A. S. Peake.
IMMORTALITY In the ordinary acceptation of
tlie term ' immortality' connotes 'endlessness.' It has (etised to express merely or solely a denial of jihysieal death, in its incidence or its conse- quences, and has been extended to include the possibility or actuality of death, considered as putting an end to conscious existence either now or in "the limitless future. Whether these two alternatiNes letilly mciii tlie same thinj;, whether to be caii.iMc of .lyiiit; is tilwtiys iiiul ultimately to die, and so thtit only is immortal whieli by its very nature ami constitution is not liable to death, while all else perishes, — as is probably the case, — is a question that hardly comes within the scope of the present article. It will, however, be just, and will conduce to clearness, to separate these two considerations; to seek to determine, in the first instance, the teaching of Christ with regard to immortality in the limited sense of a denial of cessation of existence at death ; and, secondly, to review the much wider and more perplexed question of the permanence of this ' immortal ' state. 'Does death end all?', according to the mind and teaching of the Founder of Christianity, is an inquiry that needs to be twice raised, — once as it concerns the terminus of the present life upon earth, and again as it refers or may refer to a future to which human thought can set no limit. It is obvious that the first question is comparatively simple and uninvolved ; and that upon its answer in the affirmative depends the possibility of open- ing the second, which is highly complicated, and involves the mo.st far-reaching and important problems that can present themselves for human consideration.
By some writers the terms used in the NT, and especially by Christ Himself, with reference to a life after death have been further understood to imply
* Cf. also the important remarks on pp. ISS-IM. He thinks (he translation T«/i9iKi,- is so far from accounting for the belief the Virgin-birth that it needs to be e.'iplained itself. ' In la T''' ' have had some special motive, and that jeen not philological, but, if I may say so, • the quotation in Mt l^^f- it is perfectly well le of the subsidiary Biblical proofs which .Oit for by tho evangelists. The real sup- ,.,,t^^v<M-f.'trH)it!AT,^<if one kind or another, I,. Mil!. II ...1 i ..I prophecy led them to I ill the prophetic scrip-
III llic Mrgin-
) had already qui
u.inl I lie doctrine as purely iTer, Vas UrchristenUan^, i. m.'suse of Is 7'< was possible i other grounds for ascribing
IMMORTALITY
IMMORTALITY
?85
blessedness. Life immortal would thus be not only life in the ordinary acceptation of conscious existence, but it would be life plus felicity. It is perhaps hardly right or wise to saddle the doctrine Avith this additional connotation. It will, however, be necessary to examine how far the words of Christ suggest or imply tliat He ifgarded happi- ness as an essential and insi-paralilc part of the life to come, or a future existence of misery more or less prolonged as inconceivable unless it were terminated by restoration to bliss or annihilation of consciousness.
There is, however, a further preliminary con- sideration which must be taken into account. An examination of the whole teaching of Christ upon so momentous a theme, as it is transmitted by the Evangelists, may be expected to yield results not only positive but negative. Positive, inasmuch as Ujpon a subject that concerns the deepest interests of men no great religious teacher can do other than afford some guidance to those who seek knowledge and truth at his lips ; and negative, since tlie revelation which he may venture or see fit to make of his own thoughts will obviously be determined and limited by the character and capacity of his contemporaries. In a sense neither derogatory nor contemptuous towards his liearers, he will refuse to cast his pearls Ijefore swine. Environment naturally and ini'vi(:il.l\- [.lavs :i, l.u-c part in moulding the fcim inl..' wliir'li .lo.iinir shull be cast, and in assi - ii i 1 1 l; ihc l)nuiiiU liryimd which it shall not mo\-r. T.-jrlnnu :i|.|ii(i|in;(ic .-iiid wel- come to Ih.- ki'ni-uillr.l ;iii.l pliil.i^..|i|iii' circles of Athens will l^ill ..n .lull nml iii:i|i|ii v.i.-itivu ears by the watt-r.si.l.. ..r in \\u- li.hl, uf (l^lilcc. And of the confcNsc.lly yualc^l 'I'c.iclici- tli.it the world has ever known this may be expected to be pre- eminently true ; He will make His sayings accord both as to form and sulistance with the receptive ability of those to wlinin thny are clclivcrcd, Tliere will be many thin.L's within (lie c..inp.i-- nf lli~ dwn knowledge which tlicy raniidl now lirm i.ln li;'-).
And though He will' , -it limr:, ;jl\e Ulleranre to
sayings ii.- and .sign i I shadowiiiu which oiii\ the major
I K. ■' ■), ui a depth
■'.iii|ji iheiision, fore- II niHleistanding of ill lie .-i.lile to grow, ion will not be con- that instruction lie hearers, no fruitful tmil and intellectual
barren and iivolitless tc seed germinating; In new life. Moreover, il i- inerisely ihese -ayin;^^, ili^al- ing with the hiuliri. moir al.-iiad .nel -npi'.-t- sensible side of lliin--. thai wniil.l l.i- iii.i-l lik.ly to be lost upon onlmaiy iliN(i]iles. id fail tn lind a place in their memory', ami in their suhsefjueut reproductions, whether written or oral, of the Master's teaching. Only by the choicer natm'es, the more relincd and contemplative spirits aiiioni;-