of the thing, from possession by devils or demons? The modus operandi of the two are manifestly identical, they differing only as the character of the inhabiting spirits were supposed to differ. Thus,

Herod," astonished at the report of our Lord's "mighty works," concluded that the soul of John was acting through him, John being probably the only prophet he had ever heard much about, and he having put John to death. "The people," entertaining a favorable opinion of Jesus as a religious teacher, either came to the same conclusion as Herod, or else supposed that the soul of some ancient prophet was in him. "The Scribes and Pharisees," who hated him, and sought to destroy his influence, alleged that he had a devil or demon.

Note. The demons or possessing spirits believed in by the Jews at this period, seem to have been uniformly evil-disposed.

The Sadducees not only rejected the Pharisee resurrection, but also seem to have contended that all there is of man dies at the death of the body. Josephus declares expressly, "The doctrine of the Sadducees is this, that souls die with the bodies." Again, he tells us "that they take away the belief of the immortal duration of the soul." In Acts, we read, "For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both." 2

Taking the above quotations together, it is apparent that the Sadducees denial of any resur

*It would seem that the tetrarch had been absent from the country for a time.

Antiquities, Book XVIII. chap. i. sec. 3; Jewish War, Book 11. chap. viii. sec. 14. 2 Acts xxiii. 8.

rection, was equivalent to a denial of any afterdeath life. Also, that their denial of the existence of spirits and angels, was not in regard to the existence of spirits or souls in earthly bodies, nor in regard to men's being sometimes sent from God, and so being at such times His angels or messengers; but simply in regard to there being any spirits, or any angels, apart from earthly bodies; they holding that when the body dies the spirit dies with it, and so has no further existence.

Having spoken of Elias in connection with John the Baptist, it may not be uncalled for to offer some remarks illustrative of those passages which speak of the coming of the former as fulfilled in the advent of the latter.

From a promise recorded in the last two verses of the Old Testament, the Jews had naturally imbibed the idea that the prophet Elijah, "Elias," in Greek, would come personally upon earth before the advent of their expected Messiah or Christ. Hence when John the Baptist appeared, and commenced his career as a religious reformer, "the Jews", as John the Evangelist informs us, "sent Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who art thou?" And when he had "confessed" that he was "not the Christ," they asked him, "What then? Art thou Elias?" To which he unequivocally responded, "I am not." And yet, according to an other evangelist, it was actually declared by the very Christ himself that John was Elias. 1

The apparent contradiction which these statements present, will wholly disappear by duly considering certain circumstances:

1 John i. 19-21; Matt. xi. 14; xvii. 13.

1. An angel had prophesied to Zacharias, that his son John should go before the Lord" in the spirit and power of Elias; also, that he should

turn the hearts of the fathers to the children," &c.; and this last is the very work which, according to Malachi, was to be done by Elijah the prophet. 1

2. When we read of the Priests and Levites going to ask John who he was, we are very carefully informed that his questioners were "of the Pharisees," who, as we have seen, held the doctrine of the transmigration of souls.

In the light of the above-mentioned circumstances, the following view of the subject would seem to be the correct one:

When the Baptist denied being Elias, he merely denied that the soul or spirit of "Elijah the Tishbite" inhabited his body. But when Jesus affirmed that John was Elias, he affirmed that he was so in the Scriptural sense, by manifesting that prophet's spirit and power, which is to say, his manner, and his efficiency. He was Elias, in the sense intended in Malachi. He was not Elias, in the sense in which that prediction was understood by many of the Jews at the time of John's appearance.

With the above view of the case, how interesting to note that the evangelist, when he tells of John's being questioned as to who he was, takes pains to add, as we have before said, what may have often been deemed a worthless remark, " And those who were sent were of the Pharisees."

How careful also was Jesus to qualify his declaration as to John's being Elias! "If ye will receive it," said he,—that is, if you will take what I am about to say in the right sense,-"this is Elias who was to come."

1 Luke i. 17; Mal. iv. 5, 6.

2 John i. 24.

CHAPTER II.

SCRIPTURAL

DEFINITIONS;

.

OR REMARKS UPON THE SCRIPTURAL USAGE AND SIGNIFICATIONS OF CERTAIN WORDS AND PHRASES EMPLOYED BY THE SCRIPTURE WRITERS IN CONNECTION WITH THE SUBJECT OF THE AFTER-DEATH LIFE AND ITS RELATIONS.

[It not unfrequently happens that an author's meaning is sadly misapprehended from the fact of his neglecting to acquaint his readers in what sense he uses some particular word or words of doubtful import. The writing of this, and of several subsequent chapters, has been undertaken partly on this account, the author of the present work being greatly desirous that his language shall be properly and fully understood.]

The spirit or soul of man is that entity which possesses and exercises the faculty of thinking, whose organ is the body as a whole. In other words, "the soul" or "the spirit" of a man, is the man himself, considered apart from his bodily organization. Yet the words "spirit" and "soul,' like the Greek terms so rendered, are used in a variety of significations, both in the Scriptures and elsewhere. (Note. In this work, I use those terms in the sense above specified, unless I intimate to the contrary.)

πνευμα

The Greek word usually rendered "spirit" is пvενμа-pneuma, primarily denoting wind, from the verb pneo, to blow. As employed in the New Testa ment, pneuma signifies, for the most part, spirit ; a spiritual being; a spiritual influence; temper of

mind. It is once rendered "wind;" "The wind bloweth where it listeth." (John iii. 8.) In one passage, it has the sense of apparition, or unreal appearance. Thus,

In Luke's Gospel, we are told that when Jesus showed himself to His disciples in the evening of the day of his resurrection, they, at first, were very greatly frightened, supposing Him to be "a spirit;" and that, upon this, He showed them his hands and his feet, reasoned with them in regard to their fears, invited them to handle him, and said, a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have.". Here pneuma seems to be twice used for phantasma, the word made use of by both Matthew and Mark in relating that the disciples, in great terror, cried out, "It is a spirit," when they saw Jesus walking on the sea.2 Phantasma imports phantasm, phantom, apparition, special illusion, &c. The Greek word usually rendered "soul" is yvyn — psuche, frequently Anglicised into psyche, - primarily denoting breath, from the verb psucho, to breathe. As used in the New Testament, it denotes soul, as synonymous with spirit; a person; a living creature or animal; one's own self; human bodily life. In one place in the Common Version, it is twice rendered "life" in one sentence; and then, in the next sentence, is twice rendered "soul." 3

The expressions "my soul," "his soul," &c., are sometimes scripturally put for the mere pronouns, I, me, he, him, &c. Thus Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemane, instead of saying, "I am exceedingly sorrowful," &c., employed the style of the ancient prophets, and, to his three attendant disciples, emphatically, plaintively, pleadingly said, "My soul

1 Luke xxiv. 37-39. 2 Matt. xiy. 26; Mark vi. 49, 3 Matt. xvi. 25, 26