Hapddsioog, Paradise, derived from some oriental language, and adopted into both the Hebrew and Greek languages, signifies parks, pleasure gardens, Neb. ii., 8 ; Eccle. ii., 5. The Septu- gint translators use this word to represent the garden of Eden, Gen. ii., 8, etc. It occurs only three times in the New Testa- ment, Luke xxiii., 43 ; 2 Cor. xii., 4 ; Rev. ii., 7 ; where the context proves that it refers to the " third heavens," the garden of the Lord, in which grows the " tree of life," which is by the river which flows out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, Rev. xxii., 1, 2.
436 STATE OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH.
Teewa is a compound Hebrew word, expressed in Greek letters, signifying " Valley of Hinnom, Josh. xv.; 8, skirting Jerusalem on the south, running westward from the valley of Jehosaphat, under Mount Zion. Here was established the idolatrous worship of Moloch, to whom infants were burned in sacrifice, 1 Kings xi., 7. This worship was broken up and the place desecrated by Jo- siah, 2 Kings xxiii., 10-14, after which it appears to have be- come the receptacle for all the filth of the city, and of the dead bodies of animals, and of malefactors, to consume which fires would appear to have been from time to time kept up, hence called Tophet, an abomination, a vomit, Jer. vii., 31." — Robin- son's Greek Lex. By a natural figure, therefore, this word was used to designate the place of final punishment, forcibly carrying with it the idea of pollution and misery. It occurs twelve times in the New Testament, and always to signify the place of final torment, Matt, v., 22, 29, 30 ; x., 28 ; xviii., 9 ; xxiii., 15, 33 ; Mark ix., 43, 47 ; Luke xii., 5 ; James iii., 6.
18. What various vieivs are maintained as to the intermedi- ate state of the souls of men betiveen death and the judgment ?
1st. Many Protestants, especially of the Church of England, retaining the classical sense of the word Hades, as equivalent to the Jewish Sheol, (as given above, question 11), hold tha.t there is an intermediate region, consisting of two distinct departments, in which the disembodied souls, both of the lost and of the redeemed, respectively await the resurrection of their bodies, the award of judgment, and their translation to their final abodes of bliss or misery.
2d. The Komanists hold the above view, modified by their doctrine of purgatory. See below, question 20.
3d. Materialists and some Socinians hold that the souls of men remain in a state of unconsciousness from death until the moment of the resurrection. The only positive argument they are able to advance in favor of this view is, that we know nothing by experience, and hence are utterly unable to conceive of a state of conscious intelligent activity, when the soul is separated from the body. Archbishop Whately, on most subjects so judicious, has advocated this view in his " View of Sc. Rev. concerning a Future State/'
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19. How may it be proved that the souls of believers do im- mediately pass into glory ?
The view held by the great majority of evangelical Christians, (see above, question 15,) includes these two points —
1st. The souls both of believers and of the reprobate continue after death both conscious and active, though until the resurrec- tion separated from their bodies.
2d. The souls of believers are present with the person of Christ, and enjoy bright revelations of God and the society of holy angels ; the souls of the reprobate being in the place as- signed to the devil and his angels. Nevertheless it is also held that, as the complete man consists both of soul and body, the souls of the blessed during the interval between their death and the resurrection, although with Christ, and inconceivably happy, have not attained to the perfection of either the glory or blessed- ness which is designed for them in Christ. This highest state of all must await the redemption of their bodies, and of their pur- chased possession, and the restitution of all things.
This hope of Christians in both of the above points appears to be abundantly established by the following Scriptures : The reappearance of Samuel, 1 Sam. xxviii., 7-20. The appearance of Moses and Elias at the transfiguration of Christ, Matt, xvii., 3. Christ's address to the thief upon the cross, Luke xxiii., 43. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Luke xvi., 23, 24. The prayer of dying Stephen, Acts vii., 59. Paul's dilemma, 2 Cor. v. 1-8 ; Phil, i., 23, 24 ; 1 Thes. v., 10. See also Eph. iii., 15 ; Heb. vi., 12, 20 ; Kev. v., 9 ; vi., 9-11 ; vii., 9 ; xiv, 1, 3.
20. What do Romanists teach with regard to the soids of men after death ?
1st. That the souls of unbaptized infants go to a place pre- pared expressly for them, called the " limbus infantum," where they endure no positive suffering, although they do not enjoy the vision of God.