From "The Catholic Religion: A Manual of Instruction for the Members of the Anglican Church" - Vernon Staley (Book is free to read HERE) Part 3: The Faith and Practice of the Church, Chapter I: The Faith of the Church: The Articles of the Christian Faith: The Descent into Hell, pages 189-195 "At three o’clock on Good Friday our blessed Savior died on the cross, and from this time until the morning of Easter-day, a period of some forty hours, his soul remained separated from his body. It was during this interval that the soul of Jesus “descended into hell.” The word hell in the Creed, signifies ‘the underworld,’ or ‘the unseen world.’ It does not mean the place of torment reserved for the devil and his angels, but the abode of departed spirits, of which our Lord had spoken to the penitent thief under the name of “paradise.” From the death of Abel until the time of our Lord’s passion, great numbers of souls had passed out of this life into the unseen world. These disembodied souls were in a place of safe-keeping in what is known as ‘the intermediate state,’ by which we understand the state of the departed between death and the last judgment. St. Peter describes some of these souls as “the spirits in prison,” and declares that our Lord visited the realms of the dead after his passion, in order that He might announce to them the glad tidings of his victory over Satan. Our Lord’s descent into hell is a subject about which little can be said with certainty. As to what actually took place there at his coming, we do not know. We may believe that some special blessing to the departed resulted from his presence at such a time, but we have no means of knowing any details. Connected with our Lord’s descent into hell is a subject of some importance, of which we will now speak. We refer to the condition of the departed in the intermediate state. Holy Scripture seems to imply that at death the soul goes before God for the particular judgment, and is then consigned to a place of joy or misery in the intermediate state. This joy is not the final joy of heaven, neither is this misery that of everlasting punishment. This particular judgment is to be distinguished from the final or general judgment. The general judgment is represented as a vast assize at which all the world will be assembled, and which will not take place until after the resurrection at the end of the world; hence it is called “the last judgement.” Our Lord himself so describes it in St. Matt. xxv. 31, 32- “When the Son of Man shall come in his glory... before him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.” Upon the general judgment at the end of the world, the condition of souls in eternity depends. No one, however good he has been, will receive his final degree of bliss immediately after death; and no one, however bad he has been, will then receive his final measure of rejection. all souls, good and bad alike, go at death to a place of waiting, where we believe they receive a foretaste, though not the actual realization, of their final lot in eternity. This we may conclude from the teaching of our Lord in the parable of the rich man and the beggar, which is recorded in St. Luke xvi. 19, etc. Our Lord is describing the state of two souls in the interval between death and the judgment. That He is not speaking of heaven or hell is evident. The Greek word translated “hell” in the sentence, “And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments,” is “hades,” and is never used in Holy Scripture for the place of everlasting punishment. The rich man’s allusion to his five brethren still living upon earth, also shows that the time spoken of is that previous to the resurrection and the general judgment. It is not until after these events that men reach their final state in eternity. As far as the souls of the saved are concerned, we may regard the intermediate state as a preparation for the life of heaven. We may believe that purification from the stains of sin committed in this life, forms a necessary part of such preparation. Dr. Pusey thought that “amid the rest and felicity of knowing that they are saved, that they cannot again have the very faintest wish to commit the very slightest sin... the temporary banishment from the sight of God will be intense purifying suffering.” No one, however good a life he may have lived on earth, is fitted at once to come into that glorious Presence. There are stains and imperfections still clinging to the souls of the very best men, which must needs be purged and done away, before the full sight of God can be endured, and his presence be enjoyed. There is a legend of the middle ages which teaches a great truth. A certain bishop had some ill-will towards a city which had rejected his authority. He saw in a vision an empty throne in the next world intended for himself. On advancing to occupy this throne he was motioned back, being told that he was not then fit to occupy it. Turning his eyes within, he saw a black spot on his soul. It was the grudge he bore towards the city which had despised his authority. In the time of waiting between death and the last judgment, the final preparation for God’s presence is made. When we reflect upon what we really are, and what God is, and how much of the ways of heaven we have yet to learn, we cannot but heartily thank God that he has provided such an interval, in which the work of grace begun on earth may be continued and perfected. Speaking of the saintly John Keble, Dr. Pusey wrote - “It would be expected of such a humble soul as that of the author of The Christian Year, that the prospect of such a preparation was an unspeakable comfort to him within a year of his death. He expressed it both to myself and to others.” Our thoughts of the departed who in this life sought to obey God and to keep themselves pure and true, can only be those of unspeakable rest in Christ. It has moreover been widely believes in the Church, that the more exalted the faithful departed, though they have not yet attained to their perfect consummation and bliss, are even now brought into close association with our Lord in his heavenly glory and mediation. For the many who depart this life apparently neither good enough for heaven nor bad enough for hell, we may hope that a place of mercy is provided in the intermediate state, in which the evil will be completely purged, and the good perfectly developed. It is reasonable to suppose that when this purification is accomplished, such souls will enter into perfect peace, and advance towards that final and unending happiness which will follow the resurrection of the body and the last judgment. ‘Every heresy is the intellectual vengeance of some suppressed truth.’ This is so of forgetfulness of the truth of which we are thinking. Such forgetfulness has led to the gravest consequences. Unmindful of the merciful provision of a place of preparation between death and the judgment, men have come to deny the existence of hell. Instinctively feeling that so many souls leave this life unfitted for heaven, and ignorant of the truth of the intermediate stat, they have naturally rebelled against the though of such souls being eternally lost. Thus, with no other alternative before the mind, they have been led to deny that there is any hell at all. A belief in the true doctrine of the intermediate state would have saved them from their error. Again and again we see that the abuse of a thing is fatal to its right use. It is one of the unhappy results of exaggerated teaching that in the re-action against that which is false, that which is true is lost sight of. And such is the case in regard to the intermediate state. At the time of the Reformation, serious errors and abuses widely prevailed concerning the condition of the departed. To some of these we have already alluded in speaking of the sale of indulgences (pp. 89,90). It is against such errors and abuses that the Church of England protests in Article XXII. This article is not meant to condemn the primitive doctrine of the intermediate state as we have stated it, but only ‘the Romish doctrine’ which so largely obtained at the time of which we are speaking, and which could claim no support from the teaching of antiquity. The term purgatory simply means “a place or process of cleansing or purging;’ it is disused amongst us because of certain ideas which in medieval times had attached themselves to the word. Of these we have already spoken in discussing the causes of the Reformation." For those who would protest that the word "hell" used in I would point to the passages in Acts 2.27,31: "Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." This is a prophetic word from King David. We surely cannot argue that Jesus was in a place of eternal damnation. For we know Jesus was not punished in hell. See Luke 16.23. Forgiven much, Tamara Jack Check out my 90 lb. Weight Loss Journey with Weight Watchers HERE! To contact me, email: [email protected] (You can contact me for prayer, too.) Where to find me: Facebook: AssisiRosaries Page HERE YouTube: AssisiRosaries Channel HERE YouTube: Tamara Wigs Out Channel HERE Instagram: AssisiRosaries HERE Instagram: TamaraWigsOut HERE
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This entry came up in my Facebook memories from seven years ago (found HERE in 2014 then shared again in 2021) and so I thought I'd also put it here for others to read. I enjoyed this Lutheran book back when I was a Lutheran. I still like some of the quotes I kept over the years like this one: "My dear friends, unless you love people, unless your heart reaches out in sympathy to all who are troubled and distressed, unless you simply find yourself rejoicing with them that rejoice and weeping with them that weep, like Jesus at the grave of Lazarus, then for Christ's sake, don't enter the Christian ministry." Preus, "Preaching to Young Theologians" - Recorded in "The Fire and the Staff" St. Paul says in Romans 12.9-21: "Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." If you read my blog post on reconciliation HERE from just a couple weeks ago, you'll see that we are to do so with love, and as St. Paul says: "Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor." When there is to be reconciliation there should be no finger pointing or retaliation. There should be a desire to love the person as in all circumstances, even our enemies. Preus is absolutely right in his warning not to enter the Christian ministry if a man is unwilling to reach out "in sympathy to all who are troubled and distressed" and weeping with those who weep. A Christian minister needs to have compassion on his parishioners. If not, they did not discern their calling right and should have entered a different vocation, using the talents and gifts God has given them. A note for those who suffer much in this life, I wrote a poem about that and you can read it HERE if you like. God's peace be with you. Forgiven much, Tamara Jack Check out my 90 lb. Weight Loss Journey with Weight Watchers HERE! To contact me, email: [email protected] (You can contact me for prayer, too.) Where to find me: Facebook: AssisiRosaries Page HERE YouTube: AssisiRosaries Channel HERE YouTube: Tamara Wigs Out Channel HERE Instagram: AssisiRosaries HERE Instagram: TamaraWigsOut HERE |
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