Eschatology

 

 

The souls of the departed saints, in conjunction with the holy angels, minister to the heirs of salvation; whereas the souls of the departed wicked, in conjunction with evil angels, inflict death or evils of various kinds on the men who do not know God

 

 

 

John Wesley (1703-1791) taught that the souls of the departed saints, in conjunction with the holy angels, may sometimes minister to the heirs of salvation; whereas the souls of the departed wicked inflict death or evils of various kinds on the men who do not know God. As for the souls of the departed saints, in his sermon On Faith Wesley said: ‘In the meantime, may we not probably suppose that the spirits of the just, though generally lodged in paradise, yet may sometimes, in conjunction with the holy angels, minister to the heirs of salvation? ….. And in how many ways may they minister to the heirs of salvation! Sometimes by counteracting wicked spirits whom we cannot resist because we cannot see them; sometimes by preventing our being hurt by men, or beasts, or inanimate creatures’ (The Works of John Wesley, Volume 4, Nashville 1987, page 191, 197). Instead, as for the souls of the departed wicked he said: ‘Let us consider, first, what may be the employment of unholy spirits from death to resurrection. We cannot doubt but the moment they leave the body they find themselves surrounded by spirits of their own kind, probably human as well as diabolical. What power God may permit these to exercise over them we do not distinctly know. But it is not improbable he may suffer Satan to employ them, as he does his own angels, in inflicting death or evils of various kinds on the men that know not God. For this end they may raise storms by sea or by land, they may shoot meteors through the air. They may occasion earthquakes …. Where they are not permitted to take away life, they may inflict various diseases ….. May not some of these evil spirits be likewise employed in conjunction with evil angels in tempting wicked men to sin, and in procuring occasion for them? Yea, and in tempting good men to sin, even after they had escaped the corruption that is in the world? Herein doubtless they put forth all their strength …’ (Ibid., pages 193-194).

 

Confutation

 

According to the Holy Scriptures, when the righteous dies he enters into peace, that is to say, he enters into the heavenly Kingdom of God where God makes peace. In this Kingdom he is in the presence of God, who sits on the throne, as well as in the presence of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God; and he is together with myriads of angels and all the departed saints. For Paul said that to him to be absent from the body was to be present with the Lord, and thus he had a great desire to depart from his body and be with the Lord (cf. Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8); and John saw under the altar which is in heaven the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God, crying with a loud voice asking God when He would avenge their blood on those who dwelt on the earth (cf. Revelation 6:9-10). That is the state of the souls of the righteous after death. Can the souls of the righteous appear to those who are on the earth? According to the teaching of the Scripture, by God’s will on certain occasions they can. For instance, when Jesus was transfigured Moses (who had died more than one thousand years before) and Elijah appeared in glory and talked with Jesus (cf. Luke 9:30-31), and the apostles, who were with Jesus on the holy mountain, saw and heard Moses and Elijah. In addition, as we saw before, John saw in a vision the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God and he heard them speak (cf. Revelation 6:9-11). Therefore, we can’t exclude the possibility that they might appear to some people by God’s will. However, usually God, in order to deliver a specific message to some unbelievers or some saints, causes Jesus Christ to appear, as in the case of Saul of Tarsus, who, while he was going to Damascus to persecute the saints, saw in a vision Jesus who spoke to him (cf. Acts 9:3-6; 22:14); and many years after that vision, while he was in Jerusalem, he saw Jesus Christ in a vision who comforted him (cf. Acts 23:11). Another way God delivers special messages to some people is by causing an angel to appear to them, as in the case of Cornelius, when he was still unsaved, to whom God sent an angel to tell him to call for the apostle Peter (cf. Acts 10:1-8), or in the case of Philip the evangelist to whom God sent an angel to tell him to go toward the south along the road that went down from Jerusalem to Gaza (cf. Acts 8:26).

As for the being who appeared to John on the isle of Patmos, he was not the soul of a righteous who had lived on the earth, for the Scripture clearly says that he was an angel, as it is written: “Then the angel said to me, ‘Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ And he added, ‘These are the true words of God’. At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus! Worship God!” (Revelation 19:9-10 – NIV), and again: “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches” (Revelation 22:16 – NIV).

As for the possibility that the souls of the saints might fight against the evil spirits and keep the living, the Scripture excludes it for it is the angels who do these things in obedience to the command of God. It is written: “The angels of the Lord encamp around those who fear Him, and they deliver them” (Psalm 34:7 – Italian Bible, Diodati Version. Translated by myself), and again: “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways” (Psalm 91:11 – NIV). In the book of Revelation we read that John saw Michael and his angels fighting with the devil and his angels; there were no souls of the righteous who fought with the devil and his angels (cf. Revelation 12:7-9).

As for the souls of the wicked, the Scripture does not teach at all what Wesley taught, for they are all in Hades, where they are tormented, and where they are waiting for the judgement day, and from where they can’t come out to bring their messages to the living nor to avenge themselves on those who are on the earth or to strike people with diseases. It is sufficient to read the story of the rich man and Lazarus told by Jesus to understand all this, for that rich man, who was tormented in Hades, could not come out of that place for any reason (cf. Luke 16:19-31). On the earth the devil and his demons work evil things; the devil tempts, incites people to do evil things, strikes people with diseases and he even kills some people (cf. Matthew 4:1-11; 1 Chronicles 21:1; Job 2:7; John 8:44). Demons attacks men, pursuing what is evil for them and seeking to possess them in order to manifest through their bodies (cf. 1 Samuel 16:14-23, Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 9:14-27). That’s what we learn from the Bible. Nowhere does the Bible state that some souls of the departed wicked are employed in conjunction with demons in tempting both wicked men and good men to sin or in inflicting death or evils of various kinds on the men that know not God.

So, brothers, I warn you against this doctrine which holds that the souls of the departed saints, in conjunction with the holy angels, minister to the heirs of salvation, whereas the souls of the departed wicked, in conjunction with evil angels, inflict death or evils of various kinds on the men who do not know God, for it is inconsistent with the teaching of the Scripture, thus it must be rejected.

 

 

 

 

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