Psychopannychia (part 3 of 4)
What if Solomon himself here answers them in one word? "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities, and all is vanity!" For what else does he aim at than to show the vain sense of man, and the uncertainty of all things? Man sees that he dies like the brutes, that he has life and death in common with them; and he therefore infers that his condition is on an equality with theirs: and as nothing remains to them after death, so he makes nothing remain to himself. This is the mind of man, this his reason, this his intellect!
"For the animal man receiveth not the things of the Spirit; they are foolishness unto him, neither can
he understand them." (1 Corinthians 2:14.)
Man looks with the eyes of flesh and beholds death present, and the only reflection he makes is, that all things have sprung from the earth, and equally return to the earth; meanwhile, he takes no account of the soul. And this is the meaning of the subjoined clause, "Who knows whether the spirit of the sons of Adam ascends upwards?" For if the subject of' the soul is considered, human nature, wholly contracted in itself, comprehends nothing distinctly or clearly by studying, meditating, and reasoning.
Therefore, when Solomon shows the vanity of human sense, from the consideration, that in examining the mind, it fluctuates and is held in suspense, he by no means countenances their error, but; nobly supports our faith. That which exceeds the capacity and little measure of the human mind, the wisdom of God explains, assuring us that the spirit of the sons of Adam ascends upwards. I will bring forward a similar passage from the same writer for the purpose of somewhat bending their stubborn neck.
"Man does not understand either the hatred or the
love of God towards men, but all things are kept
uncertain, because all things happen equally to the
righteous and the wicked, the good and bad, to
him sacrificing victims and to him not sacrificing."
If all things are kept uncertain in regard to the future, shall the believer, to whom all things work together for good, regard affliction as an evidence of divine hatred? By no means. For believers have been told, "In the world you shall have tribulation - in me, consolation." Supported by this consideration, they not only endure whatever befalls them with unshaken magnanimity, but even glory in tribulation, acknowledging with blessed Job, "Though he slay us, we will hope in him." (Job 13:15.)
How, then, are all things kept uncertain in regard to the future? This is only humanly speaking. But every living man is vanity. He adds,
"The worst thing I have seen under the sun is, that
the same things happen to all; hence the hearts of
the children of men are filled with malice and
contempt in their life, and afterwards are taken
down to the lower regions. There is no man who
can live always, or have expectation of such a
thing. A living dog is better than a dead lion. For
the living know that they shall die, but the dead no
longer know anything. Nor have they further any
Reward; for their memory is given up to oblivion,"
etc. (Ecclesiastes 9:3-5.)
Does he not speak thus of the gross stupidity of those who see only what is actually present, hoping neither for Future Life nor Resurrection? For even if it were true that we are nothing after death, still the Resurrection remains; and, would they fix their hopes on it, they would neither feel contempt for God, nor be filled with all kinds of wickedness, not to mention other things. Let us therefore conclude, with Solomon, that all these things are beyond the reach of human reason. But if we would have any certainty, let us run to the law and the testimony, where are the truth and the ways of the Lord. They declare to us -
"Until the dust return to the earth whence it was, and the spirit return to God who gave it." (Ecclesiastes 12:7.)
Let no one, then, who has heard the word of the Lord, have any doubt that the spirit of the children of Adam ascends upwards. By "ascending upwards" in that passage, I understand simply subsisting and retaining immortality, just as "descending downwards" seems to me to mean lapsing, falling, becoming lost.
Their fifth Argument they thunder forth with so much noise, that it might arouse the sleeping out of the deepest sleep. They place their greatest hope of victory in it, and, when they would gloss over matters to their neophytes, place most dependence upon it as a means of shaking their faith and overcoming their good sense. There is one judgment, they say, which will render to all their reward - to the pious, glory - to the impious, hell-fire. No blessedness or misery is fixed before that day. This the Scriptures uniformly declare -
"He will send his angels with a trumpet and a loud
voice, and they will assemble his elect from the
four winds, from the heights of heaven to the
utmost limits thereof." (Matthew 24:31.)
Again,
"At the end of the world, the Son of man will send
his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom
all things that offend, and those who do iniquity,
and will send them into the furnace of fire. Then
the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the
kingdom of their Father." (Matthew 13:41.)
Again,
"Then will the King say to them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world." "Depart from me, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire." "And they shall go away, the
latter to eternal punishment, and the former to
eternal life." (Matthew 25:34.)
To the same effect is the passage in Daniel 12,
"And in that time shall thy people be saved, all of them whose names shall be found written in the
book."
They ask, If all these things have been written of the day of judgment, how will the elect be then called to the possession of the heavenly kingdom, if they already possess it? How can they be told to come, if they are already there? How will the people be then saved if they are safe now? Wherefore believers, who even now walk in faith, do not expect any other day of salvation, as Paul says, (2 Corinthians 4:14,)
"Knowing that he who raised up Jesus from the
dead will also raise us up with Jesus."
And elsewhere, "Waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will confirm us even unto the end, against the day of his approach," etc.
But though we were to concede all these things to them, why do they make their own addition about "sleep?" For in all these, and similar passages, they cannot produce one syllable concerning sleep. Though they be awake, they may be without glory. Wherefore, since it is the part of a senseless, not to say presumptuous man, to decide peremptorily, without any authority from Scripture, on points which do not fall under human sense, with what countenance do those new and swollen dogmatists proceed to maintain a sleep of which they have heard nothing from the lips of our Lord? All persons of sense and soberness may hence see that a sleep which cannot be proved from the plain word of God is a wicked fiction. But let us take up the passages in order, lest the more simple be moved when they hear that the salvation of souls is deferred to the day of judgment.
First, we wish it to be held as an acknowledged point, as we have already explained, That our blessedness is always in progress up to that day which shall conclude and terminate all progress, and that thus the glory of the elect, and complete consummation of hope, look forward to that day for their fulfillment. For it is admitted by all, that perfection of blessedness or glory nowhere exists except in perfect union with God. Hither we all tend, hither we hasten, hither all the Scriptures and the divine promises send us. For that which was once said to Abraham applies to us also, (Genesis 15:1,) "Abraham, I am thy exceeding great reward." Seeing, then, that the reward appointed for all who have part with Abraham is to possess God and enjoy him, and that, besides and beyond it, it is not lawful to long for any other, thither must our eyes be turned when the subject of our expectation is considered. Thus far, if I mistake not, our opponents are agreed with us. On the other hand, I hope they will concede that that kingdom, to the possession of which we are called, and which is elsewhere denominated "salvation," and "reward," and "glory," is nothing else than that union with God by which they are fully in God, are filled by God, in their turn cleave to God, completely possess God - in short, are "one with God." For thus, while they are in the fountain of all fullness, they reach the ultimate goal of righteousness, wisdom, and glory, these being the blessings in which the kingdom of glory consists. For Paul intimates that the kingdom of God is in its highest perfection when "God is all in all." (1 Corinthians 15:28.)
Since on that day, only God will be all in all, and completely fill his believers, it is called, not without reason, "the day of our salvation," before which our salvation is not perfected in all its parts. For those whom God fills are filled with riches which neither ear can hear, nor eye see, nor tongue tell, nor imagination conceive.
If these two points are beyond controversy, our hypnologists (sleepmaintainers) in vain endeavor to prove that the holy servants of God, on departing this life, do not yet enter the kingdom of God, from its being said, "Come" - "inherit the kingdom"- and so forth. For it is easy for us to answer that it does not follow that there is no kingdom because there is not a perfect one; on the contrary, we maintain that that which has been already begun is then to be perfected. This I only wish to be conceded to me when I shall have made it plain by sure Scripture argument.
That day is called "the kingdom of God," because he will then make adverse powers truly subject, slay Satan by the breath of his mouth, and destroy him by the brightness of his coming, while he himself will wholly dwell and reign in his elect. (1 Corinthians 15:24; 2 Thessalonians 2:8.) God in himself cannot reign otherwise than he reigned from the beginning. Of his majesty there cannot be increase or diminution. But it is called "His kingdom," because it will be manifested to all. When we pray that his kingdom may come, do we imagine that previously it exists not? And when will it be? "The kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21) God, therefore, now reigns in his elect whom he guides by his Spirit. He reigns also in opposition to the devil, sin, and death, when he bids the light, by which error and falsehood are confounded, to shine out of darkness, and when he prohibits the powers of darkness from hurting those who have the mark of the Lamb in their foreheads. He reigns, I say, even now, when we pray that his kingdom may come. He reigns, indeed, while he performs miracles in his servants, and gives the law to Satan. But his kingdom will properly come when it will be completed. And it will be completed when he will plainly manifest the glory of his majesty to his elect for salvation, and to the reprobate for confusion.
And what else is to be said or believed of the elect, whose kingdom and glory it is to be in the glorious kingdom of God, and as it were reign with God and glory in him - in short, to be partakers of the Divine glory? This kingdom, though it is said not yet to have come, may yet be in some measure beheld. For those who in a manner have the kingdom of God within them, and reign with God, begin to be in the kingdom of God; the gates of hell cannot prevail against them. They are justified in God, it being said of them,
"In the Lord will all the seed of Israel be justified
and praised." (Isaiah 45:25.)
That kingdom wholly consists in the building up of the Church, or the progress of believers, who, as described to us by Paul, (Ephesians 4:13,)grow up, through all the different stages of life, into "a perfect man."
These good folks see the beginnings of this kingdom - see the increase. As soon as these disappear from their eyes, they give no place to faith, and are unable to believe what the eye of flesh has ceased to behold. Very different is the conduct of the Apostle! He says,
"Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in
God. When Christ your life shall appear, then shall
ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:4.)
He indeed attributes to us a hidden life with Christ our Head beside God; he delays the glory to the day of the glory of Christ, who, as the Head of the Church, will bring his members with him. The very same thing is expressed by John, though in different terms, -
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God; but it hath
not yet appeared what we shall be: but we know
that when he shall appear, we shall be like him,
since we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:2.)
He says not that meanwhile, for some length of time, we shall be nothing; but, seeing we are the sons of God, who wait for the inheritance of the Father, he keeps up and suspends our expectation, till that day on which the glory of Christ will be manifest in all, and we shall be glorified in him. Here, again, we cannot help wondering that, when they hear of "sons of God," they do not return to a sound mind, and perceive that this is an immortal generation which is of God, and by which we are partakers of a Divine immortality. But to proceed -
Let them cry out, as much as they please, that they are not called the blessed of God before the day of judgment, and that not before it is salvation promised to the people of God. I answer, that Christ is our Head, whose kingdom and glory have not yet appeared: if the members precede, the order is perverted and preposterous. We shall follow our Prince when he shall come in the glory of his Father, and sit in the seat of his majesty. Meanwhile, there is life in all within us that is of God - that is, our spirit, because Christ our life lives. For it were absurd to say we perish, while our life is living! This life is both beside God and with God, and is blessed because it is in God. All these things are self-evident, and in accordance with the truth. Why are those who have died in the Lord said to be not yet saved, or not yet to possess the kingdom of God? Because they wait for what they as yet have not, and have not reached the summit of their felicity. Why are they, nevertheless, happy? Because they both perceive God to be propitious to them, and see their future reward from a distance, and rest in the sure hope of a blessed Resurrection. As long as we dwell in this prison of clay, we hope for what we see not, and against hope believe in hope, as the Apostle says of Abraham. (Romans 4:18.) But when the eyes of our mind, now dull because buried in flesh, shall have thrown off this dullness, we shall see what we waited for, and be delighted in that rest. We are not afraid to speak thus, after the Apostle, who says conversely, that a fearful looking for of judgment awaits the reprobate. (Hebrews 10:27.) If this is called "fearful," the other surely may be justly called "joyful" and "blessed."
Since it is more my purpose to instruct than to crush my opponents, let them lend me their ear for a little, while we extract the reality from a figure of the Old Testament, and that not without authority. As Paul, in speaking of the passage of the Israelites across the Red Sea, allegorically represents the drowning of Pharaoh as the mode of deliverance by water, (1 Corinthians 10:1,) so we may be permitted to say that in baptism our Pharaoh is drowned, our old man is crucified, our members are mortified, we are buried with Christ., and remove from the captivity of the devil and the power of death, but remove only into the desert, a land arid and poor, unless the Lord rain manna from heaven, and cause water to gush forth from the rock. For our soul, like that land without water, is in want of all things, till he, by the grace of his Spirit, rain upon it. We afterwards pass into the land of promise, under the guidance of Joshua the son of Nun, into a land flowing with milk and honey; that is, the grace of God frees us from the body of death, by our Lord Jesus Christ, not without sweat and blood, since the flesh is then most repugnant, and exerts its utmost force in warring against the Spirit. After we take up our residence in the land, we feed abundantly. White robes and rest are given us. But Jerusalem, the capital and seat of the kingdom, has not yet been erected; nor yet does Solomon, the Prince of Peace, hold the scepter and rule over all.
The souls of the saints, therefore, which have escaped the hands of the enemy, are after death in peace. They are amply supplied with all things, for it is said of them, "They shall go from abundance to abundance." But when the heavenly Jerusalem shall have risen up in its glory, and Christ, the true Solomon, the Prince of Peace, shall be seated aloft on his tribunal, the true Israelites will reign with their King. Or - if you choose to borrow a similitude from the affairs of men - we are fighting with the enemy, so long as we have our contest with flesh and blood; we conquer the enemy when we put off the body of sin, and become wholly God's; we will celebrate our triumph, and enjoy the fruits of victory, when our head shall be raised above death in glow, that is, when death shall be swallowed up in victory. This is our aim, this our goal; and of this it has been written,
"I shall be satisfied when I awake with beholding
thy glory." (Psalm 17:15.)
These things may be easily learned Scripture, by all who have learned to hear God and hearken to his voice.
The same things have been handed down to us by tradition, from those who have cautiously and reverently handled the mysteries of God. For ancient writers, while declaring that souls are indeed in paradise, and in heaven, have not hesitated to say that they have not yet received their glory and reward. Tertullian says, (Lib. de Resurrect. Carnis,) "Both the reward and the peril depend on the event of the Resurrection." And yet he teaches, without any ambiguity, that "previously to that event souls are with God, and live in God." In another place he says, "Why do we not comprehend that by Abraham's bosom is meant a temporary receptacle of faithful souls, wherein the image of faith is delineated, and a clear view of both judgments exhibited?" The words of Irenaeus (Lib. 9, adv. Haeres.) are, "Since our Lord departed, in the midst of the shadow of death, to the place where the souls of the dead were, thereafter rose again bodily, and after his Resurrection was taken up, it is manifest, both that the souls of his disciples, on whose account the Lord performed these things, will go away into the invisible place assigned them by the Lord, and there remain until the Resurrection, waiting for the Resurrection; afterwards recovering their bodies, and rising again perfectly, that is, bodily, as the Lord also rose, they will come into the presence of God. ‘For the disciple is not above his Master,'" etc.
Chrysostom says, (Hom. 28, in 11 ad Hebr.,) "Understand what and how great a thing it is for Abraham to sit and the Apostle Paul, when he is perfected, that they may then be able to receive their reward. Unless we come thither the Father hath foretold us that he will not give the reward, as a good father who loves his children says to probable children and those finishing their labor, that he will not give food till the other brothers have come. Are you anxious because you do not yet receive? What then will Abel do, who formerly conquered, and still sits without a crown? What will Noah do? What the others of those times? Lo! they have waited and still wait for others who are to be after thee." A little after he says, "They were before us in the contest, but they will not be before us in the crown; for there is one set time for all the crowns."
Augustine, in many passages, describes the secret receptacles in which the souls of the righteous are kept until they receive the crown and the glory, while meanwhile the reprobate suffer punishment, waiting for the precise measure to be fixed by the judgment. (De Civitate, Lib. 12 c. 9; Lib. 13 c. 8, et alibi.) And in an Epistle to Jerome he says, "The soul after the death of the body will have rest, and will at length receive the body into glory." Bernard, professedly handling this question in two sermons delivered on the Feast of All Saints, teaches, that "the souls of the saints, divested of their bodies, still stand in the courts of the Lord, admitted to rest but not yet to glory. Into that most blessed abode," he says, "they shall neither enter without us, nor without their own bodies;" that is, neither saints without other believers, nor spirits without flesh: and many other things to the same purpose.
Those who place them in heaven, provided they do not attribute to them the glory of the Resurrection, do not differ from that view. This Augustine himself, in another place, apparently does. (De Ecclesiastes Dogmat.) For while it is certain that wicked demons are now tormented, (as Peter affirms, 2 Peter 2;) yet that fire into which the reprobate will be sent on the day of judgment, is said here to be prepared for the devil. (Jude.) Both things are expressed when it is said, that they are "reserved in eternal chains against the judgment of the great day;" - "reserved" here intimating the punishment which they as yet feel not, and "chains" the punishment which they actually endure. And Augustine explains himself in another passage, (in Psalm 36.) where he says, "Assuredly your last day cannot be far distant. Prepare yourself for it. Such as you depart this life, such will you be restored to that life. After that life you shall not instantly be where the saints will be, to whom it will be said, ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom which was prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' That you shall not yet be there every one knows; but you shall be where the proud and niggardly rich man in the midst of his torments saw the poor beggar, who was formerly covered with sores, resting far away. Placed in that rest you will wait secure against the day of judgment, when you will recover your body, when you will be changed and made like the angels."
Nor do I object to the illustration which he elsewhere gives, (De Quantitat. Animae,) provided a sound and moderate interpretation be given to it, viz., that "there are many states of soul, first, animation; second, sense; third, art; fourth, virtue; fifth, tranquillity; sixth, ingress; seventh, contemplation: or, if you rather choose it, first, of the body; second, to the body; third, about the body; fourth, to itself; fifth, in itself; sixth, to God; seventh, with God." I have been induced to quote these words of the holy writer, rather to show what his views were, than with the idea of binding any one, or even myself, to adopt these distinctions. Even Augustine himself, I think, did not wish this, but was desirous, though in the plainest manner possible, to explain the progress of the soul: showing how it does not reach its final perfection until the day of judgment. It, moreover, occurred to me, that those who so much insist on this day of judgment may by means of it be convinced of their error. For in the Creed, which is the Compendium of our Faith, we confess the Resurrection, not of the soul, but of the body. There is no room for the cavil, that by "body" is meant the whole man. We admit; that it sometimes has this signification, but we cannot admit it here, where significant and simple expressions are used, in accommodation to the illiterate. Certainly the Pharisees, strong asserters of the Resurrection, and constantly having the term in their mouths, at the same time believed it was not spirit.
Still, however, they insist, and keep us to the point, quoting the words in which Paul declares that
"we are of all men the most miserable" if the dead
rise not. (1 Corinthians 15:19)
What need is there of the Resurrection, they ask, if we are happy before the Resurrection? Nay, where is the great misery of Christians, a misery surpassing that which all others suffer, if it is true that they are in rest while others are afflicted and strongly tortured, Here I must tell them, that if I had any desire to evade the difficulty, (a thing on which they are always intent,) I have here ample opportunity. For what hinders us from adopting the view taken by some sensible Expositors, who understand the words to be spoken not only of the final Resurrection, by which we shall recover our bodies from corruption, incorruptible; but of the life which remains to us after our mortal life is over, and which is frequently designated in Scripture by the name of Resurrection? For when it is said that the Sadducees deny the Resurrection, it is not the body that is referred to, but the simple meaning is, that, according to their opinion, nothing of man survives death.
This view is made probable by the fact, that all the grounds on which the Apostle founds his statement might have been obviated by answering, that the soul indeed lives, but that the body, when once it has mouldered into dust, cannot possibly be raised. Let us furnish specimens. When he says, "Those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished," he might have been refuted by the philosophers who strenuously asserted the immortality of the soul. When he asks, "What will those do who are baptized for the dead?" he might easily have been answered, that souls survive death. To the question, "Why are we in jeopardy every hour?" the reply might have been, that we expose this frail life for the immortality in which our better part will live.
We have now said much for which there would have been no occasion among persons of teachable disposition. For the Apostle himself says, that we are miserable if we have hope in Christ in this life only. This is clear beyond dispute, even he being witness, who acknowledges that his feet were almost gone, and that this steps had well-nigh slipped when he saw sinners enjoying themselves on the earth. And certainly, if we look only to the present, we will call those happy to whom everything turns out to a wish. But if we extend our views farther, we see that happy is the people whose God is the Lord, for in His hands are the issues of death.
We can adduce something still more decided, not only to refute their objections:, but to explain the genuine meaning of the Apostle to these who are willing to learn without being disputatious. For if there is no Resurrection of the flesh, he justly for this one reason calls the pious unhappy, because they endure so many wounds, scourges, torments, contumely, in short, necessities of all kinds in their bodies, which they think destined to immortality; seeing they will be disappointed in this their expectation. For what can be, I do not say "more miserable," but even more ridiculous, than to see the bodies of those who live for the day indulging in all kinds of delicacies, while the bodies of Christians are worn out with hunger, cold, stripes, and all kinds of contumely, if the bodies of both equally perish! I might compare this by the words which follow, "Why are we in jeopardy every hour, I die daily through your glory, brethren," etc. "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." It were better, he says, to act on the maxim, "Let us eat," etc., if the affronts which we suffer in our bodies are not compensated by that glory for which we hope! This cannot be unless by the Resurrection of the flesh. Then, though this were given up, I can adduce another argument, viz., We are more miserable than all men if there is no Resurrection, because, although we are happy before the Resurrection, we are not happy without the Resurrection. For we say that the spirits of saints are happy in this, that they rest in the hope of a blessed Resurrection, which they could not do, were all this blessedness to perish. True, there is the declaration of Paul, that we are more miserable than all men if there is no Resurrection; and there is no repugnance in these words to the dogma, that the spirits of the just are blessed before the Resurrection, since it is because of the Resurrection.
They also bring forward what is said in the Epistle to the Hebrews concerning the ancient Patriarchs, (Hebrews 11:13) "All these died in faith, not having received the promises, but seeing them afar off, because they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For them who say so show that they seek a country. And, indeed, had they remembered the country from which they came, they had opportunity of returning, but now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country." Here our opponents argue as follows: If they desire a heavenly country, they do not already possess it: We, on the contrary, argue; If they desire, they must exist, for there cannot be desire without a subject in which it resides. And, as I attempt to force from them only, there must be a sense of good and evil where there is desire which either follows what carries an appearance of good, or shows that which appears evil. That desire, they say, lies in God, than which nothing can be imagined more ridiculous. For one of two things must follow - either that God desires something better than he has, or that there is something in God which belongs not to God. This circumstance makes me suppose that they are merely sporting with a serious matter.
To omit this, What is meant by "the power of returning?" Let them, then, return to a sound mind and listen to something better than they have yet embraced; if, indeed, they are really persuaded of that which they profess with their lips. The Apostle is speaking of Abraham and his posterity who dwelt in a foreign land among strangers; only not exiles, but certainly sojourners, scarcely sheltering their bodies by living in poor huts, in obedience to the command of God given to Abraham, that he should leave his land and his kindred. God had promised them what he had not yet exhibited. Therefore they trusted the promises afar off, and died in the firm belief that the promises of God would one day be fulfilled. In accordance with this belief, they confessed that they had no fixed abode on the earth, and that beyond the earth there was a country for which they longed, viz., heaven. In the end of the chapter he intimates, that all those whom he enumerated did not obtain the final promise, that they might not be perfected without us. Had they attended to the peculiar meaning of this expression, they never would have excited so much disturbance. It is strange how they can be blind in so much light; but still more strange that they give us bread instead of stones - in other words, support our views while seeking to overthrow them!
They think they derive strong support from what is said in the Acts of the Apostles concerning Tabitha, who, when a disciple of Christ, full of alms and good deeds, was raised from the dead by Peter. (Acts 9:40.) They say, an injury was done to Tabitha, if we are correct in holding that the soul, when freed from the body, lives with God and in God, since she was brought back from the society of God and a life of blessedness to this evil world. As if the same thing might not be retorted upon them! For whether she slept, or was nothing, yet as she had died in the Lord she was blessed. It was, therefore, not expedient for her to return to the life which she had finished. They must themselves, therefore, first untie the knot which they have made, since it is but fair that they obey the law which they lay upon others. And yet it is easy for us to untie it.
Whatever be the lot which awaits us after death, what Paul says of himself, (Philippians 1:23,) is applicable to all believers - "for us to die is gain, and to be with Christ is better." And yet Paul says that Epaphroditus, who certainly was in the number of believers, "obtained mercy of the Lord when sick nigh unto death," he recovered. (Philippians 2:27.) Those men, indeed, who handle the mysteries of God with so little reverence and sobriety, would interpret that mercy as cruelty. We, however, feel and acknowledge it to be mercy, seeing it is a step of Divine mercy to sanctify the elect and glorify the sanctified. Does not the Lord then display his mercy when he sanctifies us more and more? What! if the will of God is to be magnified in our body by life, as Paul says, is it not mercy? It is not surely ours to lay down laws for the miraculous works of God; it is enough if the glory of their author shine forth in them. What if we should say that God did not consult the advantage of Tabitha, but had respect to the poor at whose prayers she was raised up, while they kept weeping and showing the garments which Tabitha was wont to sew for them? Paul thought that this mode of living sufficed him, though it were far better for him to depart to God. After saying that God had had mercy on Epaphroditus, he adds, "And not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow." Go now and raise a plea against God for having given back to the poor a woman who was diligent in supplying their wants! For, however the operation may appear to us, Christ, who died and rose again, that he might rule over the living and the dead, is certainly entitled to be glorified both in our life and in our death.
David also, the best defender of our cause, they call in as a defender of theirs, but with so much effrontery, and in a manner so devoid of common sense, that one is both ashamed and pained to mention the arguments which they borrow from him. The whole, however, with which we are acquainted we shall now honestly state. First, they venture to quote the words, (Psalm 82:6,) "I said, Ye are gods, and all of you exalted sons, but ye shall die like men," etc. And they interpret that believers are indeed gods and sons of God, but that they die and fall with the reprobate, so that there is the same lot to both till the lambs shall be separated from the kids. We give the answer which we have received from Christ, (John 10:34,) that "they are there called gods to whom the word of God came;" that is, ministers of God, namely, judges who bear in their hands the sword which they have received from God. Even had we not the interpretation of Christ and the usage of Scripture, which everywhere concurs, there is no obscurity in the passage itself, in which those are rebuked who judge iniquity and respect the faces of sinners. They are called gods, because acting as the representatives of God while they preside over others; but they are reminded of a future Judge to whom they must give an account of their office. See a specimen of the way in which our opponents argue!
Let us attend to another. It is said, secondly, (Psalm 146:4,) "His spirit will go forth and return to its earth. In that day all their thoughts perish." Here they take "spirit" for wind, and say, that the man will go away into the earth; that there will be nothing but earth; that all his thoughts will perish; whereas if there were any life they would remain. We are not so subtle, but in our dull way call a boat, a boat, and spirit, spirit! When this spirit departs from man, the man returns to the ground out of which he was taken, as we have fully explained. It remains, therefore, to see what is meant by thoughts "perishing." We are admonished not to put trust in men. Trust ought to be immortal. It were otherwise uncertain and unstable, seeing that the life of man passes quickly away. To intimate this, he said, that "their thoughts perish ;" that is, that whatever they designed while alive is dissipated and given to the winds. Elsewhere he says, "The sinner will see and be angry; he will gnash with his teeth and pine away; the desire of the sinner will perish," as it is said in another place, "dissipated:" "The Lord dissipates the counsels of the heathen:" again, "Form a scheme and it will be dissipated." The same thing, in the form of a circumlocution, is expressed by the blessed Virgin in her song, "He hath dispersed the proud in the imagination of their hearts." (Psalm 112:10; 32:10; Isaiah 8:10; Luke 1:51.)
A third passage which they adduce is, (Psalm 78:39,) "And he remembered that they are flesh, the spirit going and not returning." They here contend, as they uniformly do, that "spirit" is used for wind. In this they perceive not that they not only destroy the immortality of the soul, but also cut off all hope of Resurrection. For if there is a resurrection, the spirit certainly returns; and if it does not return, there is no Resurrection! Wherefore, they ought here rather to implore pardon for their imprudence than insist on such a concession being made to them. Thus much I have said merely to let all men see how easily I might be quit were it my only object to refute their arguments. For we willingly admit, in accordance with their assertion, that the term wind is here applicable. We grant that men are "a wind which flies and returns not:" but if they wrest this to their own views, they err, not knowing the Scriptures, with which it is common by that kind of circumlocution to intimate at one time the weakness of man's condition, at another the shortness of life.
When Job says of man, (Job 14:1,) "He is a flower which cometh forth, and is cut down, and fleeth as a shadow," what more did he mean than just to say that man is fleeting, and frail, and like a fading flower? Isaiah again is ordered to exclaim,
"All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the
flower of the grass; the grass withereth, and the
flower thereof hath fallen away; but the word of
the Lord endureth for ever." (Isaiah 40:6.)
Here let them infer, in one word, that the soul of man withers and pines away, and see a little more acutely than the dull fisherman who proves from it that all believers are immortal, because born again of incorruptible seed - that is, the word of God, which endureth for ever. Scripture gives the name of "fading flower" and "passing wind" to those who put their trust in this life. Having here as it were fixed their permanent abode, they think they are to reign without end; not looking to the end by which their condition is to be changed, and they must go elsewhere. Of such persons the Prophet also says, (Isaiah 28:15,) "We have stipulated with death, and made a compact with hell." Deriding their vain hope, he does not account as life that which is to them the beginning of the worst death. And he affirms that they cease and die, since it were better for them not to be than be what they are.
To the same effect we read in another Psalm,
"As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth
all that fear him. For he knoweth our frame, he
remembereth that we are dust. And man is as
grass, his day is a flower of the field, so will he
flourish. For his spirit will pass away in him, and
he will not subsist, and he shall no longer know his
place." (Psalm 103:13.)
If they affirm from these verses that the spirit perishes and vanishes away, I again warn them not to open a door for atheists, if there are any such, to rise up and endeavor to overthrow their faith and ours in the Resurrection, as there are certainly many. For in the same way they will infer that the spirit does not return to the body, seeing it is said that it shall no longer know its place. They may say, the inference is erroneous, since such arguing is plainly in the face of the passages relating to the Resurrection; but I rejoice that their inference also is erroneous, since the mode of arguing is common to both.
Almost similar to this is the passage in Ecclesiasticus, "The number of the years of man, as much as a hundred years, have been counted as the drop of water in the sea, and as the sand on the sea shore; but they are few compared with the whole duration of time. Therefore God is patient towards them, and sheds out his mercy upon them." (Ecclesiasticus 18:8- 10.) Here they must admit that the prophet's sentiment was very different; from that which they dream, and means that the Lord pitied those whom he knew to stand by his mercy alone, and, who, were he for a little to withdraw his hand, would return to the dust whence they were taken. Thereafter he subjoins a brief description of human life, comparing it to a flower which, though it blooms today, will be nothing more than dead herbage tomorrow.
Had he even declared that the spirit of man perishes and comes to nothing, he would not have given any defence to their error. For when we say that the spirit of man is immortal, we do not affirm that it can stand against the hand of God, or subsist without his agency. Far from us be such blasphemy! But we say that it is sustained by his hand and blessing. Thus Irenaeus, who with us asserts the immortality of the spirit, (Irenaeus adv. Haeres. lib. 5,) wishes us, however, to learn that by nature we are mortal, and God alone immortal. And in the same place he says, "Let us not be inflated and raise ourselves up against God, as if we had life of ourselves; and let us learn by experience that we have endurance for eternity through his goodness, and not from our nature." Our whole controversy with David then, whom they insist on making our opponent, is simply this - He says, (Psalm 39:11,) that man, if the Lord withdraw his mercy from him, falls away and perishes; we teach, that he is supported by the kindness and power of God, since he alone has immortality, and that whatever life exists is from him.
A fourth passage which they produce is,
"My soul is filled with evil, and my life has drawn
near to hell. I am counted with those who go down
into the deep, like a man without a helper, like the
slain sleeping in their tombs, of whom thou art no
longer mindful, they having been cut off from thy
hand." (Psalm 88:4.)
What! they ask, if they have been cut off from the energy of God, if they have fallen away from his care and remembrance, have they not ceased to be? As if I had it not in my power to retort. What! if they have been cut off from the energy of God, if they have escaped his remembrance, how will they ever again be? And when will the Resurrection be? Again, how do the things agree? "The souls of the just are in the hands of God," (Wisdom 3:1;) or, to quote only from the sure oracles of God,
"The just will be in eternal remembrance." (Psalm
112:6.)
They have not therefore fallen from the hand of the Lord, nor escaped his remembrance. Nay, rather, in this mode of expression, let us perceive the deep feelings of an afflicted man, who complains before God that he is almost abandoned with the wicked to perdition, whom God is said not to know and to have forgotten; because their names are not written in the book of life; and to have been cut away from his hand:, because he does not guide them by his Spirit.
The fifth passage is, (Psalm 88:11,)
"Wilt thou do wonders to the dead, or will
physicians raise them up, and they will confess to
thee? Will any one narrate thy mercy in the tomb,
or thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?"
Again, (Psalm 115:17,)
"The dead will not praise thee, O Lord, nor all who
descend into the lower parts; but we who live bless
the Lord from this time, yea, even for ever."
Again, (Psalm 30:9,)
"What utility is there in my blood when I shall have descended into corruption? Will the dust
confess to thee, or announce thy truth?"
To these passages they join another of very similar import from the song of Hezekiah, (Isaiah 38:18,)
"For the grave will not confess to thee, nor will
death praise thee: those who descend into the pit
will not wait for thy truth. The living, the living he
will confess, to thee, as I too do today; the father
will make known thy truth to his children."
They add from Ecclesiasticus, "From the dead, as being nothing, there is nothing; there is no confession. Thou the living wilt confess." (Ecclesiasticus 17:26.)
We answer, that in these passages the term "dead" is not applied simply to those who have paid the common debt of nature when they depart this life: nor is it simply said that the praises of God cease at death; but the meaning partly is, that none will sing praises to the Lord save those who have felt his goodness and mercy; and partly, that his name is not celebrated after death, because his benefits are not, there declared among men as on the earth. Let us consider all the passages, and handle them in order, so that we may give to each its proper meaning. First, let us learn this much, that though by death the dissolution of the present life is repeatedly signified, and by the lower region, (infernus,) the grave, yet it is no uncommon thing for Scripture to employ these terms for the anger and withdrawal of the power of God; so that persons are said to die and descend into the lower region, or to dwell in the lower region, when they are alienated from God, or prostrated by the judgment of God, or crushed by his hand. The lower region itself (infernus ipse) may signify, not the grave, but abyss and confusion. And this meaning, which occurs throughout Scripture, is most familiar in the Psalms: "Let death come upon them, and let them go down alive into the pit," (infernum:) Again, "O my God, be not silent, lest I become like those who go down into the pit," (lacum:) Again, "O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the lower region, (inferno,) and saved me from these going down into the pit," (lacum:) Again, "Let sinners be turned into infernus, and all the nations which forget God:" Again, "Had not the Lord assisted me, my soul had almost dwelt in infernus:" Again, "Our bones have been scattered along infernus:" Again, "He hath placed me in dark places, like the dead of the world." (Psalm 28:1; 53:15; 30:4; 9:18; 14:7; 143:3.)
In the New Testament, where the Evangelists use the term a;|dhj, the translator has rendered it by infernus. Thus, it is said of the rich man, "When he was in hell," (infernus,) etc. (Luke 16:23.) Again, "And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt descend even unto hell," (infernus.) (Matthew 11:23.) In these places it signifies not so much the locality, as the condition of those whom God has condemned and doomed to destruction. And this is the confession which we make in the Creed, viz., that Christ "descended into hell," (in inferos;) in other words, that He was subjected by the Father, on our account, to all the pains of death; that he endured all its agonies and terrors, and was truly afflicted, it having been previously said that "he was buried."