The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1872-12-11


ties of departed souls, were now carried to
the greatest height, and far exceeded the
apprehension of internal torments. His
torcally, we 6nA that the same passages of
Scripture, and Of other ancient authors, were
brought to support the doctrine of PurgatOry
and of the ''des ,entinto he'll" " These consisted
chiefly of perverted interpretations of such
passages of Scripture as Peter iii: 10
"By which also he went and preached unto
the spirits in prison" l Cor. iii: 15,
'If any mans work shall be burned, he
shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be
saved, yet so as by fire." 2 Maccabees XII;
"A. 45, "For if he Judas Maccabees) had
not hoped that they that were slain should
have risen again, it had been Superfuous and
vain to pray for the dead: and also that he
perceived that there was great favor laid up
for those that died godly (it was holy and
a good thOught) whereupon he made recon
citation for the dead, that they might be
delivered from sn. Eie Ssotence last
quoted being from one Of the ApocAryPhat
books of the Old Testament, of course no
regard can be had for it as authority on this
sabject; and proper Interpretation of the
passages above quoted from the Scriptures
leaves no ground whatever for the doctrine
If Purgatorv, and (as it seems to me) almost
as little for the "descent into hell" But
what shall we say of the answer to the 5Oth
question of our Larger Catechism-"W Where
in consisted Christ's humiliation after his
death ?" Answer--" Christ's humiliation
after his death consisted in his being buried,
aad continuing in the state of the dead, and
under the power of death till the third day,
which hath been otherwise expressed in these
words, He descended into he'll" The Scrip
ture proofs annexed are 1 Cor. XIV: 8, 4;
Matt. XII: 40; Psalm xvi: 10, compared With
Acts ii: "a, %, 26; Romans vi: 9. But
may not all of these passages be explained
without supposing that Christ "descended
into hell ?" The word "hell' is so con-
stantly associated in Scripture with all that
is dissgreeable and repulsive, that it becomes
painful to use it in connection with the dwell
ing place of our blessed Lord even for three
days. Any Interpretation, therefore, which
satisfies the demands OF Divine Truth, and at
the same time relieves the pious mind of the
difficulty sugge ted, is entitled to respectful
consideration, if not ready Acceptance
In this spirit let US examine some of the
passages of Scripture relied on to establish
the literal and local descent Of Christ into
hell The Papists (and even some of the
Reformed writerS) quote l Peter iii: II, Is,
19-especially the 10Th verse which, in our
translation reads "By which also he went
and preached unto the spirits in prison. =
Bot the folowinqs interRretalSon ssVep =
these verses by the most jCdicloas eommen.
tatoTs changes the meaniog as expliined by
the Papsts and seems to me to remove the
whole dificulty-viz: that the Esprit mem
toned in the 1S,h verse was not Christ
human soul, but divine nature, or rather
the Holy Spirit, by which He was quickened
and raised from the dead; and by the inspi-
ration of which, granted to Noah, he Noah,
aud not Christi preached to those notorious
sinners who are nO,0 (that is, at the time
Peter wrote his Epistle) in the prison of hell
for their disobedeuce. To this it may be
added, that had our Lord descended to hell
to preach to the lost spirits, there is no sup
posable reason why the disobedient and un-
believing in Noahs time only should be men
toned, rather than those of SOdom, and the
unhappy multitudes who died in sin.
If it be said do not the Old Testament
Psalm xvi: 10, Thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine
holy one to see corruption and the New
Testament, (Acts ii: 81 when the same
words are quoted by Peter as having been
before uttered by David-intimate literal
descent into hell? To which the answer is,
that the words, "thou wilt not leave my soul
in hell" may readily be explained las is the
manner Of the Hebrew poets) by the words
that follow" Neither wilt thou suffer thine
holy one to see corruption" So the same
words in Psalm lxxxix: As" What man Is
he that hveth, and shall not see death !
Shall he deliver has soul from the hand Of
the graue?" And again in Ephesians iv:
is, Now that He (which ascended, what
ia it but that he also first descended into the
lower parts of the earth ?" Both of which
passages seem to teach nothing more than
this-that all that was human of Christ
rested in the grave until the third day after
his death, but there saw DO corruption
Compare Cor. XIV: 20, "But now is Christ
risen from the dead the place of the dead
the qrave) and become the first fruits Of them
that slept" with the answer in the Shorter
Catechism to the 37th question" What
benefits do believers receive from Christ at
their death ?" Answer" The souls of be-
levers are at their death made perfect in
holiness, and do Immediately pass into glory,
&C. But, after all, and above all, do not
the words of the divine Saviour himself set
tie this question, when he said to the peni
tent thief on the cross. "This day shalt
thou be with me in Paradise ?" The word
"Paradise" is found in but two other places
in the Scriptures, 2 Cor. xii: 4, Z" How that
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