sions as these, Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise, might be used by the prophet without his conveying, or intending to convey, the notion that his dead body would arise. And that bold and sublime description of the prophet, in which the souls in Hades are represented as rising to meet the king of Babylon at his coming, according to this mode of interpretation, would be considered as intelligible, without the supposition that

firmation, he appeals to the well-known passage in Ezekiel, chap. xxxvii. which they declared to be figurative, and to convey no promise of a resurrection to the house of Israel, but the assurance of temporal prosperity, and the reunion of their scattered tribes; his answer is, "Non

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posset de ossibus figura componi si non id ipsum ossi"bus eventurum esset, nam etsi figmentum veritatis in "imagine est, imago ipsa in veritate est sui." Tertull. de Resurrect. Carnis cap. 29, 30, 31. Sculteti Syntagma, cap. 4. sect. 3. Vide Warburton's remarks on the chapter of Ezekiel alluded to, vol. iii. p. 314. book vi. sect. 2. Bishop of Bristol's Eccles. Hist. p. 282.

d Isaiah xxvi. 19. Few will agree with the observation of Warburton, that "there was no occasion for the doc"trine of the resurrection to make the language intelli"gible." Warburton, vol. iii. p. 313; still less, "that an image is of more force for its being unknown.” p. 314.

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Hades existed as a receptacle for souls. Hell from beneath is moved to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we 2 Art thou become like one of us?

Not to mention many other passages, especially in the Prophets and the Psalms, which are sufficient to shew that the idea was prevalent among the Jews, of Hades

e Warburton, book vi. sect. 3. p. 337. Isaiah xiv. 9, 10. Warburton always translates Sheol the grave: but there are above sixty places in the Old Testament where the word occurs, and it is constantly rendered Hades by the Seventy, except in one or two places at most. Peters on the Book of Job, p. 322.

"Amongst all the ancients, whether heathens, Jews, or "Christians, the usual acceptation of hell was, that it was "the common lodge or habitation of separated souls both "good and bad, wherein each of them, according to their "deserts in this life, and their expectations of the future

judgment, remained either in joy or misery." Vide Critical History of the Apostles' Creed; a most able and learned work by an ancestor of the present lord King; art. Descent into Hell.

f Psalm lxxxvi. 13. Prov. xv. 24. Psalm xvi. 10. Prov. ix. 18. Job xxvi. 6.

being the region of the departed, and that they divided this region, and assigned a different habitation in it for the reception of the righteous and the wicked. Again, the more plain and direct expressions, which are generally understood as referring to a future state, are forced from their natural and obvious sense by the author of the Divine Legation, and restricted in their import to this life only: Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy One to see corruption", might have signified to the Jews of old, Thou wilt not suffer me to fall immaturely; The righteous hath hope in his death, The righteous hath hope that he shall be delivered from the most imminent dangers. Nor does the expression, which have their portion in

Luke xvi. parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Mr. Peters on the Book of Job, sect. 8.

h Psalm xvi. 10. An acquaintance with the opinions of Epiphanius, Athanasius, Origen, and other ancient fathers respecting this text, might have rendered Warburton more cautious in hazarding an interpretation which has no merit but that of novelty to recommend it.

i Proverbs xiv. 32.

this life, mark, according to such principles of interpretation, any opposition between this life and another. It is needless to multiply other passages of the same kind, which will readily suggest themselves to all who are conversant with the Old Testament, and which no acuteness and ingenuity can explain away. But that celebrated passage in the Book of Job', which would seem decisive of the question, I have purposely omitted; because, as many commentators of great knowledge and candour have doubted whether it referred to a future state or not, it would certainly be inadmissible as a proof in a controverted question, till, after a critical examination of the original in connection with the context, its validity as a testimony were fully established. And theologians should ever bear in mind, that no greater injury can be done to the cause of

k Psalm xvii. 14.

1 Job xix. 25. Amid the conflicting opinions of commentators, it is difficult for me to come to any conclusion on the subject. None indeed but a good Hebrew scholar is competent to the investigation: but while any doubt remains, it should not be received as a testimony in a matter of such importance.

truth, especially to that of religious truth, than bringing forward with indiscreet zeal any questionable or doubtful evidence in support of a doctrine. The adversary might adduce it as a confession of weakness in a cause which had recourse to such assistance; a presumption which can never be excited against an argument founded upon a comprehensive view of the general tenor and language of revelation. Nor has any appeal been made to the prophecy of Daniel, because it is allowed by all, that at the time when Daniel wrote the belief of a future state, from whatever cause, was generally prevalent among the Jewish people. Sufficient indications remain, without calling in the aid either of such specific declarations or more doubtful inferences, to convince every diligent and candid inquirer that the ancient fathers of the Jewish church did not look merely to transitory promises; unless we are to believe, that, because they had a legal code with temporal advantages annexed for a particular purpose, they were to close their hearts against the natural reflections which suggested themselves to all