Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-14


things, and poisonous smoke. And it be-
came the symbol of all that was loathsome,
even of that place of unknown and eternal
dread, "Where their worm dieth not and
the fire isnot quenched." The word Gehenna
meant what me mean to-day by hell.
Not Associated With Punishment.
But sheol and hades did not mean that.
The word sheol occurs 81 times in the Old
Testament, 81 times it is translated shell, T"
and the other 81 times ''the grave, There
is an association of dread about the words
even as there is to-day about the word
death, but no association of punishment.
At the end of life lies sheol, hades, he'll,
death, the grave, the unseen world. The
last meaning is the widest That is what
the Greeks meant by hades. That is what
Jacob meant when he expected to meet his
1 son there, his beloved son whom he ac-
counted dead. That is what Josephus meant
when he described the soul of Samuel, in
the story of the Witch of Endor, as ascend
ing out of hades. That is what st. Peter
meant when he declared that the soul of
Christ had not been left in hades. That is
what Christ meant when He pictured Dives,
and Lazarus, and Abraham all in hades.
The word hell in this parable means the un-
seen world 1t does not mean hell any more
| than "Abraham's bosom" means heaven.
|
misery of hell; the good are in bliss, but it
is not the bliss of heaven. This is the place
of departed spirits. 1t is
The intermediate State.
| For, putting aside all these questions
about words and definitions, remember that
two conditions are declared in Holy Scrip
ture to precede heaven. One is a general
| Judgment, the other is complete sanctifca-
tion. But the general judgment is set for
the last day. Whatever the reality may be
which lies behind this symbol and figure of
the universal judgment, this is the time for
it.
1t is appointed at the end of the world.
1t is then that the dead small and great
shall stand before God, and the judgment
begins with the opening of the great books.
1t is then that the separation shall take
| place, right and left, and that the voice of
blessing shall be heard and the voice of
malediction. "Come ye blessed" depart
ye cursed" are words of invitation and of
| rejection which Christ tells us shall be ut
tered at the last day. There is to be q gen.
eral judgment at the last day.
| The Final Day of Judgment.
But how can this agree with an Individual
| judgment being pronounced to-day and to-
morrow, as the souls of the dead go to Him
| who made them? How can this agree with
an individual settlement of each SOULS des-
tiny, and an immediate entrance into an
| eternal condition of joy or woe? Shall the
| souls of the blessed be brought out of
heaven to be tried over again? This'is not
the picture which is given IN the Revelation
of St. John, where the souls of the martyrs,
pray before the altar, and ask GLOW
1ong?" and white robes are given them, and
they are told that they must rest "yet, for a
| little season, till their fellow-servants also
| and their brethren shall be fulfilled"
Shall the souls of the damned be brought
out of hell to be twice cursed and thrust
| back into it? "Our Lord and His apostles
| never comfort the Church concerning those
| who are asleep with the assurance that their
souls are in heaven, nor do they alarm the
| wicked with the fear that at the instant. of
| death their souls will pass into state
| of final punishment. 1t is ever TO the resur-
rection of the dead and the judgment of the
great day that the hopes of the pious and
the fears Of the ungodly are directed"
Man Was Designed to Grow.
And into heaven shall the pure-hearted
enter, and they only. Into heaven shall
they 90 who have clean consciences. "And
there shall no wise enter into it anything
that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh
abomination, or maketh a lie." That shuts
the door sharp in the face of this whole
company. Not one of US may enter heaven.
Unless-unless what? Unless death works
a miracle of transformation, makes US all
over new, changes the scarlet of sin into the
whiteness of wool; and of that we have not
word of evidence anywhere. The whole
analogy of Gods dealings with the soul
stands against that. God works gradually,
not suddenly. 1t is the will of God that
man should grow.
There is no more likelihood that that
eternal purpose meets contradiction in the
moment of death, and that God makes
miraculous alteration in human character,
than there is that men will be turned into
angels and archangels.
The Meaning of Paradise.
And yet, here is the thief on, the cross
Not particularly estimable past has he to
show, not an especially immaculate con-
science, no saint. But "to-day," says the
Master, "shalt thou be with me in Para
dise?" Ah, yes; in Paradise. But Paradise
was simply another Hebrew name for this
place Of departed spirits for the inter-
mediate state. The penitent thief might
90 there well enough. But not into heaven;
not into the immediate presence of the
Father. Christ himself did not 60 there
then.
81 have not yet assembled to my Father"
He said when He came back out of the
grave. By and by the penitent thief may
grow ready for the beatitude of heaven.
But if choice between heaven and hell
makes the first turn in the road whose gate
is the grave, the only entrance for the peni-
tent thief, and for good many of the rest
of us, is by sudden word of magic, which
shall change us as the animals in the old
stories were changed at the touch of wand
into men and women. Unless, again. And
what is this unless? Unless this glimpse at
A Place of Waiting
and Of preparation should be a glimpse
at truth. For if there is an intermediate
state, as Christ and His apostles seem to
to teach, then all this is plain. Because
this intermediate state is either condition
of sleeping or of waking. But the people of
the parable are not asleep, the souls before
the altar are not asleep, to be with Christ
in Paradise is not to be asleep. To be
present with the Lord, which ST. Paul says
is far better than this earthly life, is not to
be asleep.
If, however, the soul is awake in the in
termediate state there must be .'progres-
sive sanctihcation" going on. That does
not mean possible passing from the bad
side to the good side of that great gulf"
The parable sets negative to that. Death,
so far as we know, is the absolute
end of opportunity. OF what goes
on among, the persistently impeni-
tent, amid the torments, in the
company of the lost, we are not told at all.
But the faithful departed must be growing
better Think of til The soul is separated
from sensual temptation, taken away from
all lowering and hindering environment,