CONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY.

Observer, Volume 5, Issue 131, 17 March 1883, Page 424

CONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY.

Viewed from a Common- sense Standpoint,

(Continued.)

TO THE EDITOB,

Sin, — In my second letter I adduced many passages from the Bible to prove that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is taught in the Old Testament. I now proceed to vindicate the Jews against the aspersion that they did not deliver that doctrine before the Christian Dispensation.

I might have rested niy argument upon the Old Testament alone, but in order to make the proofs, if possible, more conclusive I now adduce passages from the Talmud. This book is a collection of early Biblican discussions, ■with, the comments of generations of teachers who devoted their lives to the study of the Scriptures. It records the thoughts rather than the events ,of a thousand years of the national life of the Jewish people. Its compilation in Hebrew was begun by the Scribes, and the work was carried on by their successors till B.C. 220. My tx'anslation is by H. Poland, Professor of the Hebrew language. At page 164 (Ohandos Classics) there is an account of a conversation between the Lord and Moses, on the eve of the death of the latter. Moses says, " Oh, Eternal, great and just, if thou wilt not allow me to enter into this goodly land, permit me to live on here in this world." Then Q-od answored Moses, saying, " If thou wilt not die in this world how canst thou live in the world to come ?" And in Deut. xxxrv., 5, "So Moses, the Servant of .the Lord, died there in the Land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord." " For a day in Thj Courts," says David, referring to his approaching death, " is better than a thousand elsewhere," i.e., better than a thousand days on earth. Rabbi Ismael, the High Priest, says, " First, no atom of matter in the whole vastness of the Universe is lost ; how then can man's soul, which comprises the whole world in one idea, be lost. Second, in all nature death is but a transformation ; with the soul it is the portal to a new and higher realm. Thirdly, our thoughts and feelings, emanating from the soul, are not of an earthly nature." — Talmud, p. 213. Eabbi Judah says, "The world is an orchard in which the Eternal King has placed us to keep watch and word, to till its soil and care for its fruits. But the soul and body are the man ; if one violates the precepts, so does the other, and after death the soul may not say, ' It is the fault of the body to which I was tied that I committed sins.' No, God will do as he did to the owner of the orchard, as it is written, 'He shall call from the heaven above, and to the earth to judge the people.' He shall call from the heaven above, which is the soul, and to the earth below, which is the body, mixing with the dust from whence it sprung." Poland places the time of Eabbi Judah, who edited the text of the Talmud, at 3948. I may add that the Talmud is full of similar passages, all proving that the Jews believed in the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, and that it was distinctly taught in their writings. I might., if I chose, pursue this argument at greater length, but I fear it would be like threshing the wind, so far as Mr Gr. A. Brown is concerned, and perhaps I have tresspassed already too far upon the patience of your readers, to whom theological arguments in a society journal must possess but a secondary interest. My object, however, has been to open the eyes of the people who are deluded by Mr Brown's audacious teachings, and to prevent further converts being made to them ; and if I have succeeded in any degree I shall think I have accomplished a good work. I know that I have -not nearly exhausted the stock of arguments at my command, but I think my case is strong enough v to stand as it is. — I am, etc., Atttohathes.