Theology of Universalism(Rich and Lazarus

8/14/2019 Theology of Universalism(Rich and Lazarus

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Theology of Universalism

By Thomas B. Thayer, 1862

Chapter 12

The Scriptural Doctrine Concerning ell

Section !!

a"es ## !ts Scriptural !mport an" usage. $The %ich &an an" 'a(arus.$

Hades is found eleven times only in the New Testament, and is rendered by the word Hellten times, and once by

the word Grave. 1 Cor. 15:55. It is universally allowed by critics that Hadescorresponds in meaning with Sheol

and this is confirmed by the fact that the Septuagint, !note 1"which is the #ree$ translation of the %ebrew &criptrues,

made in part about three hundred years before Christ, has rendered Sheolby the wordHadessi'ty times out of

si'ty(four instances where it occurs. %owever, with regard to the meaning of the word, in the New Testament, it

may be well to have independent testimony.

!note 1: The Septuagint, or &eventy, sometimes written the )**., is so called from the fact or tradition of its being

the +oint labor of seventy learned ews in the time of -tolemy -hiladelphus. It was in use in our &aviors time"

Meaning and usage of Hades. / theologian, e0ually learned as a scholar, +udicious as a critic, and impartial as a

commentator, says ofHades, ((

In my +udgment, it ought never in Scripture to be rendered Hell, at least in the sense wherein that word is

universally understood by Christians. It is very plain that neither in the &eptuagint version of the 2ld Testament,

nor in the New, does the wordHadesconvey the meaning which the present 3nglish wordHell, in the Christian

usage, always conveys to our minds. The attempt to illustrate this would be unnecessary, as it is hardly now

pretended by any critic that this is the acceptation of the term in the 2ld Testament.!note 4"

!note 4: 6. C/7-83)), -reliminary issertations, iss. 9i. -art ii. )3 C)36C affirms that

neitherHadesnor Sheolever signify in the &acred &cripture the abode of evil spirits, but only the sepulchre, or the

state of the dead. /nd this is also the testimony of #62TI& and other learned men. ((De Elingenda, inter

Dissentientes Christianos, Sententia Liber. par. vii. &ee also -22)3s Continuators on )i$e, 'vi. 1;( &urely the -rotestant 3nglish Church

did not mean to say that Christ went into a place of endless woe. Therefore, as -rof. &T/6T says, %ell, in this

document, means the underworld, the world of the dead, and so it has ben construed by the most intelligent critics

of the 3nglish Church. It has been very correctly said that %ell, in its primitive signification, corresponded

perfectly in meaning withHades. It comes from the /nglo(&a'on, helan, to cover or hide hence

the tilingorslatingof a house is called, in Cornwall, hellingto this day and the covers of boo$s in )ancashire by

the same name (( so the literal import of the original word Hadeswas formerly well e'pressed by it. C/7-83)),

26I#3, C)/6?3, -/6?%6&T, and others. I saw lately in an 3nglish newspaper, an account of anaccident which happened to a &later, who fell from the roof while engaged in hellingit."

/nd now let us turn to the New Testament, and we shall find thatHades, in its literal usage, is the e0uivalent

of Sheol, signifying,

I. The grave, the underworld, or place of the dead.

The first pasage to be noted is 1 Cor. 15:55. 2 death where is thy sting@ 2 grave A hadesB where is thy victory.

%ere hadesis properly translated, the resurrection being very appropriately celebrated as victory over the grave.

/nd the true meaning of hadesis seen by the law of parallelism, before noticed, which often runs into the New

Testament for though the language is #ree$, the structure and idiomatic forms are largely %ebrew. Thus:

2 eath where is thy sting:

2 grave where is thy victory.


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The thought is simply repeated grave, or hades, answering to death, the victory being ta$en from one, and

the sting from the other. /nd the thought is substantially that of %osea 1


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tongue, etc., have no morespecialmeaning, than the fatted calf, the ring, the shoes, in the parable of the

-rodigal &on. Comparison is not to be e'tended, says -rofessor &tuart, to all the circumstances of the allegory.

Thus, in the parable of the #ood &amaritan, the point to be illustrated, is the e#tent of the dut$ of beneficence. 7ost

of the circumstances go to ma$e up merely the veri(similitude of the narration, so tht it may give pleasure to him

who hears or reads it.


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on the ews at the destruction of erusalem, etc. )I#%T22T, of the Festminster /ssembly, says, the main

scope and desigh of the parable seems this, (( to hint the destruction of the unbelieving ews who though they had

7oses and the prophets, did not believe them. 8/T3, of the 3nglish Church, ta$es the same view, ma$iing the

death of )aHarus the introduction of the #entiles into the Church of #od, and the death of the rich man the re+ection

of the ews. &ee the citations at large in -/I#3s &elections from 3minent Commentators. This view of the

parable is to be found also among the athers. /#&TIN3 A/.. ==,B says, In ivite intelliganture superbi

udaeorum, ignorantes ei +ustitiam, Jc. (( uaest. Evang., lib. iii. 0.


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eased by a drop, or an ocean, of water@ That they petition /braham, or any one, to send messengers from heaven to

their friends on earth, to warn them against the torments of hell@ 2f course, he believed nothing of the $ind nor is

he at all responsible for the truth of such pagan dogmas, because he alludes to them in this parable, for the purpose

of enforcing a warning or lesson. !note E"

!note E: r. 8)227I3), of the 3nglish Church, says, 1o responsibilit$ on our Lord*s part is involved in this

case for our best Commentators and Theologians are agreed that in parabolic narrations, provided the doctrines

inculcated be strictly true, the terms in which they are e'pressed, may be adapted to the prevailing notions of those

to whom they are addressed. (( Gree Test., in loco. r. 7/C?NI#%T, &cotch -resbyterian, confesses that our)ords descriptions Ain this parableB are not drawn from the writings of the 2ld Testament, but have a remar$able

affinity to the descriptions which the #recian poets have given. If from these resemblances it is thought the parable

is formed on the #recian mythology, it will not at all follow that our )ord approved of what the common people

thought or spa$e concerning those matters, agreeably to the notions of the #ree$s."

Thus closes the e'amination of the &criptural usage ofHades, which as we have seen, is in its literal sense the

e0uivalent of Sheolin every te't, save the last, in which appear the heathen notions respecting its being a place of

rewards and punishments, or the region in which are located both hell and heaven. The following facts are worthy

of note:

1. IfHadesis hell in the ordinary definition of the word, then the soul of Christ was in hell after his crucifi'ion.8ecause thou wilt not leave my soul in hell. %e spa$e of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in

hell. /cts 4:4G,

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