6

17

sake of virtue.' When they were afterwards arraigned, and asked how they could be so joyful under their sentence, they are said to have replied, that it was because they should enjoy greater happiness after death.' Such are the motives which Josephus attributes to them. It is true, that in another work which he wrote at a later period, with better information, and with greater accuracy, he relates these circumstances at large, repeats the language of the two patriots, but omits the particular sentiments we have here quoted.18 Whether this omission was accidental or designed, it would be in vain to inquire, as it would be impossible to determine.

A. D. 11.-A. D. 70.-It is when treating of the Jewish affairs at the former of these dates, that Josephus introduces his full and labored account of the religious sects in Palestine. But as it is evident that he describes them partly from his own personal acquaintance with them in the latter years of their nation, we may refer his statement to the whole of the period now designated. He says that the Pharisees (of whom he was one,) held that souls possess an immortal vigor,-that all souls are incoruptible; and that, under the earth, there are rewards and punishments for them, accordingly as they have been virtuous or vicious in the present life;

17 Josephus, Jewish War, B. i. ch. xxiii. 2, 3. In quoting Josephus, I shall follow as closely as I can, the original text. The reader may compare Whiston's translation, which is not exact, nor always true to the meaning, by consulting the places referred to.

18 Joseph. Antiq. B. xvii. ch. vi. 2, 3.

that only the good have the privilege of passing into other bodies, and living again; but that the souls of the bad are allotted to an eternal prison, [aidios eirgmos,] and punished with eternal retribution, [aidios timoria.] Such was the doctrine of the Pharisees, who were by far the most numerous sect, and who alone had much influence with the populace. The Sadducees, on the other hand, who were few in number, belonging to the first families, and destitute of zeal, as well as unpopular, believed that the soul perished with the body, denying that it survived, and rejecting the doctrine of punishments and rewards in Hades. The Essenes, amounting only to four thousand, lived in deserts, shut out from the intercourse of the world. They taught that souls come forth out of the rarest and most subtile air, and are drawn, by certain natural attraction, into our [earthly] bodies, where they are shut up as in a prison. Though the body perishes, the soul is immortal, and continues forever. When set free from the bonds of the flesh, it rejoices, as being released from long bondage, and mounts aloft. Like the greeks, the Essenes believed that good souls have their abode beyond the ocean, in a place oppressed neither with storms nor with heat, but refreshed by gentle zephyrs that breathe continually from the sea; while the souls of the bad are sent to a dark and tempestuous cavern, full of incessant punishments, [adialieptos timoria.] 19

19 Antiq. B. xviii, ch. i. 2—6, and Jewish War, B. ii. ch, viii. 2-14.

A. D. 32.-A. D. 63.-To this time belong the few statements and references which we find in the New Testament: The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection;' or, as Dr. Campbell chooses to render it, no future life.' The scribes or Pharisees, on the other hand, approved our Saviour's vindication of that doctrine. 20 The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both.' 21 St. Paul, in his defence before Felix, says, with reference to his Jewish persecutors, who, no doubt, were Pharisees,, I have hope towards God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust meaning, perhaps, that the Jews allowed a resurrection, and that he extended it both to the just and unjust. It would seem, too, from the facts already presented, that, in these passages, resurrection [anastasis,] is to be taken, not exclusively, in the peculiar Christian sense of that term, but as embracing, within the range of its signification, what Josephus calls a passing into other bodies, and living again.' Such are the notices which the New Testament affords of the opinions both of the Pharisees and Sadducees concerning the future state. The Essenees, shut out from the rest of the world, can have had little influence on the community at large; and they are neither mentioned, nor so far as we can

30 Matt. xxii. 23-34, comp. Mark xii. 18-28. Luke xx. 27-39.

21 Acts xxiii. 8.

22 Acts xxiv. 15.

discover, alluded to, by our Saviour and his apostles.

A. D. 67. To return to Josephus: When he and his associates lay concealed in the cavern at Jotapata, it was proposed to kill themselvs, that they might not fall into the hands of the Romans. To dissuade them from such an act, he addressed them; and, among other considerations, introduced that of future rewards and punishments. In this part of his speech, we may see how a moderate and well informed Pharisee of that time would urge the subject on his hearers: The bodies of all men,' says he, are mortal and created of corruptible matter; but the soul is immortal, endures forever, and is a portion of the divinity, inhabiting our bodies. Do you not know, that those who go out of life according to the law of nature, and who return the faculty received from God, when he who lent it is pleased to require it again, enjoy everlasting [aionios,] renown that their houses and their posterity are sure? that pure and obedient souls survive, inheriting a most holy place in heaven; from which, in the revolution of ages, they are again sent into pure bodies? but that the souls of those who have raised their hands against themselves, are received into the darkest part of Hades; and that God, their father punishes, in their posterity, the crime of those who injure either [body or Soul]?

23

Here we find a mixture of the ancient doctrine of a just providence in this world, with the modern notion of a future retribution

23 Josephus, Jewish War, B. iii. ch. viii. 5.

A. D. 73.-After the destruction of Jerusalem, Eleazer, who belonged to a branch of the Pharisees, maintained the fortress of Massada against the Romans, till he and his little band were reduced to the last extremity. Resolving, at length, on a desperate act, he sought to encourage his men, when all other motives had failed, by addressing them, 'on the immortality of the soul.' Death, says he, gives our souls their liberty, and removes them into their own place of purity, where they are insensible of all pain. While souls are tied down to a mortal body, they are partakers of its miseries, and indeed are themselves dead; for the union of what is divine to what is mortal, is repugnant. . . . But when they are freed from that weight which is connected with them, and which draws them down to earth, they obtain their own proper place, and partake of that blessed power and those abilities which are then incapable of being hindered in their operations.' 24

We may here subjoin the statement which, at a later period, Josephus gave to the Jewish doctrine of rewards, while defending the character and sentiments of his nation, against Apion, the Greek Now, the reward of those who adhere to the law in all things, is not silver, or gold, or a crown of olive; &c.; but such are conscious of a testimony within themselves. They believe, what our lawgiver, [Moses,] has predicted, and what God himself has abundantly confirmed, that as for those who constantly observe the law, and, if need be, cheerfully die for it, God has

24 Jewish War, B. vii. ch. viii. 7.