empfoved of iii tlie activities, Lhou!,riit of ci til
of Cflris'l ittier is tlie 1 adjectivi
;;;ardeif nsthe termination of
£,
ATTiiXeia
found only four times in the Gospels
Ml.- ll-t if. iu flio 'wocfo' nf fl.o ftJ^f
ment. For its real purpose, as conceived by the Speaker, the ointment ' perishes,' is lost; but it is clearly not annihilated, only diverted from its proper use. In Mt 7" the way that leads ds rriv d?ri6Xeiac, ' to destruction,' is described as broad ; no indication, however, is given as to the fate of those who traverse this way when they reach dirciXeia, and it is fair, therefore, to interpret the phrase in the light of the other passages wliere the word occurs (in the parallel passage Lk IS'--" no mention is made of the broad way). Jn 17'- ' not one of them is lost but the son of perdition,' employs a Hebraistic mode of expression. 6 vlbi t^s dirwXeias is one who shares the qualities, is like in character to dxciXeio, ci. vlbv jc^vp-qs, Mt 2.3'^ ; but though he airuXero, and nothing is directly stated as to his present condition or future destiny, the son of perdition is certainly not conceived as either unconscious or extinct, nor is there any suggestion that this is to be his ultimate fate.
In the Synoptic Gospels iiroeiz-fiaKciv, like 0v^- nKciv, uniformly expresses merely pliysical death as the cessation of physical acti\ities. Two passages in St. Luke, however, call for .special notice. In the parable referreil to above, liotli Lazarus and the rich man 'die' {dTroiiavdv, It)'-'-) ; liut their conscious activity docs not teniiiiiate, il is merely transferred to other spheres. .\nd of lliestmsof God, the sons of the resurrection, it is eiii]ili,itically .said ('2(F') that recurrence of deatli is for them impossible. Death, therefore, passes upon them once, but leaves them la-dyye\oL, ' equal to angels,' in an exalted and privileged state, no more subject to its power. 'Die word is more common in St. Joint CJS tiniesi, and in accordance with the more confcnipKatiM' .'inil spiiiliial character of his Gospel is eniiiloyed also nietapliorically, though its pre- dominant use is litertil and iifiysieal. Thus the grain of wheat falls into the .eiomi.l .md dies (otto- eivri, W*), but by and throii^li .leruli uses to a newer and richer life, and ' bears mneli fniit.' And for the believer death is but the beginning of life (11-*), a life that is permanent and exposed to no return of death (ttSs 6 fie . . . oi) /it; diro^dfj; els rbv alQva, v.-%
Of the word edvaros, 'death,' a similar account must be given. It is usually pli>sical death, with no reference to or thought of that which is beyond. By the Synoptists it is eniiiloyed more or less metaphorically in Mt 4'", Lk I"' ((|iiotations from Isaiah), Mt 26^||Mk 14^^. In .Mt -Jd'"; Mk lO'^ iiavaTov is for Christ Himself the prelude to life. So in ..In S--" he that believefli . . . 'Iiatli passed out of death into life'; and later in the same Gospel Christ declares that he who keeps His word shall not see (8=^'). oi' taste of (v.'^-) death eh Tt,v aiCfo. (cf. 11='').
Finally, there is the term diroXXi^i-ai, perhaps the most significant of all the expressions that describe dissolution and the cessation of a worldly estate. It is apparently employed by the Sacred Writers with a weaker as well as a stronger association. The former meaning, to ' lose,' to ' find to be miss- ing,' is illustrated by Mt 15^1, Lk 15«-"-, Jn G'^ 18» and other passages. The predominant sense of the word, however, is that of ' ruin,' the precise n.ature or degree of which Avill be indicated by the con- text; but which consists essentially in the loss or
792
IMMORTALITY
IMMOETALITY
witlidiawal of capacity for the due discharge of function or duty. Thus the wine-skins ' perish ' in St. Matthew (9"), both the wine and the skins in St. Mark (2-) ; but the substance of both survives, though thej' have become wasted and useless. So also in Jn 6^, where the j3pcD<ris that 'perishes' loses its nutritive power, and ceases to be able to perform the part of food. Applied to persons the word is equivalent to ' ruined,' ' undone,' succumb- ing to present or prospective emergency or press- ure, c.g.Ut 8== II Mk 4^8, Lk 8=* ; Lk 15i', Jn 11^. In the passages most pertinent to the present inquiry a definitely spiritual ' ruin ' is contemplated, the object of which is usually the vf-ioci, Mt lO^s- s' 16^ || Mk 8^\ Lk r-*!"!^; Lk 6', Jn 12^ ; but the loss or ruin of the soul here is distinctly said to be preliminaiy to finding, saving, or (Lk 17^) quickening it (("wo- 701'eii'). The idea conveyed is again, therefore, not annihilation or destruction of being, but change of state. Here, also, the highest form of teaching is found in St. John. Every believer in Christ, or the sheep who hear His voice, are expressly de- clared to be permanently exempt from ruin (3'" lO'^) ; and while the man who ' loveth his life ' (6 tpiXuv rriv ipvxv'' airrou) is the active cause of its ruin (airoXXvei avrriv), he who hates it in this world will keep it ' unto life eternal ' (12^). Passages in which the word is used of mere physical destruc- tion, in which usually no thought oif the future is involved, must be interpreted in accordance with this general conception (Mt 2'^ 12" 26^-, Mk 9'--, Lk 17^«;.).