answer to this question may be given at once by pointing to a rule in
Scriptural teaching, according to which the symbol and the thing
symbolized are expressed in _identical_ terms. {34} The Bible must
have been read to little purpose by those who have not discovered that
this characteristic pervades all parts both of the Old and the New
Testament. On this principle, when speaking to the Jews, our Lord made
no distinction between his own body and the visible temple at
Jerusalem, just because his body was the proper habitation of the Holy
Spirit antecedently to, and comprehensively of, the dwelling of the
Spirit in any temple made with hands. St. Paul also employs like
teaching where he says, "They are not all Israel that are of Israel"
(Rom. ix. 6), the first "Israel" meaning God's elect of all nations and
times, and the other the Jewish people, by whom the elect are typified.
The rationale of this mode of teaching appears to be, that we could not
speak, or even think, of abstract verities, such as that Jesus Christ
is to us the author of life, and strength, and joy, without perceptions
and feelings antecedently derived from external realities; and the more
closely abstractions are viewed by the intervention of their necessary
objective antecedents, the more exact and effective will be our
knowledge. I venture here to express the opinion that all the
contention and diversity of views that have arisen about
Transubstantiation and the Real Presence are referable to the
non-recognition of the above-mentioned principle of Scriptural teaching
by symbols, and generally to an inability to understand and rightly
interpret the {35} concrete and symbolic language of Scripture. Defect
of knowledge in this respect has given occasion to many errors. With
regard to the doctrine of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, I am of
opinion that the above-mentioned dogmas, and the forms of worship
connected with them, which appear to be rightly designated as
_superstitious_, have had the effect of very much keeping out of view
the relation of that ordinance to the _covenant_ which, through the
death of Jesus Christ, makes immortality sure. Perhaps it should
rather be said that the superstitious practices give evidence that "the
blood of the new covenant" is not understood.
From the preceding discussion I draw the conclusion that our Lord, in
saying of the wine, "This is my blood of the New Testament," expressed
the doctrine that his blood (signifying his death) is both the _pledge_
and the means, through faith, of partaking of the joy (signified by the
wine) of a new and ever-lasting life. The Testament is new because it
contains the promise of a future inheritance under better sureties than
those of the old covenant of the Law.
After having thus considered what the Scriptures say concerning
_death_, we have next to inquire what they reveal concerning
_resurrection_. As preliminary to this inquiry, it may be remarked
that the foregoing arguments relative to Christ's partaking with us in
death, are such as point directly to the conclusion that {36} we shall
participate with him in resurrection. In St. Paul's teaching (1 Cor.
xv. 12-19) Christ's resurrection and the resurrection of the dead are
events so necessarily related that, "if the dead rise not, Christ was
not raised up." But the fact of Christ's resurrection was
substantiated by so many witnesses, who saw him alive after his death,
that we may with certainty infer, according to this doctrine, that the
dead will rise. It is, however, to be observed that the argument of
the apostle in the passage just quoted is expressly addressed to those
who have faith and knowledge, and cannot be adduced in proof of the
doctrine of the resurrection of all men. For evidence as to the truth
of this doctrine recourse must be had to other parts of Scripture.
For the present purpose it will suffice to cite two remarkable sayings
of our Lord, recorded in St. John's Gospel. He first says, "The hour
is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of
God: and they that hear shall live" (John v. 25); and then (in _vv._ 28
and 29 of the same chapter) he says, "The hour is coming in which all
that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth;
they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that
have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment" (_kriseôs_). The
first passage refers to a _partial_ resurrection, inasmuch as it makes
mention of those only who shall hear the voice of the Son of {37} God,
and hearing shall live; whereas the other passage asserts that _all_
who are in sepulchres (_mnêmeiois_) shall hear his voice, and divides
these into two classes--those that have done good, who rise to _live_
(the class just before mentioned), and those that have done evil, who
rise to be _judged_. The assertion in _vv._ 28 and 29 is, accordingly,
a revelation respecting the resurrection of all the dead, and is to be
taken as comprehensive of the other; so that the class that will
partake of "the resurrection of life" are the same as those of whom it
is said in the first passage that they will hear the voice of the Son
of God and will _live_. As far as regards the distinction into two
classes, this doctrine agrees with that preached by St. Paul, where he
affirms that his unbelieving countrymen "themselves allowed that there
would be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust"
(Acts xxiv. 15). It may here be remarked that it is not necessary to
infer from its being said in John v. 28, 29, that "all that are in
their graves shall hear his voice and come forth," that all will rise
_simultaneously_. Rather the separate mention in _v._ 25 of those that
hear and live, and especially the assertion that the hour in which
_these_ hear is not only coming, but "_now is_," would seem to apply
exclusively to the resurrection of "the just," and to indicate that
this resurrection is antecedent to that of "the unjust." However, to
settle this question, {38} which is a very important one, recourse will
now be had to other passages of Scripture.
On the principle of regarding, for application in this argument, the
_whole_ of the Canonical Scriptures as authoritative, it is legitimate
to refer to the Book of Revelation for information respecting the
resurrection of the dead. Now, in Rev. xx. 5 we have in express terms,
"This is the first resurrection." And again, in the next verse,
"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on
such the second death hath no power." It is evident, therefore, that
this is the resurrection of the just, and that those who are thus
"blessed and holy" are thenceforth exempt from mortality. This
conclusion has a very important bearing on our argument; for, on
turning to _v._ 4 of the same chapter, we find that the partakers of
this resurrection are described as martyrs "who were beheaded for the
witness of Jesus, and for the word of God," and generally as those who
"received not the mark of the beast on their forehead and on their
hand," which may be interpreted as meaning that by intelligent faith
and righteous deeds they overcame their spiritual adversaries. It
seems, therefore, allowable to infer that this is the company of those
who in Scripture are so often called "the elect," who by suffering,
experience, and hope, are in this life "sealed" unto the day of
redemption (Rev. vii. 2-8, and Eph. iv. 80).
{39}
It is, besides, said of these chosen ones that they "lived and reigned
with Christ a thousand years," but that "the rest of the dead lived not
till the thousand years were finished." It would thus appear that a
definite interval of long duration is interposed between the
resurrection of the just and the unjust. It is also to be particularly
noticed that the seer, speaking of what pertains to that interval of a
thousand years during which the spirit of evil is "bound," says that he
"saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them"
(Rev. xx. 4). This must refer to the judgment undergone by those who
have part in the _first_ resurrection, because the rest of the dead do
not rise to be judged till the thousand years are ended. As to the
elect being judged, the teaching of St. Paul is very explicit, where he
says, identifying himself with the general company of the faithful, "We
must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may
receive the things done through the body, according to what he hath
done, whether good or bad" (2 Cor. v. 10. So also Rom. xiv. 10). It
is not expressly said in the passage above quoted who they are who sat
on thrones and had judgment given to them; but the information is
supplied in Matt. xix. 28, where we read, "Jesus said to them [that is,
as the context shows, to Peter and the other apostles], Verily I say to
you, that ye who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of
man shall sit on the {40} throne of his glory, ye also shall sit on
twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." A like
revelation, addressed exclusively to the apostles, is given in Luke
xxii. 28-80. "The twelve tribes of Israel" is the symbolic designation
of the elect--those that are sealed (see Rev. vii. 3-8).
It must now be taken into account that the experience and the deeds of
_the present life_ alone determine whether any individual is or is not
of the number of the elect. Those only who by the favour of God are
justified in this life by works done through faith are reckoned among
"the just" who partake of the first resurrection. But Scripture
nowhere asserts that their spiritual state differs at their
resurrection from what it was at the time of their death; rather, it
negatives this assumption by describing their state in the interval as
that of "_sleep_." Consequently, not being yet "made perfect," they
have need to pass through the judgment just spoken of (compare 1 Cor.
iii. 11-15), in order that by the completion of their _spiritual
creation_ they might be made meet for immortality. To them, although
there is judgment, there is no "_condemnation_," and, therefore, no
"second death." Such, it seems to me, is the Scriptural doctrine of
immortality, as far as regards _the elect_.
Before proceeding to speak of the judgment of the whole world, it will
be appropriate to consider here what judgment is abstractedly, and what
are its {41} purpose and effect. These questions can only be answered
by means of what is matter of human experience, and in terms derived
therefrom. Now we all know that kings, judges, and magistrates
administer justice and judgment for the purpose of making righteousness
and truth prevail, and that for the same end they inflict punishment on
the guilty. Whatever is this is judgment, and what is not this is not
judgment. The portion of the Scriptures which speaks in plainest terms
of the object and effect of judgment is, perhaps, that contained in
Psalms xcvi., xcvii., xcviii., and xcix. If the words of these Psalms
do not refer to the judgment that is to come upon the earth and the
whole world in the future age, they will require to be taken in a
non-natural sense. But such a sense is here inadmissible, because
consistently with what may be inferred, as said above, from _human
experience_ respecting judgment, namely, that its purpose is to cause
righteousness and truth to prevail, this Scripture declares in terms
expressive of the highest joy and exultation that for this end the
world is judged.
Let us, therefore, now inquire what Scripture reveals respecting the
judgment and immortality of the rest of mankind--those who are not
numbered among the elect. First, it is clearly implied in Rev. xx. 5,
that they live again at the end of the thousand years. Next, as we
have already inferred from the words of {42} Christ recorded in John v.
29, they rise to be _judged_. If, as we have argued, it is needful
that even the elect should be judged, much rather must judgment
overtake the unbelieving and the unrighteous? We are, moreover,
expressly told who is to be the righteous Judge: "The Father hath
committed all judgment to the Son" (John v. 22). The sinners who,
acting "through ignorance" as agents of Satan, arraigned, condemned,
and put to death the blameless Son of God, were not alone guilty,
inasmuch as it was appointed that they should make manifest and
consummate the wickedness that reigns in the heart of the collective
world. For this reason Jesus Christ, in fulfilment of a just
retribution, is ordained to be Judge of all the world, and of Satan
also.
Respecting the _outward means_ by which judgment is executed on the
ungodly, many things seem to be said in the Book of Revelation; but
from being expressed in symbolic language, they are generally "hard to
be understood." I shall make no attempt to give explanations of the
details of this symbolism, such an inquiry not being necessary for my
present purpose; but a few remarks on the contents of the Apocalypse
which have a general relation to the purpose and effect of judgment may
here be appropriately introduced as bearing on the question of
immortality. In the first place, it may be stated that its prophetic
language and symbols resemble in so many {43} particulars what we meet
with in various parts of the prophecies of the Old Testament, that it
might almost be regarded as an epitome of these prophecies. This view
is supported by the announcement made in Rev. x. 7, which affirms that,
"in the days of the voice of the seventh trumpet, when he shall begin
to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished, according to the gospel
He declared (_os euêggelise_) unto His servants the prophets" (see also
Rev. xxii. 6). It is here to be particularly remarked that after the
sounding of six trumpets severally significant of judgment, it is
proclaimed that the mystery of God would be finished at the sounding of
the seventh and last, this consummation having been antecedently made
known as a _gospel_ to the Old Testament prophets. This text
accordingly agrees with the tenor of the argument previously adduced
respecting the final effect of judgment in establishing the reign, so
much to be desired, of truth and righteousness. At the end of the
judgment "the temple of God is opened in heaven, and there is seen in
His temple the ark of His covenant" (Rev. xi. 19). This is the
covenant of immortality, which, having been originally made (as has
already been indicated) with Adam after his transgression, was
afterwards renewed with Noah and with Abraham, was represented by
symbols and proclaimed orally by Moses in the wilderness, and, finally,
was confirmed by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
{44}
Equally remarkable is another revelation, which tells us that the
elect, the one hundred and forty-four thousand who have been made
perfect by the experience they have gone through in the thousand years
of the first resurrection, are joined with the Son of God in the
execution of the general judgment. In Rev. xix. 14, it is said that
"the armies in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine
linen, white and clean." This clothing proves that the attendant army
consisted of the saints made perfect in righteousness, as will be
evident by comparing _vv._ 7 and 8 of the same chapter. In _v._ 15 it
is asserted respecting "The Word of God," that "he shall rule the
nations with a rod of iron;" and he says himself, speaking of his
faithful followers, "To him that overcometh and keepeth my works unto
the end will I give power over the nations; and he shall rule them with
a rod of iron" (Rev. ii. 26, 27). Also we have in Psalm cxlix. 6-9,
"Let a two-edged sword be in their hand, to execute vengeance upon the
nations, punishments upon the peoples; to bind their kings with chains,
and their rulers with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the
judgment written: this honour have all His saints." Moreover, St. Paul
writes to the Corinthians: "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge
the world?" "Know ye not that we shall judge angels?" In short, the
doctrine of Scripture on this prerogative of the saints is very
explicit.
{45}
Again, it is uniformly affirmed in Scripture that every one will be
judged "according to his works." Of course, "words" are included in
"works;" for our Lord said expressly, "Every idle word that men shall
speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment; for by
thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be
condemned" (Matt. xii. 86, 87). It would seem that the judgment, as
being conducted by _external_ means, takes account of human _thoughts_
only so far as their consequences are manifested by overt deeds and
spoken words. It is not the less true, according to the doctrine of
the Lord himself (in Mark iv. 22, and Luke viii. 17), that in the day
of judgment all secret and hidden things will be revealed. The words
in St. Mark, "neither was anything kept secret but in order that
(_hina_) it should come abroad," seem expressly to indicate the
relation in which things hidden in the present age stand to the
revelations of that day. St. Paul also writes to the Romans, speaking
of them who have not received the law by direct communication: "They
show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience
bearing them witness, and their thoughts, one with another, accusing,
or also excusing, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men,
according to my gospel, through Jesus Christ" (Rom. ii. 15, 16).
(This, I think, should be the translation of the passage.) It may be
noticed that {46} here again "gospel" is mentioned in connection with
"judgment."
Now, the very terms, "judgment according to works," imply that the
works brought into judgment are not all equally bad, and that there may
be both "good and bad;" which also may be inferred from the passage
just quoted from the Epistle to the Romans. In fact, it is not too
much to assume that all the deeds and experience of the present life
are contributory in different ways to the final purpose of the
judgment. We have already argued, in accordance with what is said in 2
Cor. v. 10, that the saints will be judged according to their works,
and from 1 Cor. iii. 11-15, we learn that their works will be tried by
fire, but they themselves will be saved, "yet so as by fire." We have
now to enter upon the important inquiry as to whether Scripture reveals
an analogous dispensation with respect to the rest of mankind.
Hard as it may be for us to conceive by what means the deeds and
experience of all men, the living and the dead, will be brought under
review in the day of judgment, that so it will be is undoubtedly the
teaching of Scripture. Our understanding of this wonderful event may
perhaps be assisted by taking into account what St. Paul said to the
Athenians: "In Him we live, and move, and have our being;" whence it
may be inferred that all our works and {47} words, and even feelings
and thoughts, are known to God. With reference to this question, it
would, I think, be legitimate to call to our aid the knowledge of the
external creation, which has been so largely extended in the present
day. After long attention given to the acquisition of such knowledge,
I seem to see that it points to the conclusion that all the forces of
nature are resident in a universal aetherial medium, extending through
all space, and pervading all visible and tangible substances, by the
intervention of which all power is exerted, whether it be by the
immediate will of God, or mediately, by that of angels or of men. (I
assume that there can be no exertion of power apart from the will and
consciousness of an agent.) Consequently the Spirit of the Universe
must be cognizant of every exertion of power and of its effects. To
this consideration another of peculiar significance is to be added.
The faculty which we possess to a limited extent, depending on bodily
conditions and organization, of _remembering_ the consequences of
exerted power, whether as operating ourselves, or being operated upon,
must be conceived of as pertaining, without any limitation, to the
Creator of the aetherial substance and the Source of all power. In
this manner it seems possible to understand how all actions and all
events may be written down (speaking metaphorically) in the Book of
God's _remembrance_, and so be brought into judgment.
{48}
The universality and the character of the future judgment are declared
in Rev. xx. 11-13, with particular reference to the presence and
majesty of "One who sat on a great white throne," who, doubtless, is
God the Father, the Creator of heaven and earth. The seer says in this
passage, "I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the
books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of
life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written
in the books, according to their works." The mention made of "the
books" indicates that what is here said of the general judgment
pertains exclusively to God the Father, by whose almighty power and
omniscience, as I have endeavoured to show in the preceding paragraph,
all the deeds and experience of the present life are held in
remembrance to be brought under judgment. But it would be an error to
suppose that this general judgment is different from that the process
and results of which, as effected through the Son of man and his
attendant armies, are symbolically described in previous parts of the
Apocalypse. The judgment was ordained by decree of the Father, and
prearranged by His wisdom, and in accordance therewith it is executed
by the Son, who, apparently on this account, speaks thus of himself:
"To him that overcometh will I give to sit with me in my throne, as I
also overcame and sat with my Father in His throne" (Rev. iii. 21).
This throne {49} which the Son shares with the Father may be presumed
to be the seat of power exercised in judgment (compare Rev. ii. 26,
27). Why "the book of life" is mentioned in connection with the books
from the contents of which the dead are judged, will be shown in the
sequel of the argument.
There are other considerations relating to the future judgment which it
is necessary to enter into in order to complete the argument for the
immortality of all men. We live in a world in which sorrow and pain
and death abound everywhere and at all times, and although these are
actual consequences of sin, inasmuch as they would be non-existent if
sin did not antecedently exist, it is not the less true that the _law_
which in the present time of imperfection connects suffering with sin,
tends in its operation towards bringing on eventually a state of
perfection. Thus there is a final cause for that law. I have already
(page 14) illustrated this doctrine by reference to the process whereby
the actual condition and adornment of this earth were elaborated by the
operation of physical laws out of a state of darkness and chaos. This
view is corroborated by the noticeable fact that suffering in this
life, whether caused by the three scourges, war, pestilence, and
famine, or what we call accident, or by the injustice and cruelty of
men, by no means in proportion to guilt, since even the innocent
thereby sometimes suffer. Now, as all {50} human deeds and experience
are taken cognizance of in the great day of judgment, it must be
admitted that sufferings of the kind just mentioned will be included in
the account. In what way, and with what effect, will, I think, be to
some extent indicated by the following considerations.
Besides the principle of animal life (_psyche_) which man partakes of
in common with the creatures of a lower order, there is within him a
spirit (_pneuma_) which is being formed, educated, and built up, all
the time that it is the tenant of a corporeal "vessel." On account of
this law of progressiveness, the spirit of a child, as we can all see,
differs in its feelings and its understanding from that of a man. In
short, spirit perfected is the principle of immortal life. Now, during
our waking hours our spirits are replete with consciousness and
thought, which, however, at the moment of falling asleep depart from
us. The spirit is then taken into the keeping of the angels of God, to
be by them restored into its place in the body at the moment of waking
up and of return to consciousness. In like manner at death the spirits
of all men, good and wicked, pass into the custody of the Creator of
spirits, to wait for the return to consciousness by being on the
morning of their resurrection again united with body,--not, however,
with the same natural body, but with a spiritual body (1 Cor. xv. 44).
The union of spirit with bodily essence appears to be a {51} necessary
condition of human consciousness, and to have been ordained for the
special reasons that we are destined to live hereafter not only
individually, but in _social_ relations also, and that only through the
medium of body is there communion between one man's spirit and that of
another.