Section IV.

The Primitive Church Believed that the Soul Maintained a Conscious Existence After the Death of the Body.

In an investigation like the one in which we are engaged, it is of the utmost importance to understand what was the doctrine of the early Christians, who received their instructions from the Apostles, and those who immediately succeeded them. If the first Christians and Martyrs lived and died in the belief that the soul would enter immediately upon a happy future existence, when the body died, it appears almost impossible that any one should doubt the truth of the doctrine. This point we will now attempt to prove. We will first give a few extracts from the writings of the Apostolic Fathers We quote from Archbishop Wake's translation, London edition, 1840. The following, from the first epistle of St. Clement to the Corinthians, clearly contains the doctrine for which we contend:

"Let us set before our eyes the holy apostle; Peter, by unjust envy, underwent, not one or two, but many sufferings; till at last, being martyred, he went to the place of glory that was due unto him. For the same cause did Paul in like manner receive the reward of his patience. Seven times he was in bonds; he was whipped, was stoned; he preached both in the east and in the west, leaving behind him the glorious report of his faith; and so having taught the whole world righteousness, and for that end traveled even to the utmost bounds of the west, he at last suffered martyrdom, by the command of the governors, and departed out of the world, and went unto his holy place, being become a most eminent pattern of patience unto all ages.

"To these holy apostles were joined a very great number of others, who, having through envy undergone, in like manner, many pains and torments, have left a glorious example to us. For this, not only men, but women, have been persecuted, and, having suffered very grievous and cruel punishments, have finished the course of their faith with firmness, and, though weak in body, yet received a glorious reward."-P. 60.

The above speaks too plainly to be misunderstood. Of Paul it is said, he "departed out of this world and went to his holy place." If Paul's soul died with his body, and both sleep until now; if his great mind was only his brains, which were decomposed after his death, the fluids evaporated, and the solids returned to dust, to be blown in ten thousand directions; in the name of common sense, to what holy place did he go So of all the Martyrs it is said, they "received a glorious reward." According to the theory we oppose, they received no reward but to die-be eaten up by wild beasts-burned to ashes, or be consumed by worms, and have their fluids mingle with the waters of earth and heaven, and their solids mingle with the dust of earth. Is it a glorious reward to be lost amid the waters of the world, to ascend in the vapor, and fall in the rain and the dew, and in the snow and the hoar frost Is it a glorious reward to become fine dust, and be made the sport of the winds, and be blown along the street, and even blinding the eyes of the living, to their annoyance If not, then St. Clement did not believe that the mind is matter, and that it dies with the body

The following is from the Epistle of St. Polycarp to the Philippians:

"Wherefore I exhort all of you that ye obey the word of righteousness, and exercise all patience, which ye have seen set before your eyes, not only in the blessed Ignatius, and Zozimus, and Rufus, but in others among yourselves, and in Paul himself, and the rest of the apostles. Being confident of this, that all these have not run in vain, but in faith and righteousness, and are gone to the place that was due to them from the Lord, with whom also they suffered; for they loved not this present world, but him who died, and was raised again by God for us."-P. 109. -

Here it is declared that those who were dead "are gone to the place that was due to them from the Lord." Was that place non-existence Surely not, for he said, "I go to prepare a place for you." "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory."

This following is from the Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians:

"Stop your ears therefore, as often as any one shall speak contrary to Jesus Christ, who was of the race of David, of the Virgin Mary; who was truly born, and did eat and drink; and was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate; was truly crucified and dead, both those in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, being spectators of it. Who was also truly raised from the dead by his Father, after the manner as He will also raise up us who believe in him, by Christ Jesus, without whom we have no true life."-P. 142.

The strong point in this extract is the assertion that, "those in heaven and on earth, and under the earth," were spectators of Christ's death and resurrection. This three-fold expression includes the living, the saved and the lost, and of course death was not, in the mind of the writer, the extinction of being.

The following is from the Epistle of St. Ignatius to the Romans:

"But I would not that ye should please men, but God; whom also ye do please. For neither shall I ever hereafter have such an opportunity of going unto God; nor will you, if ye shall now be silent, ever be entitled to a better work. For if you shall be silent in my behalf, I shall be made partaker of God; but if you shall love my body, I shall have my course again to run."- Pp. 146, 147.

Again he says-

"All the ends of the world, and the kingdoms of it,

will profit me nothing; I would rather die for Jesus Christ, than rule to the uttermost ends of the earth. Him I seek who died for us; Him I desire who rose again for us. This is the gain that is laid up for inc. Pardon me, my brethren; ye shall not hinder me from living: {nor, seeing I desire to go to God, may you separate me from him for the sake of this world; nor seduce me by any of the desires of it]. Suffer me to enter into pure light; where being come, I shall be indeed the servant of God."

-Pp. 148, 149.

In the above extracts the writer is speaking of his impending martyrdom, and requests them not to interfere to prevent it. He calls it, "going to God," and being "made partaker of God." He represents their preventing his martyrdom, as hindering him "from living;" and separating him "from God for the sake of the world;" and finally, he represents his suffering martyrdom, the same as to "enter into pure light; where being come," he says, "I shall be the servant of God." Surely he did not believe his material brains were all the mind he had, nor could he have embraced the cold, dark doctrine of the death sleep of the soul.

The following is from the same author's epistle to the Smyrneans:

"Now all these things he suffered for us, that we might be saved. And he suffered truly, as he also truly raised up himself; and not, as some unbelievers say, that lie only seemed to suffer, they themselves only seeming to be. And as they believe, so it shall happen unto them; when being divested of the body, they shall become mere spirits."-Pp. 158, 159.

"For if all these things were done only in show by our Lord, then do I also seem only to be bound. And why have I given myself up to death, to the fire, to the sword, to wild beasts But now the nearer I am to the sword, the nearer I am to God: when I shall come among the wild beasts I shall come to God. Only, in the name of Jesus Christ, I undergo all, to suffer together with him; lie who was made a perfect man strengthening me."-P. 159.

The above extracts cannot be made more forcible, or more clearly to express the doctrine of the life of the soul after the death of the body, by any comments we might add.

The following is from the account of the martyrdom of St. Ignatius:

"Wherefore with much readiness and joy, out of his desire to suffer, he left Antioch and came to Seleucia; from whence he was to sail. And after a great deal of toil, being come to Smyrna, he left the ship with great gladness and hastened to see the holy Polycarp, his fellow-scholar, who was bishop there; for they had both of them been formerly the disciples of St. John.

"Being brought to him, and communicating to him some spiritual gifts, and glorying in his bonds, he entreated, first of all, the whole church (for the churches and cities of Asia attended this holy man by their bishops, and priests, and deacons, all hastening to him, if by any means they might receive some part of his spiritual gift), but more particularly Polycarp, to contend with God in his behalf; that being suddenly taken by the beasts from the world, he might appear before the face of Christ, And this he thus spake, and testified, extending so much his love for Christ as one who was about to receive heaven through his own good confession, and the earnest contention of those who prayed together with him."-Pp. 179, 180.

The following is from an epistle or circular which the church of Smyrna sent out concerning the martyrdom of Polycarp:

"Wherefore being supported by the grace of Christ, they despised all the torments of the world; by the sufferings of an hour redeeming themselves from everlasting punishment. For this cause, even the tire of their cruel and barbarous executioners seemed cold to them; whilst they hoped thereby to escape that fire which is eternal, and shall never be extinguished; and beheld, with the eyes of faith, those good things which are reserved for them that endure to the end; 'which neither ear has heard, nor eye seen, nor have they entered into the heart of man.' But to them they were now revealed by the Lord; as being no longer men, but already become angels."-P. 193.

"But when the emulous, and envious, and wicked adversary of the race of the just, saw the greatness of his martyrdom, and considered how irreprehensible his conversation had been from the beginning, and how he was now to be crowned with the crown of immortality, having without all controversy received his reward, he took all possible care that not the least remainder of his body should be taken away by us, although many desired to do it, and to be made partakers of his holy flesh. And to that end he suggested it to Nicetas, the father of Herod and brother of Alce, to go to the governor, and hinder him from giving us his body to be buried,"-P. 200.

"For having by patience overcome the unjust governor, and so received the crown of immortality, he now, together with the apostles, and all other righteous men who have gone before, with great triumph glorifies God, even the Father, and blesses our Lord, the governor both of our souls and bodies, and shepherd of the Catholic Church which is over all the earth."-P. 201.

These extracts from the Fathers, show clearly that the early churches who were moulded by the hand of inspired apostles, held the doctrine of an intermediate state, and the immortality of the soul. Ignatius suffered martyrdom in the 147th year of the Christian Era.

The next work we will introduce, is, the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius. Eusebius wrote the first history of the Christian Church that was ever written, excepting the Acts of the Apostles, and his work is the best authority concerning the first three centuries of the Christian Era, which we have, after the New Testament itself. A few extracts will be sufficient. We quote by page, from the Philadelphia edition, 1833. It will be seen that Eusebius speaks of some of the same transactions as those described by some of the other writers previously quoted. In speaking of the martyrdom of Polycarp, he makes the following remark concerning him, after he was dead: "But that envious and malignant adversary, that wicked enemy of all the righteous, seeing the lustre of his martyrdom, amid his uniform walk and conversation, and him now crowned with the crown of immortality, and bearing off the indisputable prize, had provided that not even his corpse could be obtained by us."-P. 148.

This clearly speaks of his having been already crowned with the crown of immortality, while his corpse was yet with them unburied. A clearer proof could hardly be given, of the writer's belief in the immortality of the soul

In giving an account of the martyrdom of Lucius, he represents him - as saying to his judge, "I thank thee, for now I am liberated from wicked masters and am going to God."-P. 154.

In speaking of the martyrs that suffered in Gaul, he says: "The firmness of the champions for the true religion, their fortitude in the endurance of numberless trials, their trophies erected over demoniacal agency, and their victories over their invisible antagonists, and the crowns that have been placed upon all these; it would proclaim and perpetuate by an everlasting remembrance."-P. 168.

In speaking of the martyrdom of Blandina, he says: "Thus she overcame the enemy, in many trials, and in the conflict received the crown of immortality."-P.176. Again it is said: "But the blessed Blandina, last of all, as a noble mother that had animated her children, and sent them as victors to the king, herself is with joy hastened to them, as if she were invited to a marriage feast, and not to be east to wild beasts."-P. 179.

Of the martyrs in general, he says: "Always lovers of peace, they always recommended peace, and with peace they departed to God."-P. 1S2. All these passages contain clear evidence of a belief in the doctrine of an intermediate state, on the part of the martyrs. Lucius said, when suffering martyrdom, "I am going to God." The expression, "the crowns that have been placed upon all these," when applied to the dead, proves a belief in the life of the soul after the death of the body. "She received the crown of immortality," spoken of one already dead, proves the point. The martyrs are said to have been sent away to the king, and then Blandina is said to have hastened to them, when she was martyred. In the face of these proofs, are we to be told that the early christians believed that soul and body die together, and must sleep together until the end of the world

When Basilides, an officer, was leading Potamiaena to execution, he protected her against the insults of the multitude, in view of which, it is said of her, "perceiving the man's sympathy, she exhorted him to be of good cheer, for that after she was gone, she would intercede for him with her Lord, and it would not be long before she would reward him for his kind deeds towards her."-P. 224.

Soon after the above occurrence, Basilides himself was committed to prison, on his own declaration that he was a christian; and when some of the brethren called upon him to learn the ground of his sudden change, "he is said to have declared that Potamiaena, three days after her martyrdom, standing before him at night, placed a crown upon his head, and said that she had entreated the Lord on his account, and that she had obtained her prayer, and that ere long she would take him to her."-Ib.

The reader may abate what he pleases for the vision part of this extract, and still it will prove all that we claim to prove by it, viz: what was the belief, at that time, concerning the life of the soul after the death of the body. If the vision was a reality, our doctrine has the proof of a miracle; but suppose it to have been a creature of the fancy, it still contains the following facts First, the martyr, while being led to execution, instead of supposing her soul was about to die with her body, she believed it would live, and so enter into the presence of Christ, as to enable her to intercede with him for her sympathizing executioner. Secondly, this was also believed by the executioner, a military officer, making such an impression on his mind, that he fancied he saw her in a vision, unless she did really appear to him: and so strong was his belief that the martyr's soul is as alive after her body had been burned to ashes, and that lie had seen her, that he submitted to be beheaded for the sake of the faith. Thirdly, the most learned and pious christian writers of those times, recorded these things, most clearly, in full faith that they were true. This proves beyond a doubt, that christians generally, at that time, must have held that the soul lives after the body is dead.

On one occasion, when the judge had condemned one to martyrdom, and he had been executed, another was seized and brought before him, and then it is said, that the judge, "as if to urge him to attach himself to the former as his companion on the way to heaven, commanded him immediately to be put to death."-P. 372. This clearly shows that the death sleep of the soul was unknown to the faith and language of those times. Of this same martyr, it is said again, "He was the tenth after those wrestlers mentioned, that were perfected on one and the same day, on which, as is probable, the mighty portals of eternal life were opened to Pamphilus, in a manner worthy of the man, and presented to him and to others, a ready entrance into the kingdom of heaven."-Ib. Such expressions, as the portals of eternal life being open to men when they die, giving a "ready entrance into the kingdom of heaven," clearly proves that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, was held by the writers. One John, an Egyptian christian, is said to have lost his eyes, and to have been crippled in his limbs by the tortures he endured; yet such was his memory that he could repeat whole books of the Sacred Scriptures. In speaking of having seen him and heard him address an assembly, our author says: "I seemed to behold an evidence, and solid proof in fact; that not he who appears in the external form is the real man, but in truth that which is in the soul and mind. For he though mutilated in body, exhibited the greater power."-P. 177. This language indicates a belief in the existence of the soul, as something different from the body, which is not affected by its decay.

We will now give our concluding extract from Eusebius. It proves clearly that the death sleep of the soul, was not the doctrine of the church in the times of which he wrote. On the subject of the errors of the times, Eusebius says: "But about this time, other men sprung up in Arabia, as the propagators of false opinions, These asserted, that the human soul, as long as the present state of the world exists, perished at death and died with the body, but that it would be raised again with the body at the time of the resurrection. And as a considerable council was held on account of this, Origen, being again requested, likewise here discussed the point in question, with so much force, that those who had before been led astray, completely changed their opinions."-P. 253.

This shows that the death sleep of the soul was never heard of in the christian church before this period, which must have been early in the third century, as Origen was born in the year 185, and died 253. The doctrine described is precisely that which is now maintained by Destructionists, and all who sympathize with their views. And it is here plain, that it was not the doctrine of the early church; that it was introduced early in the third century, refuted and abandoned. It is not necessary to pursue this point further, and here we close the use we make of the testimony of Eusebius, though there are other similar passages we might quote.