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soul's immediate entrance into heaven, and there enjoying the beatific vision of God, is the foundation of the several practices relating to the saints, viz. their canonization, worship, invocation, relics, images, &c. Praef. ad Libros de Ecclesia Triumph. tom. ii. p. 419, B. Coloniæ, 1628.

Note E, p. 375.

̓Αποβλέψατε γὰρ πρὸς τὸ τέλος ἑκάστου τῶν γενομένων βασιλέων, ὅτι τὸν κοινὸν πᾶσι θάνατον ἀπέθανον· ὅπερ εἰ εἰς ἀναισθησίαν ἐχώρει, ἔρμαιον ἂν ἦν τοῖς ἀδίκοις πᾶσιν ἀλλ ̓ ἐπεὶ καὶ αἴσθησις πᾶσι γενομένοις μένει, καὶ κόλασις αἰωνία ἀπόκειται, μὴ ἀμελήσητε πεισθῆναί τε καὶ πιστεῦσαι ὅτι ἀληθῆ ταῦτά ἐστι. Justin. Apol. ii. p. 64, E. Coloniæ, 1686.

66 Look, then, to the end of each of those who were kings, that they died the common death of all men. If they had passed into insensibility, it would have been an advantage to all who were unrighteous; but inasmuch as consciousness remains to all who have existed, and eternal punishment is laid up [for the wicked], be not careless of being persuaded and of believing that these things are true."

̓Αλλὰ μὴν οὐδὲ ἀποθνήσκειν φημὶ πάσας τὰς ψυχὰς ἐγώ· ἕρμαιον γὰρ ἦν ὡς ἀληθῶς τοῖς κακοῖς. ̓Αλλὰ τί ; τὰς μὲν τῶν εὐσεβῶν ἐν κρείττονί ποι χώρῳ μένειν, τὰς δὲ αδίκους καὶ πονηρὰς ἐν χείρονι, τὸν τῆς κρίσεως ἐκδεχομένας χρόνον τότε. Οὕτως αἱ μὲν, ἄξιαι τοῦ Θεοῦ φανεῖσαι, οὐκ ἀποθνήσκουσιν ἔτι· αἱ δὲ κολάζονται ἔστ ̓ ἂν αὐτὰς καὶ εἶναι καὶ κολάζεσθαι ὁ Θεὸς θέλῃ. Justin. Dial. cum Tryph. p. 223, B. Coloniæ, 1686.

66 I do not indeed think that all souls die for doubtless that would be a gain to the wicked. But what then? That the souls of the righteous remain in a certain better region, and those of the unrighteous and the wicked in a more evil one, awaiting the time of the judgment. Thus some which appear worthy of God, die no more; and others are punished as long as God shall choose them both to exist and to be punished."

Μετὰ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ σώματος ἔξοδον, εὐθὺς γίνεται τῶν δικαίων τε καὶ ἀδίκων ἡ διαστολή. Αγονται γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγγέλων εἰς ἀξίους

αὐτῶν τόπους· αἱ μὲν δικαίων ψυχαὶ εἰς τὸν παράδεισον, ἔνθα συν τυχία τε καὶ θέα αγγέλων τε καὶ ἀρχαγγέλων, κατ' ὀπτασίαν δὲ καὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος Χριστοῦ· κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον, Ἐκδημοῦντες ἐκ τοῦ σώματ τος, καὶ ἐνδημοῦντες πρὸς τὸν Κύριον· αἱ δὲ τῶν ἀδίκων ψυχαὶ εἰς τοὺς ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ τόπους, Καί εἰσιν ἐν τοῖς αξίοις αὐτῶν τόποις φυλαττόμεναι ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας τῆς ἀναστάσεως καὶ ἀνταποδόσεως. Justin. Quæst. et Resp. ad Orthod. lxxv. p. 436, D. Coloniæ, 1686.

"After the departure from the body, there is immediately a separation of the just and the unjust. They are carried by the angels into the places meet for them: the souls of the righteous into Paradise, where is the fellowship and the sight of angels and archangels, and of the Saviour Christ also by way of vision, according to the saying, 'Absent from the body, and present with the Lord;' and the souls of the wicked into the places in Hades, where they are reserved in the places meet for them, until the day of the resurrection and retribution."

Ἵνα-κρίσιν δικαίαν ἐν τοῖς πᾶσι ποιήσηται, τὰ μὲν πνευματικά τῆς πονηρίας καὶ ἀγγέλους παραβεβηκότας, καὶ ἐν ἀποστασίᾳ γεγονότας, καὶ τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς, καὶ ἀδίκους, καὶ ἀνόμους, καὶ βλασφήμους τῶν ἀνθρώπων, εἰς τὸ αἰώνιον πῦρ πέμψῃ· τοῖς δὲ δικαίοις, καὶ ὁσίοις, καὶ τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ τετηρηκόσι, καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ αὐτοῦ διαμεμενηκόσι, τοῖς ἀπ ̓ ἀρχῆς, τοῖς δὲ ἐκ μετανοίας, ζωὴν χαρισάμενος, ἀφθαρσίαν δωρήσηται, καὶ δόξαν αἰωνίαν περιποιήσῃ. Irenæus Hæres. lib. i. c. 10, p. 48. Paris, 1710.

“ That-passing a righteous sentence upon all, he may send evil spirits and angels that have transgressed and apostatised, and men that are impious, and unjust, and lawless, and blasphemous, into everlasting fire; and that, bestowing life on the righteous, and the pious, and those who have kept his commandments and abided in his love, whether from the beginning or after repentance, he may give them immortality, and encircle them with eternal glory."

It is absurd to construe τοῖς ἀπ ̓ ἀρχῆς with χαρισάμενος. The passage can give no sanction to Purgatory; though the Papists say that Irenæus means that infants, baptized and dying without sin, and martyrs, go immediately to heaven, and, consequently, that others do not. In the Benedictine note to this passage, Tertull. de Resurr., and Cyprian. Epist. 58, are quoted as parallel.

The opinion of Irenæus, as derived from a connected view of his writings, seems to be, that the souls of the just do not, immediately after death, enjoy perfect and supreme, but, as it were, an inferior felicity; awaiting, in a place apart, the second advent of the Lord for the full reward of their righteousness. The following passage is express :—

Αἱ ψυχαὶ ἀπέρχονται εἰς τὸν τόπον τὸν ὡρισμένον αὐταῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, κακεῖ μέχρι τῆς ἀναστάσεως φοιτῶσι, περιμένουσαι τὴν ἀνάστασιν· ἔπειτα ἀπολαβοῦσαι τὰ σώματα, καὶ ὁλοκλήρως ἀναστᾶσαι, τουτέστι σωματικῶς, καθὼς δὲ ὁ Κύριος ἀνέστη, οὕτως ἐλεύσονται εἰς τὴν ὄψιν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Iren. Hæres. lib. v. c. 31, p. 331. Paris, 1710.

"Souls depart to the place set apart for them by God, and there wander until the resurrection, in expectation thereof: then having resumed their bodies, and having arisen wholly, that is corporeally, even as the Lord arose, they will in this manner come into the vision of God."

Ερώτησις.-- Εἰ πρὸ τῆς ἀναστάσεως οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ τῶν ἔργων αντίδοσις, ποῖον τῷ λῃστῇ προσγέγονεν ὄφελος, πρὸς τὸν παράδεισον αὐτοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς εἰσαχθείσης, καὶ μάλιστα ὅτι ὁ μὲν παράδεισος αἰσθητὸς, οὐκ αἰσθητὴ δέ ἐστι τῆς ψυχῆς ἡ οὐσία; ̓Απόκρισις.— Οφελος γέγονε τῷ λῃστῇ, εἰς τὸν παράδεισον εἰσέλθοντι, τὸ ἔργοις μαθεῖν τῆς πίστεως ὠφέλιμον, δι' ἧς ἠξιώθη τοῦ συναθροίσματος τῶν ἁγίων, ἐν ᾧ φυλάττεται ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας τῆς ἀναστάσεως τε καὶ ἀνταποδόσεως· ἔχει τε τοῦ παραδείσου τὴν αἴσθησιν κατὰ τὴν ἐννοηματικὴν λεγομένην αἴσθησιν, καθ ̓ ἣν ὁρῶσιν αἱ ψυχαὶ ἑαυτάς τε καὶ τὰ ὑπ' αὐτάς, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἀγγελούς τε καὶ τοὺς δαίμονας. Οὐ γὰρ νοεῖ οὔτε ὁρᾷ ψυχὴ ψυχὴν, οὔτε ἄγγελος ἄγγελον, οὔτε δαίμων δαίμονα· ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν ῥηθεῖσαν ἐννοηματικὴν αἴσθησιν ὁρῶσιν ἑαυτούς τε καὶ ἀλλήλους, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὰ σωματικὰ πάντα. Justin. Quæst. et Resp. ad Orthodox. lxxvi. p. 437, A. B. Coloniæ, 1686.

"Question.-If there is no reward of works before the resurrection, what benefit accrued to the thief, on the introduction of his soul into Paradise: more especially as Paradise is a perceptible enjoyment, and the substance of the soul is not perceptible? Answer. The benefit derived to the thief on entering Paradise, consisted in his actual cognizance of the advantage of Faith, by

which he was deemed worthy of the assembly of the saints, with whom he is reserved until the day of resurrection and recompense. Moreover, his perception of Paradise is that which is called a mental [or spiritual] perception, according to which souls see themselves and the things beneath them, as well as angels and devils. For soul does not perceive or see soul; neither angel, angel; nor devil, devil: but, according to the perception which is denominated mental [or spiritual], they see themselves, and one another, and all corporeal substances."

Melius est enim dubitare de occultis, quam litigare de incertis. Illum quippe divitem in ardore pœnarum et illum pauperem in refrigerio gaudiorum, intelligendos esse non dubito. August. de Gen. ad Litt. lib. viii. c. 5, sec. 9, tom. iii. col. 229, C. Paris, 1689.

"It is better to doubt respecting what is hidden, than to dispute about what is uncertain. I doubt not, however, that that rich man is to be considered as being in the heat of punishment, and the poor man in the refreshment of joy."

In requie enim sunt animæ piorum a corpore separatæ ; impiorum autem poenas luunt: donec istarum ad æternam vitam, illarum vero ad æternam mortem, quæ secunda dicitur, corpora reviviscant. August. de Civitat. Dei, lib. xxii. c. 8, tom. vii. col. 330. Paris, 1685.

"The souls of the pious, when separated from the body, are at rest, but those of the impious suffer punishment, until the bodies of the one revive to eternal life, and those of the other to eternal, or, as it is called, the second death."

CHAPTER X.

RECAPITULATORY AND CONCLUDING REMARKS.

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter."
ECCLES. xii. 13.

IN concluding these observations upon the dangerous doctrine, which it has been the object of the preceding pages to confute, it may not be deemed inexpedient to give a concise recapitulatory analysis of the entire subject.

"There is," says Cicero, "I know not how, in the minds of men, a certain presage, as it were, of a future state."1 This feeling, connected as it is with man's accountability, induced the heathen to devise various methods of expiatory suffering to be endured after this life, for the supposed purpose of obliterating their sins, in order to their eventual admission into the joys of Elysium. As the early Church became gradually corrupt, this idea was revived, and at last boldly promulgated in the sixth century by Pope Gregory the Great. The place assigned for the purification of departed souls in the next world was called PURGATORY; and here the

1

Nescio quomodo inhæret in mentibus quasi sæculorum quoddam augurium futurorum. Cic. Tusc. Quæst.

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