The Faith as Unfolded by Many Prophets/Of Reward and Punishment
OF REWARD AND PUNISHMENT.
As Eber aud Havilah passed along the street, they heard voices of wailing from a dwelling which had been the abode of Nathan the Jew.
Nathan is dead, said Havilah; and in this place, where he has so often stilled the cries of the sorrowful, their mourning is renewed because he has departed. Tears now are shed abundantly where he scattered blessings, and gloom has descended on many souls to whom his eye was as a light in the midst of darkness. Behold how sorrowful are the faces of the poor who come to his door to pray for help for themselves, as they have often prayed for blessings on him! There shall be mourning in all the city for him this day, though he was an Infidel.
Eber replied: The young men came to learn wisdom of Nathan, and even the fathers of the people sought his counsel. O that I had entered his dwelling as often as he invited me!—that I had prized his friendship more, while it was to be found! He is gone, and the remembrance of his wisdom and his benignity is all that remains.
Then Eber was silent, and his friend also; for their hearts were heavy.—When they had left the city and were come where no one saw them, Havilah sat down and wept. His friend looked on his excessive grief with wonder and sorrow, and strove to console him.
Why is it, my friend, he said, that one who was not the friend of Nathan, mourns more for him than one who was? Thou hast not, as I, conversed with him in his dwelling, or walked with him in the field, or reasoned concerning God and his ways towards man; yet thy sorrow is as for a brother. Explain this to me.
Not alone, said Havilah, do I mourn for the poor and helpless of the city, for there are others who will relieve and protect them; nor chiefly because one so wise is taken from us, for he taught of his wisdom to many who will not let his words be forgotton. Nor do I fear for his household; they will console themselves with remembering what he was, and will talk together of the hour when they hope to meet him again. — My sorrow is for Nathan himself. Eber answered gravely. Does my friend afflict himself with the superstitions which I pitied Aza for believing? Dost thou fear for the departed the beating of the sepulchre, or the torment of excessive heat while waiting for judgment, or the danger of the narrow way over the abyss?
Alas! I fear worse things than these.
What are the blessings which wait upon righteousness, cried Eber, if the lot of the righteous after death can be so fearful? Nathan loved God, and served him with all his heart: he was just towards man, and was as a father or a brother to all whom he could assist. He was pure in his life, and fervent in his hope of a better state. — Does not the blessing of God rest on the grave of such a man, as well as on his house?
Nay, replied Havilah, but he was an Infidel: and the Book says concerning the Jewish unbelievers, 'Do ye therefore believe in part of the book of the Law, and reject other part thereof? But whoso among you doeth this, shall have no other reward than shame in this life, and on the day of resurrection they shall be sent to a most grievous punishment; for God is not regardless of that which ye do. These are they who have purchased this present life at the price of that which is to come; wherefore their punishment shall not be mitigated, neither shall they be helped[1].' And when there was a dispute between the Faithful and the Jews, whether God showed most favor to those who lived under the Old Law or those who received the New, these words were revealed to the Prophet: 'These are two opposite parties who dispute concerning their Lord. And they who believe not shall have garments of fire fitted unto them, boiling water shall be poured on their heads, and they shall be beaten with maces of iron. So often as they shall endeavor to get out of hell because of the anguish of their torments, they shall be dragged back into the same; and it shall be said unto them, Taste ye the pain of burning[2].'
Truly, said Eber, of such as disbelieve through wickedness is this said. There are some who forget God, and delight in sin all their lives long; for such there is a dreadful punishment: There are also some who will not believe that there is a Judge on high, though their spirits tremble before him in the midst of their guilt; for such there is a fearful account: There are yet others who are careless concerning the truth and who think themselves safe in their own righteousness without inquiring into the will of God; for such there shall be a day when the eyes of their minds shall be opened with great astonishment and fear.—But Nathan was among none of these.
Yet was he an unbeliever; and for unbelievers there is no hope.
That Nathan remained a Jew, replied Eber, I ever felt, as I feel now, surprise and sorrow. To himself I have often said this, and he heard me patiently. I am persuaded that in this thing he was less wise than in other things; that he knew not all the reasons why Jesus should be believed in as the Messiah, and that he had not examined into this truth as into many others. Yet since his unbelief was not the unbelief of a guilty heart, but of a prejudiced mind, I fear not for him the doom of the wicked.
The Prophet has said, replied Havilah, that there is no guilt so great as that of unbelief: therefore may the sins of the Faithful be pardoned when the virtues of Infidels avail them nothing.
This then is the reason, answered Eber, that my friend has no hope for Nathan, while for Sachem he spoke but yesterday of forgiveness and future peace. Yet Sachem was indevout, and cruel, and given to excess: no man loved him, and the poor rejoiced in his death.
Havilah replied, Sachem spoke the name of Mohammed ere he died, and he shall therefore be forgiven. Does my friend believe that any man to whom God had sent his Prophets and his Law,—any man whom he had made capable of knowing the high things of religion,—any man whose soul could receive the truth, can be confined in the fires of hell for ever?
Surely not, replied Eber. If it were so, then would God forget his mercy, and men could no longer love him as their Father: for he knows the issues of all things from the beginning, and whatsoever is in the hearts of men is his work, and he will not recompense evil for ever and ever. Therefore I also hope for Sachem, that when he shall have received his full punishment, he shall be prepared for a pure and happy life:—but for Nathan I have yet a greater hope.
Compare not a Jew with the meanest of the Faithful, said Havilah.
Mohammed himself compared them, said Eber, when he gave judgment in favor of a Jew, and against one of his own followers: and it is forbidden to no one to reason of God's providence towards his children. I therefore declare my belief, that the faith of such men as Sachem will not lessen the punishment of their guilt, since it did not preserve them from guilt: but I also feel assured that the wisdom of Nathan, however great, would have been greater; his virtues, however exalted, more exalted; and his hope, however serene, yet more firm, if he had received the Gospel and taken to himself its blessings and its promises. When I shall meet with a Christian as virtuous as Nathan, I shall think him more blessed, and shall await his judgment with a more exalted hope.
Havilah replied, This condemnation of unbelievers was not then one of the things which Mohammed learned of Christ?
There are words in the Gospel, replied Eber, which Mohammed may have misinterpreted, as many Christians do at this day, supposing them to be spoken of the state after death, instead of the reception of the Gospel in the world. But that Jesus and his followers believed that all men should finally be blessed, appears from the many promises they gave that holiness and peace should at length conquer sin and woe, and that every soul should rejoice finally in the grace of God through Christ Jesus. The punishment which they threatened was for the impious and the impure, and not for those who, like Nathan, fulfilled the Law while they understood it not. Great and terrible beyond what we can conceive shall be the retribution of the judgment-day, and the woe which shall succeed unto those, whatever be their faith, whose guilt shall be made known; but, as surely as God is good, to none shall that woe be eternal.
Yet, replied Havilah, there is consolation for such as fear for Sachem and pity him: they may pray for him; but for unbelievers we may not pray.
Eber looked at his friend surprised, and said, Is it not permitted by Mohammed to pray for the miserable and for the guilty? and are not Infidels esteemed miserable and guilty?
While Infidels live, answered Havilah, all may pray for them, because there is hope: but when they are known to be condemned, we may no longer pray for them. Since Sachem died in the faith of the Prophet, there is hope that his punishment may be remitted; but from unbelief there is no redemption, when once the breath has departed: as the Book declares; 'If thou ask forgiveness for them seventy times, God will by no means forgive them[3].'
I doubt not, replied Eber, that the guilty shall suffer for his guilt, though every living voice should cry out for mercy upon him: but that punishment, however fearful, shall not in any case be everlasting, I am assured, if the Scriptures are to be believed. Did not Mohammed teach that the woes which follow sin shall purify from sin, so that happiness shall be enjoyed at last?
Even so, replied Havilah, when they who have been punished shall be brought forth from amidst the flames[4], they shall be bathed in the rivers of Paradise, till they shall be as pure as the blessed themselves.
How said the Prophet that the blessed obtained their bliss?
Not by their own works[5], replied Havilah, since no man's works are wholly pure; but by the gift of God.
This is surely true, replied Eber, since all things are ordered by God, and all blessings are gifts of his love. Did the Prophet teach that all who enter Paradise are equally blessed?
No: it is taught throughout the Book that there will be abodes of more eminent bliss for some than for others; the prophets being more favored than the apostles, and the apostles than the martyrs, and the martyrs than they who have not suffered for the faith. The poor also shall be more blessed than the rich[6].
These things Mohammed learned of the Gospel, said Eber. I have told thee of the parable of the rich man who in this life had his good things, and the poor man who in the next world lay in Abraham's bosom, because in the midst of his sickness and poverty on earth he had remembered Moses and the prophets, and obeyed them. This parable Mohammed no doubt heard; and that Jesus said 'How hard is it for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven!' That some shall be more blessed than others we may also believe, since Paul wrote, that as there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and yet another glory of the stars, and as even one star differeth from another star in glory, so it shall be with the dead when they arise.
Havilah replied, How say the Christians then that the Gospel declares not what shall be the rewards of another life, while the punishments are made known? They agree with the Faithful that torrents of fire are prepared for the wicked. But if we speak of the delights of Paradise, of the gold and silver, and perfumes, or of the water which flows for ever, or of the wine which makes not drunken, or of the tree of immortal fruits, or of any other pleasures which Mohammed has promised, the Christians declare that it is profane to imagine the bliss which yet we most earnestly seek after.
Eber answered, That it is profane to imagine the pleasures for which we hope, I do not believe; but rather that it is well pleasing to God that our thoughts should be much there where we desire to be when we die. Believing this, it is my delight to hope for those things hereafter which now yield me the most happiness, doubting not that every pleasure shall be exalted and purified and increased, in a measure which I cannot yet understand; — as your Prophet has said, after Isaiah and Paul, that 'no eye hath seen, or ear heard, or heart conceived, what bliss is prepared for those who love God.' The Gospel leaves every man free thus to imagine what are the rewards of heaven, for it is certain that no assurance is given there by which we may know what shall be done.
How then hast thou learned that the blessed shall differ one from another in glory, like the lights of heaven?
Because not only has Paul declared this, but there are many assurances that as men sow they shall reap, and that according to their deeds they shall be rewarded. I know, therefore, that the most faithful and pure shall be the most happy: but wherein their happiness shall consist we are nowhere told.
Then all Christians believe not alike concerning the happiness for which they hope? It is thus with the Faithful; some of whom delight themselves with the expectation of the fruits and waters of life, and others of the splendor of the dwellings, and others of the sports which no evil accidents shall interrupt; while there are yet others (among whom I am one) who believe that all these enjoyments shall be forgotten in the higher bliss of beholding the face of God morning and evening[7]. This is surely the superabundant recompense which the Book promises, but which it has not explained.
Does not my friend perceive, replied Eber, that if the Book had been from God, it would have promised the superabundant recompense alone, as the Gospel has done, so that all men in all countries and in all times might have an equal share in its promises? To me it is plain that this one promise which Mohammed learned from the Gospel is the only promise concerning future bliss in which the Prophet is to be believed. All the other delights which he has described are from his own imagination; and though he was free to imagine paradise as it seemed to him most fair and precious, it is impious to deliver to others as a revelation from God the fancies which have sprung up in a man's own thoughts. I am persuaded that Mohammed did thus, because the paradise which he described would not be a paradise to many, unless they imagine for themselves the nature of the superabundant recompense of which he spoke. There are men who dwell in lands where the cold is excessive; such would not think with delight on the cooling streams of paradise, like the thirsty traveller in the desert. There are many who eat nothing but the flesh of beasts, and who know not even the names of pomegranates, and grapes, and figs; — what are to them the fruits of paradise? If, as your Prophet supposed, his religion should spread among the inhabitants of these lands, the paradise he describes would not be tempting to them. Again, men who ardently seek after knowledge are indifferent about the ease of their couches and the splendor of their dwellings, and despise the sports in which the ignorant please themselves. — Yet again, men who love holiness above all things, turn from the delights of the eye and the ear, unless so far as these delights nourish the soul. Such men look for purer enjoyments on high than the body can receive; and not only hope to behold the face of God themselves, but that none of their companions shall be satisfied with a bliss less pure. Such regard with disgust the paradise of Mohammed.
Havilah replied, My friend has now spoken many of my own thoughts: but while there are eaters and drinkers in the world, may it not be well to persuade them to become devout, by promising the rewards which will please them most? Is not this the reason why the Book speaks so fully of paradise, leaving liberty to the wise to hope as they will?
Eber replied, In the Gospel this end is gained without degrading the promises of God. It is sufficient to promise, on the sure word of God, that the bliss of the righteous shall be great: — then they who endeavor to become righteous will not only hope for the highest bliss they can conceive, but will conceive of a higher and a higher perpetually. Thy child now desires to taste of the rivers of honey in paradise, and to gather up the precious stones which shall there be scattered sparkling in the sunshine. When he is a youth, his imagination will prepare for him an abode where the beautiful daughters of paradise may dwell with him. When he becomes a man, he will rather hope for the delights of friendship than of love, and will expect such improvement in knowledge as his maturer mind desires. When he shall be yet older, he will above all things delight, as thou, in the thought of beholding the face of God morning and evening ; and it may even be that his father and himself may yet desire (not a higher bliss, for a higher cannot be conceived, but) other pure delights connected with this. Thus it may be with him and thee before the day of death. Thus it might be with all, had less been told in the Book concerning paradise: but there are many who, having arrived at the hope of enjoying the grosser delights, carry their desires no higher, saying, 'It is thus written, — and hath not our Prophet revealed the truth?' How shall Mohammed answer at the judgment-day if such say unto him, 'Behold, we are the meanest and the least blessed of all who are admitted to paradise. There is more joy among the holy, more joy among the wise, than there is for us. If thou hadst not tempted us with these meaner joys, we had been happier.' — Such complaint can no one make against the Gospel: each shall be blessed according as he has power to enjoy, and praise shall therefore abound from all.
Even from the condemned, when they shall be purified, added Havilah.
From every living soul, replied Eber, when all shall be purified: but alas for the guilty till that day shall come!
How is it, asked Havilah, that the Gospel declares the punishment of the wicked, while concerning reward it is silent?
Many Christians believe as I, replied Eber, that no more is revealed of the one than of the other. The Scriptures speak sometimes of fire, and sometimes of utter darkness, and sometimes of the worm that feeds for ever: — but whether these things are spoken in a figure, and how often they are said of the misery of the guilty here, and how often of the punishment hereafter, each must judge for himself. It is sufficient to know that nothing can be so awful as the retribution which he is promised, nothing so fearful as the sentence of condemnation, nothing so dreadful as the recompense of anguish to every sinner. It is because I regard this anguish as so dreadful, that I am grieved that my friend should suppose one so wise, so pious, so tender-hearted as Nathan, to have become subject to it.
Far be it from me, said Havilah, to judge any man; but I have ever believed what the Prophet spoke. — As for Nathan, I have often said in my heart, 'Would I were as he in all things, except his unbelief!'
For his unbelief, said Eber, I have ever grieved, and still grieve: but I look for the hour when there shall be no more unbelief in heaven or on earth. Till that hour, it is for those who believe to show by their works how precious is their faith. If Nathan, being a Jew, gave praise to God and blessings to man by his virtuous deeds, — shall not the shame be great to thee and me, if, with a more abundant faith, our good works shall be found less abundant than this?
Thus saying, Eber arose to return, that he might comfort the household of Nathan; while Havilah retired to the place of prayer.