Page:Anastasis A Treatise on the Judgment of the Dead.pdf/2



treatise on and  owes its existence to the urgent request of friends in Detroit, who heard the substance of it orally delivered there at a private meeting. The exposition on that occasion was deemed highly satisfactory; and they determined that I should not rest until they obtained it in the present form. I was the less disposed to refuse compliance when I considered the importance of the subject, the little information possessed upon it, the nearness of its development, and the "signs of the times" indicative thereof. In the present state of the public mind it is a subject very difficult to present in such a form, that he who runs may read it intelligibly. My aim has been to set it forth with all possible simplicity, that the reader might be instructed; his faith, if he have any, enlarged and strengthened; and his conduct purified by the conviction so sublime and terrible a wonder cannot fail to produce in a well balanced and judicious mind.

But some may be prompted to enquire, Is it necessary to understand all the details of the Resurrection and Judgment in order to possess the faith which justifies? In reply, I would say, if it were necessary, there would scarcely be found, in this generation, a corporal's guard of justified believers. I apprehend that if a person heartily believe in "the resurrection of the just and the unjust," and that both these classes will appear in the presence of the Righteous Judge, "to give account of themselves to him," their understanding so far is sound upon these two first principles; but if on the contrary, he deny the resurrection of "the unjust," or saints of the Sardian type, and repudiate the citation of the righteous to judgment, saying that there is no other judgment for them than what they are subjected to in the present state; and that they will not be called upon to give account: I can only say for myself, that I had rather never have been born than appear in the Divine Presence with such a tradition. It would not be difficult to make out against such, a case of constructive treason to the truth. But this is neither my purpose nor desire. "Judge nothing," says Paul, "before the time until the Lord come, Who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness,