IV. The reality and perpetuity of a future state of existence were also known and received at that period. What has been already advanced with respect to other religious doctrines, will, if received in a careful and candid spirit, prepare the mind for admitting the knowledge of this. The direct proof from holy scripture may indeed be less than we should desire; yet this deficiency is easily accounted for in the way which has been already suggested, that the scriptures do not contain all the revelations respecting religious doctrine and duty, which were made to the early generations of mankind. On this point, we are glad to find that our views are confirmed by an eminent living author, whose judgment on such a subject will be generally deemed conclusive. "The doctrine of a future state," says the Rev. Thomas Hartwell Horne, "which was held by the patriarchs, (though not explicitly taught by Moses, whose writings pre-suppose it as a generally-adopted article of religion,) was transmitted from them to the Israelites." * This is undoubtedly the real fact of the case; and it comes to every impartial and religious mind with so much cogency and power, that we should be content to leave it, without any further evidence, to produce its own effect. But as several talented modern writers have followed in the steps of Warburton, maintaining that, prior to, and even under, the Mosaic dispensation, the doctrine of the immortality of the soul was unknown, we think it right to dwell further on this subject. To the Mosaic account of the Creation, the Fall, and the expulsion from Paradise, which have been severally considered, (Gen. i. 26, 27; ii. 7-9, 15-17; iii. 14, 15, 17, 19,) special attention is called, as being of great consequence in the contemplation of this subject. And "from the entire of this account it seems clearly deducible, that man, by his original constitution, was destined for immortality, without which all the preceding endowments, however exalted and splendid, * "Introduction to a critical Study of the Scriptures," vol. i. p. 342. would have been so transient and ineffectual, so vainly and unworthily bestowed. When of all animated beings, it is asserted of man alone, that God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and that man became a living soul; we cannot much dissent from those commentators who conceive the breath of life thus immediately derived from God partook of the immortality of its Divine Author, and that the living soul which man thus acquired deserved that title much more eminently than the animating principle of any of the brute creation, all of which are described as formed with such different views, and sharing so inferior a degree of their Creator's favour. And, finally, to prove clearly that man was intended for immortality, we are told that the tree of life was placed in the midst of the garden, whose efficacy was such, that if man was permitted to take of it, he would live for ever. Can it be denied that these passages suggest some intelligible hint of immortal life, some idea at least of the capacity of the human soul to enjoy an eternal existence? "It will be said, that all this relates to the state of man before his Fall; but by this fatal transgression the hope of immortality was totally cut off, and eternal death was the melancholy doom which every human being must look to as the close of his existence. Now, to me, the sacred narrative seems to imply the very contrary conclusion; and to hold out to penitent man the hope, that, notwithstanding his privilege of enjoying eternal life in this present world was withdrawn, he yet might hope for the continuance or the renewal of his existence in another state. It may be remarked, that the very words of the curse denounced against him by his offended God, in which, if any where, this awful doom would be declared, seem not at all to convey it. Man had been described originally consisting of two distinct parts; he was 'formed of the dust of the earth,' and 'God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.' Now, to the former part, and to the former part alone, does the letter of the curse confine itself. In the sweat of thy face,' says the Divine Judge, to fallen Adam, 'shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.' Here the dissolution of the bodily frame, and its return to its original dust, is the only thing menaced. The extinction of that breath of life which God had inspired, the destruction of that living soul which man had been described as possessing, is not so much as hinted at. "But if, from the letter, we direct our attention to the spirit, of the narrative, this conclusion seems to acquire irresistible strength. It is admitted, that in the very condemnation of deluded man, his heavenly Judge tempered the severity of justice with mercy, and guarded against that despair which would have extinguished the vital principle of virtue, by giving assurance of a Deliverer to spring from the seed of the woman who should bruise (that is, subdue the power, and punish the malignity of) the serpent who had seduced them. If we admit the Divine institution of sacrifice, at this crisis, (which is surely the most rational interpretation of the narrative concerning the beasts slain immediately after the Fall, and of the sacrifices of Cain and Abel,) it will follow, that the mode in which this deliverance was to be effected was not indistinctly pointed out: even that God would accept the great Sacrifice, which the sacrifices now instituted prefigured, as a substitute for the life, and an atonement for the sins, of man. "But whether he could or could not conceive the particular mode in which it was to be effected, he certainly cherished a sure hope of future deliverance. Now let me ask, What hope could he have cherished, if he conceived of death as the final extinction of his being? If eternal annihilation was his own fate, what consolation could he derive from the promise of a future deliverer? What mixture of hope could have remained to sustain the energy of virtue, had he conceived of that death which immediately awaited him and all his posterity, as a total extinction of being? I contend, therefore, that the very history of the fall of man not only suggested the idea, and gave an intelligible hint, of a future state, but was calculated to inspire every serious and pious mind with an humble but assured hope that they were in the hands of a merciful Judge; who, though he thought it necessary to remove them from this world by a corporeal dissolution, would yet preserve the breath of life, that living soul which he had himself inspired, and which had been formed after the image of God, from total annihilation and eternal death. "Such seems to have been the conclusion naturally suggested by the history of the Fall. But this conclusion must have derived great additional clearness and strength from the circumstances attending the very first instance of death inflicted upon man; combined with the knowledge of the divine attributes, which revelation and experience had supplied. "The scripture account (Gen. iv. 3—12) shows that the severity of the Divine justice was tempered with mercy. When the wretched criminal deprecates the infliction of his punishment as 'greater than he could bear,' and, distracted by the horrors of conscience, views in every human being an avenger eager to retaliate his cruelty on himself, exclaiming, 'It shall come to pass, that every one who findeth me shall slay me;' God mercifully assures him, his life should be protected, and sets a mark upon him, lest any, finding him, should kill him. He is indeed banished from the sacred spot where the immediate presence of the Lord displayed its glory; but yet abundant time is afforded him for repentance, his life is protracted, and we find his family flourishing and numerous. This is entirely conformable to our ideas of the Divine attributes. "But contemplate the fate of Abel, and let us consider what would be its effect upon every human being, if they conceived death was total annihilation. He perished in consequence of his acting in a manner conformable to the will, and acceptable in the sight, of God. By faith,' says the apostle, Abel offered unto God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain; by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it he being dead yet speaketh.' What is the plain meaning of the apostle's declaration? This, assuredly, that the death of Abel speaketh the immortality of the soul, in language too plain to be misunderstood. Nor can we conceive that the circumstances attending this first infliction of death upon man, could have been ordered by Providence, so as to testify more plainly this great truth of a future state of recompence, had this been the sole purpose for which they were designed. To conceive that a just and merciful God should openly approve the sacrifice of Abel, and yet permit him, in consequence of that very action, to suffer a cruel death, which put a final period to his existence; while his murderer, whom the same God openly condemned, was yet permitted to live; all this is so monstrous, so contradictory to the Divine attributes, as to prove, beyond possibility of doubt, that this event was permitted to take place, partly at least, in order to show that death was not a final extinction of being, but, on the contrary, a passage from this world to another, where the righteous should be recompensed for their adherence to the will of their heavenly Father, in opposition to suffering and death, by a sure and eternal reward. : "In the next chapter (Gen. v. 24) another fact is recorded, which surely conveys an intelligible hint of another state of existence, by giving an instance of one mortal, distinguished for piety, being translated to that state without passing through death for we are told of Enoch, that he walked with God, and he was not; for God took him.' It has been said that this fact is related with studied obscurity and brevity, as if to conceal the idea of another life. But this is surely an unfounded inference. It is related in exactly the same style and manner as every other fact in this part of the patriarchal history; and it is so plain, that the only possible way of concealing or obscuring the information it contains would be entirely to suppress the fact. Enough is told to justify the observation of the apostle : By faith Enoch was translated, that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him; for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God; ' and the inference of the author of Ecclesiasticus: Enoch |