Christ; and Paul might have thought that another prac tical example of the design of God to bestow perpetuity of life, would not be unsuitable in the gospel age. But God has given us a more suitable example of unending life, in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; that being the identical kind of unending life promised in the gospel; a life proceeding from an incorruptible nature. If Paul entertained such a desire it was perfectly natural and even innocent. For there are few persons, whose theology has not been vitiated, who do not con sider death as a curse and a terror, and who would desire to avoid it, and to be translated and changed "in the twinkling of an eye." But Paul did not expect this, till Christ left his Father's throne and assumed his ow throne, even the throne of his father David. For he knew that no man could enter "the holy place not made with hands," but the great High Priest, Christ Jesus. He knew, too, that before he could be with Christ he "must be born again ;" and experience a physical change in the constitution of his nature-that he must first part with his present mode of existence, before he could pos sibly assume another, or "be born again" from the dead. Still we hope our opponents will perceive that there are various ways in which Paul could "desire to depart," without adopting their untenable and contradictory in ference that Paul desired to depart as a disembodied spirit, while his body, to which the personality attaches, was corrupting in the grave!! After dwelling so long upon this celebrated text to de monstrate that it does not mean what popular tradition supposes, perhaps you will ask, What does it mean? Our reply is that our translators have corrupted the corruption of the Latin Vulgate. The translation sanction. ed by Bishop Hughes, reads, " having a desire to be dis solved and to be with Christ," which "dissolved" our translators have changed into "depart"; and by thus doing, they have called forth this lengthy explanation. And as we write for the English reader, who cannot refer to the original, we have shown that the text corrupted as it is, is yet susceptible of a consistent interpretation; and even as it stands, it gives not the least color to the monstrous inference, that some have endeavored to deduce from it, that Paul could be dead and alive at the same time !! Phil. 1: 23, appears as a conclusion from the whole of the paragraph going before from the 12 v. The words and even verses are transposed in some of the MSS. Some would read the verses in this order-12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 21, 23, and 24. There will be a difference of opinion respecting the meaning of only three words of the original, gar, de, and ana-lusia; though some may differ in the construction of eis. We consider this a fair translation of the 23 v, "I am per plexed which of the two to choose, life or death; but I have an earnest desire respecting the returning and being with Christ, which is greatly to be preferred," [to either life or death]. The next verse is equal to the idea: "But that this returning of Christ should be deferred, and your probation lengthened, is more needful for you." Analusia, which we translate, the returning, and refer it to Christ, is from ana-luo: ana, signifies again, luo, to loose, to loose again. This word cannot-receive any secondary meaning that is at variance with its radical import. Ana involves the idea of repetition, and we ask the candid reader, Had Paul ever been loosed BEFORE, in the sense of dying, so that he could be loosed AGAIN in the same manner as at first? That is, die again a second death. If you say nay, then we say that Paul could not possibly refer this word to himself, but referred it to the person spoken of, in the very next word but one, as it occurs in the Greek text. He earnestly desired the analusia and with Christ to be; that is, he wrote of the loosing again of Christ. If Paul had not intended to convey the idea of repetition, he would have used the word lusia, the loosing,-without the ana. Luo occurs forty-three times in the N. T., and it is not once translated depart, but thirty times to loose, and loose would not be improper in most of the others. A good example of luo contrasted with bound, occurs in I Cor. 7: 22: "Art thou bound to thy husband? seek not to be loosed." The reader may find the word several times repeated Mark 11: 2–5. Homer applies the word ana-luo to the loosing again of the cables of a ship, in order to sail from a port. See Odyss. IX., line 178; XI. line 636; XII. line 145; XV. line 547 So Sophoc. Elect 142, applies ana-luo, to the setting out on a voyage, viz., by loosing again the cables, or weighing anchor; also, a journey. Westein shows that it is used in the Greek writers for returning, or departing from a supper, and from a banquet, hence the word is used in a secondary sense for a departing again, returning, coming back, untieing, unravelling. The noun ana-lusis, from the verb ana-luo, from which we get our English word analysis, besides embracing the meaning of the verb, a separation again of something bound or compounded, division again, dissolution. But never departure in the sense of dying; but departure in the sense of departing from a place on a journey. In 2 Tim. 4:6," The time of my ana-lusis is at hand." This loosing again evidently implies dissolution, and so it is properly rendered in the Vulgate, but is corrupted into departure in our translation. We regret exceedingly, that the word analusia, in its compound verbal form, occurs but in one other place in the N. T. But that one case, fortunately for the cause of truth, is exactly to the point, and refers to the identical circumstance that Paul refers to in Phil. 1: 23, viz: The setting out of Christ from heaven to take possession of his kingdom. In Luke 19 12, Christ said, "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself the sovereignty, [Syriac to obtain royalty] and to return." The sovereign of Judea had to go to Rome to "receive" the sovereignty, be fore he returned to exercise it at home, not a distant kingdom as the common version makes it appear. And Christ is now sitting upon his Father's throne till he be invested with the sovereignty of his own kingdom, the kingdom of his father David. To his return from heaven there is frequent allusion in Scripture: Luke 12: 35, "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights be burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord-pote ana-lusei ek ton gamūn,-translated "When he shall RE turn from the wedding." Here, in allusion to the very same fact that Paul earnestly desired, the word ana-lusei occurs; and it is translated "RETURN." So ana-lusai in our text, means the loosing again, or the "returning” of Christ from heaven AGAIN. We trust that every candid reader will acknowledgo that Paul must refer the ana-lusia-the loosing againto Christ, to whom the word is applicable, and a thing to be earnestly desired, and not to himself, to whom the word cannot be applicable, as it would be making Paul say, "That it was very difficult for him to decide which of two things, life or death, he should most desire, and in the same breath declaring that he earnestly desired one of the two, namely, death, which was far better than the other one, which at the same time could not be made the object of his choice, because the comparative advantages of each, of life and death,were so nearly balanced !!! 148 CHAPTER IX INTERMEDIATE STATE CONTINUED. We shall very much augment the strength of our ar rument respecting the "intermediate state," and immor. tality, by pointing out the locality of the residence of the immortalized saints, as well as by showing that the present residence of the dead saints is in sheol, usually translated hell, though sometimes the grave and the pit. Dan. 2d c, Nebuchadnezzar saw a great image representing successive kingdoms located on this earth, ending with a divided state of the kingdoms, into ten parts or kingdoms. 44 v., "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed." As the other kingdoms were located upon this earth, so will this be. When Christ hath subdued the nations, then will the great voices be heard, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the king. doms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." Rev. 11: 15. NEW JERUSALEM. Gal. 4: 26." But Jerusalem which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all." Phil. 3: 20.-" For our citizenship is enrolled in heaven, from whence also wo look for the Savior," &c. Heb. 12: 22, 23.-" But ye are coming to Mount Zion, and unto the city of the liv ing God, the heavenly Jerusalem-to the general assembly of the first-born, which are written in heaven." 11: 16, "But now they desire a better country, that is a hea venly wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their : |