第15章

but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."Matt. 10: 28. We know what it is to kill the body; and by association of ideas, it seems quite natural to form a like conception of the soul as something that can be treated in the same way. Then if the soul cannot be killed like the body, the conclusion seems easy of adoption that it lives right on, with all sensations preserved, as it was with the body before its death. If it were not for the pagan definition of "soul," which here comes in to change the current of thought, such Page 51 conclusions drawn from this text would not be so prevalent; and a little attention to the scope of Christ's teaching here will readily correct the misapprehension. This is brought out clearly in verse 39: "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." This is easily understood. No one will question what it is to lose his life; and Christ says that he who will do this for his sake, shall find it. Any one who has been put to death for his faith in the gospel has "lost his life" (had the body killed) for Christ's sake.

But Christ says, Do not fear them, even if they do this. Why? -- Because ye shall find it -- the life you lost. When shall we find it? -- In the resurrection. John 6: 40; Rev. 20: 4-6. The expression, "shall find it,"thus becomes the exact equivalent of the words, "are not able to kill the soul;" that is, are not able to destroy, or prevent us from gaining that life he has promised, if we suffer men, for his sake, to "kill the body,"or deprive us of our present life. The correctness of this view is demonstrated by the word employed in these instances. That word is [ GREEK CHARACTERSIN PRINTED TEXT ] ( psuche ). It is properly rendered "life" in verse 39, and improperly rendered "soul" in verse 28. This lesson, that men should be willing to lose their life for Christ's sake, was considered so important that it is again mentioned in Matthew, and reiterated with emphasis by Mark, Luke, and John; and they all use this same word [ GREEKCHARACTERS IN PRINTED TEXT ] which is rendered "life." In one instance only in all these parallel passages have the Page 52 translators rendered it "soul;" and that is Matt. 10: 28, where it is the source of all the misunderstanding on that text.

6. Souls Under the Altar. -- As a part of the events of the fifth seal as described in Rev. 6: 9-11, John says he saw the souls of the martyrs under the altar, and heard them crying for vengeance. If they could do that, it is asked, cannot disembodied souls now communicate with the living?

Not to enter into a full exposition of this scripture, and the inconsistencies such a view would involve, it is sufficient to ask if these were like the communicating spirits of the present day. How many communications have ever been received by modern Spiritualists from souls confined under an altar In glowing symbolism, John saw the dead martyrs, as if slain at the foot of the altar; and by the figure of personification a voice was given to them just as Abel's blood cried to God for vengeance upon his guilty brother (Gen. 4: 10), and just as the stone is said to cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber to answer it. Hab. 2: 11.

7. The Medium of Endor .-- Aside from the direct teaching of the Scriptures, it is still held by some that there are scenes narrated in the Bible which show that the dead must be conscious. The first of these is the case of Saul and the woman of Endor, whom he consulted in order to communicate with the prophet Samuel, as narrated in 1 Samuel 28. Here, it must be confessed, is brought to view an actual case of spirit manifestation, a specimen of Page 53 ancient necromancy; for the conditions, method of procedure, and results, were just such as pertain to the same work in our own day. But then, as now, there was no truth nor good in it, as a brief review of the narrative will show. (1) Samuel was dead. (2) Saul was sore pressed by the Philistines.

Verse 5. (3) God had departed from him. Verse 4. (4) He had cut off those who bad familiar spirits and wizards, out of the land, because God had forbidden their presence in the Jewish theocracy, as an abomination. Verse 3; Lev. 19: 31. (5) Yet in his extremity he had recourse to a woman with a familiar spirit, found at Endor. Verse 7. (6) She asked whom she should bring up, and Saul answered, Samuel. Verse 11. (7) Saul was disguised, but the familiar spirit told the woman it was Saul, and she cried out in alarm. Verse 12. (8) Saul reassured her, and the woman went on with the séance. Verse 10. (9) She announced a presence coming (not from heaven, nor the spheres, but) up out of the earth, and at Saul's request gave a description of him, showing that Saul did not himself see the form.