fabiliter artifex de toto, quo caro nostra constiterat, eam mirabili et ineffabili celeritate restituet. Nec aliquid attinebit ad ejus reintegrationem, utrum capilli ad capillos redeant et ungues ad ungues: an quicquid eorum perierat mutetur in carnem et in partes alius corporis revocetur, curante artificis providentia, ne quid indecens fiat. Nor is it necessary to suppose, that the differences of size and stature will continue in the life to come, but every thing will be restored in accordance with the Divine image, cap. 90. Resurgent igitur Sanctorum corpora sine ullo vitio, sine ulla deformitate, sicut sine ulla corruptione, onere, difficultate,

All will have the stature of the full-grown man, and, as a general rule, will be thirty years old (the age of Christ), de civ. Dei lib. i. c. 12. He gives particular rules respecting children, de civ. Dei lib. i. c. 14; the difference of sex, c. 17; concerning children born prematurely and lusus naturæ, ib. c. 13, and ad Laur. 85, 87. Nevertheless he says: Si quis in eo corporis modo, in quo defunctus est, resurrecturum unumquemque contendit, non est cum illo laboriosa contradictione pugnandum, de civ. Dei 1. i. c. 16. On the similar views of Gregory the Great, see Lau, p. 510, ss.

7 The opinion of Origen having been condemned by the decisions of synods (Mansi ix. p. 399 and 516), orthodoxy admitted but of slight modifications. We may mention, e. g. the controversy which arose between Eutychius, patriarch of Constantinople, who maintained that the resurrection body was impalpabilis, and Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome, who denied it (Greg. M. Moral. in Jobum lib. xiv. c. 29. Münscher, Handbuch, p. 449); and the controversy which took place between the Monophysitic Philoponites and the Cononites respecting the question, whether the resurrection was to be considered as a new creation of matter, or as a mere transformation of the form? Comp. Timoth. de recept. hæret. in Cotelerii monum. eccles. græcæ, T. iii. p. 413, ss. Walch, Historie der Ketzereien, vol. viii. p. 762, ss. Münscher, Handbuch, iv. p. 450, 451.

§ 141.

GENERAL JUDGMENT-CONFLAGRATION OF THE WORLD.

PURGATORY.

Höpfner, de origine dogmatis de purgatorio. Hal. 1792.

The notions concerning the general judgment were still substantially founded on the representations of Scripture, but more fully developed and variously adorned by the theologians of the present period.1 We have already seen that the Fathers of the preceding age believed in a general conflagration which was to accompany the general judgment, as well as to destroy the world, and that they ascribed to it a purifying power. But, according to Augustine, this purifying fire (ignis purgatorius) had its seat in Hades, i. e., the place in which the souls of the departed were supposed to remain until the general resurrection. This idea, as well as further additions on the part of other theologians, especially Cesarius of Arles, and Gregory the Great,5 prepared the way for the doctrine of purgatory. This doctrine being brought afterwards into connection with the notion of the mass, was made subservient to the selfish purposes of the Romish hierarchy, and contributed to obscure the evangelical doctrine of salvation.

1 The end of the world will be preceded by signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars; the sun will be changed into blood, the moon will not give her light, etc. Comp. Basil the Great, Hom. 6. in Hexaëm. p. 54, (al. 63.) Lact. vii. 19, ss,, c. 25, (he has regard to the Sibylline oracles). Short descriptions of the general judgment are given by Greg. of Nazianz. Orat. xvi. 9, p. 305, ss., and xix. 15, p. 373. According to Basil, Moral. Regula. 68, 2, the coming of our Lord will be sudden, the stars will fall from heaven, etc., but we ought not to think of his second manifestation as τοπικὴ ἢ σαρκική, but ἐν δόξῃ τοῦ πατρὸς κατὰ πάσης Tĥs oikovμévns ȧ0póws, see Klose, p. 74. Comp. Hom. in Ps.

xxxiii. p. 184 (al. 193, 94), Ep. 46. According to Cyrill of Jerusalem, the second coming of our Lord will be announced by the appearance of a cross in the air, Cat. 15. 22; comp. the whole description, 19-33.-Augustine endeavoured dogmatically to define the facts which are represented in figurative language, instead of giving rhetorical descriptions, as the Greek theologians used to do; he therefore sought to reconcile the doctrine of retribution with his doctrine of predestination; see de civ. Dei xx. 1: Quod ergo in confessione ac professione tenet omnis Ecclesia Dei veri, Christum de cœlo esse venturum ad vivos ac mortuos judicandos, hunc divini judicii ultimum diem dicimus, i. e. novissimum tempus. Nam per quot dies hoc judicium tendatur, incertum est: sed scripturarum more sanctarum diem poni solere pro tempore, nemo qui illas litteras quamlibet negligenter legerit, nescit. Ideo autem cum diem judicii dicimus, addimus ultimum vel novissimum, quia et nunc judicat et ab humani gereris initio judicavit, dimittens de paradiso, et a ligno vitæ separans primos homines peccati magni perpetratores; imo etiam quando angelis peccantibus non pepercit, quorum princeps homines a se ipso subversus invidendo subvertit, procul dubio judicavit. Nec sine illius alto justoque judicio et in hoc aërio cœlo et in terris, et dæmonum et hominum miserrima vita est erroribus ærumnisque plenissima. Verum etsi nemo peccasset, non sine bono rectoque judicio universam rationalem creaturam perseverantissime sibi Domino suo hærentem in æterna beatitudine retineret. Judicat etiam non solum universaliter de genere dæmonum atque hominum, ut miseri sint propter primorum meritum peccatorum: sed etiam de singulorum operibus propriis, quæ gerunt arbitrio voluntatis, etc.— Concerning what he says on the transaction of the general judgment itself, see ibid. c. 14.

2 Comp. § 77, note 6. This idea of a purifying fire is very distinctly set forth by Gregory of Nazianzum, Orat. xxxix. 19, p. 690. (Ullmann, p. 504). His language is less definite in Orat. xl. 36, p. 730. (Ullmann, p. 505). Roman Catholic commentators have inferred too much in support of their theory from the general expression Tuρì xalaupoμéva which Gregory of Nyssa

He points out (de gestis Pel. c. 4, § 11) the variety of figurative expressions used in Scripture in reference to this subject, which can hardly be so united as to give one idea.

makes use of in his treatise de iis, qui præmature abripiuntur (Opp. iii. p. 322); see Schröckh, Kirchengeschichte xiv. p. 135. Basil the Great supposes (Hom. 3. in Hexaëmeron, p. 27) that the fire which is to destroy the world has existed from the beginning of creation, but that its effects are neutralized by a sufficient quantity of water, until the consumption of the latter; see Klose, p. 73.

3 Augustine agrees with other theologians in his general views concerning the conflagration of the world, de civ. Dei xx. 18; in the same place he endeavours to give a satisfactory reply to the question where the righteous will be during the general conflagration? Possumus respondere, futuros eos esse in superioribus partibus, quo ita non adscendet flamma illius incedii, quemadmodum nec unda diluvii. Talia quippe illis inerunt corpora, ut illic sint, ubi esse voluerint. Sed nec ignem conflagrationis illius pertimescent immortales atque incorruptibiles facti: sicut virorum trium corruptibilia corpora atque mortalia in camino ardenti vivere illæsa potuerunt. Like the earlier theologians Augustine brings the idea of a purification wrought by the fire in question, into connection with 1 Cor. iii. 11-15; see Enchirid. ad Laur. § 68. In the next section he continues as follows (in reference to the disposition manifested by so many to cling too much to earthly goods): Tale aliquid etiam post hanc vitam fieri incredibile non est, et utrum ita sit, quæri potest. Et aut inveniri aut latere nonnullos fideles per ignem purgatorium, quanto magis minusve bona pereuntia dilexerunt, tanto tardius citiusve salvari: non tamen tales de quibus dictum est, quod regnum Dei non possidebunt, nisi convenienter pœnitentibus eadem crimina remittantur. Comp. de civ. Dei 1. i. c. 24, 26. quæst ad Dulc. § 13. On the question, whether Pelagius rejected the doctrine of a purifying fire? comp. the acts of the synod of Diospolis quoted by Wiggers, i. p. 195. Neander, Kirchengesch. ii. 3, p. 1199, 1225 and 1404.-Concerning the views of Prudentius see Schröckh, Kirchensgesch. vii. p. 126.

4 Sermo viii. 4. in August. Opp. T. v. Append.; the passage is quoted by Münscher ed. by von Cölln, i. p. 62. He makes a distinction between capitalia crimina and minuta peccata. None but the latter can be expiated either in this life by painful sufferings, alms, or placability manifested towards enemies, or in the life to come by the purifying fire (longo tempore cruciandi).

5 Gregory the Great may rightly be called the "inventor of the doctrine of purgatory," if we may call it an invention. On the one

hand, he lays down (dial. iv. 39.) the doctrine of purgatory as an article of faith by saying: De quibusdam levibus culpis esse ante judicium purgatorius ignis credendus est, and rests his opinion on Matth. xii. 31. (He thinks that some sins are not pardoned till after death, but to that class belong only what are called minor sins, such as talkativeness, levity, and a dissolute life).* On the other hand, he was the first writer who clearly propounded the idea of a deliverance from purgatory by intercessory prayer, by masses for the dead (sacra oblatio hostiæ salutaris) etc., and adduced instances in support of his view, to which he himself attached credit. Comp. Schröckh, Kirchengesch. xvii. p. 255, ss. Neander, Kircheng. iii. p. 271, ss. If we compare Gregory's doctrine with the former (rather idealistic) notions concerning the efficacy of the purifying fire, we may adopt the language of Schmidt (Kirchenges. iii. p. 280): "The belief in a lasting desire after a higher degree of perfection, which death itself cannot quench, DEGENERATED INTO A BELIEF IN PURGATORY."

§ 142.

THE STATE OF THE BLESSED AND THE DAMNED.

Gregory of Nazianzum, and some other theologians, supposed that the souls of the righteous are at once admitted into the presence of God (without going to Hades and prior to the resurrection of the body), while the majority of the ecclesiastical writers of this period imagined that men do not receive their full reward till after the general judgment and the resurrection of the body.1 According to Gregory of Nazianzum, Gregory of Nyssa, and other theologians who adopted the views of Origen, the blessedness of the redeemed in heaven consists in more fully developed knowledge, in intercourse with all the saints and righteous, and partly in the deliverance from

1 According to Gregory, the passage before alluded to in 1 Cor. iii. may be referred to the tribulations in hac vita, but he prefers himself the usual interpretation, and understands by the wood, hay, and stubble, mentioned in iii. 12, unimportant and slight sins!