have been in hades, the intermediate spiritual world: and in this case it is called a prison, simply because it is there where the spirits of the departed are received, and as it were held in custody until the time of their judgment is accomplished; and, no doubt, those to whom the Lord preached were "prisoners of hope," whom, in the process of His judgment, He mercifully released, and conducted into heaven. The same apostle relates another remarkable circumstance, which cannot be explained without the admission of the existence of an intermediate region in the spiritual world. When Christianity was established, David had been dead upwards of a thousand years; and yet Peter declared that in his time David had not ascended into the heavens.[1] Doubtless he was still a living spirit, and it will hardly be admitted that he was consigned to the kingdom of the lost. Where, then, had he been residing during that long period after the decease of his body? If it was not in either of the two kingdoms intended for the final destination[2] of the evil and the good, it must, most certainly, have been in hades, the intermediate region. The case of Samuel, when seen by Saul and the woman of Endor, is somewhat parallel. Samuel had passed by ordinary death from the natural world, and yet he was seen
- ↑ Acts ii. 34.
- ↑ In speaking of the final destination, it may be useful to make this point clear and emphatic, because it has been supposed by some, no doubt from a benevolent wish, that the condition of the lost is not eternal. The following beautiful passage from Swedenborg appears to us to be quite conclusive on the point. "The life of man cannot be changed after death, but must for ever remain such as it had been in the world; for the quality of man's spirit is in every respect the same as that of his love, and infernal love can never be transformed into heavenly love, because they are in direct opposition to each other. This is what is meant by the words of Abraham's address to the rich man in hell:
