze of heavenly effulgence, and the society and 62 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN 80 VL ill 1 em))loyment8 of the ancient and glorious inhabitcints of heaven. But paradise is an intermediate resting- place, where the soul becomes unfolded, invigorated, and instructed for a superior state and world. The spirit, disenthralled and emancipated from its earthly prison and vehicle, passes into this place of abode perfectly adapted to its disembodied state and the design of that state. There, under genial and sanative influences, it repairs its losses and injuries, recovers its balance and tone, becomes thoroughly developed, and fully prepared for another and still higher state of >» ♦ being. Now, if this be a fair statement of the doctrine of an intermediate flace^ while we would by no means con- found it with the Romish purgatory, yet it is certainly very near akin to it ; and, according to the above quotation, it exists for much the same purpose. But our chief objection to this theory is that it undervalues the sacrificial death of Christ, and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Christ died to provide a means whereby man's sin might be forgiven, whereby his moral nature might be purified. The Holy Spirit was given to apply these means to the sinner's nature and necessities. What need, then, of " sanative influence," or purgatorial fire ? Were these means iLadequate for the purpose they were designed to effect ? Is the death of Christ so incapable of redeem- ing the soul of man from the ruin sin hath wrought, ♦ « The Dead in Christ," by M'Oullough. BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 63 that he nccdg to pass through an intermediate place of healing ? Is he so poor a physician that he must hand over a halt- cured patient to the "sanatory influence " of an intermediate abode to complete a work he cannot perform ? Are the regenerating, sanc- tifying influences of the Holy Spirit so inadequate to free the soul from its sin-stains, that it must pass away from the world unfit for the vision of God ? "Where in Scripture is the authority for such an opinion as this ? Where is the passage that, even by implication, favors such a notion ? Where ? If this had been the doctrine of the Bible, surely we should have had some intimation of it. No ; we regard this doctrine as an importation from the philosophy of Greece, which is in conflict with many of the plainest texts of Scripture. We ^")ar a martyred Stephen in his death agony cry, " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Acts vii. 59. We read of a Paul who " desired to depart and be with Chrut.''^ Where ? In a place short of heaven ? Nay, reader, he says, " With Christy which is far better.*' Phil i. 23. Again, the same Apostle says, " There- fore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, . . . . We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the L'irir 2ud Cor. v. ^-^. Where is the Lord ? Settle thiitand you have found where the pious dead are. Let the same Apostle answer. " Wh.'n he (Christ) had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the BBH 64 CONDITION OF TEE HUMAN SOUL ll|{ I i I right hand of the Majesty on high.'' Ilch. i. 8. " Now of the things which wo have spoken this is the sura : We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens." Ueb. viii. 1. " For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true ; but into heaven itself, now to aj)pear in the presence of God for us.'' Heb. ix. 24. I know it is objected by the advocates of an intermediate place that Christ is everywhere present. This construction, however, cannot be put upon the words of the Apostle ; for in that sense he was in Christ's presence while in the body just as much as he would be in a separate place out of the body. The plain, commonsense meaning of these passages is evidently this, that, when freed from the body, the spirit of the Apostle would be in the presence of the glorified humanity of Christ. This doctrine of an intermediate place, in which the soul is under certain " sanative influences," cannot be reconciled with those Scriptures which speak of our salvation as complete in this lite. When the sinner is pardoned, that pardon is complete, wanting P'^^-hing. " Be it known unto you therefore, men and ' voy^^ that through this man is preacher? ^ forgiveness of sins; "^nd by him .> e are justified from all things^ fr< hich o could not be justified by the law of Mooos." Acts xiii. 88-39. The man who thus believes in the atoning .m I ■i BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 65 'g- ng merit of Christ, is at peace with God and free from all condemnation. ** Bcin;]; justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Horn. V. 1. " There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. viii. 1. And when the sinner is pardoned, his whole nature is changed at the same momert. He is re-born; ^^ horn again;'" " created anetv.^^ The great work of sanctification is now begun, and by the grace of God, it is carried on to perfection. Hence it is written, " The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanscth from all sin. If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1st John i. 7-9. That believers may live in this entire state of freedom from sin is evident from the prayer of the Apostle : " The very God of peace sanctify you wholly ; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." 1st Thess. V. 23-21. Hence we find the Apostle speaks of Chris- tians as being meet for heaven. " Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." Col. i. 12. Having the meetness for the inheritance when they die, they enter upon its possession. We read of the saints after death, and before the resurrection, as being fE^ 66 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL K V!! W i'il ■r— . -11 '-?' ^ i *' Before the throne of God, and serving him day and ni»iht in his temple ; and he tliat sitteth on the throne shall dwell among thera. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters ; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." Rev. vii. 15-17. Now instead of the meetness for this inheritance being the result of any training or sanative inHuence in an intermediate place, it is in this very connection ascribed to the blood of Christ. The angel told .John that these individuals had '' washed their robes and made thera white in the blood of the lamb." The Scriptures are utterly silent concerning any change which takes place in the moral condition of man after death. One of its closing declarations is this : " He that is unjust, lei him be unjust still ; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still ; and he that is righteous, let him bo righteous still ; and he that is holy, let him be holy still." Rev. xxii. 11. The advocates of an intermediate place urge two objectioi^s against the opinion that the righteous go immediately to heaven. The first is founded upon such passages as John iii. 13, "And no mr»n hath ascended up to heaven." Some commentators regard this as a figurative expre^^^ioii for " no man hath kiiown the mysteries of tiie kingdom of God." If this be a correct interpretation of the passage, the 7^ If BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 67 objection is founrled upon a misconception of its meaning. But if we take the words in their most literal signification, evea then the passage does not conflict with our opinion concerning the state of the departed. Man, as we have seen in the first part of this volume, is a compound being, composed of body and soul. Now, during tlie period that intervenes between death and the resurrection, the soul is sepa- rate from the body. This is an abnormal state. The body lies in the dust from whence it was taken, senseless as the clods that cover it, until the morning of the resurrection. Therefore man as a complex being, composed of body and soul, does not uscend to heaven until the resurrection of his body. Only as a disem- bodied spirit do'^s the saint enter heaven until the redemption of his body from the grave. Interpreted in this way, this passage does not conflict with the opinion that saints go to heaven immediately after their dissolution. The other objection urged by the advocates of an intermediate place against the doctrine we hold is, that it makes the dead to be judged twice. This objection is also urged by the advocates of the uncon scious state of the dead. That there can be no riioral change in the character of a man after death is so plain a doctrine of Scripture, that we need not tarry to prove it. Whatever may be a man's character when he dies, such will it be to all eternity. ^' The ooul is not altered in death, bat takes along with it BS 68 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL 1 its dispositions, its habits, and whole tendency into a future world." * *' Since, then, the destiny of man is decided immediately after death, and since among men such a decision is usually made by a judgment and sentence, there is no more proper way of representing this arrangement of God with respect to the future destiny of men, than by comparing it with a judg- ment, since it has the same effect as a formal judgment. This has given occasion to the division of judgment into particular or preceding^ which denotes nothing more than determining the fate of men immediately after death ; and general or 8uhseq^ientJ"'\ There is, then, in the fact of man's probation ceasing at death, something analagous to an informal judgment, inas- much as death seals his doom to all eternity. The general or formal judgment cannot take place while man is in an abnormal condition, because he is not in a condition to bear either the full reward of punish- ment until body and soul shall be reunited. Thus we believe, and thus, therefore, we speak. We do not wish to dogmatize about these unseen things. The subject has cost us many a thought. There is much about it we do not expect to under- stand until we participate in its realities. We only see through a glass darkly. Some who statid on a loftier eminence than ourselves may have advantages of a >Nider range of vision. But, with the light we have, it does jm to us that the doctrine of an inter- * Knapp'3 " Christian Tlieology," p. 518. t Ibid. BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 69 a we ter- mediate place is in conflict with many of the plainest declarations of Scripture. We may be among the number of ''' uninatr acted Protestants'' of whom we have lately read, but we humbly ask our instructed brethren for more light than they have yet given us upon this subject. SECTION V. THK CONDITION OF THK SOUL BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RKSUttUKGTION 18 ONE OP EXPECTANCY. Between death and the resurrection the nature of man is incomplete. His body moulders in the dust ; he, therefore, " groans within himself, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption, of his body." Rom. viii. 23. We would not underrate either the happiness of the righteous, or the misery of the wicked in the intermediate state. In heaven the saints have a joy unknown on earth for its richness. In hell the wicked are in a state of anguish intolerable. But neither the happiness of the one nor the misery of the other will be brought to a consummation until after the final judg- ment. '' Let us take the case of a disembodied soul in paradise. We have said it is consciously happy, infi- nitely more so than it ever was on earth ; but were his body also there — no longer the weak, corruptible, carnal organism it was when the body left it, but such as that body is which sits u[)on the throne, or such as these two bodies are beside the throne — this happy one feels that he would be still more happy than he is 70 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL as yet. Not that, in itself, his soul has any feeling of deficiency, or that it is not full, even to overflowing, with all blessed emotions ; still he has tasted of the pleasures which arise from the companionship of soul and body — has known corporeal as well as spiritual enjoyments, and this even when the outer and the inner man were not always fitly mated. Were these two, then, united once more — each prepared and fitted for the other — he feels that his cup of happiness as a human being would then be full. His present state, therefore, is one of expectancy. There is a looking forward to joys which will be yet more abundant, and to a still more exceeding weight of glory." * Similar in their import are the words of President Edwards : " The Church now in heaven is not in its fixed and ultimate, but in a progressive, subordinate, and preparatory state. '1 he state in which they are is in order to another. In the employments in which they are now exercised, they look to that which is still future, to their consummate state, which they have not yet arrived at. Their present happiness is in many respects subordinate to a future, and God, in His deal- ings with them, has a constant and perpetual respect to the consummation of all things. So it is both with respect to the saints and angels ; all things in heaven and earth, and throughout the universe, are in a state of preparation for the state of consummation ; all the wheels are going, none of them stop, and all are mov- " Unseen Realities," by Trail, p. 58. IHi BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 71 iiig in a direction to the last and most perfect state. As the Church on earth is in a state of preparation for the resurrection state, so is that part of the Church which is in heaven. It is God*s manner to keep things always progressive — in a preparatory state — as long as there is another change to a more perfect state yei behind. The saints in this world are progressive, and all things relating to them are subordinate and preparatory to the more perfect state of heaven, which is a perfect state in that it is a state of freedom from sinful and uneasy imperfections ; but, when the saints are got to heaven, there is another great change yet behind ; there is yet another state, which is that fixed and ultimate and most perfect state for which the whole general assembly, both in heaven and earth, are designed, and, therefore, they are still progressive. Not but that I believe the saints will be progressive in knowledge and happiness to all eternity. But when I say the Church is progressive before the resurrection, I mean that they are progressive with a progression of preparation for another and more perfect state ; their state is itinerary, viatory ; their state, their employ- ments, their glory and happiness, are subordinate and preparatory to a future more glorious state." * * Works, vol. viii. 72 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL CHAPTER II. DIRECT TESTIMONY OF NEW TESTAMENT. tl i SECTION I. BOBIPTLRAL SIGNIFICATION OF WOllDS " LIFK " AND " DEATH." The whole of this controversy is built upon ^he inter- pretation of these two words. In the works of our opponents these words are used as though thej were synonyms of existence and non-existence. But this is a construction the words will not bear. These words are sometimes employed in such a way of man as serves to indicate the presence or absence of the soul which animates the body. This w^e by no means deny. But we do deny that this is the only or even the chief meaning of these words. The fundamental error of the materialist is in the use he makes of these words. Life, with them, is mere " being, cr existence." Death is " the extinc- tion of being, soul and body ;" "a return to a state of blank nothingness." This is either a shameful perversion of Scripture, or a manifestation of the grossest ignorance on the part of our opponents ; and yet this is the corner-stone of their system. In Scripture phraseology life and deatlt do not denote existence and non-existence, but are descrip- tive of certain states of being, the one the opposite of BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 73 the not icrip- ite of the other. This will be apparent upon an examina- tion of the following passages : — Iilatt. viii. 22, '' And Jesus said unto him, follow me ; and let the dead bury their dead.^^ Here the word deud is employed to describe the present state of a living man, as v/ell as the absence of mere animal life in another. Matt, xviii. 8, '*■ It is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.'' Here the word life is used to designate a state of being in a future world ; and is put in juxtaposition with being cast into everlasting fire, which is called by John *' the second death." (Rev. xx. 61-4 ; xxi. 8.) Luke XV. 24, 32, " For this my son was dead, and is aUve again." Here the word dead is used to describe a state of being from which the prodigal had been delivered, and so far was he from being extinct that he fed on the husks the swine ate. But when he was delivered from this miserable condition and en- joyed a happier one, then he was said to be alive. John iii. S6, " He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." There is something worthy of remark in this passage. The word life cannot refer to mere exsitcnce : unbelievers have that, but they have not life in the sense of this text. It does not refer to something the believer will have when he U raised from the dead. It is a present possession. " He hath everlaating life." *' And he that believeth not the Son • 74 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Here is a phrase the equivalent of dead applied to men who have a '' being or existence," but they have no life abiding in them. John V. 40, " Ye will not come to me that ye might have Ufe.^' These men whom the Saviour addressed had an existence, but they had not the life which He gives to the believer. John V. 24, " He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life^ Passed from one state of being to another is the evident meaning of the last member of this verse. John V. 28, " The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God ; and they that hear shall Uve." This passage does not refer to the resurrection of the body, for it is some- thing which takes place under the personal ministry of Christ. The sense of the passage is evidently this : they who hear and obey the Gospel message shall pass from death to life as real as a resurrection from the dead. Let the reader consult the following texts for him- self: John vi. 47-58; viii. 51, 52; xi. 25. Rom vi. 4-13 ; viii. 6, 10, .13. 2nd Cor. ii. 16 ; vii. 10. Eph. ii. 1-6. 1st Tim. V. 6. 1st Jno. iii. 15, 16. Rev. iii. 1. Passages on this subject can be multiplied to almost anv extent, but we have quoted more than sufficient BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 75 on jad 4\i jsed He and , and from [ig to ler of W 13) God; 3S not some- nistry this : sball from to satisfy an unprejudiced person that the assertions of our opponents on this subject are without the slightest foundation in truth. The sneers of our oppo- nents, about *'• death being hfe in misery " and " life signifying happiness/' are as harmless as their argu- ments are weak. Life^ when used in its pregnant sense, does not signify mere existence, but such an existence as accomplishes the designs of the Creator in giving man a being. Deaths when used in its pregnant sense, does not signify the loss of man's being, but his failing to accomplish the end for which he was created. And as Stuart remarks, " Should one range the whole compass of human language, he could find no two terms so significant as these." The following pages will contain a refutation of the attempt of materialists to interpret Scripture according to their ideas of life and death. SECTION II. THK APPEARANCE OF M08B8 AMD ELIAS ON THE MOtTNT OF TRAN8FIGUKATION. " And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them ; and his face did shine as the sun, and his rai- ment was as white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here : if thou wilt, let us make here 76 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL 41 three tabernacles ; one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them ; and, behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is. my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ; hear ye him And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, tell the vision to no man, until the Son of Man be risen again from the dead." — Matt. x\ii. 1-9. (See also Mark ix. 2-10 ; and Luke ix, 28-36.) Concerning the appearance of Elias there is no diversity of opinion. He was translated, and there- fore his appearance in his glorified body has never been disputed, except by those writers who regard the whole transaction as a myth. The point of controversy •with our opponents lies in the appearance of Moses. ~ome .of them candidly admit that Moses was there, and account for it by assuming that he was raised from the dead for the occasion. But this is an assump- tion that cannot be sustained by Scripture. The Bible assures us that Christ is the first-born from the dead, the first fruits of them that slept ; which is not true if Moses was raised in a glorified body, as suggested by Mr. Ham. We have no intimation in Scripture that he was ever raised from the dead at all ; and, when Scripture is silent, human conjecture is but a sandy foundation on which to build an argument. We do not think Moses wasi on that mount save as a dis- embodied spirit. BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 77 and L-igbt out n, in • • • • Fesus until Matt. vC ix, is no there- never rd the aversy doses, there, raised ;sump- s Bible dead, )t true gcsted ipture ; and, but a it. We a dis- Ilowever, we are told by our opponents that " Moses was not there excepting in vision Moses, Elias, and even Christ, were glorified at that time onli/ in appearancp, for special objects."* These obser- vations are founded upon a misconception of the word '* vlnon^^^ which here signifies the things the Apostles saw while they were on the mount, ^bese writers could not have made th'« cr^j ''^us blunder if thev had consulted the paralle s? gcs Mark and Luke, where, instead of *' Tell the vhion to no man," we read, " Tell no man what thin(/s they had seeny The appearance of Moses, Elias, and Christ on the mount of transfiguration, " represents the three stages of life : — Jesus, with his mortal body, convers- ing of his decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem ; Moses, with death past, and his body awaiting the resurrection in ' A valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-Peor ;' and Elias, with soul and body both perfected in life ! Wondrous Three ! One in the body, one out of the body, one having the whole man glorified ! What a majestic embodiment of the truth, ' All live /' " f 'i'his event, therefore, furnishes indisputable evidence of the conscious exist- ence of the soul after the body is dead. It is heaven's witness against the theory of our opponents. * "Bible vertus Tradition," p. 164. t William Arthur's " All are Living." 78 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL I 'If 1 ■'! • SECTION III. •' OOD 18 NOT A GOD OF THK DEAD BUT OF TIIR LIVING." " Jc3us answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living/' Matt. xxii. 29-32. (See also Luke xx. 33-38.) The Sadducecs, with whom our Lord was conversing when he uttered these words, while they professed to receive the writings of Moses as of Divine authority, did not believe in the resurrection. Death, with them, was a synonym of annihilation. They came to the Saviour on this occasion with the hope of perplexing him on the resurrection. In reply He assures them that their notions of a resurrection were radically wrong. " Ye -do err," said He, " not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.'* He then refers them to the writings of Moses which they professed to regard so highly : *' Have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ?" (See Exod. iii. 6.) Upon this quotation from Moses the Saviour remarks, " God is not the God of the dead, but BKTWEEN DEATH AND THE liESUJiJiECTION. 79 of the living.'* Luke has the additional remark, " For ALL live unto liim." The only objection our opponents make on this pas- sage is (i|uite characteristic. These patriarchs, whom Christ mentions, are only '* alive in the purpose and vision of God."* J^it Christ declares that thoy were alive at that time. *' All I've unto hun.^^ Though their bodies were dead and had been mouldering in the dust for ages, yet their souls were alive. " He is not a God of the dead but of the living^ lie was their '* Protector and the object of their worship," as Knapp remarks, f These are the fundamental ideas imi)lied in the very being of a God. Now, if they had only been ** Alive in the purpose and vision of God," this language would have been untrue. It could only apply to living, con- scious beings. Such only are capable of acts of wor- ship. The remarks of Mr. Arthur on this passage are as powerful as they are brief. He says, " It is remarkable that this passage does not at all speak of the resurrection, but it destroys the foundation whereon the Sadducees grounded their disbelief of that doctrine, by showing that the dead are alive. Tlte Lord did not say ' I am he who was the God of Abraham,* but ' I am the God of Abraham ;' thus declaring Himself to be holding towards Abraham all the relations involved in being ' to him a God.' Such relations, full of vital interest, cannot be sustained to those who are not^ but * " Bible versus Tradition," p. 152. t Kaapp's " Christian Theology," p. 520. 80 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL only to those who are. Yet Abrah.am was dead ! Ybs, to Moses, whom the voice addressed, Ahraharn was dead and Aaron Hving. But not so as to the Lord : to hhp ihoy are eijually, tliough in different modes, alive ; for to Him all are living. Thns one simple word of our Redeemer, as is the wont of His sayings, opens to us a whole world of truth ; we no sooner hear that ' to Him all are living,' than we awake to the fact that, in the eye of God, there are no DEAD MEN."* The piiilosophy of our opponents and that of the Sadducees was exactly the same, so far as regards the constituent elements of man's nature. A more com- plete refutation of that philosophy, and the whole train of errors growing out of it, we could not desire than these words of Jesus — " All live unto Him." SECTION IV. THE RICH MAN AND LAZAKU8. " There was a certain rich man, v.hich was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously ev^ery day ; and th^">re was a certain beggar, named Lazarus, which v/as laid at his gate full of sores, and desiring 'i '*e fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich m^n's table ; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came «.o pass, that the beggar died, and Avas carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom ; the rich man hIso died, anu was buried. And in hell he Uft v^ his eyes, being ir» torments, and seeth Abraham afar • William Arthur's *' Ail are Living." !^ ■"' BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 81 off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraliam, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his fin<5er in water and cool mv tonjiue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things ; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed : so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot, neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, fathei , that thou wouldest send him to my father's house ; for I have five breth- ren ; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment, Abraham saith unto him. They have Moses and the prophets ; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, Father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him. If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." — Luke xvi. 19-3L A great diversity of opinion exists among the learned as to whether this portion of Scripture is a histoiy or a parable. The remarks of Wesley in favor * of the Ibimer op nion are most assuredly worth careful consideration. '' But is this account a parable or a real hisstoiy? It has been believed by many, and roundly asserted, to be a mere parable, because of one or two circumstances therem which are n easy 82 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL to be accounted for. In particular, it is hard to con- ceive bow a person in hell could hold conversation with one in paradise. But, admitting we cannot account for this, will it overbalance an express asser- tion of our Lord : ' There was,' sa^s our Lord„ ' a certain rich man.' Was there not ? Did such a man never exist ? Is it not bold enough positively to deny what our blessed Lord affirms ? Therefore we cannot reasonably doubt but that the .vhole narrative, with all its circumstances, is exactly true. And Theophy- lact, one of the ancient commentators on the Scrip- tures, observes upon the text that, * according to the tradition of the Jews, Lazarus lived at Jerusalem.' " * There is much about the narration that would lead us to believe it to be a real history, especially the men- tion of the proper name of the poor man. It was not the custom of our Lord to introduce the names of individuals in his parabolic utterances. However, it is a matter of small moment whether we regard it as a parable or the narration of real history. If it is a parable, the truths it was intended to teach are exactly the same. Even Archbishop VVhately, from whom our opponents quote largely, says, " The only truth that is essential in a parable is the truth or doctrine con- veyed by it."f Our opponents, however, universally regard this Scripture as a p rable, and interpret it in a manner hi-hly figurative. I deem it best to give the * Wesley's Sermons, Vol. III., p. 234. t Whately's " Future State," p SG. BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 83 reader a full and explicit statement of their views on this important passage, I therefore subjoin an exposi- tion of it from Blain : — " The * rich man' denoted the Jewish nation, or the priesthood, or both combined — the priests, by the law, having to be clothed in purple and fine linen.'— Exod. xxxiii. 1 , 2. His * deatJi sym- bolized the death (destruction) of their political and ecclesiastical state ; ' torment in the flacies' (the flames meaning God's judgments) denoted or predicted the misery they would endure as a nation. It is a fact that they have been in ' torment ' by persecutions ever since thev died as a nation. Their lookin;' to Abra- ham for relief may denotf/ their relying on the law instead of Christ, or grace through Ilim. They have been ' buried^ as to nationality and a priesthood. " The ' poor man,' as the prodigal son, symbolized the Gentiles and pubhcans, who were looked on as 'dogs' by the Jews, and lay, or could only come to the ^ gates' of the temple for ' crumbs' of light. ' Abra- ham's bosom' meant the gospel churchy and when the Gentiles 'died,' or changed their former sickly state, they were not ' buried,' as were the Jews, but ' carried by angels* (messengers) into the gospel church ; Peter and Paul were special angels to thus transport them." * Others vary this interpretation a little, but most of them adopt it substaniially. We take this therefore as a fair expression of the views of our opponents upon the passage. ♦ Blain's " Death, not Life," p. 59. (I give this passage, Italics and all, just as I find it.) i '■■ 84 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL I Adinittin;^, then, that it is a parable, and supposing this allegorical interpretation to be the true one, that, by this parable, the Saviour intended to teach the punishment of the Jews for the non-improvement of their privileges, and the admission of the Gentiles to the privileges and blessings of the New Covenant — even then, like most of the Saviour's parables, is it not founded on facts, things which do or may occur ? In Matthew xiii. 24-30, we read of the tares and the wheat. Let the reader turn to this parable and read it carefully, and he cannot fail to see liow it is founded upon actual occurrences. The same may be said of the parable of the virgins (Matthew xxv. 1-13.) Is not this parable founded upon the facts which do or may transpire at an oriental wedding? It is much the same with all the parables of the Saviour. Here we are met by the statement that " parables are not always founded upon facts." In proof of this state- ment, two or three writers cite the parable of Jotham, recorded in Judges ix. 8-15, and the parable of Ezekiel (fizekiel xvii. 2-8.) But because i V A"- ;V 6^ % n the ruths. ith me forth, ss and * If 1)6 in a would rm of shalt meant if is at ion of nd his ent to SECTION VI. BTKPHEN'S DYING PKAYEtt. And thej stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Acts vii. 58. Similar expressions fell from the lips of the Psalmist, and from the Saviour in his death agony. (Ps. xxxi. 6 ; Luke xxiii. 46.) This text has a variety of constructions put upon it by our opponents. Some of them tell u» that when Stephen cried " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, " he merely committed his breath into the hands of the Saviour. Surely it is something worse than trifling to treat sacred things in this way. Can the reader bring his mind to believe that either Stephen, David, or Christ commended to God the last portion of air they breathed? We dare not thus to trifle Avith the dying words of the world's Redeemer, or his martyred follower, Stephen. Others of our opponents tell us that it was not Ste- phen that cried '* Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," but the men who stoned him. " The grammar of the text charges the saying, ' Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,' upon the wicked Jews, and afterwards records what Stephen did and said." * This is either a wilful per- version of i^ie truth, or a munifestation of the utter ignorance of the men who make it. The stoning was the act of the Jews, this is in the plural. The calling upon God was the act of Stephen, and is in the sin- gular. From this the reader may see how much the ♦ " Bible versus Tradition," p. 98. .4? 106 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL w assertions of our opponents are worth. The sense of the passage is this : " The Jews stoned Stephen, while he invoked the Lord Jesus to receive his S[)irit." The authors of the bock just quoted, are not satis- fied, however, with the above attempt to destroy the argument of this text against them; they try another. " We would give the meaning of the 59th v. thus : * And the Jews stoned Stephen while he was invoking the Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus, assist me to suffer.* " The reader will observe that one of these interpretations is a flat contradiction of the other. And the latter has even a worse foundation than the former. In order to make it read in this way, they are compelled to supply words for ;vhich they have not a single authority to quote. This is one of those practices (adding to Scrip- ture) which they most severely reprimand in others, even when it only exists in their own imagination, but one which they frequently adopt when hard pressed for material wherewith to defend themselves and their unfounded theory. Well may we say, " Cast out the beam out of thine own eye ; and then thou shalt see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." Matt. vii. 5. 'Ihis passage most undoubtedly furnishes positive proof of the separability of the soul from the body, and of the conscious existence of the former when the latter is dead. Stephen was a man full of the Holy Ghost, therefore he could not be mistaken in hia views of a " Bible versus Tradition, " p. 99. BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 107 religious truth so important as this. But instead of regarding man a.^ a mere material organization ; he, while the Jews storied his bo ly, committed his soul to Christ. Nothing can be more decisive than this as to the conscious existence of the soul apart from the body. SECTION VII. ABSB rr yROM the body, fresent with the loud. " For we know that if our earthly house of this taber- nacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven ; if so be ihat being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened ; not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thin^r is God who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, kuowiut?' that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord : (For we walk by faith, not by sight :) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. "Wherefore we labour, that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him." 2nd Cor. v. 1-9, Our opponents give a variety of expositions of this passage, one contradicting another. I find that Ellis and Read, in their '' Bible versus Tradition," give 108 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL the fol)owi:ig exposition on page fifty : " Paul is here speaking of two tabernacles, or church arrangements ; the one church is for a season only, and is earthly ; the other is everlasting, and is heavenly.'* The writer heard one of the most popular advocates of this theory give the same exposition from the pulpit. The whole of the context is opposed to any such idea as that here advanced. Then tlie same writers, on page 16G-7, after quite a different exposition of the passage, sum up as follows : " \Ve have said suificient to con- vince candid persons that we all mu ,t remain at home in the body of corruption or mortality, whether that body be dead or alive, until we put on incorruption and immortality, at the resurrection." These writers set out with a theory, and are willing to accept any interpretation of a passage so long as it does not con- flict with their preconceived notions. But the passage before us cannot be got rid of so easily ; therefore these very writers propose a compromise to let this passage drop. We are unwilling so to do. Let us rather try to get at its proper signification. In the first place we remark, this' passage ought never to have been separated from the latter part of the preceding chapter. The Apostle had been recounting his toils and sufferings in his work, yet these do not cause him to faint in his mind. " Though the outward man perish, the inward man is renewed day by day." Then comes one of those heroic >4tterances, so characteristic of Paul, in which he I ' BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION, 109 assures us that the afflictions of this life " worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." Then follows the passage which stands at the head of this section. Taken as a whole, it gives us a comprehensive view of the life of a Christian man in each of its possible phases. It contains a view of his life on earth in a corrupt- ible body. This is evident in the expressions, " Out- ward man," " Earthly house of this taberracle,'* *' In this we groan," " We that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened," and ** At home in the body." These are descriptions of the Christian man's life on earth which are verified in the experience of all. It also contains a view of the Christian man's condition between death and the resurrection. This is evident from such expressions as '* Unclothedj'' " Absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." Dr. Clarke says on this passage, that " There is not the slightest intimation here that the soul sleeps, or rather, that there is no soul ; and when the body is decomposed, that there is no more , of the man till the resurrection, I mean according to the sentiment of those who do condescend to allow us a resurrection, though they deny us a soul. But this is a philosophy in which St. Paul got no lessons, either from Gamaliel, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, or in the third heaven, where he heard even unutter- able things." Now the Apostle tells us that he r 110 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL f| preferred this state to that in which he was at present. " He was wilHng rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.'* But this was not the ultimatum of the Apostle's desire and hope. There was beyond all this another and more perfect state for which he intently longed. Hence this passage contains a view of the Christian man's life when body and soul shall be reunited. This is indicated by such phraseology as *' Earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven." " Not for that we would be unclothed, but 'clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.'* Such, in brief, is the signification of this delightful portion of Scripture. We shall by the grace of God enter upon a better state than this when we are freed from an earthly body. We shall be " with the LordP But beyond all this is the h^U state, when '' Our vile bodies shall be fashioned like unto his glorious body." Then shall " mortality be swallowed up of life," and so shall we be with the Lord for ever. SECTION VIII. PAUL IN THE THIRD HEAVEN. " It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell ; or whether out of the body, I canuot tell; God knoweth;) such au t ti BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. Ill one caught up to the third heaven. And T knew such a man, (whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell, God knoweth ;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.'' — 2nd Cor. xii. 1-4. The obvious import of these words, so far as they bear on the subject b'efore us, is manifestly this : The Apostle must have believed in the ex- istence of the soul apart from the body. Twice d^es he repeat the words : Whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell." Now if the soul had been the result of material organization, it would have been inseparable from the body. If the soul had no distinct existence of its own this phrase of the Apostle's is strangely misleading. The whole drift of the pas- sage inclines to the idea that it was " out of the body " that he received this revelation from God. If this is true, and there is nothing to prove the contrary, then the soul must have a distinct existence of her own. If it was ''out of the body" that Paul received this revelation, how can we suppose that he knew he was in the " third heaven " and *' paradise," unless the soul, separate from the body, has a conscious existence of its own ? It is simply impossible to harmonize this Scripture with materialistic philosophy. But few of their writers give this narrative even a passing notice. Ellis and Read talk nonsense when they tell us that " Paul's expression, ' whether in the body or out of the body,' seems to imply that Paul did not knovv 112 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL iii: 1 4 ■whether his nature, constitution, or person — which we have shown Paul often calls his body — whether this nature or body was changed from a corruptible to an incorruptible state, to enable him fully to appreciate the enjoyments of paradise, for flesh and blood, and pain were unfit for, and could hardly realize the scenery and enjoyments-of paradise."* The alternative the Apostle could not decide was not, as this writer ■would have us suppose, between " a corruptible and an incorruptible body ;" but between a body and no body at all. He says he could not tell ■whether he was " in the body or out of the body." How ■would this writer harmonize the above quotation with his own remarks concenimg the penitent thief? Speaking of Luke xxiii. 42, 43, he says that " Paradise does not yet actually exist."! And yet he represents the Apostle Paul as being there and participating in its enjoyments — a privilege he is unwilling to grant to Jesus or the poor man who trusted in him as he hung upon the cross. Consistency, thou art a jewel ! Then on the same page this author contradicts his own exposition of the Apostle's phrase — " Whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell " — ^for he says " The whole was evidently a vision."} Thus do these writers contradict themselves over and over again. If their theory were true they would not find it necessary to give more than one exposition of a particular text, whereas they * "Bible versus Tradition," p. 154. flbid.p. 160. tibid. p. 154. Mi BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 113 usually give two or more. T'le quotations above are respectively numbered by the author second and fourth. " The whole was evidently a vision." Well, then, call it a " vision'' if you please, that will not rob it of its testimony to the conscious existence of the soul apart from the body. " Now whatever this vision may have been, or not have been ; sink it, if you please, into the least possible significance ; yet it unquestionably developes one tiling, and that is, that the Apostle believed that the soul may have a con- scious existence out of the body — an existence in which it may perceive and enjoy — nay, an existence in which it may be filled with most ecstatic felicity. Else how could he have been in doubt whether his soul was really in the body or not when it enjoyed the glorious vision of God and heaven ? Those, then, who assume to know that the soul can have no conscious existence out of th(3 body, assume to know more than was known by the great Apostle. This passage is all the more important, because it was not with direct reference to this subject that the Apostle wrote, and it there- fore becomes one of those incidental and undesigned passages that corroborate the great and cardinal doctrines of the Scriptures.* SECTION IX. PART OF god's church NOW IN HEAVBN. ** For this cause, I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." — Eph. iii. 14, 15. • Man All Immortal, p. 186. lU CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL ■III Our opponents tell us that even the pious dead are in the dust, both body and soul. The Apostle speaks of the family in heaven. What does he mean ? That angels belong to the family of God in heaven is true ; but the Apostle is speaking of men and not of angela —of persons who have been benefited by the mediation of Christ, persons who were once aliens, but who have been adopted as children. And because they are his children they have received his name. They, therefore, who tell us that when a Christian man dies he becomes unconscious, " Do greatly err, not knowing the Scrip- tures." The Apostle assures us that a part of the family is in heaven while the other part is still on the earth. Some have already got home, the rest are on the way thither. Ye bereaved ones, ye need not shed your bitter tears o'er the grave where you laid the body of your friend. He is not there! He dwells in yonder happy clime. There sin never darkens the light of God in his soul. Sorrow never modulates the song into the minor mode. They never sing a requiem over broken friendship there. " The whole family in heaven and earth." Though divided they are one. Though some of our friends have gone from our gaze, they belong to us still. By all that is dear or sacred in the family tie^ we are linked to them as much as ever we were. Many a time we hear their voices, not aucJibly it is true, but nevertheless we hear them, whispering words of cheer ill BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 115 as wo journey on life's riig;»ed way. Onward throuf];h earth's storms we hasten to join them in our Father's house. " I have read somewhere that on the shores of the Adriatic sea, the wives of the fishermen whose hus- bands have gone far out upon the deep are in the habit, at eventide, of going down to the sea shore, and singing, as only female voices can, the first stanza of a beautiful hymn. After they have sung it, they listen till they hear, borne by the wind across the desert-sea, the second stanza, sung by their gallant husbands as they are tossed by the gale upon the waves ; and both are happy. Perhaps if we could listen, we too might hear on this desert-world of ours some sound, some whisper, borne from afar to remind us that there is a heaven and a home." * SECTION X. PAUL'S DBSIRB TO DEPART. " For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. According to my earnest expectation and m^^ hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh this is the fruit of my labor ; yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and * Dr. Gumming. ^ T ! U- -I 116 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL be with Christ, which is far better ; nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you." Philip. i. 19-24. These words were written in immodiato prospect of death. Paul was a prisoner at Rome, not knowing afc what hour he mi<^ht be called upon to seal his faith with his blood. Yet under these circumstances, the nobility of his nature and the depth of his piety are apparent in his resolution to be faithful to the trust he had received. He was determined to magnify Christ whatever might be the consequences to himself. Christ was the sun in the system of the Apostle. Christ's Spirit was the ruling power of the Apostle's life. Christ's service was the supreme object of the Apostle's ambition. Said he, " As always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or death." Some of our opponents, in interpreting this very text, have had the boldness to represent Paul as a coward, shrinking from the trials of life. " Such were his present afflictions, that any form of death would have been a welcome release." Where thev find the authority for such an idea I cannot tell. It would be hard to reconcile such a statement with the Apostle's own testimony on this subject. In the face of the extraordinary difficulties with which he met I hear him saying : *' None of these things move me ;" " I count not my life dear unto me so that I may win Christ ; '* " Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death." There is nothing of the craven II i BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 117 spirit of the coward in such phraseology as this. These are the words of a hero, in whose heart there was more than a warrior's couraire. "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Our opponents do not agree among themselves as to the meaning of this verso (21st.) Some of them make it out that Christ would be the gainer and not Paul. IIow they can make this out without doing violence to the grammatical construction of the text it is impossible to conceive. Then, on their theory, we cannot see how the death of the Apostle could in any sense be gain to Christ. If he were to lie down in unconscious- ness until the resurrection, it would not certainly be gain to Christ. Others, however, make Paul the gainer, but not until the resurrection. But surely the man that uttered these words could not believe in the unconscious state of the dead. If that were true, in no conceivable sense could death be " gain " to him or ''^better'' for him. Gain., to lie down in oblivion rather than enjoy and preach Christ's Gospel ! ^^^^^r, to become unconscious than to enjoy communion with Jesus ! We think an Apostle would not have hesitated between such an alternative as that. There would have been no " strait' in the Apostle's mind if this had been the prospect before him. If men were to choose thus in matters of everyday life we should justly call them insane. I am told the Geneva Bible renders this verse as follows: "For Christ is to me, both in life and death, advantage." * This is doubtless the idea to be * Landis oq The Immortality of the Soul, p. 244. till m i 118 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL attached to the Apostle p woras. xle said, " For me to live is Christ," because he knew, loved and served Christ ; and this was his present privilege. He said, "Forme to die is gain;' because he knev; that he should then dwell in Christ's presence, and continually behold the light of his face, and this was certainly " gain " — or '* better," as he expresses it in verse 24 — on his presen* privilege. " For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desireto depart and be with Christ, which is far better, Never- theless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.'* Here we have the alternative between which the Apostle balanced himself — the needs of the Church on the one hand, and his own personal enjoyment on the other. Which of these to choose '* he wot not.'' Upon this alternative our opponents 'exhaust their ingenuity and display their folly. In one of their pet works, our attention is summoned by a note ^f excla- mation, and wheia the mountain has conceived t brings forth a mouse. '* Mark, reader ! He was p )rplexed between the two, whether to choose life^ or to choose death, they wei*e both equally indifferent to him."* Equally indifferent ! No, Sirs ! His interest in each particular wa^ so great that he knew not which to choose. Like a good soldier of the cross, animated by the Spirit of the Master, he did not know which to choose, life or death. Whether to go home and wear the crown of the conqueror, or linger on the battle- * " Bible verms Tradition," p. 139. I Ji BETWEEN DEA TH AND THE RESURRECTION. 119 • me rved said, it he ually ainly 3e24 ;ireto rever- you.'* h the Ihurch ent on ; not/' their eir 'pet excla- brings plexed choose him."* n each lich to itcd by hich to d wear battle- field to win new victories for the Saviour he loved so well. *' I am in a strait betwixt two." This is not " indifference^ but deep and anxious interedt in both particulars of the alternative. *' Having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is Far better,'*'' " If the soul sleeps with the body till the resurrection of the dead, he would be no nearer to the accomplishment of his wish in dying than h^was while he lived. Indeed, if the doctrine that the inter- mediate state is one of annihilation or of unconscious existence be true, St. Paul is no nearer heaven than he would be had ho lived to the present hour. Neither is he so near the attainment of his desire now as he was during his life time; for while he lived he enjoyed communion with Christ, but being dead, even the communion he did enjoy is cut off, if the spirit sleeps with the body in unconscious repose. All inter- course with the Deity, with heaven, with the saints of God on eartn, and even with the glorious truths of the Gospel, is utterly broken off, and in one long oblivious sleep has that intellect so vigorous, those affections so pure and so ardent, and those aspirations so glorious and sustaining, been pent for nearly eighteen centuries ! and, altogether unconscious of the his- tory of the Church, and of the fate of the Gospel, of the glory of Christ or the bliss of heaven, will he still continue to slumber till the trump of God shall arouse the unconscious dead on the rosurrrection morning. Call you this ' being with Christ ?' xVlas I then, what 120 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL r is it to be separated rrom him ? If, between death and the resurrection, ' the soul is either extinct or in a pro- found and dreamless sleep, forgetful of all that is past, ign'>rant of all that is around it, and regardless of all that is to come,' how fearfully mistaken was the great Apostle when he desired to ' depart ' in order that he might * be with Christ !' Better, indeed, were it to return to life, for here we may see, even though it be only through a glass darkly, but there we see him not at all !" * SECTION XI. THK SPIRITS IN PRISON. " For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit : by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison ; which sometimes were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water." — 1st Pet. iii. 18-20. This is confessedly one of the most difficult passages in the New Testament ; and, as Leighton remarks, it " Is made more so by the various fancies and contests of interpreters.'' To refer it to Christ's descent into the hell of the damned, is to contradict the plainest statements of Scripture. Why should he go and preach to those whose period of probation was at au end ? * Man All Immortal, p. 183. BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 121 The same may be said in reference to the Romish purgatory. Some refer it to Christ's going to the place of disembodied souls, and proclaiming to the pious dead that his work was finished and their salva- tion was certain. But to this we answer that no such place exists, save in the imagination of men. (See chapter I., sec. iv.) But admitting that such a place does exist, there is one insuperable objection to this interpretation in the passage itself — they were disobe- dient and not righteous spirits. The correct interpre- tation of this passage may be ascertained by an answer to several (questions. First. To whom did Christ preach ? To those who were disobedient in the days of Noah. This is too plain to need u single remark. Second. How did Christ preach ? We answer, by his Spirit employing Noah as the instrument. Let the reader mark the connection between the eighteenth and nineteenth verses. " Being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit ; hy which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison.'* He preiiched to those " disobedient spirits " by the same agency as he was raised from the dead. We see no necessity of understanding the text as speaking of the per-^onal ministry of Christ. The same form of speech is employed where it is plain that Christ's personal ministry cannot be intended. (See EpK ii. lt)-17.) Christ never preached in person to the Church at Ephesus. He did preach by the Spirit through the i* I irii i. 4 i i^ 122 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL Apostle Paul. So also in the passage before us, he preached by his Spirit through his servant Noah. There is no more necessity of understanding the per- sonal ministry of Christ in one of these passages than there is in the other. Third, What, then, is the meaning of the phrase " spiritd in prison ?" Some think the prison refers to their being in bondage to sin while they were yet on the earth. This is the opinion of the learned Dr. Clarke ; but we cannot accept it. The paraphrase of Dr. Macknight seems to us to give the correct meaning of the passage. It is as follows : — " By which Spirit also speaking in Noah (2nd Pet. ii. 5), he preached to the persons notv in prison, who formerly were dis- obedient when the patience of God, once for all, waited for their reformation in the days of Noah." This seems to us to be the most in harmony with the scope of the passage of all the interpretations we have ever 6een. This is certainly a perplexing passage for our oppo- nents, therefore but few of them attempt to grapple with it. Mr. Ham is the only one I know that even attempts an exposition. He says it does not refet " to men, but to certain spiritual beings who were disobedient in the days of Noah, in some such way as to bring them within the reach of Christian redemp- tion," But this is only a supposition of Mr. Ham's, without any foundation in the Word of God. Where docs the Bible speak of redemption being of any I BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 123 3, he [oah. I per- than hrase ers to- ret oii i Dr. aso of janing Spirit sached re dis- waitfcd This scope e ever ' oppo- rapple Lt even refet were way as edemp- lam's, Where of any benefit to any disobedient creatures other than man. The testimony of this passage to the present con- scious existence of the spirits of wicked men, who lived on the earth in the days of Noah, is most un- equivocal. Further, it seems to shew that their pre- sent condition is one o^ penal confinement. They are " Spirits in prison." SECTION XII. THK SOULS OF THB MARTTAS tTNOER THB ALTAB. " And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held ; and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ? " —Rev. vi. 9, 10. It has been objected that this passage is clothed in symbolic language, and should not therefore be cited as proof of any doctrine. But do the Scriptures never convey important truth jn symbolic language ? Sup- pose this passage to be all symbol, yet does it not recognize the doctrine we advocate ? The symbol has its foundation in fact. The passage is generally supposed to refer to the saints who were martyred during the persecutions of the Roman empei*ors. John saw them and heard them express their wishes for the overthrow of the enemies of Christ, by whom they had been cruelly murdered. 124 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL This could not have taken place if they had been unconscious. Though their bodies were slain their souls were still alive. " Though persecution had done its work, and the bodies of the martyrs had been con- sumed l)y the faggot, or devoured by wild beasts, or wasted in deep dark dungeons or dens and caverns of the earth, yet, after it had destroyed the body, there was a conscious life remaining over which it had no power."* " There are four points," says one of our opponents, *' which should be noted in the account : — 1. What was seen ? 2, Where seen ? 3. Their cry. 4. Their condition.^ ^jf Upon the first of these points he re- marks : — *' The word psKcha^ here translated soul, is not rendered spirit once in the Bible." A most pro- found observation this, but we do not see its connec- tion with the argument. Further, he says, " The Hebrew word Nephenh, corresponding with the word psuche, is often rendered person.'* Well, if the word Nepheah is translated perfion five hundred times, does that make the word pauche signify person in this pas- sage ? This is not argument, it is quibbling. Not logic, but ignorance. The fourth point he mentions is the only other that calls for remark. He says, " They remain in the embrace of death till the virion passes on to Rev. xx. 4 ; where he sees them live again, and commence . • Man All Immortal, p. 186. t " Rich Man and Lazarus," p. 26. illlii BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 125 their reign with Christ, and are pronounced ' blessed,' because they have * part in the first resurrection.' " * But we are told in the eleventh verse that they had " White robes given unto every one of them" — " the vestment of acknowledged and glorified right- eousness" — " and it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season." How this can be reconciled with a state of unconsciousness it would be hard for even our opponents to tell. Interpreted fairly, however symbolical its dress, the passage teaches the conscious existence of the soul after the body is dead, and the attempts of our oppo- nents to break its force or impeach its testimony, are a complete failure. Perhaps this is the reason so few of them say anything about it. SECTION XIII. A DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE #101X8 DEAD. " Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple ; and he that siiteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, or any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters ; and God^ shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." — Rev. vii. 15-17. We are not prepared to dogmatize about any pas- sages in this very difficult book of Scripture ; the * " Rich Man and Lazarus," p. 27. 126 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL difficulty of understanding it we know full well. But even that should not deter us from its study. While, however, we believe it to be full of mysteries which have never been correctly interpreted, yet we also believe that many portions of it are easily understood. Such, we think, is the passage just quoted. That it refers to things preceding the general judgment is generally granted. In fact, the whole of this book to the eighteenth chapter is supposed by the best critics to refer to events which transpire before that event. With these considerations in view, we do not hesitate to introduce this passage into the argument. Taking it for granted, then, that our application of this pas- sage is correct, it furnishes some interesting items con- cerning the state and employments of the souls of the pious between death and the resurrection. It is a state of entire freedom from sin. They are " arrayed in white robes," emblems of perfect purity. Sin was the burden under which they labored below, the cause of all their sorrow and care, but now they are as free from sin as the angels of God. " They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," therefore they are presented to him as the purchase of his blood, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. It is a state of victorious triumph. They were in great tribulation, but now they are at ease ; they were engaged in a conflict with Satan and sin, but now they bear the marks of conquerors, and over thQm BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 127 floats the fair banner of holy triumph ; they -were engaged in the Christian warfare, but now they are adorned with crowns of victory ; they have been made more than conquerors through the blood of the Lamb. Sin would fain have enslaved them ; Satan sought to lead tliera captive at his will ; they were subject to death, with its attendant pains and sorrow ; but, through grace given unto them, they have set their feet upon the neck of their last enemy, and with joy triumphantly shouted *' Victory, through the blood of the Lamb." They enjoy the Divine presence face to face. " He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them." *' Therefore are they before the throne of God." They had some glimpses of his presence while on earth, but they only saw him through a glass darkly. These glimpses of the Divine presence served to kindle in their bosoms an intense longing, an earnest hope to gee the king in his beauty. This hope supported them in sorrow, strengthened them in weakness, consoled them in bereavement, and raised their aspirations from earth to heaven. Now they have gained the object of their desire, arid realized their hope : " He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them." He is not a transient visitor, as when they were on the earth, but a constant guest. They continually enjoy the sunlight of his presence and love. They are employed in acts of holy worship, " and serve him day and night in his temple." It is true .^'^V.'Hf4.'>l>Z.A vjr 128 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL liil ilili Is i i :K I" ■K> '.: that theirs is a state of rest from sin and siifP'rin;]^, but it is also a state of unwearied activity. " They serve him day and night in his temple" — expressions used in accommodation to our weakness — for " there is no night there," but one eternal cloudless day. The Christian serves God here, but it is very imperfectly, and often interrupted. The service in which they mingle around the thro.ie is perfect and uninterrupted. There shall the renovated heart and enlarged intellect be engaged in a continuous service. The mysteries of Creation, Providence, and Redemption will call forth the admiration of all ; and as tl.e wisdom and skill dis- played in their formation and completion is unfolded, their love will expand, their song will rise higher, while, with rapturous awe and humble love, they bow before the throne of him who bought them with his blood. They are free from all the trials of earth. Poverty shall never oppress them again. " They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more." *' They feed on the bread of heaven. They pluck the ambrosial fruit from the tree of life, and slake their thirst at the fountain of living waters that flow from the throne of God and the Lamb. Persecution will never overtake them again. " Neither shall the sun light on them nor any heat." The scorching of persecution's fires are quenched for ever, and all their sufferings cease. No temptation to turn the mind from God. No sin to pollute the pure spirit. No pain to rack the body. .11 BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 129 ;her, No death to sndden the home or silence the sonir. " God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." Finally, this Scripture intimates that they are sup- plied with the highest pleasures of which their exaltod nature is capable. " The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water." Their employment will cause them to gain a nearer approximation to the Divine Being, in knowledge, purity, and love. New scenes of pleasure will present themselves at every step, new sources of pleasure continually arise. Higher and yet higher still will they as?end in the scale of hap- piness and freedom. Thus will the finite be ever gaining a nearer approximatioi? to the infinite. May we be partakers of this joy when the toils of earth are finished. SECTION XIV. THE BLESSED DEAD. " And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them." — Rev. xiv. 13. It is impossible to twist this text so as to favor the doctrine of our opponents, they therefore quietly ignore its existence. If man becomes unconscious at death it would be hard to tell in what sense he was blessed. I r N 130 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL There is something peculiar in the method in which this statement was communicated to John. " I heard a voice from hrauen saying unto me, Write," &o. When heaven speaks there is something to hear worthy of our most profound attention. Heaven never speaks but with truth and authority. Now what heaven had to communicate John was commanded to write. This form of speech serves to point out the solemn import- ance of the revelation heaven was about to make. John wrote under Ihe immediate influence of the Holy Ghost, but in addition to this, a voice from heaven told him what he was to writ© on this all important subject. " Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.'* And after the voice from heaven had delivered its message, it was confirmed by the solemn Amen of the Divine Spirit. " Yea, saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labors an 1 their works do follow them." What, then, do these words, delivered under these circumstances, signify. " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." They are blessed, not only because they have escaped the sin, sorrow, and sufferings of earth. The import of the text is this : '* Blessed from now onward."* We are then told in what this blessedness consists : " They rest from their labours and their works do follow them ;" or, as Dr. Clarke renders the passage, " Their works follow with them." This cannot be said of those who are unconscious. # Alford. BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 131 " Rest " is not compatible with such an idea, it is Bomething a man can realize and enjoy. They rest from the toils of the Christian warfare and the disappointments of earth. They rest from anxiety and the depressing tendencies of a mortal body. Here their portion was a mixed one. If the star of hope shone upon their pathway, it was often hidden by the gathering cloud. They had darkness as well as light, bitter as well as sweet. Thank God, as the Christian journeys through this wilderness, there is many a lovely oasis through which he is per- mitted to pass — to delight his vision amid the beauty of its landscapes, to feast his ears with the melody of its songs — but we only find the oasis in the desert. Soon our burning feet and parched tongues tells us we have left it behind. But the rest that remaineth for God's people is unmixed with sorrow. Ther6 the direct beams of the Divine presence shall shine upon us, and, by the influence of his rays upon our hearts, we shall be changed from glory into glory, until every faculty and feature of our souls shall reflect the imago of our Father who is in heaven. Such is the testimony of the New Testament to the soul's consciousness between death and the resurrection. It • 1 ! 132 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL CHAPTER III. DIRECT TESTIMONY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. *ei' •1)1 i ■ SECTION r. THE PATRIARCHS OATHKRKD TO THEIR PATHEB9. " Gathered to his people," and ** gathered to his fathers,'* are phrases of frequent occurrence in the earlier Scriptures. When interpreted in the clear light of after revelations, they serve to show that the doctrine of the uninterrupted immortality of the soul ■was an article of patriarchal faith. When God had promised Abraham that he should have a son, and that his seed should inherit the land of Canaan, the Divine Being confirmed that promise by a vision. In that vision he also promised Abraham that " lie should go to his fathers in peace, and be buried in a good old age." — Gen. xv. 15. The closing scene of the patri- arch's life is described in these words : " Then Abra- ham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years ; and was gathered to his people." — Gen, xxv. 8. When Isaac had lived a hundred and eighty years, it is said of him that '' He gave up the ghost and died, BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 133 and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days ; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him." — Gen. XXXV. 29. T' e same phraseology is employed of Jacob. lie said to his sons when dying, " I am to be gathered unto my people : bury me with my fatliers in the c.ive that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cavo that is m the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan." — Gen. xlix, 29, 30. This form of speech was also in use after the libe- ration of God's people from the land of Egypt. " And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount tlor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people." — Nam. xx. 2H, 24. So also of Moses, the Lord commanded him to go up into Mount Nebo, "• and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people." — - Deut. xxxii. 60. Dr. Knapp says this phrase, of such frei^iuent occur- rence, would be more correctly rendered '' T<) enter into their habitation or abode.''' That this was the opi- nion of the Jews from the earliest time there cannot be any doubt. Tliis phraseology, therefore, serves to indicate a sttite of consciousness upon which the soul enters immediately after death. It also serves to in- dicate that ^-hc pious dead are congregated in a society where they are capable of knowing and loving each other. Our opponents strive to break the force of the argument from this form of speech by applying it to the 134 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL u rl ii ! i mere interment of the body. Being '* gathered to his people" means, with them, to be buried in a family tomb. But to this we would reply that the phrase is used of those who were not buriwd with their fathers. Terah, the father of Abraham, was buried in Haran in the land of Mesopotamia. The forefathers of Terah must have been buried away in the land of Chaldea, where they resided, but Abraham was buried in the cave of Machpelah in the land of Canaan. Only Sarah, his wife, had been buried there previous to himself. The same may be said of Moses. " The Lord buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Betti- peor : ** yet, he " was gathered to his people." This is proof sufficijnt to satisfy us that this phrase does not refer to burial in a family tomb, but to the intro- duction of the soul to the society of friends soon as ever it leaves the body. Such is the opinion of the best critics in all ages. Speaking of the phrase in the case of Jacob, Dr. A. Clarke says — '* The testimony that this place bears to the immortality of the soul, and to its existence separate from the body, should not be lightly regarded. In the same moment Jacob is said to have gathered up his feet into the bed and to have expired, it is added, and was ' gathered unto his people.' It is certain that his body was not then ' ga- thered to his people', nor till seven weeks after ; and it is not likely that a circumstance so distant in ponit both of time and place, would have been thus anticipated, and associated with faults that took place at that moment. I Hi t. I BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURREdTION. 135 cannot help, therefore, considering this an additional evidence for the immateriality of the soul ; and that it M-as intended by the Holy Spirit to carry this grand and consolatory sentiment, that when a holy man ceases to live among his fellows, his soul becomes an inhabi- tant of another world and is joined to the spirits of just men made perfect.'' I also transcribe the opinion of several emiment German commentators from Dr. Bart- lett's " Life and Death Eternal." Says Gerlach, on Gen. XV. 15, " Thou shalt go to thy fathers, or people, in peace, is the gracious expression for a life after death." On the same text Baumgarten re- marks — " A continuance after death is assuredly expressed therein." On Gen. xxv. 8, Knobel remarks, " Abraham was gathered to his fathers, t. e. was associated with his ancestors in iheol. (By which he means the place of departed spirits. See what follows.) The phrases, to go to his fathers,' * to be gathered to his fathers,' and the very common one ' to sleep with his fathers,' all have the same meaning. They signify neither to die merely ; . . . nor to be buried in a family tomb with one's ancestors, since the inter- ment often is also expressed at the sjime time, and since the terms also are applied to those who were not buried with their fathers, but elsewhere ; like Moses, David, Omri, Manasseh, as well as of those in whose place of burial not more than one of their fathers lay, e. g, Solomon, Ahab," Delitzsch takes the same ground in his exposition of the same passage. He says, ■■■ 136 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL *' That Abraham was burled ia first stated further on ; the union with his relatives who had gone before thus takes phice first, not at his interment, but already in the moment of death The union with the father is not a mere union of corpses, but of persons." That this is a correct interpretation of this expression, will appear if we consider the analagous phrase employed by David on the death of his child. SKCTION II. THK CONDUCT OF DAVID ON THK LOSS OP HIS CHILD. " And the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. David there- fore besought God for the child ; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth, but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him the child was dead ; for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice ; how will he then vex himself, if we tell him the child is dead ? But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead ; therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead ? /ind they said, He is dead. Then David arose from the earth, and washed and anointed him- self, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped : then he came to BETWEEN DKATll AND THE RESURRECTION. 137 his own house, and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done ? Thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept for I said. Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live ? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast ? Can I bring him back again ? / shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." 2nd Sam. xii. 15-23. Observe the difference in the conduct of David under this painful visitation of God's providence. While the child was yet alive, nothing afforded him comfort. He would neither eat nor drink. He uould not even listen to the words of sympathy spoken by the attendants. Dut when he found that the child was actually dead, he laid aside his sorrow, he arose and ate bread. •* Wherefore should I fast?" said he ; "Can I bring him back again ? 1 shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." So far as I remember, our opponents do not notice this Scripture at all. If their doctrine were true, such conduct on the part of David would be in- explicable. Think you that the Royal Singer of Israel meant that his child was now in a state of perfect unconsciousness, and that he should soon be in the same condition ? Instead of consoling his heart and 138 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL drying his tears, would not such a thought have rent his soul with an anguish seven times more bitter in its intensity ? From such a thought the common instincts of our humanity recoil with horror. What parent can persuade himself that the child of his love is enclosed in the tomb, unconscious alike of its own existence and of all that surrounds it ? Believe it •who can, my heart recoils from such a doctrine with abhorrence. In our opinion, this passage is proof positive that David believed in an im?iiediate state of conscious enjoyment for the soul, where it recognizes the friends and renews the friendsiiips of eai'th. It ■was this that comforted the heart of Davia under his bereavement. He expected, ere long, to repossess his child in a state where no death would sever the tie that bound their ha}>py souls in one. lleace he said , " I shall yo to him.'^ This is not only in harmony with the Bible, but also ■with the revelation God has written upon the heart of man. '' Go where you will," says Dr. Berg, •' you find the sentiment that friendship is perpetuated beyond the grave. It is enshrined in the heart of our common humanity. The pure unsophisticated belief of the vast majority of Christ's followers is in unison ■with the yearnings of natural jiffection, which follows its objects through the portals of the grave into the eternal world. What but this causes the Christian parent in the dying hour to charge his beloved chil- dren to prepiTO lor a reunion beiore the throne of the BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 189 I'eut 1 its nets rent ,'e is own ve it with . pvoot' ate of ^nizes 1. It .er his 33S his he tie said , lilt also icart of a find eyond f our beUef unison Ifollows ito the ii-istian id chil- of the Lamb ? lie desires to meet them there, and to rejoice with them in the victory over sin and death. The widow bending in bitter bereavement over the grave of him whom God has taken, meekly puts the cup of sorrow to her Hps with the assured confidence that the separation wrought by death is transient, and that they who sleep in Jesus shall together inhei*it the rest that remaineth tor the people of God. Thus the wormwood and the ^all are tempered by the sweet balm of hope, and heaven wins the attractions earth has lost. Tell me, ye who have seen the '■.pen tomb receive into its bosom the sacred trust committed to its keejjing, in hope of the first resurrection — ye who have heard the sullen rumbling of the death-clods as they dropped upon the coffin lid, and told you that earth had gone back to earth — when the separation from the object of your love was realized in all the desolation of your bereavement, next to the thought that you should ere long see Christ as he is and be like him, was not that consolation the strongest which assured you that the departed one, whom God has put from you into darkness, will run to meet you when you cross the threshold of immortality, and, with holy rapture to which the redeemed alone can give utterance, lead you to the exalted Saviour, and with you bow at his feet and cast the conqueror's crown before him ?" But lest our opponents should say this is the opinion of an *' intercHted priedy" let us listen to the testimony of a heathen. JLJ...? T* 140 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL Cicero, the Roman orator, says, ** For my own part, I feel myself transported with t^e most ardent iin[>a- tience to join the society of my two departed friends, your illustrious fathers, whose characters I greatly respected, and whose perj»ons I sincerely loved. Nor is this my earnest desire confined to these excellent persons alone with whom I was formerly connected. I ardently wish to visit also those celebrated worthies of whose honorable conduct I have read much, or whose virtues I have myself commemorated in some of my writings. To this glorious assembly I am speedily advancing ; and I would not be turned back in my journey, even on the assured condition that my youth, like that of Pelias, should be again restored. 0, glorious day ! when I shall retire from this low and sordid scene, to associate with the divine assem dy of departed spirits, and not with those only whom I have just mentioned, but with my dear Cato, that best of sons and most valuable of men ! It was my sad fate to lay his body on the funeral pile, when by the course of nature I had reason to hope he would perform the same last sad office for mine. Plis soul, however, did not desert me, but still looked back on me, in its flight to those happy mansions, to which he was assured I should one day follow him. If I seemed to bear hii death with fortitude, it was by no means that I did not most sensibly feel the loss I had sustained : it "was because I support myself with the consoling reflection that we could not long be separated.'* A. BETW^EEN DEATH AND TUB RESURRECTION. 141 lied I ir hi^ I did td: it ioling Let the reader compare the conduct of this heathen orator and that of the inspired Paahnist, and he will be forcibly struck with their similarity of sentiment and feeling. This certainly cannot be open to the objec- tion of being the opinion of an *' interested priest.'^ And what shall we make of such aspirations, expressed with such confidence and in lan;'ua''e so j^lowiii^j ? Make of it! Why. just what Bishop Clark does when he says it is " the instinctive sentiment of humanity (which; waited not for the dawning light of written revelation from God, but boldly asserted an undying fellowship among kindred spirits in the land of souls, and a certain reunion with those who had gone before.'* * That this was the faith of the early Church, there cannot bo the slightest doubt. (The reader will find the doctrinal statement of some of the Fathers in an- other chapter). They believed the Church on earth and heaven were one family, each part alike having com- nnniion with Christ. From this fact, says Neander, *' Was derived the Christian custom which required that the memory of departed friends should be cele- brated by their relations on the anniversary of their death. It was usual on this day to partake of the sacrament under a sense of inseparable fellowship with those who had died in the Lord.... Whole communities celebrated the memory of those who had died as wit- nesses for the Lord. On every returning anniversary • Man All Immortal, p. 335. ( I 142 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL the people gathered aroiunl their graves, and there the story oF their confession and sulfe rings was rehearsed, and the communion was celebrated in the conscious- ness of a cjntimae.ii fellowship with them." This prac- tice serves to show how the primitive Church inter- preted the words of the Apostle Paul to the Ephesiuns — " The whole family in heaven and earths Materialists tell us that our departed Christian friends are in the grave both body and soul, that they are wholly uncon- scious. Paul says they are '* in heaven, '* and so the early Church understood him. Our loved ones who have gone from us belong to Christ's family still. They dwell in our Father's house, and we hasten t^, join them there. Our union with them is not to be postponed till the morning of the resurrection. All the direct Scripture testimony of the previous sections are opposed to any idea of that kind. The facts ol human experience serve to confirm the Scripture testimony. How often, in departing, does the Christian recognize the presence of friends long dead. It is said of Hannah More, that in her dying agony she stretched out her arms as though she would embrace some object, and uttering the name of a much-loved but deceased sister, she cried, " Joy," and sank into the arms of death. Do our opponents say this was the result of error working on a diseased imagination ? Then let us take a fact which cannot be open to such an objection. The following fact appeared in a popular periodical some years ago : — " A little girl, in a family BETWERX DEATH AND THE HESURRECTION. 143 of my aquaiiitancc, a lovely and precocious child, lost her mother at an age too early to fix the loved features in her rcmcmhiance. She was as frail as heautiful ; and as the bud of her heart unfolded, it seemed, as if won by that mother's prayers, to turn instinctively heavenward. The sweet, conscientious, and prayer- loving child was the idol of the bereaved fiimily. But she faded away early. She would lie on the lap of the friend who took a mother's kind care of her, and winding one wasted arm about her neck, would say, * Now tell me about my mamma ! ' And when the o^t- told tale had been repeated, she would ask, softly, ' Take me into the parlor ; I want to see my mamma.' The request was never refused ; and the affoctionato child would lie for hours contentedly gazing on her mother's portrait. But 'Pale and wan she grew, and weakly — Bearing all her pains so meekly — • That to them she still grew dearer, As the trial hour drew near, ' That hour came at last, and the weeping neighb:)r3 assembled to see the little child die. The dew of death was already on the flower, as its life's sun was going down. The little chest heaved faintly, spasmodically. * Do you know me, darling ? ' sobbed in her ear the voice that was dearest, but it awoke no answer* All at once a brightness as if from the upper world burst over the child's colorless countenance. The eyelids flashed open, the lips parted, the wan cradling 144 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL hands flew up, in tlie little one's last impulsive eflfort, as slic looked piercingly into the far above. 'Mother I' she criefl, with surprise and transport in her tone ; and passed with that brcatii to her mother's bosom. A divine who witnessed the scene said, * If I ne - believed in the ministration of departed ones before, I could not doubt it now. ' " Facts of this kind might be multiplied to any extent, but these are sufficient to show that the teachings of Scripture and the instincts of our common humanity a.re in harmony on the subject before us. 'J'he reve- lation within and the revelation without always agree. SECTION iir. CHRIST'S BOUL »OT LKVT IN HKLI.. " For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell ; neither "vsilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." — Psalm xvi. 10. This passage is prophetic of Christ. It is referred to, and expounded by Peter, Acts ii. 27-31. Also by Paul, Acts xiii. 35-37. The reader will observe first, that it recognizes the true and proper humanity of Christ ; and also the distinction that exists between the body and soul •which runs throughout the Hible. It speaks of some- thing in relation to both the body and soul of Christ. With reference to his body it is said, " Thou wilt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." So far BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 145 as this purt of tlic passn;;c is concerned, it is a yvo- phecy of the death of Christ. It serves to sliow that Avliilo his body was in the grave sufficiently h)n;^ to prove the reality of his death, it did not remain thcro long enough to pass into a state of putrefaction. Concerning his ispheric air." Then to prove this position they (juote Ezek. xxxvii. 5-17 — a pro- phecy which relates to the elevation of the Jews from the death-like state into which they had fallen as a nation. It requires no little amount of intellectual acumen to see the connection between these two y)as- sages, or to see how the one explains the other. Such acumen we do not possess. After quoting the eighth verse in Ezekiel, we ^re whirled back to Solomon by these words — "Thus we see that the rnahm Reel, xii. 7, went to the four winds^ and at the resurrection, comes agpin from the four winds, which winds ' God holds in his fists,' so that when the ruah goes to the four winds, the ruah goes to God." * This is a fair sam})le of their expositions of this passage. Did our • " Bible versus Tradition," p. 83-90. V" 148 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL I* \'-h\.: space admit, we ''jould easily transcribe two or three more silly than this. Accordin.i; to this, then, Solomon said that when a man dies, the air he breathes goes back into the atmosphere— a profound observation surely for so wise a man to make. He might just as well have said the dust goes to God, for it returti j to its original elem3nt, an 1 the breath does just the same. But the context is fatal to the interpretation of our op[)onents. In the fourteenth verse, Solomon states the reason why the spirit returns to God — to be judged according to its works. The breath of a man being judged would be (piitc an anomaly. No censure can be too severe upon the men who thus pervert the Word of God. To say tha*" they do not understand it is to charge them with ignorance. To say that they do understand it is to charge them with something worse than ignorance. Woe, woe unto the men who, by perverting Scripture, have drawn away so many simple souls from the truth to the inventions of men. SECTION V. MEANING OF THE WOIID SLEF P WHEN APPLIED TO 'HE t>BAD. ** And many of them that aWp in tlie dust of the earth. ' — Dan. xii. 2, &c., &c. This figure has been used to describe the iitate of the dead from the earliest time and in all nations Homer calls sleep and death twin brothers. This doubtless arose from the strikiiiir resemblance between a person just dead and one who is asleep. It is a most beautiful and appro])riato figure. BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 149 Our opponents contend that it is proof positive that the soul is unconscious between death and the resurrec- tion. But does the fi<^ure speak of the soul at all ? Does not the term rather api)ly to the bodj' alone ? They " sleep in the dust of the earlh.^'' Sufficient has been said already to prove that the soul is distinct from the body, and at death exists apart from it. That the figure does not signify a state of unconsciousness is evident from the words of the Apostle Paul, Thess. v. 10, " Who died for us, that whether we ivake or deep^ we shall LIVE together with him." This text must settle for ever the meaning of this figure when applied to the dead. Our opponents must expunge it from the Bible before they will succeed in making us believe that the figure of sleep signifies that the soul is un- conscious between death and the resurrection. " Sleep is that relaxation from the toils and afflic- tions of life, that short suspeusiou of the powers of corporeal sense and action, which are succeeded by a more vigorous exercise of the animal and intellectual faculties. And so death, releasing us entirely from our conflicts with the trials of this mortal existence, and suspending all the cori)oreal functions, is followed by a reviviscence of our whole nature, in the active delights and unalloyed glories of the heavenly state" * How ap[)ro})riate this figure to indicate the Chris- tian's rest after the toils of life's day. His life is one of labor, it requires constant activity and attention, lie •Bishop Hobatd's State of the Departed, p. 45. It' ':! 150 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL is running a race in which he must bend every muscle and nerve to ihe utmost tension. lie is fiiihting with powerful foes, and in order to conquer, he must display the most indomitable courage and perseverance. He is engaged in a work that draws heavily upon all the energies of body and mind. But his race will soon bo run ; his warfare will soon be over and his work finished ; and he shall rest in God. Sleeping in Jesus, b 'lall be free from all life's toils and trials. li M *■ BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 151 CHAPTER IV. OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. The objections of our opponents are chiefly drawn from the figurative language ot" the poetic books of the Old Testament. This is a thought worthy of being remembeied. If their theory had been so very plainly revealed in Scripture as they pretend, this would not have been the case. The first passage upon which they found an objec- tion which we shall notice is Job xiv. 10 : *' But man dieth, and wasteth away ; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?" Our opponents seem to regard this as a question implying that when a man is dead he has no existence. This we regard as a mis- conception of the passage. The argument of Job seems to be this : If you cut a tree down, though the stock die in the ground, it will, under certain circum- stances, spring up again and occupy the place it did before. But when man ^'ies he leaves his present abode for ever. (See verse 7-12.) If, however our opponents press the question, " Where is he ? " we answer, His butlij is in the dust, and will remain thd'o until t'le resurrection morning. This is intimated by Job in the context. His aoat is either in heaven or el/: I ■i i h.i i 'i 152 coy Din ON OF the hitman soul hell, accordin;^ to its moral character, and wil' remain there until the restitution oC all things, when it will bo reunite*! to the body. In proof of these statements, we a[)pcal to the testimony of the Word of God, as adduced in the preceding chapters. Another o{)*ection is founded on Psalm xlix. 12-14, " Nevertheless man bein;^ in honour atideth not : he is like the beasts that [)erish Like sheep they are laid in the grave ; dcatli shall feed on them." In commenting on this passage, our opponents take consi- derable f)ains to prove that men are on a level with the brutes. Campl)cll asks, " How do the beasts perish ? Does the whole beast perish, or only a part? If the whole beast perishes the whole sinner must." * If Mr. Campbell means to assert that man is untjualifiedly like the beasts, we hope he will restrict the application to himself and those of like precious (?) faith. For our own part, we do not think the beasts are to be raised from the dead, certainly not to be judged and rewarded by Chi'ist at his coming. But if man is to come to nothing, hke the beasts, as our opj)onents intimate, then there can be no future life at all. IMan is like the beasts, in that his body dies and returns to the dust. This is the only point of analogy to which the Psalmist refers. Notwithstanding all the presumption and self- sufficiency of ungodly rich men, they must die and leave their possessions : this is the signification of the • Age of Gospel Light, p. 46. BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 153 to our sed led to itc, the ust. nist Iself- and the whole passage. Let the reader carefully study the whole psalm, and this will be apparent at once. The next objection is founded on Psalm cxlvi. 3, 4, " Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth ; in that very day his thoughts perish." Our opponents are careful not to quote more than tlie last clause of the fourth verse. It would be a breach of all their rules of interpretation to even consult the context. With an air of triumph they ask, ^* How can a thing be tormented that has no thoughts?"* and without the slightest proof, they assert that " all which belongs to man, as man, must perish." f We should like to know what becomes of the doctrine of the resuiTection if this interpretation be correct ? Our opponents profess a great regard for this doctrine, but their theory is utterly destructive of it. A new crea- tion there may be, but on this theory, a resurrection never! The word thoughts in this passage signifies •purposes^ desires, expectations, and is so used quite frequently. (See Isaiah 1 v. 6 ; Psalm xlix. 11 ; Acts viii. 82 ; Job xvii. 11.) This passage, then, is altoge- ther irrelevant, and instead of quoting it with an air of triumph, our opponents ought to blush at their igno- rance or their guilt. There are a number of other passages in the Psalms which they are continually quoting as objections to our * Age of Gospel Light, p. 49 t "Bible versus Traditio i." Ir r. I (i! ; I?; : ■ s- i I?! Ma li ' 154 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL doctrine ; but as they are virtuallj of the same cha- racter, we may be permitted to group them to save the space which a separate answer to each would require. Psalm vi. 5, ** For in death there is no remembrance of thee ; in the grave who shall give thee thanks ? " (See also Psalm xxx. 9 ; Ixxxviii. 11 ; xv. 17 ; cxviii. 17 ; and Isaiah xxxviii. 18-19.) It is passingly strange, that men who lay claim to soundness of mind should ever quote these passages as proof that the soul dies with the body. This is the strait to which a materin,listic philosophy forces its devotees. We have already shown this theory to be without the slightest foundation, either in Scripture or common sense. That the body while in the grave is incapable of feeling or action, is all that the most literal interpreta- tion of these texts will prove. If the mode of inter- pretation adopted by our opponents is a sound one, it would lead to consequences for which they are scarce- ly prepared. Take the text last quoted : " For in death there is no remembrance of thee." Now, these words our opponents regard as decisive proof of the unconscious state of the soul between death and the re- surrection. Well, then, for a moment take it for granted that this interpretation of the passage is. the correct one. Let the reader turn to Psalm Ixxxviii. 6, " Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, "whom thou rememberest no more." Apply the i3ame rule of interpretation to this text, and you may prove that the Deity is unconscious. We scarcely think our n BETWEEN DEATU AND THE RESURRECTION. 155 cha- sthe iiire. ce of (See -IT . 1 • » ange, mind it the which We it the omtnon lable of irpreta- f inter- one, it scarce- For in jv, these of the the re- I granted correct it Free [e grave, Ihe !5anie ly prove Ihink our opponents are prepared for such an idea as that yet. What, then, can we do but reject the mode of inter- pretation which leads to such a preposterous idea? The excellent little pam[>hlet of Rev. N. D. George contains some very judicious remarks on the mode of interpretation adopted by our opponents. He says, by adopting their mode of interpretation " we learn that God hath destroyed both the perfect and the wicked ; that all flesh shall perish together ; that the Babylonians are to sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake ; that those who are in their graves God remem- bers no more ; that the dead ehall not arise and praise God, and that he that goeth down to the grave sliall come up no more ; that Job shall return no more from the land of darkness, and shall see no more good. Ur, in other words, we learn from the Bible that death is an eternal sleep ; and this is done by interpreting the Scriptures literally in the sense of our literalist oppo- nents. In their hot zeal against *' Imniortal-soulism," as they call it, they have set an engine in motion which batters down their own castle." * The next passage we notice is Jer. li. 39, " In their heat will I make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and deep a perpetual sleep^ and not wake, saith the Lord.'* Now, if our opponents intend us to understand this in a literal sense, then it is as destructive of their own theory as it is of ours. They profess to make more * Materialism Antiscriptural, p. 14-15. ?rr 156 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL :> •. 1: ■ SI r. of the doctrine of the resurrection than other Cliris- tians do. But, if man is to be raised from the dead, there m ist bo an awakening, so that it is not a per- petual sleep in the literal sonse, after all. Why, then, do our opponents lay such stress upon it, but to de- ceive the igiorant and unwary ? We miist not detain the reader here, as the figure employed in this text has been previously explained. The next passage is Ezek. xviii. 20, *' The soul that sinneth, it shall die.'* We are tohl that *' Adam lies under the full indiction of the penalty, in the shape of dust, unconscious in the grave;" and this text is quoted as proof.* They all understand this to mean the death of the body. Mr. Campbell sa^^s, " To say it shall di^ a sp'u-itual death, would be adding to the words of God."t However, the same might be said of calling it a literal death. That the passage refers to spiritual death is evident from the twenty-first verse, *' But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed .... he shall surely live, he fshall not di.eJ'^ If the theory of our opponents is true, he will die and remain unconscious until the resur- rection. This is not to add to the words of God cer- tainly, but is something worse, it is to contradict them. ** lie shall surely live, he i^hall not die^ Turninor from sin will not save a man from temporal death, but * " Bible versus Tradition," p. 64. t Age of Gospel Light, p. 46. BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 157 2hri3- dead, \ per- , then, to de- detain is text >ul that am lies e shape text 18 to mean ^ To say ur to the be said re refers nty-first his sins live, he 3 is true, e resur- God cer- ot them. Turning eath, but it will save him from spiritual and eternal death ; this is the meaning of the passage under considoration. Eccl ix. 5, '* For the living know that thoy shall die ; hut the dead know not anything." This is thought by our opponents to place the matter beyond controversy. It is somewhat amusing to see them exult over their imagined victory when they have quoted these worls. Suppose we adopt the method of our opponents for a moment, and from this verse we can prove there is no future state at all. Thus : *' The dead know not anything, neltJu^r hare they any more a reward.'''' Will our opponents accept this ? Would they not say immediately, you isolate the pas- sage from its connection ? Just what we sny to them. What does the context say ? (See ver. 5 and 6.) " Neither hav they any more reward in anythlnt) under the sun.'* So also, ** The dead know not any- thing under the sun.'' They know nothing of the [Mea- sures or business of earth, they take no part therein. It is most dishonorable for men to isolate a member of a sentence from its connection, and then quote it in favor of a dogma the Bible does not teach. This is not argument but an attempt to deceive. The same may be said of their mode of treating the tenth verse of the same chapter. There is one other passage to which I would like to call the reader's attentitm. Eccl. iii. 19-21, *' For that which belalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts i even one thing befalleth them ; as the one fr 158 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL dioth, 80 dieth the other ; yea, they have all one breath ; so that man hath no pre-eminence above a beast : for all is vanity. All go into one place ; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.. Who Icnowcth the s{)irit of m.an that goeth upward, and the S[)irit of the beast that gouth downward to the earth ? " Our opponents assert there is no dilference between the spirit of a man and the sjiirit of a brute — that they are alike unconscious after death. But Solomon makes such a distinction between them in this text which all may see unless they are willfully blind. He aays that man is like the brute in the constitution of his animal nature. It is made of the same element and returns to it at death. H'3re the analogy ends. At death, " The s[)irit of the beast goeth downward to the earth ;'' whereas "the spirit of man goeth up- ward." Here there is a distinction as plain as words can make it. In chapter xii. he tells us what he means by the " S[)irit of man which goeth upward." ** It returns to God who gave it." Our opponents do not believe in the absolute sense that " A man hath no pre-eminence above a beast." Then why do they try to mislead the minds of their readers by putting a construction on this passn hey do not believe themselves ? Such a pr^ ^ honorable a? it is unfair. When we b tion of this volume, it was our inte to ha dwult upon the distinction between the animal sor and the human spirit sit length j but our limited space forbids. JiETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 159 : one ivo a ; all Who d the •th?" tween -that lomon 3 text . He Lion of cuient ends, nward ith up- words lat he kard." sense 3east." f their awclt lid the ;orbids. All that we can do id to refer our readers to larger works on this subject. Our opponents found but very few objections on passages in the New Testament. They try to make a stand on Acts ii. 29 an 1 34, " Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.'* " For David is not ascended into the heavens.'* This is to our opponents proof positive that David is unconscious in the grave. Now, we ask whoever taught that David in his complex nature had ascended into heaven ? Assuredly we have not. That his spiiit is there we believe most heartily. But the spirit is only a part of David. Even our oppo- nents believe that " Neither the body nor the soul separately is the man, but the union of both." In this sense, therefore, David has not ascended into heaven. But sometimes the. proper name of a man is applied to his body alone. We are told that " Devout men carried Stephen to his burial." We have already seen that Stephen's spirit was with Christ in heaven before his burial. Now this is the sense in which the word is employed in this text. The Apostle was speaking of the resurrection and ascension of Christ. To prove that Christ had been raised, he quoted the prophetic language of the sixteenth Psalm, of which David was the author. He shows that this had not been fulfilled in the case of David, but it had in the case of Christ. He had been raised from the dead, . [ ; I ( if fi, i , il 1 I 160 CONDITION OP THE HUMAN SOUL and ascended into heaven, as predicted in this psalm. The most that can be made of this passage, therefore, is, that David's body has not been raised and glorified like Christ's. But in all this there is nothing to prove thai; his soul is unconscious. The assumptions of our opponents on this passage are without the slightest foundation in the context. Another passage, and one upon which they greatly insist, is 1st Cor. xv. 16-18, " For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised ; and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain ; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. ' On this passage Ellis and Read say, " Here Paul predicates the ivhole future existence of man upon a resurrection from the dead. If there be no resurrec tion, there will be no future conscious existence of any kind. If the ghosts of the righteous are conscious, and in glory, Paul woul(j not have asserted that they have perished.^^ * A more reckless misconception of the Apostle's argument in this chapter cannot be imagined. Bad as it is, even this interpretation may be overt'irned, and with their own weapons. The reader wiii bear in mind tha^ to perish, with our oppo- nents signifies the " utter extinction of consciow* ex'H- enceJ^ Then, by parity of reason, not to perish is to continue in conscious existence. Now, our opponents would have us believe that they «vho are fallen asleep ♦ " Bible versus Tradition." BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 161 in Christ are perished. But this is m direct opposi- tion to the argument of the Apostle. He says, " If Christ be not raised . . . Then they wlio have fallen asleep in Christ are perished^ But the whole of his argument goes to show that Christ is raised from the dead, and from this it follows that they who have fallen asleep. in him have not pcruhed. That is, ac- cording to the construction put on these words by our opponents, thet/ conaolonslt/ fxist. This passage, therefore, they turn against themselves, f jr, on their own showing, it teaches th:it all who have fallen asleep iii Christ are consciously alive. 1G2 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL i 1 1 E i i li • ' .'.1 CHAPTER V. TESTIMONY OF THE JEWS AND EARLY CIIRISTIANS. SECTION I. TESTIMOKY OF THE JEWS. Having examined the testimony of the Scriptures, and answered the objections founded upon parti'^ular passages of Scr:[)ture, it seems proper to aihl a para- graph or two on the opinions of the Jews. As several references have already been made to their belief, we shall observe the utmost brevity. It is well known that the Jews consisted of three sects — ihe Pharisees, ihe Sadducees, and the Essenes. Josephus, the Jewish historian, gives us the most minute p;.irticular3 concerning the tenets of these dif- ferent sects. The Sadducees were very limited in their number, and hid little iridience among the peojde. This sect did not believe hi the im nortality of the soul. Josephus says concerning them, " The doctrine of the Sudducees is this — that souls die with bodies." * Concerning the Pharisees, he says, " They also believe that souls have an immortal vigor in them, and that, under the earth, there will be rewards or • Antiquities of the Jews, B. xviii., Ch. 1, Sec. 4. ii BETWEEN^ DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 163 three ones. most (iif- (1 ia the ality The with also them, ds or punishments, accordingly as they have lived virtuously or viciously in this life."* Of the other sect of the Jews he says, " They teach the immortality of so'iis/'f We have been thus brief in order to save space, giving these statements merely as representatives of each class. The reader who may desire to investigate the subject at length may consult the writings of Josephus in the following places: — '^ Wars of Jews*,'* B. ii., Ch. 8, Sees. 10, U, 14 ; B. iii., Ch. 8, Sec. 5 ; B. i., Ch. 33, Sees. 2, 8 ; B. vii., Ch 8, Sec. 7 ; and the '• Discourse to the Greeks concerning Hades.'* The reader will see, therefore, that the greater part of the Jewish nation, in the time of Christ, were believers in the uninterrupted immortality of the soul. But our opponents have endeavoured to impeach the character of Josephus as a witness ; this — lame resource as it is — they have attempted. But this was rather a dillicu t task, and it came too late in the day to be successful. Bishop Porteous says, ••' The fidelity^ the veratdty^ and the probity of Josephus are universally allowed, and Scaliger, in particular, de- clares that, not only in the affairs of the Jews, but even of foreign nations, he deserves more credit than all the Greek and Roman writers put together. Cer- tain at least it is that he had tlie m wt essen Jal quali^ fication of an historian — a perfect knowledge of all the • AntiquiMea of the Jews, B. xviii., Ch. 1, Sec. 3. t Ibid. B. xviii., Ch. 1, Sec. 5. 164 'i ! CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL transactions which he relates ; that he had no preju- dices to mislead him in the representation of them ; and that, above all, he meant no favour to the Chris- tian cause." His works have always been in great ropi t' am ng tie wisest and best of men, and even Mr. Hudson will find it didicuh to destroy his testi- mony. • SECTION II. TESTIMONY OP THK EARLY FATHERS. Two errors have been committed in reference to the testimony of the writers of the early Church on reli- gious doctrine. Some have regarded their writings as on a par with thoae of the Apostles themselves. Others think their opinions are of little worth. Our opponents have dragged these writers into the controversy ; it becomes necessary, therefore, to examine their testi- mony. Nothing can be more unfair and deceptive than the use made of the writings of the fathers by Ham in his '' History of the Present Popular Opinion Concerning the Doctrine of Human Immortal'ty." If we accept his word without examination, we shall be led '0 1 elieve tliat the early fathiTS were only second to himself in their advocacy of the unconscious state of the dead and annihilation of the wicked. If we believe the testii . ny of Neander or Hagenbach, no men held the doctrine of the uninterrupted immor- tality of the soul more firmly than the primitive fathers. BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION 165 It \% readily granted that these early writers differed among themselves. Borne of them believed that the soul was a part of God ; others believed it to be naturally immortal^ by which they meanu that it had existed trom eternity, and would continue to exist for ever. Others opposed this doctrine, and contended that the human soul was dependent upon the will of the Divine Being for its immortal) ty. But, whatever might be the particular form, they nearly all held the doctrine of the soul's immortality in the sense in which it is held by a vast majority of the Christian Church to-day. As far as I have been able to ascertain, it was in the beginning of the third century that an v thing like the doctrine advocated by our opponents tound its way into the Christian Church. It was introduced by Arnobius. The doctrine, as held by our opponent::;, was of a much 'later date than even that. I know that .our opponents quote passages from earlier writers, which, when isolated from the context, seem to favour their doctrine ; but, when properly inter[)reted in the light of the context, teach the very opposit'j. Take an example qu )ted by Ham in the work referred to above. Alter a page or two, in which the writer begs the question in the most palpable manner, he says, '' But let them speak for themselves :--* Blessed are those priests,' writes Clement, ' who having finished their course before these times, have obtained a fruitful and perfect dissolutkjn.' " The italics and capitals indicate the construction Mr. 11am puts upon this ''W 166 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL i passa'j^e. IIov he can understand Clement to mean that death was the " cessation of conscious existence '* is impossible to conceive. The phrasoolo-^y, cert;nnly, does not convey any such idea. Clement speaks of it as a *• dissolution." Now, if man had possessed only one nature in the constitution of his person, as our opponents contend, then this word ap[)li3d to death would have been without signification. This is evidently the word upon which Mr. Ham depends for his unwarranted conclusion, for he puts it in caj Itals. Clement uses the word, without doubt, to indicate death as the dissolution of the union of the c nstituent elements of man's nature. This is the onlt/ idea attached to the word death in the Scripture to what- ever it may be api)lied. Death, then, in the estimation of Clement, was the dissolution of the union between the soul and the body. Now, observe, he calls this a ^''fruitful dissolution." If the priests of whom he wrote had entered upon a state of unconsciousness, we should like to know in what sense it would be a *'y^'^''A^ dissolution ?'' Fruitful in what? Perhaps Mr. Ham would inform us? And also how on the materialistic theory any man could obtain a '•'' perfacV^ dissolution ? On the same page is another quotation from the same writer. " All the ages of the world, from Adam even unto this day, are passed away ; but they who have been made perfect in love have, by the grace of God, obtained a place (by inheritance, not yet by mmmm ™pi^ BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 1G7 realization) among the righteous, and shall he made maiilfext in the ji(dyment of the Kinijdom of ChrUt. For it is written, ' Enter into thy chambers for a little space, till my anger and my indignation shall pass asvay • and I will remember THE QOOD DaY (the resur- rection day), and will raise you up out of your GRAVKS.' " We give this jassage, italics, capitals, and additions, as we find it in Mr. Ham's work ; and even then we do not think it favours the doctrine of our opi-Otients. If the early fathers taught this doctrine as plainly as our opponents tell us, we should not need either the capitals or additions of Mr. Ham to under- stand them. In the above quotation, Clement most assuredly asserts that the pious dead '' have, by the grace ot'Gol, obtained a place among the righteous ;" *' by inheritance, net by realization, * being the addi- tion of Mr. 11am. They have " obtained a place among the righteous." This certainly looks very unlike the doctrine of our opponents. Nor can these observations be set aside by putting the references to the resurrec- tion in capitals. We attach quite as much importance to that as Mr. Ham or any of his class. We look forward to that " good day " with eagerness as the period when the bliss of the righteous shall h& consum- mated. This is a fair sample of the method of dealing with the early fathers by the writers of the materialistic school. If these arc the strongest passages (they are all he quotes) to favour his doctrine that Mr. Ham could find in the Epistles to Corinth, the reader will Hrt 168 CONDITION OF TUE HUMAN SOUL jud^^e how much Clement taught the unconscious state ot" the dead. All the testimony the same writer could glean from Polycarp, the companion of the Apostle John, is one very short extract from one of his Epistles, which I quote : — " If we please (the Lord) in this present world, we shall a' so be partakers of that which is to come, according as he has promised us that he will raise us from the dead, and that if we shall walk worthy of him, we shall also rcign together with him.'* !Now, what does this quotation decide on the subject for which it is professedly given ? Simply nothing. Even when it is italicized by Mr. Ham, it only te iches that Polycarp hoped for the resurrection of the dead just as all Christians do. On the condition of the soul between death and the resurrection this passage proves nothing. Does Mr. Ham wish to impress the reader with the idea that Polycarp was of the same opinion as himself? If so, we must charge him wi':h an attempt to deceive. He miist have known that Polycarp exclaimed, amid the fire of martyrdom, that he should stand before God that day, and so glorious was the prospect, that he sang hymns of praise as hiji body burned to ashes. This does not look very much like being an advocate of the unconscious state of the dead. Ignatius, another of the contemporaries of the Apostles who suffered martyrdom in ihe reign of Tro- jan, says, '• kneeing then all things have an end, there are these two together set before us, death and life ; BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 169 >> and every one shall depart unto his proper place,** To Smyrna he writes, '* Christ suffered truly, as he aW truly raised up himself; and not as some unbelievers say, that he only seemed to suffer, they themselves only seeming to be. And as they believe, so it shall happen unto them, when, being divested of the body, they shall become mere spirits." Yet of this writer Mr. Ham is bold enough to say that he never " Makes any allusion to such a notional entity as a disembodied soul, or spirit." From this the reader can judge how much confidence can be placed in the dogmatic asser- tions of these writers. I forbear to quote anything from the epistle ascribed to Barnabas, the fellow-laboier of the Apostle Paul. This Epistle is considered by the best historians to be spurious. Neander says, *' A very different spirit breathes through it from that of an apostolical writer." (See llagenbach. Vol. I., p. Gtt.) The same is true of the " Shepherd" of Hermas. Justin Alartyn is quoted by Mr. Ham as one who " Must unquestionably be numbered" among those who *' denied the immortality of the abstract soul, and maintained that it perished in death with the body." The reader shall judge of the quesiionalle character of this assertion by a reference or two. " In his Dialogue with Trypho, he makes the souls of the pious take up their abode in a better, those of the Avicked in a worse place.'* Again, " He makes the good, even before the final division, dwell in a happier, 170 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL the evil in a more wretched, abode." (See Ilagen- bach, Vol. I., p. 222.) This \vritGr brings us down to A.D. 140, and we are bold to say that no trace of the doctrine of our opponents can be found in the writeis of the Christian Church up to this time. . Enough has been said to prove that the doctrine of the uninterrupted immortality of the soul was the doc- trine of the apostolic fathers ; but as the reader may like to see some later testimonies, 1 transcribe a few from various sources. Tertullian, who died about a.t>. 220. Ilagenhach says of this writer that he " Rejected the notion of the Bleep of the soul." Landis, quoting from his work on the Resurrection, says, '* For even now souls, although naked, as we see from the reference to Lazaius, are in hades, and are tormented." IIa;i;enbach speaks of him as givhig the most information of this place, which " he describes as an immense space in the depths of the earth, divided by an impassable gulf into two parts. The part assigned to the righteous he calls ainus Ahrahce, that of the wicked ignis and sometimes in- en. Origen, who died about a.d. 254. lie taught that the souls of the pious go immediately to paradise. He also taught that the perfection of blessedness is subsequent to the general judgment. (See Hagenbach, Vol. I., p. 224, 22.').) Eusebius gives an account of a synod lield in Arabia at which Ori^j;en prevailed upon certain teachers who held opinions similar to our oppo- IBWfl [\ to the iteis \G of doc- may I fovv [ibach of the )rk on hougli IS, are !aks of which ths of parts. ainns lues in- 11 hi that iidise. viess is eubach, uut of a od upon ur oppo- BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 171 nents to reiiomice them. This is the first time there is any mention of anything of the kind in ecclesiastical history. Cyprian, who was bishop of Carthage, and died a martyr a.d. 250. Speaking of the dead, he says, *' They are not lost, but sent before us," Speaking of heaven, he says, " A great host of beloved friends await us there, a numerous and various crowd ; par- ents, brethren, cliildrcn, who are seci: ^d in a blessed immortality, and only still conc< ^a fo* u. are looking with desire for our arrival ! To these, dearly beloved brethren, let us hasten with strong desiie, and ardent- ly wish soon to be with them and with Christ." This is one of the fathers whom Ham quotes as believing in the mortality of the soul. Let any one investigate the subject for himself, and commence to verify the quota- tions of these writers, and he w'U know how far they c:m be trusted. I am sorry to make such a remark, but the cause of honesty and truth demands it. Let not the reader imagine that we over estimate the opinions of the fathers as quoted above, or that we depend upon them for proof. By no means. Our opponents have basely misrepresented most of the above-mentioned writers, and we produce these quo- tations as a rebuttal of their unwarranted assertions. This is the purpose and the only purpose for which these writers are mentioned by us. It would be eai3y to multiply quotations to any extent, but these are suthcient to satisfy the unprejudiced reader. ¥ 172 CONDITION OF THE HUMAN SOUL 14' ' : • r>;8rai ,1 it It f V pi There is, however, one class of proof that ours was the faith of the early Christians, which is mentioned by Dr. Mattison, and is worthy of repetition. I refer to the catacombs at Rome. Here the thousands of martyred Christians were buried during the first, second, and third centuries. The inscriptions on the tortbs in this vast burial place bear undisputed tes- timony to the belief of the early Christians in the uninterrupted immortality of the soul. Some of these inscriptions are as follow : — ** Borne away by angels on the 7th day of January ;" " In Christ, Alexander is not dead, but lives above the stars — his body rests in this tomb ;" '* One who lives with God ;" '^ Gone to dwell with Christ ;" " Snatched home eternaUy. ' If the opinion of our fellow-Christians of the first cen- turies is worth anything in the argument, these inscrip- tions speak for themselves. Mr. Ham's pamphlet on the history of the doctrine is from beginning to end a base misrepresentation of facts, and in some parts it is hard to persuade one- self that the author was not filled with some other spirit than that vhich cometh from God. This is strong language, we know, but a short paragraph will conviuce the reader of its truth. After stigniatiziiig the *' Immortality of the Soul " as a Popish doctrine, this sober divine proceeds — ^' Behold, ye asserters of your own inherent immortality, the worthy " nursing father of" your faith ! — the hero of a heyday hetero- doxy ! — the jolly jester with the solemn sanctities of T>'J was Micd -efor Is of first, n the I tes- \ the these ngels ander rests one to f.' If it cen- iiscnp- octrine vtioii of le one- other This is h will atlziiig octrine, 3rters of nursing I hetero- ;titie3 of BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 173 Scripture ! — the mocker of the sacred mysteries ! Worthy patron of a pagan progeny! Let it be regis- tered as the genuine genealogy of a fundamental doctrine of modi3rn British Christendom, that the Pagan Plato was its father^ and the profligate Pope Leo its foster-father. Born and bred by the Pagan philosophy and the protdgd of Popery, this notion of the soul's immortality has become a pot dogma of popular Protestantism, which, with a strange for- getfulness of its low lineage, openly declares it to be the honorable offs[))ing of a true orthodoxy." The reader will remember this is history (?) One would think the author of such language had graduated with honours in the ribaldry of a low tavern. This most elegant piece of composition is preparatory to the introduction of the name-of Luther as an advocate of the unconscious state of the dead. They all tell us that Luther " embraced and taught the doctrine of the sleep of the soul, and continued in that belief to the close of his life." What if ho did ? Does that make the doctrine true ? But if Ijutlier*3 own words are worth anything on the subject, then the statement of our opponents is nothing less than a positive falsehood. How is it that, from Blackburne downwards, these men will repeat this statement, though it has been refuted again and again ? it requires no small amount of impudence to stand up before the world and represent this great Reformer as a believer in such a doctrine. Luther did not believe iu the •Hlf" 174 CONDITION OF TKE HUMAN SOUL natural or inherent iminortallty of the soul, but that it wr 3 de-^'ved from the will of the Creator. This is exactly what we believe ccncernin*^ the same doctrine. To the doctrine of an inherent immortality Luther was strongly opposed^ as it favoured some of the most T>erriciou3 doctrines of the Church of Rome. What Luther said against this doctrine is paraded in pam- phlets, books and sermons ; and the people are told it was a denial of the orthodox doctrine of the immor- tality of the so il. Such is the shameful perversion of this great Reformer's words by our opponents. How much truth there is in these statements the reader will perceive by the quotations that follow. V When one of Luth'jr's children was dying, he said, " She is very dear to me ; but, dear Lord, if it is Thy will to take her \\QnQQ^ I shall know with joy that SHE IS WITH Thee." And after the Httle thing was dead— she died in her father's arms — he said, " / have sent a saint to heaven^ yes^ a living saint.^^ To his weeping wife he said, " Bi^think thyself, my dear Kate, where she hxs gone it is well with her." / ssuredly this does not look like embracing and living ir: - e belief of the doctrine of our opponents. -Wh ^n the clope of his own life drew nigh, and he felt the monster upon mm, he said, " Into thy hands I com- mend my spirit, heavenly Fatlicr. Although this body u breaking away from me, I am departing from thw life ; yet I certainly know that I shall BE FOR EVSR WITH TflFfii, for no one c pluck ' BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 175 Thy hands. take my poor ' - < * ■■»* ■' ■ p « \ J -, r . 'j f ■'?. OF THE WICKED. 181 ■■■4 <■> «yiJi CHAPTER 11. / ANNIHILATIONISTS' USE OF SCRIPTUUE TERMS . , EXAMINED. TiiR whole theory of annihilation is built upon a mis- application of terms which it will be necessary to examine. We have already noticed the use they make of the words *' Life" and '* Death," and therefore need not to repeat it here. Destroy and Destruction are the first terms to which we invite the reader's attention. In " Death not Life," we have forty-two texts quoted in which these terms are employed, and in " Bible versus Tradition " we have thirty texts, all quoted as proofs of annihilation. It is needless to inform the reader that many of the passages quoted by these writers have no reference whatever to a future life. This is a suffi- cient answer to most of the texts they quote. Many of them refer to temporal calamities which occurred to individuals and n itioas while living on the earth. A few instances will show how utterly untenable is the position which assumes the word dcatro^ed to be a synonym of ainJhihitioii. Take Job ix. 22, ^' He deatroijeth the perfect and the wicked," that is, according to our opponents, the m I i'l: 182 THE FINAL CONDITION H I '■ whole race of mankind are to be struck out of exist- ence ; righteous and wicked are to be sharers in one common doom. The old heathen philoso her, there- fore, was right when he said, " When death is, we are not." Job xix. 10, " lie hath dponents themselves do not believe. But they have furnished the premises, we have oidy drawn the conclusion. Isa. Ivii. 1, "The righteous perishethy and no man layeth it to heart.'' Does the reader suppose that the righteous are to be sharers with the wicked in their • "^Death not Life," p. 16. t " Bible versus Tradiaon," p. 235. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (A/T-3) 7 /. << % ^X"- w- Qr 1.0 I.I 1.25 ilk .■5 us IIIIM m 140 1.4 M III 2.2 IM 1.6 *% V] VI ^a '^!) i-^ TER, N.Y. 14:> (716) 872-4503 ^q V a>' 4 ^9) V ^1 •^ ^ ^x % -b^ ^.^ ^ ■%^ '1? &?^ r \ ; 186 THE FINAL CONDITION final woom ? It is even so if our opponents interpret this word correctly. Jer. vii. 28, " Truth is perished.'^ Our opponents Tauntingly claim to have the truth; yet, themselves being judges, according to this text truth has '" Come to nothing, been extirpated.'* Micah vii. 2, " The good man is perished.'''' Here is another instance in which the righteous and wicked are made to fare aUke by the theory of our opponents. Luke xiii. 33, " It must not be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem." By consulting the context the reader will find that Christ here speaks ot himself. Do our opponents protend to say that Christ was annihilated ? Some of them do say that he was un- conscious between death and the resurrection, but this is a step further than we have heard of them going yet, though we should not be surprised at hearing it to-morrow. It would only be consistent for thein to openly declare this shocking blasphemy. 2nd Peter iii. 6, ** The world being overflowed with •water, jom^'A^c?." That is, according to our opponents, the earth at the time of the flood was annihilated ; this is not the same earth as the antediluvians inhaoited ; this must be a new fabric prepared by the hand oi God for Noah and his descendants. Passages might be mulliplied wherein the absurdity of the construction put upon the word perish by our opponents would equally appear. Tuese, however, "v>ill be sufficient for our purpose. Let the reader now OF THE WICKED. 187 It to look back atd see where this kind of interpretation has landed him. On the principle of our opponents, wo have proved most conclusively that all flesh will " Come to nothin;^, be extiriated ;" that good men and bad men are tending to one common fate. We have proved by the same method that there is no such thing as truths it has been *' extirpated." We have proved also that Christ himself was '' extirpated " by the Jews, and, by implication, many of the prophets before him. And, finally, we have proved that the world was annihilated by the flood in the days of Noah. The whole thing is so consummately inane that we need not make a single remark. Another word which is supposed to be conclusive evidence in favour of the doctrine of annihilation is the word " Lose.'' Our opponents (piote such texts as " He that loveth his life shall lose it," &c., <&c. It is said that '' Christ came to seek and to save that which vf3islost.'* Surely he did not come t) seek the salvation of men who had no existence. In the fifteenth chapter of St. Luke's Gospel we read of a lost piece of silver, of a lost shoep, and of a lost son. But whoever imagined the one or the other was anni- hilated ? The very term itself rules out such an i iea as that entertained by our opponents. The woman swept her house and found her piece of silver. The shepherd left his ninety and nine sheep and went alter the lost one and brought it home on his sho>ilders, say- ing, I have found that which was lost. The prodigal 188 THE FINAL CONDITION im^ son came back from the far country, and the father's heart found utterance for its joy by saying, '' My son was dead and is alive again, was hist and is found.' To be lost, therefore, does not in the Scripture phrase signify to he blotted out of existence, but to be miser- ably degraded. The term, when applied to the future state of wicked men, indicates the continuance and aggravation of their jjresent degraded condition, Anutlier word which our opponents have dragged into tliii controversy to support thjir theory of extinc- tion, is the term peiidition. In "Death not Life" there are eight texts quoted from the New Testament in which this word occurs. Mr. Blain does not attempt to expound any one of these texts ; we need not, therefore, detain the reader by any remarks upon them. It may not be out of place to remark h^re that it is the name Greek Avord, in one or other of its forms, which is translated in the New Testament by the various terms, ''destroy," "perish." "lost," and *' perdition ;" and, when applied to the final condition of the wicked, they uniformly signily the utter ruin men bring upon themselves by sin. Consume. Messrs. Ellis and Read quote twenty texts, and Mr. Blain (quotes six, in which this term occurs to prove the wicked will be annihilated. With- out a single exception, these passages are from the Old Testament, and chiefly from its most poetical books. Mr. iilain's texts are all from the Psalms, and, OF THE WICKED. 189 "without an exception, refer to the removal of the wicked by deatli, which we have already sliown does not even put an end to their con-^cioug existence. We repeat it, there is not the slightest reference to the final doom of ungodly men in a single text he quotes. It is simply preposterous for those men to regard this word consume as a synonym of annihilate. Let the reader turn to a few passages in which the term is em{)loyed, and he will see how unwarranted this assumption of our opponents is. Gen. xxxi. 40, " Thus I was, in tlie day the drought coHHiurK'd me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from mine eyes." Jacob was not annihilated. He was relating his past txp^'rience. Unless it can be shown by our opponents that a man can be and not be, at the same time, this verse is fatal to the construction they put upon this term. Gen. xl. 80. " And the famine shall co»;sume the land." We can understand how a famine might bring great suifcring upon the land of Egypt, but that it annihilated the inhabitants we know to be con- trary to fact. Psalm xxxi. 9-10, " Mine eye is consum d with grief, yea my soul and my belly * * * my bones are coHSKrned." Was David annihilated when lie uttered these words ? If not, then the interpretation of this word by our opponents is unsound. Psalm xxxix. 10, " I am consumed by the blow of thine hand." David was in great trouble when he 190 THE FINAL CONDITION uttered these words, but he was still alive, so that a man may be consumed in Scripture phraseology v>ith- out being annihilated. Passages might be multiplied to any number, but these are quite sufficient to show the reader that the word cons lima does not mean to annihilate. Ihe attem,)t of our opponents to press this word into their service is a complete break-down, being fatal to their own theory. Devour. Some few texts in which this word occurs are produced as proof of annihilation. We grant that this term is sometimes employed to describe the final condition of ung<^dly men, though very rarely. But even when it is so applied it is not by any means used in the sense our opponents put upon it. This would make Scripture contradict itself. Let the reader turn to a few passages in which the word occurs. Isa. i. 7, '* Your land, strangers devour it in your presence." Surely the prophet did not mean that the enemies of the Jews had annihilated the land God had given to them and their fathers. Dan. vii. 23, " The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth." This prediction was fulfilled in the Roman Empire. They did overrun and subdue the earth, but that they annihilated it we have yet to learn. Mat. xxiii. 14, " Woe unto you, Scribes and Pha- risees, hypocrites ! for ye devour widows' houses." OF THE WICKED. 191 The Pharisees were bad enough, but we never heard of them adding to their guilt by annihilating widows' houses. Gal. V. 15, " But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that je be not consumed one of another." By continual altercation the Galatians had done each other no little harm, but they had not annihilated each other. These texts are quite sufficient to point out the Scripture usage of this word. It does not signify annihilation, but ruin. And when we read of " fiery indignation and wrath, which shall devour the adver- saries,'' it signifies that fearful overthrow which will come upon the ungodly in the judgment. Cut off is a Scripture phrase which has been supposed to favour the doctrine of annihilation — with how much foundation the reader shall see. Granted, then , that the phrase means annihilation, we can prove then that Christ himself was annihilated, for the expression is used to describe His death. " He was cut off out of the land of the living." Such is the monstrous blasphemy to which our opponents' method of interpreting Scripture would lead us. We may also remark that the majority of the texts in which this expression occurs are, of necessity, limited to this present life by the context. As an illustration, let the reader consult Num. xv. 30, 31, " But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the \: I.: -La;: 111 hr 192 THE FINAL CONDITION , ; I 1 3 i. f Sci'i[)ture texts be pressed into the service of onr opponents. BuiiNKD UP is another plirase empldye'l for tlio same pnrpose. Such texts as Mai. iv. 1, are insisted on as proof of annihilation. If onr opponents could show that man is nothin;^ more than a material or;^aniz;»tion there might be some ground for this opinion ; but, as the reader has seen in Part One of this volumo, reason and revelation unite their testimony against this part of the theory of our opponents. Even if their theory of man's constitution were correct, they would still have to prove that fire annihilates a single atom cast into it, which we imagine to be a task beyond their ability. If the teaching of the New Testament is worth anything on this subject, the theory of anni- hilation fails in its use of this phrase. It is true that the wicked are likened to " trees" and " chaff" cast into the fire ; but where these phras3s occur in the New Testament, we find the qualifying term " un- quenchable. ' Let the reader take Matt. iii. 12 as an illustration, '' Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff Avith un- quetichahle fire.'^ '' Hetveen the burning of the chaff and the burning of the wicked we have both similitude aiid contrast — similitude as far as the two subjects ai'e capable of it, contrast where they are incapable. Both are burned; but the process with one is, Irom its nature, 6?7V/*thoui^h severe ; with the other, according \K 194 Tim FINAL CONDITION to its nature, cmaelfss. Honce, while the literal fire of the winnower soon does its work and ceases, that threatened against the enemies of Christ ceases not, because ' unqnencliable.' " * Immortality. The writings of our opponents teem with fhameful misrepresentations of the orthodox meaning of this term. There is a twofold sense in which this term is used by divines. Sometimes we read of what is called the natural immortality of the sold, by which is meant that the soul possesses an in- herent immortality which God himself cannot destro/. For such an opinion as this there is not the slightest foundation in the Word of God. We believe that the soul of man is immortal by the will of the Creator. That he will never annihilate the human soul we think is fully sustained by revelation. With reference to the righteous, we are told that they shall live for ever, and in reference to the wicked it is said, " They shall go away into everlasting punishment,'* which, of neces- sity, implies a never-ending existence. This subject will be more fully unfolded in the sequel. # " For Ever," p. 48. 1 lis OF THE WICKED. 195 CHAPTER III. THE PINAL rUNI^HMENT OF THE WIPKED WILL CONSIST IN CONSCIOUS SUFFERING. The word "Punishment" is defined by Webster to mean '* Pain, or suffering inflicted on a person for a crime ;" Worcester, "' Pain intiicted for a crime/* This is utterly at war with the theory of the annihilation- ists. To inflict pain upon a person he must be con- sciously ahve. We have already shown in Part Second that the souls of wicked men are in conscious stiff^ering between death and the resurrection ; we request the reader to bear this in mind while ue proceed to con- sider their condition after the judgment. We argue, ^rsi, that the punishment of the wicked will consist in conscious suiFering, from the fact that they are to be sharers in the same doom as the fallen angels. Some of our opponents have joined hands with the Universalists in denying the existence of the fallen angels ; these, however, are a step in advance of their brethren. Many of them do believe in the existence of evil spirits. This is too plain a doctrine to need proof. Two texts of Scripture will set the matter at rest : 2nd Peter? "• 4, " God spared not the "Tf^'' 196 THE FINAL CONDITION an;j;t']a that sinned, but cast thom down to hell, an1B OF THE WICKED. 107 We ar^uc, neconii^ tluit the [)Uiiisliment of the wicked cannot consist in annihilation, hecuiiso on the hist di\y their ahodfi is assigned them in hell. And what an abode it is. Many of our oi)[)()nents deny the existence of any such i)lace. Ellis and Head, alter sixty pages — (we cannot call it either exposition or argument) — say that " the word ht'll should be entirely blotted out of any revision or new translation of the Scrip- tures, there being no Hebrew or Greek word that corresponds with it, or, indeed, that bears the slightest affinity to it in its i)resent acceptation." * This would certainly be an easy method of getting rid of this word, so utterly destructive of the tlieory of the anni- hilationists. But this word cannot be disposed of in this way. There are four words in the original which are translated by the English word hell. Each of these our opponents attempt to explain away. The word hdl, it is well known, is of Saxon origin, and signifies to cover or conceal. It is by common consent em- ployed to designate the place of future punishment, and in Scripture it usually signifies a place of torment. We frankly admit that it sometimes signifies the grave, but this is its subordinate meaning ; the reader will see tnis by a reierence to a few texts of Scripture. '^ake some instances from the Old Testament, in which the word aheol occurs. This word occurs sixty- four times in the Old Testament, and is rendered /.e// in thirty-one. It signifies a place of punishment iu • " Bible versus Tradition, "^p. 231. 198 THE FINAL CONDITION the following passage: — Ps. ix. 17, "The wicked shall be turned into liell, and all the nations tliat for- get God." 'J'he word alieol carniot mean the grave, or the state oi' the dead in the sense of our opponents here. The righteous will die, and be laid in the grave, but they will not be turned into hell. It is impossible to render this word otherwise than by the word hell^ in its common acceptation, without destroying its meaning, and all distinction between the righteous and the wicked. Another passage is Prov. v. 5, *' IJer feet go down to death ; hnr steps take hold on hellJ'^ Solomon is here warning his son against bad women. Intercourse with such characters not only leads to death, but also to hell. To have translated the word 8heol here by the grave, or the atate of the dead, would have been to rob the passage of ils warning, yea, to have destroyed its meaning altogetlier. One other passage mu.t suffice: Pruv. xxiii. 14, "Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.^^ The chastisement of a child by his parent may tend to s ive a child from sin, and thus save him from hell, but the use of t'.ie rod cannot save r. child from the grave, or the state of the dead. The word in these texts, therefore, leiers to a place m the future world where wicked men sulier ior the sins committed in this. Let us now look at the Greek hadi 8^ frequently ren- dered hell in the New Testament. This word is used in the New Testament eleven times. It is the word by OF TUB WICKED, 199 "which the Septnagint renders the Hebrew islie % which we have already considered. Our opponents ^\ould have us render this word grave. It is true that it is sometimes used figuratively, but even then it is as the antithesis otheaven. Thus in Matt. xi. 28, *' And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shall be broujjht down to hell.^^ Here we have the authority of Jesus tor using the word Jiades as the antithesis of heaven. In this verse, though it is used figuratively, it signifies the utter ruin and woe which sj'^ld come upon the inhabitants of Capernaum because of their conduct in rejecting the Messiah. Again, Luke xvi. 23, *' And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in tor- ments. ' Here the use of the word cannot be misunder- stood unless a person is wilfully blind. This is not the grave, neither is it the mere state of the dead, but a place of torment. The reader will observe that the word hell is used in the common acceptation in this passage, and all that our opponents can claim is that the word is sometimes applied to the grave, but when so used it is in a subordinate sense. The Greek word tart a us is found once in the New Testament, and is translated helL 2nd Pet. ii. 4," For it God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell." Here it is manifestly used as a place of penal confinement. McKnight says, " It is derived from a word expressive of terror." We come now to consider the only remaining word which is translated hell — gthenna. This word was 200 THE FINAL CONDITION- m^ n 5:v t "■ ~ originally used to desi;^nate the valley of llimioin, a place near Jerusalem, where the Cauaanites and the Israelites sacrificed their children to Moloch by making them pass through tlie fire. But long before the commg of Christ, this word was used by the Jews to describe the place of future puinshmcnt. Ijightfoot says, " This might be shown by infinite exam[)les." Alger, after stating the fact alluded to above, says, '* This is a fact about which there can be no question. And to the documents showing such a usage of the word, the best scholars are pretty well agreed in assigning a date as early as the days of Christ." " IIuw this word came to be thus employed is a ques- tion about which there is room for dirterent opinions. But, theory as to the manner of transfer aside, the transfer itself is certain. And it had become as com- plete in our Lord s day, as that of the word payan, that is, ' vdlager,' is in our day. As well might one say that, when we use the word pay an, we mean the inhabitant of a village, as when the New Testament, in conformity with all we know of the usage of the age, uses the word gchenna it refers to the pretended fires kept burning in the valley south of Jerusalem."* Our opponents, like the Univeriialists, strive hard to ex[)lain away the meaning of this to them most obnoxious word. But we have already ascertained the sense in which the Jews used it in the days of Christ. How did Christ use it ? Can we suppose Bartlett'3 "Llfeaad Death Bternil." Appeadix, not© H. OF THE WICKED, It 5J* for a moment that he would use it in any other sense than that in which his hearers understood it ? If this had been the case, he might as well have spoken in an unknown tongue. It was a word peculiar to the Jews, and we believe that Christ always used it in the pa me wa;^ as themselves, to describe the future pimish- ment of ungodly men. Let the reader take one or two texts in which this word gehenna is translated hell and substitute the valley of IJinnom for the latter word, and see what sense it will make. Matt, xviii. 9, ** If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee ; it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into the valhy of Einnom fire.'* This is to destroy the antithesis of the text, and, conse- quently, its force as a solemn warning. Matt. xxii. 83, " Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of the valley of Hinnom ? " Lest our opponents should reply that this was a threatening that they should be burned in the valley of Hinnom, we would have the reader understand that the exist- ence of a continual fire in that valley, either in the days of our Saviour or afterwards, is an assumption without proof. But granting that there was such a fire, and that the Jews inflicted capital punishment on criminals by burning them in this valley, what will our opponents make of Luke xii. 4, 5, " Be not afraid of th- m that kill the body, and after that have no more But I will forewarn you whc i i ..-i that they can do. ye 202 THE FINAL CONDITION .. ,, I shall fear : fear him which, after he ha*h killed hath power to cast into hell." Think, reader, of Christ telling his disciples to fear having their dead bodies burned in the valley of Hirinotn, more than the loss of their lives. This is to turn these words of Jesus into solemn mockery. What does it matter to us, when our bodies are dead, whether they are laid in the tomb or burned with fire ? What, then, is the meaning of cur opponents when they talk about this word gehenna being derived fr m the valley of Hinnom and the practices that were connected with it ? Did the Saviour employ the word for no other purpose than this? Our opponents dare not to make such an assertion, bold as they are. Why, then, do they waste so much time in endeavoring to fritter away the awful import of this word? Such a practice is un- worthy of a scholar and unbecoming a Christian. It is surprising to see the dust they make, but while they strive to show their profundity of learning, they the more reveal their ignorance. From our examination of these words, we learn that there is a 'place called hell, which is to be the abode of lost men in the future world. Even Messrs. Elhs and Read admit that there is such a place, after all their at- tempts to prove the contrary ; we only differ from them, in this admission, as to th3 purpose for whicri this place exists. Let the reader observe their language. '• We have now examined every passage whore geheima is named, and we find no expression indicating that the OF THE WICKED. 203 i lath irist >die3 33 of into ,vbeti tomb ngof hmnd \ the I the than ;h an waste ^ the is un- it they cy the n that ode of IS and leir at- \ them, s place We Lat the wicked will be kept alive in torments ; hut tve do find a place whre they will he misertihly destrnyed^ * Now, we join issue with these authors on the first part of this statement ; the latter part will be dealt with in the next chapter. The Scriptures most emphatically teach that in this place tho wicked will be tormented, and I presume they must be alive in order to this. Let the reader note carefully th<} words of Scripture in the following passages : — Matt. viii. 11, 12, "And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness : there shall be weeping and gnashing of teethJ*^ Matt. xiii. 49, 60 : " So shall it be at the end of the world the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire : there shall be wailing and gnash- ing of teeth. '^ These Scriptures certainly speak of the wicked as being in a state of torment the most exquisite — such torment as begets in them * weeping,'' '' wailing,'' and ^^ gnashing of teeth.'' These Scriptures abound in the teaching of Christ. Let the reader turn to Matt. xxii. 13; xxiv. 50, 51; xxv. 30; xiii. 40. 42. Luke xiii. 28. When the reader has consulted these passages, he will see the audacity of these mjn, who tell us that • " Bible v§rms Tradition," p. 226. (The italics are ours.) ;- ■■ 1(1 t 204 THE FINAL CONDITION the punishment of the wicke 1 does not consist in con- scious suffering but in annihilation. Mark ix. 42-48, " And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than hamtig two hands to f/o into hell, info the Jire that nrver shall he quenched ; where their worm dleth not, and THE Jire that never shall be quenched.'^ Thus does he also speak of the foot and the eye. According to the Saviour, then, to be east into gehenna — hell, is not to be annihilated, but to go where the worm does not die, and where the fire is not quenched. Anguish more intolerable can- not be imagined than that which would result from the scorching of a fire and the gnawing of a worm. This is all figurative, say our opponents. Who told them so? where is their authority? But suppose it is: does that destroy the force of the figure ? By no means. All the ingenuity of all the Universalists and annihilationists that ever lived, combined in one man, could not explain away the overwhelming anguish wnich underlies the Saviour's words in this passage. We argue, third, that the final punishment of the -wicked cannot consist in annihilation, from the specific declarations of Scripture concerning it. Rom. ii. t)-ll, God " will render to every man according to his deeds. To them who by patient con- tinuance in weil-doing seek for glory and honour and OF THE WICKED, 205 )i the )ecific man it con- ir aud immortality, eternal life ; bat unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey un- righteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile ; but glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile : for there is no respect of persons with God.'* Here we have two classes of character brought before us, and the final destiny of each is declared in the most specific terms. Instea^e earthly prosperity is oidy surpassed by their iniquity, are an altogether inade(]uate retribution ; in truth, if they were sufficient, other sinners of a less malignant type receive vastly more suffering than their due. " Se<:ondl'y. It entirely removes the greatest bar to sin which could appeal to man's regard for his own safety — the danger of painful and irremediable con- OF THE WICKED, 211 sefi^iences. What have tho reckless haters of God and iToodneas to deter them in their vicious rehellion if tliey arc assured death is to them the absolute end ? Thougli their exuberant f:^ratifications come by oppres- sion, treachery, and murder, secured through this life, no after penalty awaits them. Make them cer- tain of this, and what is to prevent their becoming fiends at once ? Very dilferont is tho voice of the S[)irit : " Know th >u that for all those things God will bring thee into judgment." *' Thirdly. Jesus says, Dives afcerhis death woke up in the tonuents of hell. The doctrine we are combat- ing teaches that, death once reached by such men, there is nothing beyond. The Bible says the Lord knoweth how to ' reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.' This School of Destruction- ism says all is over with them at death. The Bible repeatedly and solemnly predicts the judgment of the wicked at the great day, which will be long after many of them have died ; they are * Appointed once to die, and after death the judgmc3nt.' * He will judge the world in righteousness,' when those on His left shall be ' cursed,' and driven into ' everlasting fire.' But we are told by some modern theologians, all the suf- ferin*' and all the bein«' of evil men are confined to this mortal life. Both witnesses cannot be true ; which is to be believed ? If the utter end of bad men comes at death, God's treatment ot them is widely ditiorent from his dealings with bad angels, whose sins seem to 212 THE FINAL CONDITION date very far back, and who are still ' reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.' " * From the observations above, the reader will observe thac annihilation receives no countenance from Scrip- ture. It is a mere human opinion palmed upon the public as the teaching of inspiration. We beg the reader's pardon for this long digression, and return to the passage under consideration. The word olethros is oidy employp'l four timas in the New Testament (1st Cor. v., 5 ; 1st Tim. vi., 9 ; 1st TheS'\ V. 3 ; and in the passage under consideration). By consulting these passages the reader will see this word is uniformly rendered desfmction, and in no single instance does it signify annihilation, nor can it be tor- tured into any such meaning. The pro[)er sense of the word is the utter ruin which a man brings upon himself by neglecting the Gospel of Christ---at least, such is its meaning in the passage under cc isideration. If the word destruction in this text were a synonym of anni- hilation, as our O[)ponents conterjd, then, certainly, the passage would not sutfer by the substitution of the latter word for the former. The passage would then read thus: — '* Who shall be punished with everlasting annihilation from itie presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.'' Now, the phrase " everlasting destruc- tion ' comes within the range of common sense, but • "For Ever," p. 213-216. OF THE WICKED. 213 *• everlasting annihilation " is a phrase without a meaning, in other words, a profound absurdity, a sound signifying nothing. This passage teaches, as strongly as words can teach, that the punishment of the wicked will consist in conscious suffering : — " Firir evpr.** Is this another instance in which tiiis term indicates a limited period ? If not, the statement of our opponents is false. John vi. 51, '' If any man eat of this bread, he sh.ill live for enerV Are the men who feed by faith on Christ only to live for a limited period ? We always thought the eternal life of the ri(/hteoH8 was placed beyond a doubt ; but if our opponents interpret this word correctly, we have been mistaken. 2nd Cor. ix. 9, ** His righteousness remaineth for ever." Our opponents say, only for a time. So much for the noun. Let us now see how far our opponent's assertion is true as it regards the adjective form of the word. He says, *' It cannot be proved, in any passage, to express an unlimited period by itself * * ♦ that it is limited within the range of the noun." * Rom. xvi. 2tj, '* According to the commandment of the everlasting God." Here we have the adjective aionios used to describe the eternity/ of God. Does that imply a limited period ? Ileb. ix. 14, '• How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit," &c. Is the existence of the Third Person of the ever blessed Trinity confined within a limited period of duraticm ? If our opponents are correct in their assertion, it is even so. » " Bible venui Tradition," p. 274. OF THE WICKED. 223 Matt. xix. 29, " Shall inherit everlasting life." Will they live for ever ? Kot if Messrs, Ellis and Head are to be believed. Mark x. 30, *' And in the world to come eternal life." But our opponents contend that this word signi- fies only a liir.ited period. What will become of them when this period has run out ? 2nd Cor. v. 1," For we know thatif our earthly house of tliis tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in 'he heavens." This passage has comforted many a saint amid the changes of earth, has led them to hope for a 'permanent home in heaven. But if the assertion of our opponents is true, this hope is without a foundation. According to them, the dwelling of the righteous in Leaven will only be for a while. It is needless to quote other passages. Those wo have quoted are only representatives. We unhesi- tatingly assert that both the noun and the adjective are frequently employed to indicate unending duration. We further remark that these terms are frequently employed to describe the duration of the future punish- ment of the wicked. Matt, xviii. 8 ; xxv. 41, " Ever- lasting fire." Matt. xxv. 46, " Eoerlasting punish- ment." 2nd Thess. i. 9, " Everlasting destruction." Mark. iii. 29, ''' Eternal damnation." Jude 7, " Eternal fire." 2nd Pet. ii. 17, " To whom the mist of dark- ness is reserved for everT Jude 13, " To whom is reserved the blackness of darkness /(?/• emr,^^ Rev. xiv. \m il 224 TIIK FINAL CONDITION :hl 11 ; xix. 8, ** Tlic sniolse of their torment ascendeth for eve,' ^i\A ever. "^^ Rev. xx. 10, " Shall be tormented day and ni^ht for ever and ever^ Let the reader turn to these texts, and he will see that nothing in the connection rcfiuircs the word to be understood in a hmited sense. The word is evnplojed in its plain and obvious sense of duration without end. And though the word is sometimes used in a subordi- nate sense to signify a limited period, yet not so fre(iucntly as some people imagine. Dr. Angus, as quoted by Randies, says : " Men speak of this restrict- ed meaning as if it were quite common in Scrii)ture, whereas it is really rare even in the Old Testament, while in the New Testament it is questionable whether it is found at all." The advocates of annihilation are exceedingly partial to Dr. A. Clarke as n critic. I will here transcribe for their benefit his remarks on the terms in question : " No words can more forcibly express the grand cha- racteristics of eternity than these. It is that duration which is always exuthig., still running on, but never runs OUT." Again, " In all languages, words have, in process of time, deviated from their original accep- tations, and have become accommodated to particular purposes and limited to particular meanings. This has happened, both to the Hebrew olam and the Greek aion ; they have been both used to express a limited time, but in general a time the limits of which are unknown ; and thus a pointed reference to the original ^f OF THE WICKED. 225 ■V I ideal meittiing is still kept up. Those who bring any of these torms, in an acconnnodated sense, to favour a particular doctrine, must depend on the good graces of their opponents for pei mission to use them in this way. For as the real grammatical meaning of both words is eternal^ and all other meanings oidy accommodated ones, sound criticism in all matters of dispute, con- cerning the import of a word or term, must have recourse to the grammatical meaning, and to the earliest and best writers of the language, and will determine all accommodated meanings by this alone. Now the first and best writers in both these lan;'ua;'<, (the reader will observe the admission that is implied in this statement,) notwithstanding that by this we spoil the antithesis ; then it follows that the punish* ment will be everlasting, which we readily concede will be the case."t We ask the reader if this is not as glaring an inconsistency and self-contradiction as ever came under his notice. These very writers occupy a goodly number of pages in their books with quotations and comments to prove that the words translated ^^ ev'rlcistiiig,'* '' eternnl,^^ and ^ fur ever ^^ do not sig- nify proper eternity when applied co the punishment of the wicked. Now they turn round and tell us hero that the punishment will be everlasting. But this is a peculiar kind of eternal punishment which they have invented for the occasion. Hear one of themselves : " I conceive that eternal punishment signifies final * Six Sermons. t " Bible versus Tradition," p. 281. w 228 THE FINAL CONDITION punishment."'* If this language means anything, it means the end of all punishment; that is, no punish- ment at all after a time. Having ascertained the sense in which the terms are used that describe the duration of future punish- ment of the wicked, we are prepared to proceed to examine specific texts which bear upon the subject. The first passage we commend to the reader's consi- deration is Matt. iii. 12, " Whose fan is in His hand, and he will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner ; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." The import of this passage has been given already, therefore a sitiglo remark is all we need to make in this connection. The construction put upon this passage by our opponents is this : Fire consumes the chatf cast into it, therefore the fire of this text will consume the wicked in the same sense. But John guards the text against a construction like this, by applying the term *' unq lencJiahle " to the fire into which the wicked are to be cast. As already in- timated, there is not only a similitude between sinners and chaff in thist ext, but also a contrast. If man were a mere material organization — which we have proved to be contrary to Scripture and reason — there might be some force in the argument our opponents draw from this text. As men possess a spirit nature, our opponents must first prove that fire can consume a spirit before we can allow them to draw any infer- • Slorrs' Sermons, p. 24. mum OF THE WICKED. 229 iifer- ence from this text in proof of tha annihilation of the wicked. Onr next passage is Matt, xviii. 8, " Wherefore, if thy hand or foot oifjnd thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee ; it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into ecerlaHting fire." That this pas- sage refers to the final punisliment of wicked men there can be no doubt. In the next verse the Saviour speaks of this " eoerhistittc/ fire " as " hf^ll pre.^* As we have seen that the term aionion^ when applied to the future punishment of the wicked, is used in its strictest sense of unending duration, we leave this text to speak for itself. Matt. XXV. 41, '• Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Two things are unmistakably set forth in this text. First, Wicked men will be sharers in the same punishment with the fallen angels. /Second, This punishment will endure for ever. It is somewhat remarkable that in appointing the righteous to their fiial portion, the Saviour does not speak of its duration ; (see verse 34 ) But, antici[)ating the theory of annihilationists and universalists, he throws around the eternal duration of the final doom of the wicked all the influence of his Divine authority. It is not for us to (juestion that authority, but to bow in humble submission to it. Matt. XXV. 46, ''And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life 230 THE FINAL CONDITION eternal." Here the. duration of the doom of both righteous and wicked are declared to be the same, the same word being used to describe them both. If the punishment of the wicked is only to be for a limited period, tlxgn, by parity of reason, we conclude that the life of *he righteous will only last for a limited period. It would be more honest and consistent on the [art of our opponents to contend for a limited life for the righteous, as some Universalists have done, than to try and make this text say yea and nay in the same breath. Some of our opponents are honest enough to admit the literal meaning of the word in this text, but endea- vor to break its force by explaining it as indicating an eternity of effect. The punishment is eternal, say they, because " the results are eternal.'* What is the renult of this punishment in their sense of that term ? Is it not the utter annihilation o: the wicked ? What * remains when a thing is reduced to nothing ? Is not this a mere quibble to get rid of a difficult passage ? Is it not to turn this solemn sentence oi Jesus into words without meaning ? We conclude our remarks on this passage with the firm conviction that it places the doctrine of eternal rewards and punishments beyond the reach of all the sophistry and rilicule our opponents have brought against it. This sentence "• comes from the lips of the great Teacher of life and immortahty, not incidentally, nor merely in connection with some minor topic. It OF THE WICKED. 231 jage ? into the ternal 11 the stands out a great central thought, in a long serious discourse on the day of doom. The listening mind is borne swiftly from the retribution on Jerusalem to its antitype, the general judgment of mankind. The momentoushess of the interests handled, the grandeur and rousing power of the imagery, the earnest tones of warning, the solemnity deepening as the discourse rolls on — all well become a deliverance which culmi- nates in a clear, authoritative- prediction of endless life to the saved, and equally endless death to the impenitent. ' These shall go away into everlasting- punishment,' was not the language of a wild, weird ascetic from the desert, whose lips were unused to strains of peace, but of Jesus, whose words so often distilled pardons on the contrite, whose micacles were brimful of beneficence, and whose death was the most stupendous display ol' Divine love to mankind. The author was He whose truth and benevolence would not allow guilty men to stand in peril of unutterable woe> witlu>ut plain, earnest, and powerful warning." * Mark iii. 2i*, '' i3ut he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation." This passage bears as strongly against annihilation as it does against universal salva- tion. The argument is as simple as it is conclusive. The sin spoken of is irremissible, therefore the guilt of the sin is eternal. Such language as this cannot be applied to a man who has no existence. Such an • For Ever, p. 42. 232 THE FINAL CONDITION idea would be an outrnge ui)on common sense. The " eternal damnation'" of a sinner presupposes his eternal existence. Let our opponents show the con- trary if they can. Mark ix 43--49. This passage has been already quoted at full length; we therefore need only (piote the reiterated clause in verses 47 and 4S : " Than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." The works of our opponents teem with inanities about the valley of llinnom, when interpreting this passage, simply because the term Gehenna, here translated " hell," was originally derived from that valley. This has been already explained in a previous chapter. The argument our opponents would draw from this passage is something like this : " The Jews cast the filth and offal of the city of Jerusalem into the valley of llinnom. This offal bred worms, and therefore they kindled fires to burn up the refuse that it might not affect the health of the city by its obnoxious effluvia. And that, as the fires in the valley of llinnom con- sume the refuse cast into it, so the fire of hell will con- sume — in the sense of annihilation — the sinners cast into it." This would have been the legitimate meaning of the passage but for the qualifying terms it contairis, which bring it into contrast with the fires in the valley of Hinnom. The fire kindled by the Jews went out when it had consumed the material cast into it. But here the Saviour says distinctly that the fire of *' hell OF THE WICKED. 233 th( con- con- cast ming airis, alley t out But hell is not uuenchccl." And wc have alreauggi'Sted l>y these facts can sin be described as infinite, [f, on the other linud, by 'infinite evil' is nieant what violates riglits whicli no finite mind can fully aj)pre- ciate, what withliolds from God the lov.ng adoration — ever ang- nientiiig service — of an immortal spirit, what has consequences "^ OF THE WICKED. 237 r arithmetic. It is certain tliat sin is coniujitted against an infinite Being. To pronounce accurately, therefore, on the deserts of sin, roan must become equal to (jod. Is it not arrogant presumption to base an argument against the eternity of future punishment on a subject no mortal can comprehend ? If we had the power to grasp the idea of sin's deserts, could we be considered as impartial julges of a mntter in which we are so deeply interested ? Whoever heard of a criminal being allowed to fix the penalty of his own crime ? This objection therefore amounts to nothing, because I* 1 direct and indTect, extending through an incalcnhible nnmber of persons and act , and lasting throughout all time, unless God be pleased, out of sovereign goodness, to annihilate it and them — then ' infinite evil ' is a term not too strong to descrbs this condi- tion. All sin tramples on auth')rity as just as the Divi e holiness, and as boundless as the Divi le benevolence. All sin, moreover, that ends in our destruction involves the lo8=" of eternal, i. e., i ifinite happiness, and vrithdraws from the Divine glory what would have proved an endless tribute of praise: while ihrtugh our connexion with one another, an 1 the ceaseless influence of every man on other men, resu'ts are produced beyond the circle of our ow i being which i' is impossible to conceive of as ever ending of themselves. Of course, the endlesanens of future punishment is not based upon the endlei'S effects of transgression. The duration of future punish- ment is properly a question of interpretation. But if any say — 'Why i'lflict infinite punishment for finite act-!?' the answer is plain : Sin U not finife, ^ i a iy true sense ; it violates obligations that are ceaseless, and ever aiigra"ntiig ; it introduces illimitable consequences; it has influence, probably, throughout worlds, ; id cenainlv la-^ts in itself, or in its results, through all time. Sin is, in truth, an 'infinite evil,' as certai ly as 'eter.ial Ife' is an 'infinite good.'" — Dk. Wayland's Elements of Moral Science, p. 102-3. 238 THE FINAL CONDITION- of maii'a incompetency to give an opinion on the sab- ject. God has revealed his will on this subject, and, to om[)loy his own words, thougli '' clouds and dark- ness are roundabout Him, riijliteonsncsH^ind jwhjment are the habitation of His throne.'* We ot tell inky this fearful penalty is attached to the tiuusgression of His law, but we know on infallible authority that it is just and ri;^ht. In the other world we may have more li;^ht on this subject, but here we must be content with the naked de3laration of the fact. Second. The doctrine of eternal punishment is supposed to be inconsistent with Divine goodness. Our op[)onents make the most of this objection. A little thought will convince the reader that it ^s based on a mistaken notion of God's goodness. I is good, infinitely good, or lie would never have guen His Son to man. But goodness does not constitute the whole of His Divine j)erfections. He is good, but He is aUo just. And His goodness may not be exercised at the expense of justice. This objection is avowedly framed by our opponents to defend the character of God from the aspersion of cruelty. We do not see what is to be gained by it. Our opponents may possibly influence some minds by such an argument, based on what they call the goodness of G »d. But who does not see that it is by repudiating His justice, and making Him any- thing but a God of ti'uth. Is it not somewhat strange on the part of our opponents to base an argument on the goodness of OF THE WICKED. 239 God ill a transaction that waa more likely to bring out displays of justice ? *' We do not look to the sca.fold for a uiauit'eatation of a sovereign's benignity, but rather to good laws, and to the happy homos of an obedient people. And we look to the state of the lost not for an exhibition of compassion, but of holiness exemplify- ing its repugnance to sin ; and justice upholding law and order, and vindicating the claims of a righteous government." * In looking at tlie punishment of sin, we cannot regard God as a Father, but as a Judge enforcing the penal sanctions of ilis own immutable law upon disobedient creatures. He may not therefore act in accordance with mere pity, but with the strictest justice. And " ju.^tice can be no otherwise considered than as go Iness toward moral agents regulated in its exercise b_) visdom : or, as wisely, and in the most proper mannt- , pursuing, not the private and separate, but the united good of all intelligent beings.'* f From this it may appear, for anything that can be proved to the contrary, that the eternal punishment of the wicked itself arises out of the goodness of God. Further, this objection would hold against the theory of our opponents with quite as much force as it does against the orthodox doctrine. Even our opponents contend that the suffering that will precede the anni- hilation of the wicked will be exceedingly severe. Would a kind, a loving God torment Ills creatures in ♦ Dr. Cooke. t Abernethjr on the Attributes. % 240 THE FINAL GOKDIflON th( of this way ? By no means. Reasoning on tiie gronn our opponents, He will blot them out of existence. The reader can see here how much this objection is worth in the mouth of an anniliilationist. If we look into the Bible or human experience, we shall find tiiat God does many things that He would not do if He were actuated by mere pity alone. If this had been His method of procedure, would He have sent the flood upon the earth or rpined fire and brimstone upon Sodom nd Gomorrah ? Again, some put this objection in a somewhat dif- ferent form. They tell us that God is so good that He would never have created a being who could be eternally miserable. We ask, is any man in a position to judge on thi^, subject ? Then the same argument ihat would prova that God would not do this would prove that God would not create a being who could be miserable at all. To obviate this difficulty, our oppo- nents tell us there is a vast difference between tempo- rary and eternal suffering. Granted, but the difference only regards the period of its duration ; the fact of suffering is still the same. It remains untouched by the reply of our opponents. Let our opponents carefully ■weigh the following observations of Archbishop Whately, whom they claim as an advocate of their own theory : — " The existence of any evil at all in the creation is a mystery we cannot explain. It is a difficulty which may perhaps be cleared up to us in a future state ; but Scriptures give us no revelation concerning it . OF TEE WICKED. 241 The main dinRcnlty is not the awount of the evil that exists, but the existence of any at all ..... . All that ■we can say is, that, for some unknown ca-ise, evil is unavoi'lahle.'' * If this last statemont be true, it may be th'>,t evil will bo eternally unavoidable, nor can our opponents prove to the contrary. We have now finished our discussion of this momen- tous theme. We see nothini^ in it to impeach either the justice or •^oodn'^ss of God. We re,:^ard it as a self-procured doom on the part of every individual who endures it. Each of the finally impenitent might have been saved. Of the final consecpiences of ain they had been informed. They refused the only wny of escape pointed out. We protest, there is neither want of kiiidness or justice in this. To our own mind this is the most terrible ingredient in the portion of the lost — it will endure for kver. The fire will burn for ever. The worm will gnaw for ever. The blackness of darkness will be for ever. The weeping, and wailing, and . gnashing of teeth will be for ever. Reader, see to it that you are not of the number who " will be driven away in their wicked- ness." Fly to the Saviour of sinners I Do it now ; there is no time to lose. The Judge is at the door ! Fly while you may ! * Future State. 1 242 THE FINAL CONDITION % r ii^ I!; CHAPTER V. CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. In closing this little volume, we would cbmmend to i\}Q consideration of the candid reader a few practical observations. First. We most unhesitatingly express our belief that the theory of annihilation is a most welcome doc- trine to vicious men, and affords them ground for encouragement to coiiiinue in their wicked ways. Assure a recklessly wicked man that the punishment to be inflicted upon him for his sin is annihikition, and we hesitate not to say, you have opened a wider gate for the outflow of his sinful passions, and have removed every particle of restraint. Tell men that, though God has threatened to punish them in hell, that no such place exists ; tell them thai , though Christ spoke of "weeping and wailing," where the '' worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenjhed," that there is no such place ; in a word, tell men that, though Christ threat- ened the impenitent with " everlasting punishment,'* that they are to be annihilated, and you give unbridled license to sin. We do not by any means say that all those who hold the doctrine of annihilation are fllagrantly wicked. OF THE WICKED. 243 jat- But we do say that this doctrine has begotten in Twa^iy of its advocates a tjpo of morality auythin<^ but Chris- tian. This we know to be the case from practical obser- vation. Neither does this surprise us. We regard this as one of the legitimate tendencies of the theory. Second. The theory of aniiihihation undervalues the atonement of Christ, and is dei-ogatory to the mercy of God in providing it. By so much as the penalty of sin is lowered, by so much is the atonement of Christ and the mercy of God undervalued. Pearson saj^s : " lie which believeth not the eternity of torments to come, can never value sufficiently that rau^om by which we were redeemed from them, or be propor- tionately thankful to his Redeemer, by whose interven- tion we have escaped them ; whereas, he who is sensible of the loss of heaven and the everlasting privation of the presence of God, of the torments of fire, the com- pany of the devil and his angels, the vials of the wrath of an angry and never-to-be-appeased God, and hopeth to escape all these by the virtue of the death of his Redeemer, cannot but highly value the price of that blood, and be proportionately thankful for so plenteous a> redemption." * If it had been a question of mere being and not being, we think it very unlikely that God would have given His Son to shame and death for our salvation. If the natural tendency of man had been to extinction, it is probable that he would have been left to reach ^ "Exposition of the Creed." 244 THE FINAL CONDITION % that result in the natural way. Bat because man had exposed himself to eternal punishment, Christ gave Himself to rescue man from so fearful a doom. In this view, the value of His atonement is beyond all computation. For a salvation from a doom so appalling as this, we thank God with all our hearts. Reader, let us see that we appropriate that salvation to our own individual necessity. Third. Annihilationism is calculated to beget a secret scepticism in the minds of many as to the reality of a future life at all. What is the cause of that gene- ral distaste in ( hristian congregations to hear of hell and its doom ? It is high time this sort of thing was challenged. The idea we would bring out is well put by Ti-nil, from whom we take the liberty of quoting. After speaking of the vague manner of dealing with this subject in modern days, he goes on to say, *' Now, as a straw will indicate the line of a current, or a feather the direction of the wind, so these sayings, trifling enough in themselves, indicate a certain state of feeling, if not of opinion, on this whole subject of the future condition of the wicked. For this nervous dehcacy, to speak of it in plain terms, must arise either from an intense conviction of its awfulness, or from the wish to soften down the whole subject into a dim unde- fined generality. It is either that men feel very pro- foundly about it, or that. they wi^-h to keep themselves from doing so. And which of these is the case ? Not the former, I fear, otherwise the generality of man- OF THE WICKED. 245 kind would not be living as they do ; nor, if tliey really were in earnest, is it easy to see how they could thus dilute their thoughts by weak and evasive cir- cundocutions. True earnestness is generally terse and plain-spoken. It at least calls things by their real names. The reason for this affected euphuism and timid pcri[)hrase is," I suspect, the want of deep conviction and earnest thought, together with a wish to shirk or slur the matter in the most general way. Now, with this we can have no sympathy ; nor dare we imitate it. For, in the first place, it is not thu3 that the Scri[)ture deals with this solemn subject. It seeks about for no softening phrases, in which to expose the wiles of the devil, or exhibit the torments of hell. Ever when it speaks of these — and this is not seldom — it uses the plainest and most pointed language. Its deseri[)tions are not written in smoothed periods to please the ear of modish fastidiousness, nor are its })ic- tures drawn in neutral tmts from fear of offending some very delicate taste. But, plain-spoken on most subjects, on this it speaks with special plainness. Tlieu, secondly, this periphrastic style of allusion to these dread realities of the eternal world are exceedingly dangerous ; for it is nothing else than if one were to spread a downy pillow fur anxiety to go to sleep, from which it may awake to learn the stern truth when it is too late. I do verily believe that it is by a chief artifice, a xcry master-stroke of subtlety of Satan him- self, that this false delicacy has become so common. ■',i t* !S46 THE FINAL CONDITION % For well hi3 knows, that so lon<5 as men can be got to put a sut'toning silky veil between them and the hor- rors of hell, they will be less alarmed than they ought to be ; and al«o, just in f)roportion as they speak in vague or evasive appellatives about himself, they will be the more easy a prey to his wiles." * Now, we believe that the prevalence of the theory of annihilation will account for the feeling and conduct so strongly condemned in the above extract. We have no sympathy with the 'method adopted by some in preaching the Scripture doctrine of eternal punish- ment. Shame on the men who represent God as a cruel tyrant, gloating himself upon the sufferings of his creatures. Nevertheless, we would not sup})ress or smooth the doctrine to please the ears or quiet the consciences of sinful men. The minister who conceals the penally attached to sin, or smooths it down to suit the taste of his hearers, wo regard as preaching a mutilated Gospel When the pulpit ceases to tell men of their terrible, eternal danger, it fails to accomplish its mission. We would tell men of the " undying worm and the unquenchable fire" with all affcjtion and tenderness, and with all plainness too. And fur- ther, we would tell them that only by a personal appro- priation of an offered salvation can thej escape this fearful doom. We are qiute aware that men are loud in their con- deirin.'.tiou of i'ear as a njotive. But we suspect that * " Unseen Ilealities," p. 229-2:^]. OF THE WICKED. 247 5uit a len isli this idea has its origin in the saraes ource as the dis- taste to the outspoken LiTiguage of the New Testa- ment on the finid punishment of sin. As Daniel Isaac somewhere remarks^ there wouhl 1)0 force in this ohjection, '' if uien were governed by their reason." The fact is, we have to deal with men who are not goverried by their reason, but by their passions. Christ and his a))()st]es were not beneath appealing to the fears of their auditors, and w^ hardly think it possible to improve their method of presenting the truth. We rather regard it as a manifestation of the goodness of God in revealing the final conseijuences of sin so fully, as a motive to deter men from rushing madly on to their own eternal ruin. Christian reader, let me ask, do you believe the doc- trine of eternal punishment, as taught in this volume, to be the doctrine of the liible ? Then, in the name of all that is sacred in human interests, and in tlio name of all that is tremendous in human destiny, let not this doc- trine be a dead letter in your creed. You need no othtr motive to make you a constant and earnest laborer hi the vineyaitl of the Lord. There are men around you, to whom you are bound by the ties of brotherhood, rushing madly on to this terrible doom. Let your faith in this doctrine be a motive to burn you into action, '' if by any means you may save some." Unconverted reader, the doom pronounced upon the finally impenitent you have seen to be conscious, eternal suffering. To save you therefrom Goi gave I'* 1^ 248 THE FINAL CONDITION OF THE WICKED. his only Son. The solemn alternatives are set before you in God's book. In the judgment of the great day you will either be found with the saved or the lost. It is for you to choose your own course. Heaven or hell in the life to come, will be the legitimate result of your con luo.t in this. As you sow here you will reap yonder. May you " be wise unto salvation, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen." APPENDIX Note A. THE TRUE AND PROPER DEITY OF CHRIST. - As t1,.' theory of the greater part of anmhilationists involves the denial of this fundamental doctrine, I thought it might not be amiss to append a scheme of Scripture proof. This doctiine may be proved by the following classes of Scripture texts ;— I. Those which speak op His Pre-existencb. Micah V. 2. John i. 1, 15 ; iii. 13 ; vi. 33, 38, 60 ; vii. 29 : viii. 23 68; X. 36; xvi. 28; xvii. 5,24. 2nd Cor. viii. 9. Phil, ii. 5 Col i 17. 1st Pet. iii. 18-20. 1st John i. 1. II. He was the Angel Jehovah op thJ: Old Testajient. 1. Several supernatural appearances of a Divine person are recorded in the Old Testament. Gen. xvi. 13, 14; xviii 1 • xxi 1 • xxii. II ; xxxii. 24, 28, 30. Ex. iii. 5. Hos. xii. 3-5. ' ' ' 2. The person who made these appearances is represented aa having a commission. Gen. xvi. 7 ; xxxi. 11. Ex. iU 2 20 Josh V. 14. Hos. xii. 4. ' * 3. He is spoken of as the Messiah. Mai. iii. 1. ni. Divine titles are applied to Christ. I.God. Gen. xxxii. 30. Isa. ix, 6 ; xl. 9. Matt. i. 23. John 1. 1. Rom. ix. 5. Heb. 1. 8. 1st John v. 20. Rev. i. 8, &c 2. Jehovah, Isa. vi. 1, 3, 5, 8, 11 13 ; xxvi. 4 ; x. 3, &c. (See No. XL) ^ 250 APPENDIX, 11 ■ IV. He is invested with Divine attributes. 1. Eternity. laa. ix. 6. Micah v. 2. John i. 1. Heb. i. 8-10; Tii. 3. Rev. i. 8 ; ii. 8, Ac. 2. Omnipresence. Matt, xviii. 20 ; xxviil. 20. John iii. 12. Eph. i, 23, &c. 3. Omniscience. John ii. 24; xvi. 30; xxi. 17. Col. ii. 3. Bev. ii. 13, &c. 4. Omnipotence. Matt, xxvii. 18. Phil. iii. 21. Heb. i. 2. Rey. i. 8, &c. 6. Immutability. Heb. xiii. 8. Mai. iii. 6. Comp. Heb. i. 12. 6. Wisdom. Col. ii. 3. lat Cor. i. 24, 30. 7. Holiness. Acts iii. 14. Ist Pet. i. 19. 8. Justice. Acts iii. 14 ; xxii. 14. V. Divine works ape ascribed to Him. 1 Creation. John i. 3, 10. Eph. iii. 9. Col. i. 16. Heb. i. 2. Rev. iv. 11. 2. Supports all things. Neh. ix. 6. Comp. Col. i. 17, and Heb. i. 3. 3. Providential Government. John iii. 35. Luke x. 20. Acts X. 26, «fec. 4 Wrought miracles in His own name. Matt. viii. 3, 27. Luke ix. 1. John vi. 54, &c. 5. Forgives sin. Mark. ii. 7-10. Col. iii. 13. 6. Dissolution and disposal of all things committed to Him. PhU. iii. 21. Heb. i. 12. Rev. i. 5. 7. General judgment committed to Him. John t. 22, 27. Acts X. 42 ; xvii. 31, &c. VI. Hb receives Divine Worship. 1. The worship of men. Luke xxi v. 52. Acts vii. 59, 60. 2nd C or. xiii. 14. Rev. i. 6. 2. 7'he worship of angels. Heb. i. 6. Rev. t. 12-14. 3. Qf all creatures. Rev. xi. 6-14. APPENDIX. 261 Note B. deity and personality of the holy ghost. §L THE HOLY GHOST TRULY AND PROPERLY GOD. I. Divine names aijb applied to Him. Acta v. 3, 4. ist Cor. Hi. 16; vi. 19. 2nd Cor. vi. 16. John iii. 6. Comp. with i. 13 2nd Cor. iii. 17, &c. II. Divinb attributes are ascribed to Him. 1. Eternity, lleb. ix. 4. 2. Omniscience. Rom. xi. 34. Comp. with Isa. xl. 13. 1st Cor. ii. 10. 2nd Pet. i. 20, 21. 3. Omnipresent. Psalm cxxxix. 7. Rom. viii. 26. Eph. ii. 17-18. 4. Oinnipoterd. Acts i. 8. Rom. iv. 13-19. Heb. ii. 4. III. Divine works ascribed to Him. 1. Creation. Gen. i. 2. Ji,b xxvi. 13 ; xxxiiL 4. Providential renovation. Prialm civ. 30. Miraculous agenctj. Matt. xii. 28. Acts ii. 4; x. 3. He inspired the Sacred Writers. 2adTim. iii. 16. - ' i 2 3 4 i. 2L 5 ix. 38, He. appoints and spends ministers. Acts xiii. 2,4. Comp. Matt. Acts xvi. 6, 7, 10 ; xx. 28. 6. lie distributes gifts according to his pleasure. 1st Cor. xii. 6-11. IV. Divine worship is paid to Him. 1. Angelic. Isa. vi. 3. 2. Human. Matt, xxviii. 19. 2nd Cor. xiii. 14, &c § II. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON. I. He possesses personal qualities. 1. Intelligence. 1st Cor. ii. 11, 12. 2. Volition. 1st Cor. xii. 11 ; xv. 18. II. He possesses personal capabilities. 1. 0/ being vexed and grieved. Isa. Ixiii. 10. Eph. iv. 30. 2. Of being blasphemed. Matt. xii. 31,32. 3. 0/ being lied to. Acts v. 3. 4. 0/ being tempted. Acts v. 9. 252 APPENDIX. J. %' III. Hb pirforms personal acts— Such as 1. Ifearivf) and receiving. John xvl. 13,14. 2. Speaking, testi/ijing, showing, teaching. John xr. 2G ; xvi. 13, 14. Mark. xiii. 11. Luke ii. 26. Acta xiii. 2. Ist Tim. iv. 1. Kev. xiv. 13. 3. Calling and tending messengers. Acts xiii. 2-4; xx. 28. 4. Commanding, forbidding^ nuJTering, allowing. Acts xvi. 6-7. 5. Distributing gifts. 1st Cor. xii. 7-11. C. Convincing. John xvi. 8. 7. Sealing. Eph. 1. 13. 8. Sanctijying. 1st Uor. vi. IL IV. Various Proofs. 1. Personal honour applied to Rim. John xir.-xvii. 2. His offi.ce. of comforter brings llim into comparison with Christ. John xiv. 16, 17. 3. To suppose the Spirit to be the attribute of Divine power •would make nonsense of Scripture. Consult Acts x. 38. Rom. XT. 13. Ist Cor.ii. 4. xri. r. 1. J-7. 'st. or