The hereafter
Subtitle: Sheol, Hades and Hell, the world to come, and the Scripture doctrine of retribution according to law
By: by James Fyfe
Series: Literature of theology and church history
Publisher: T. & T. Clark
Published: 1890
Place of publication: Edinburgh
Language: eng
Number of pages: 407
Subjects: Future life; Future punishment
Table of contents: title: Part 1-Sheol, Hades, and hell: the world to come; title: Historical, archaeological, and exegetical evidence; title: I. Testimony of history to a future life and retribution; title: Introduction; title: Beliefs of the most ancient peoples forming the three great divisions of mankind; title: A. Egypt: book of the dead; title: 1. Belief in being and unity of God and a future life; title: 2. Progress of the soul in death and judgment; title: B. Babylonians and Assyrians: Acadians and Sumirs; title: 1. Highlanders and lowlanders; title: 2. The origin of Chaldeans of history; title: 3. Beliefs; title: 4. One only God; title: 5. Man immortal and accountable; title: 6. Hymns; title: 7. Ishtar's decent into Hades; title: C. Iranians or Persians: Zoroaster and his pure and lofty religion; title: 1. One supreme eternal God the creator; title: 2. Who rewards and punishes men in the life to come; title: D. Indians: Rig-Veda; title: 1. Hymn; title: 2. No trace of transmigration; title: Future life, and rewards and punishments; title: E. Canaanites and Phoenicians: manufacturers, merchants, and sailors; title: 1. The British of that age; title: 2. Antiquities not yet explored; title: 3. Religion same as that of Egypt, Babylon; title: 4. Great God Bel; title: 5. Sidon; title: Joshua and Homer; title: 6. Alphabet; title: 7. Melchizedek; title: 8. Necromancy; title: F. Arabians: high antiquity; title: 1. Nomadic people; title: 2. Children of Abraham, Lot and Esau absorbed; title: 3. Job and Jethro; title: 4. Three religions: Jewish, Christian, and Mahometan originated; title: 5. And in all God and future life crystallized; title: G. Pelasgi or Greeks: Javan; title: 1. Iones; title: 2. Greeks; title: 3. Mythology; title: 4. Kronos and his three sons, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades; title: 5. Hades God of underworld; title: 6. Greek art and its teaching; title: 7. Homer's ideas of Hades; title: H. Etruscans and Romans: Tiras, grandson of Noah; title: 1. National gods; title: 2. Family gods; title: 3. Lares and penates, spirits of ancestors; title: I. Chinese: Taoism, religion of reason; title: 1. Confucius; title: 2. Unity of family living and dead; title: 3. Fearful power of dead hand; title: 4. Ancestral worship chief bond of society; title: 5. A Taoist hell; title: J. American Indians: origin in antediluvian or early post-diluvian times; title: 1. Religion in accord with that of ancient nations; title: 2. One God; title: 3. A fallen race; title: 4. Future life; title: K. Central Africa: primitive belief still prevalent; title: 1. Spirits at death go to the land of the sunset; title: 2. Judged by a great Being; title: III. Testimony of the old testament to a future life and retribution; title: A. Place and design of the Hebrew politico-religious economy: belief in a future life underlies it, and ever crops up; title: 1. An elementary principle well known and accepted; title: 2. Mosaic economy did not require to reveal or appeal to it; title: 3. Sense veiled by imperfect translation; title: 4. More light in this than in any previous age from cognate languages and archaeology; title: B. Distinctive name of the unseen state: Sheol, Hades, and hell, originally the spirit world; title: 1. Meaning obscured by mistranslation; title: 2. Etymology, schedule; title: C. Belief in a world to come, the national creed: Enoch; title: 1. Gathered to fathers; title: 2. Moses in Egypt; title: 3. Patriarchal faith; title: 4. Necromancer; title: 5. Jacob and Joseph; title: 6. David's and Job's belief; title: 7. Resurrection; title: D. Descriptions of Sheol, and its inhabitants: witch of Endor and Samuel; title: 1. Elijah; title: 2. King of Babylon and pharaoh enter Sheol, and their reception and companions; title: 3. The Rephaim, shades; title: E. Sheol gradually develops into heaven and hell; title: 1. Stage 1-Homer's Hades; title: 2. The Sheol of the patriarchs; title: 3. Of David and of the prophets; title: 4. Contrasted destinies; title: IV. Testimony of the apocrypha to a future life and retribution; title: A. Place of the apocrypha in this discussion: evidence of Jewish opinion; title: 1. The human side; title: 2. Important historical documents; title: 3. Echo of the teaching of the prophets; title: B. Tobit and Judith, and Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, and Baruch: everlasting place; title: 1. Darkness; title: 2. Fire and worms; title: 3. Wail with pain forever; title: 4. Striking contrasts of character; title: 5. Conduct and destiny of the good and bad; title: 6. Hope full of immortality; title: 7. A kingdom of glory; title: 8. A crown of beauty; title: 9. God makes creation a weapon to punish his enemies; title: 10. They who honor wisdom reign forevermore; title: 11. Punishment does not cure sin; title: 12. Fire and worm; title: 13. Fruit of tree immortality; title: C. Esdras: important leaf of MS. lost and restored; title: V. Testimony of the new testament to a future life and retribution; title: A. The mission of Christ: His advent; title: 1. Reveals God and man; title: 2. Unites God and man; title: 3. And heaven and earth; title: 4. He Himself is the great wonder; title: 5. The supernatural is the natural to Him; title: 6. Brings salvation; title: 7. Note explanatory; title: 8. Importance of understanding terms; title: B. The kingdom of God: nature, origin and purpose; title: 1. Christ grand agent; title: 2. Subjects of this kingdom; title: 3. Higher division of Hades, Paradise; title: 4. Heaven; title: 5. Intermediate state; title: 6. Sleep of body, not of soul; title: 7. Righteous go to heaven; title: 8. Sinners to Hades; title: 9. Judgment; title: 10. Rewards and punishments completed; title: C. Hades: equivalent to Sheol; title: 2. Punishment, human and divine; title: 3. War; title: 4. Fever; title: 5. Pestilence; title: 6. Passion of all sorts, as anger, love; title: 7. Pain of any kind; title: 8. Wickedness; title: 9. Strife; title: 10. Affliction; title: 11. The judgments of God, however inflicted, are all called fire, and the furnace; title: 12. The most appropriate symbol of future punishment; title: 13. In what sense unquenchable; title: F. The undying worm, why symbol of punishment; title: 1. Exegesis of Isaiah 66:24; title: a. Were dead bodies ever burned and devoured by worms in Hinnom? no historical evidence for it, but everything against it; title: b. Jeremiah testifies that it continued the place of worship of fire-gods till Jerusalem was destroyed; title: c. Carcasses neither devoured in glen, not on battle-field; title: 2. The three most troublesome and destructive worms; title: a. The tape; title: b. Trichina; title: c. And guinea; title: 3. Job's disease probably the guinea worm; title: a. Many references to it; title: b. Idumea habitat of it; title: 4. The guinea worm the fiery serpent; title: a. Worm included serpent; title: b. The circumstances favor this theory; title: c. Dr. Kuckenmeister maintains it; title: d. Historical support, Agatharchides; title: e. All furnish substantial grounds for belief; title: 5. Worms preying on living bodies well known; title: a. The Herods; title: b. Antiochus Epiphanes; title: c. Jehoram?; title: d. Not isolated cases; title: e. Josephus's fiery worm; title: f. Isaiah's vision; title: g. He and Christ obtained figure of worm from its ravages in living bodies; title: G. Terms describing retribution on God's side; title: 1. Dich (Dike) and family, right; first branch; title: a. Origin of the idea of right; title: b. Justice; title: c. Moral sense; title: d. Dike, nemesis, goddess of justice; title: e. Law, custom; title: f. Equity personified; title: g. Her function to distribute rewards and punishments according to desert; title: h. The judge renders and exacts the right; title: i. Root idea of whole family is, right; title: j. Schedules; title: 2. Dich (Dike), second branch; Dicaioj (Dikaios), and family, just, righteous; title: a. Answering to Hebrew tsadak, just, right, a condition conformable to order and right; title: b. Righteousness with ancients included man's relations to God and men; title: c. In Scripture a condition of rightness, the standard of which is God; title: d. Righteousness lays claim to whole range of life; title: e. Perfect in God; title: f. Degrees of in man; title: g. Christ makes men righteous; title: 3. Krinw (Krino), and family, to separate, judge, give a verdict; title: a. Legal administration; title: b. Judicial decision for or against, but always according to law and right; title: c. Often implies condemnation; title: d. Judgment final; title: e. Schedules; title: 4. Qumoj (Thumos) and Orgh (Orge), wrath and indignation; title: a. Life in activity and excitement; title: b. What in God? not personal passion, but the opposition of His nature to evil; title: c. Wine and winepress of wrath; title: d. Wrath of God has its root in love; title: e. Schedules; title: H. Terms describing retribution on man's side; title: 1. Qliyij (Thlipsis) and Stenocwria (Stenochoria) tribulation and anguish; title: a. Pain from pressure from without and from within; title: b. Schedules; title: 2. Kolasij (Kolasis), and Basanoj (Basanos), punishment and torment; title: a. Kolasis; title: b. Pruning; title: c. Punishment pure and simple in Scripture, LXX., and Apocrypha; title: d. Schedules showing sense where used; title: III. Duration-annihilation at death; title: A. Immortality; ancient and universal belief; title: B. Philosophy shows it possible; title: C. Simplicity of soul; title: D. Evolution from protoplasm? moral philosophy shows it highly probable; title: E. Moral arguments; title: F. Will a being of such noble powers die out?; title: G. A moral nature, with the sense, desire, and capacity for immortality, a promise and prophecy of it; title: H. This world needs another to explain it; title: I. No future life, no God; title: J. Scriptures establish it; title: K. Religion built upon it; title: L. Christ's teaching has no sense and meaning without it; title: IV. Duration-conditional immortality; title: A. Constitution of man; title: 1. Conditional theory stated; title: 2. Undue limitation, and exaggeration; title: 3. Image of God; title: 4. Moral nature; title: 5. Soul and spirit, breath, life; title: 6. Mind, man; title: 7. Inner and outer nature; title: 8. Former separated and lives in Sheol; title: 9. God, spirit; title: 10. Man, body and soul; title: 11. Flesh and spirit; title: 12. Fleshy; title: 13. Soulical; title: 14. Spiritual; title: 15. Need for discrimination of sense of terms; title: B. Death; how it came; title: 9. Perish; title: a. Wine-skins, member of body, meat, gold, flowers, a country, material heavens, bodies and souls of men; title: b. Material things dissolve and perish, become extinct because material; title: c. Souls perish in sin, and do not become extinct; title: d. Are perishing now; title: e. A soul in sin is a soul lost; title: f. Destroyed, perished in this life and that which is to come; title: g. Has missed the right way; title: h. All that is worth calling life; title: i. Is ruined; title: j. Sin is hell; title: k. Destruction; title: l. Perdition; title: m. Pit; title: n. But names of hell; title: o. Schedules; title: E. Corruption; title: 1. Phtheiro and family, to corrupt; title: 2. Schedules; title: a. Physically: a laurel crown, ships, a country, man; title: b. Morally: to act corruptly, corrupted in mind and manners; title: c. Spiritually: God incorruptible, man corruptible; title: 3. Life in heaven, incorruption; title: 4. Life in punitive Sheol, corruption; title: 5. Exegesis 2 Peter 2:12, Revelation 11:18; title: 6. Corruption includes destruction; title: 7. A crown, a country, the earth, a man, a maid, corrupted, is to that extent spoiled, ruined, destroyed; title: 8. A soul in sin is a soul corrupted, turned from its original purpose, debased, ruined, and to that extent destroyed now; title: 9. But more complete destruction awaits it at the judgment; title: 3. What the Scriptures teach concerning the cause of condemnation; title: a. Separation from God by sin, death; title: b. Restoration to His favor and friendship, life; title: c. Changed relationship through fellowship with Christ; title: d. Does not touch the natural life of soul; title: 4. Rev. E. White's extravagant views of Spirit's work; another gospel; title: 5. Salvation; title: a. Saved from hell in being saved from sin; title: b. In Christ forgiven, healed, restored to the love of God; title: c. Made all that a soul ought to be to God and man; title: V. Duration-universal restoration; title: A. Purgatory; title: 1. Pythagoras and Plato; title: 2. Sin a disease that may be cured in Hades; title: 3. Purgatory; title: 4. Can punishment cure sin and produce love?; title: B. Object of punishment; title: 1. Punishment retributive; title: 2. Then corrective and vindicatory; title: 3. Reign of law natural and moral; title: 4. Divine laws automatic; title: 5. Names of punishment, dike and krino and families, and perhaps even kolasis, though not so used, may include correction as well as retribution; title: 6. But when punishment passes over into death, destruction, perdition, corruption, it is purely retributive, deterrent, and vindicatory; title: VI. Duration-retribution eternal; title: A. The terms of Scripture expressive of duration; title: 1. Vitality of this theory overlaid by horrible doctrine of literal fire; title: 2. Hebrew concept of duration; title: 3. Olam starts with the hidden, unlimited, and comes down to the limited; title: 4. Greek aion starts with limited, and expands into the unlimited; title: 5. World; title: a. Course of time; title: b. Three ages, past, present, and to come; title: 6. The whole of duration; title: 7. Schedules; title: 8. Formula; title: 9. Eis ton aiona, always limitless; title: Followed by genitive, superlative; title: 10. Spoken of God; title: 11. Christ; title: 12. Saints; title: 13. Sinners; title: 14. Heaven and hell alike; title: 15. Aionios always unlimited duration; title: 16. Contrasts; title: 17. Temporary and eternal; title: 18. Aeonial what?; title: a. Aeonial salvation; title: b. Aeonial life; title: c. Aeonial God; title: 19. Christ eternal, priest and king; title: 20. Will of God seems to be that punishment is as eternal as the life of saints, of Christ, and of God; title: B. Names and descriptions of punishment; title: 1. Gehenna of fire; title: a. Eternal fire undying worm; title: b. Unquenchable fire; title: c. Christ adopts the figurative nomenclature in common use; title: 2. Names of punishment on God's side; title: a. Justice, judgment, condemnation, vengeance, indignation, and wrath; title: b. Express the opposition of His nature to evil; title: c. His love compels Him to punish in maintenance of right the well-being of the moral universe; title: d. Names on man's side; title: e. As man has the nature of God in him the penalty of wrong-doing comes of necessity to him; title: f. Tribulation and anguish; title: g. Torment, destruction, perdition, corruption, death; title: C. The unpardonable, eternal sin; title: 1. No forgiveness without repentance; title: 2. No repentance without the Holy Spirit, and if He is, through the means of grace, despised, no pardon for ever; title: 3. Neglecting, rejecting the Spirit's influence, a hardening process; title: 4. Sin unto death; title: D. Apostasy from Christ; title: 1. No Savior but Christ; title: 2. If He is rejected, no other way of life; title: 3. Offender against Moses' law dies; title: VII. Objections to eternal punishment; title: A. Repugnant to human feeling; title: 1. Canon Kingsley's passionate appeal; title: 2. Applied to present life, God monster of cruelty; title: 3. Course of nature condemned; title: 4. World full of suffering; title: 5. Can it be prevented? punishment not arbitrary, but according to just law; title: 6. Does God interfere with laws of nature?; title: No reason to believe that God will do it in the hereafter; title: B. Eternal punishment inconsistent with the divine character; title: 1. Assumes we know God; title: 2. Do we?; title: 3. Many god makers; title: 4. Sources of knowledge; title: 5. Bible and nature; title: 6. Reveal God full of mercy; title: 7. Yet terribly and severely just; title: 8. The well-being of moral agents, His own nature, His very love, compel Him to punish; title: 9. Can present life be reconciled with popular notion of a God all love?; title: 10. If men lived on here for ever, would it be unjust to let them reap what they had sown?; title: C. Eternal punishment inconsistent with the conduct of God; title: 10. Will God put an end to sin?; title: 11. So long as there is sin there must be suffering; title: 12. Mawkish sentimentality; title: 13. Men want to make their own God; title: 14. Law; title: 15. Future punishment answers important ends in this world, whatever it may do in the next; title: 16. Denying or minimizing it disastrous to morals; title: 17. Cicero and philosophers; title: 18. Indulgences; title: 19. Rationalists in reign of Charles II; title: E. Eternal punishment disproportionate, and so unjust; title: 1. Unjust to punish eternally for a short life of sin; title: 2. Can desert of sin be gauged and purposes of punishment defined? sin an infinite evil, a barren field; title: 3. Analogy better; title: 4. What proportion between sin and suffering here?; title: 5. Adam's sin and results; title: 6. Many suffer through no fault of their own; title: 7. From faults, errors of judgment in youth; title: 8. Bishop Butler; title: 9. Civil government; title: 10. Sin brings suffering during natural life; title: 11. So during natural life of soul; title: 12. If soul immortal punishment eternal; title: 13. If unjust there unjust here; title: 14. Is there any righteous Governor at all?