Nor can the tribes of sea and land SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE STATE OF THE "We have already several times over lost a great part, or perhaps the whole, of one body, according to certain common established laws of Nature; yet we remain the same living agents. When we shall lose as great a part, or the whole, by another common established law of Nature, Death, why may That the alienation has been gradual in one we not also remain the same? case, and in the other will be more at once, does not prove anything to the contrary. "Bishop Butler's Anal., p. 8. "The Apostolical and unblameable faith of the Church."-Burnet. THERE have been three views taken of this remarkable subjectone, that there is a torpid state; another, that souls go immediately to heaven; another, that they are in a state of activity and anticipation. There are, doubtless, many things that might be said in support of the former opinion, and there are many things in the sacred But the very writings that would seem to corroborate the same. nature of the soul, and all the passages that have direct or indirect reference to this, appear to argue the contrary. Moreover, it would have the semblance of being unworthy of God, who had previously done such wonders for the immortal soul, if afterwards he were to leave it, for whatever time he were to do so, in a, so to say, neutral situation, neither absolutely alive or dead. Besides, with reference to the future, it would be not a little incongruous that an emanation from God should be so situated, and be wholly unaffected by those essential properties, which can scarcely be otherwise than expected to survive the decay of the body. "That the dead (says Dr. Burnet) are said to fall asleep, is no solid objection to the immortality of the soul; for neither does the soul perish in sleep, nor cease from all kind of action; but, the senses being bound up, is not affected with the external world, which may very well be the case in the state of death; or, in the separate state, as it is wont to be called, when we live to God and the intellectual world, till we wake again in the resurrection." And in a note, "It appears clearly in the sacred writings, that the dead enjoy a sort of life peculiar to them, or that the middle state, between the death and the resurrection of the body, is a state of life, whatever that life is." (1 Thes. v. 10). Pearson, on the creed, observes, that the soul "must not be con ceived to sleep, or be stript of vital operations;"-that it has "powers of understanding and willing affections of joy and sorrow, upon which are founded the different estate of souls during separation; some by the mercy of God having peace, rest, joy, and happiness-others justice, from the same God-sorrow, pains, and misery. Dwight, in his "Theology," speaks of "the immaterial soul-the thinking, conscious being." Further considerations might be adduced; but, with regard to the second opinion;-that departed souls go immediately to heaven-this, though in several particulars it has its recommendations, will still be found, upon examination, to be questionable. The state of the soul, and the purposes of God, bespeak the negative side of this matter. "This manner of speaking (says Burnet, respecting sleep), can never be applicable to the condition of those who are in possession of the beatific vision, which, both in divinity and philosophy, is esteemed the most perfect operation of the soul." He speaks in another place, of "the opinions of certain moderns, who carry the souls of men just after death, immediately after they have left their bodies, either directly up to heaven, to the height of glory, and the beatific vision, or thrust them down into the torments of hell and unspeakable misery; either of which appears (to him), in its kind, to be carried to too great an extremity." The same author notices, that "when Christ carried with him the soul of the thief into Paradise, he carried him not up to the Heaven of Heavens-for he ascended not thither himself during the three days of his death; nor do ancient authors, either Jews or Christians, give that interpretation to the word Paradise." In a note, he says, "the Jews suppose the happiness of the dead to be imperfect till the day of judgment." Further, as to Phi. i. 23, and 2 Cor. v. 8.-" Nor is it any solid objection that St. Paul has, that if he died he should be present with Christ, and as it were at home with the Lord. For whatever presence you can suppose that the Apostle means here, whether the visible and corporeal one, or the spiritual and internal one, neither of them will at all weaken our cause. If the Apostle means the corporeal one, he means it from the time of the resurrection, the interval of rest between death and that being accounted as nothing; for souls being separated from their bodies, and from all matter, cannot, during that state, have any corporeal or external presence with Christ." Dr. Burnet mentions the Apostle's "own term of obdormition," and says, "that, by reason of the certainty of the thing, and the insensible delay, he joins the resurrection immediately together with death. He adverts to the circumstance of several places in St. Paul's Epistles, of the approaching and sudden coming of Christ, with the same tendency." Again he notices, "If the Apostle uses this phrase, to be with the Lord, in the same sense in these passages that he has used them in others, and so we shall be always present with the Lord, we must necessarily conclude, that the same time, and the same state of the resurrection, is to be understood in both." And in a note, "It is certain that, when Christ was about to ascend, he did not promise to receive his disciples to himself before his return to earth." Pages 61 and 62, "I make no doubt, but he (Christ) has made a great accession to the comfort and the felicity of those who are dead in him, as well from the influx of divine virtue as from the most certain hope, and, as it were, the ravishing prospect. And therefore, in the interval between death and the resurrection, it is rightly said that Christ is with us, and that we are living and present with him." "There is a regard to be had to the opposition, as is evident from both the passages to the Philippians and Corinthians." At page 74, we read of Paradise as a place of divine delightfulness, prepared for the reception of the souls of the righteous," stating, "at the same time, we mean not Heaven." And Abraham's bosom, "a place, though not of celestial height, yet higher than the infernal region, adapted to afford refreshment to the souls of the righteous, till the consummation of all things completes the fulness of their reward, in consequence of the resurrection." There must evidently be some suitable and adequate reason to account for such an event as the immediate, or consummate, exaltation presents to view. And the great consequence must certainly be borne in mind: it would anticipate the judgment. They seem to weaken the force of the Christian doctrine (observes Dr. Burnet), concerning the resurrection, and to render it of no significance, who allow that souls enjoy the beatifie vision and a state of glory, immediately after death." With respect to 66 so great a hope," it is to be recollected, that with God, there are not usually such speedy transitions, unless for very specific and definite ends, and these for the most part such as we can form some sort of judgment of, either from analogy or otherwise. Burnet refers to several texts, and at page 52 has, "St. Peter (1 Ep. v. 4) promises a crown of glory to the faithful shepherds of Christ, when the Prince of Shepherds shall appear; nor can I believe (says he), that the people shall receive their reward before their Pastor." St. Paul also tells us, "that he is not to receive the crown till the day of the coming of the Lord." (2 Tim. i. 12.) • Again, the aforesaid writer notices :- ""Tis not from the dead's immediate possession of happiness, that he (St. Paul) derives the comfort which he gives to the living, and the fomentation which he uses to assuage their grief; but from the certain hope of a blissful resurrection, and of a future return with Christ, in the glorious day of his coming." He further refers to 1 Cor. xv., as to the Apostle's arguing there, as if our whole hope depended upon the resurrection." He states, as to Rom. viii., that, comparing the sufferings of this present life with the glory that we shall enjoy hereafter, St. Paul takes no notice of an immediate beatific vision. The same Dr. Burnet remarks, "Let us now only hearken to the voice from heaven, 'Blessed,' &c.; but why blessed? Is it because they are immediately to enjoy the beatific vision? I find nothing at all like this in the Prophet. What do we find in him? For they rest, &c. Do follow,' &c., which, at length will have their reward." The nature of heaven, as described to us in holy Scripture, is to be considered; and the connection between the scheme of redemption and ultimate glory is likewise to be noted. Various are the computations that have been made with reference to the intermediate time, from the present, onwards. Now, to the departed, there can scarcely be divisions of time, as with us. They are, no doubt, ably provided for, so as to be independent of such matters. All is done for them, and in them, by unerring accuracy; and that eternity which they virtually tener upon, from the hour, nay, moment of death, awaits, so to say, the seal of the resurrection, to complete the divine appointment both for soul and body. "There are several of the Protestant Divines (says Burnet), who will allow of no middle state of souls through an apprehension of purgatory. Thus, when we would avoid one bad extreme, such is the folly of mankind, we often run into another as vicious and as blameable. It is sufficiently known that the Papistical purgatory is a human invention, adapted to the capacity of the people, and the advantage of the priests; nor will we, through apprehension of this phantom, desert the doctrine of the ancients concerning the imperfect and unfinished happiness, or misery, of human souls before the day of judgment." On this head many considerations remain. But next, as to the other opinion of the soul being in a state of activity and anticipation. This is consistent with its own nature, and the character of its prospects. We do not at all injure the soul's vitality by regarding it as happier than on earth, yet not so entirely happy as in heaven. Nor do we exclude the deserving in Christ, by putting them in a reasonable and relative position with regard to heaven. It is no less certain that they shall finally reach it, than that there is truth in God and in his oracles-than that the resurrection will take place, and the just be rewarded. According to the doctrine of the Catholic Fathers (says Palmer, "Origines," vol. ii. p. 96), the souls rest in peace, and joyfully await the time of their resurrection and perfection, in eternal glory." And again, "The righteous, after death, are immediately translated to a region of peace, refreshment, and joy. The wicked are consigned to a place of torment.". Ibid. p. 97. When we come to consider it, the objections to this view of anticipation, &c., are not very difficult to be surpassed, and the advantages are sufficiently obvious. Among the objections would appear, that to Christian mourners there is either less consolation, or an idea of an indefinite state. But the former need not necessarily be the case, according to what has been said previously, respecting St. Paul: and the latter is sufficiently clear for all practical purposes. The author so often before cited, observes, that St. Paul would never have viewed the space from death to the great day, as com paratively "silent and inglorious," if he had been "conscious" of the fulness of glory, and the beatific vision, "being designed for such interval," and also, that when he prays for any, or promises, or threatens, that "to that day he is wont to refer all." That if souls had immediate unspeakable torments or heights of glory, St. Paul ought to have referred to the time of death. The hope of the resurrection is the grand and enlivening theme of the sacred writers; and, with regard to the state subsequent to death-although our curiosity is not entertained; although various particulars are not minutely detailed for our express and entire satisfaction, and information, still we may look to our Saviour, and consider where he appears to have gone. Pearson mentions, "the general doctrine of Christ's descent into hell by a local motion of the soul, separate from the body, to the place below where the souls of men departed were. That the Catholic Fathers, in opposition to the Apollinarian heresy, stated that the intellectual and immortal soul of Christ descended."-" Legem mortuosum servare"-Irenæus. "To undergo the condition of the dead," says Pearson. According to Dr. Burnet, "an old fragment" notices "Hades as a place in which spirits just and unjust are detained.” Pearson has, in one place, "in hell or in some place, at least separated from the joys of heaven." "The better part of us, in and after death, doth exist and live, either by virtue of its spiritual and immortal nature, as we believe, or at least the will of God, and his power upholding and preserving it from dissolution, as many of the fathers thought. This soul, thus existing after death, and separated from the body, though of a nature spiritual, is really and truly, in some place, if not by way of circumscription, as proper bodies are; yet, by way of determination and indistancy, so that it is true to say-this is really and truly present here, and not elsewhere."-Pearson on the Creed, p. 261. Several of the ancients seem to have taken "the lower parts of the earth" as literally such, and that within, or under the earth, was the site appointed. The word " Hades," like the word "Paradise," has been variously commented upon. By the Greeks it was distinguished from TapTapos; and by them it was considered to designate the abode of departed spirits. Several names have been given, such as "the invisible place; but all seem to embrace the idea of an appropriate residence. Οφειλόμενον appears to be the epithet of Polycarp-the place due or proper; arpor TOTOV, a holy station, it appears, from Clemens. Also χωρον κρειτ a better place; TоTOV idov, proper place-Ignatius. Lepa #podupa, sacred gates-Chrysostom. And Burnet remarks, that "when Christ speaks of the state of the righteous who are at rest in the bosom of Abraham, he calls that rest wapa kλŋow—a comfort only (Luke xv. 25), and not a supreme glory; which, in other places of Scripture, is called repose' and 'relaxation,' and is compared to a pleasing slumber." τονα, We know not sufficient of the Almighty power and dominion to say all that we might do according to the case. But, judging |