CHAPTER I. 



PROOFS OF A FUTURE STATE FROM THE LIGHT OF NATURE. 



THE evidences of a future state which the light 

 of reason affords, though not so clear and de 

 cisive as those which are derived from divine 

 revelation, are worthy of the serious considera 

 tion of every one in whose mind the least doubt 

 remains on this important subject. The con 

 viction they are calculated to produce, when 

 attentively weighed, is sufficient to leave every 

 one without excuse who trifles with the concerns 

 of his future destiny, and overlooks his relation 

 to the eternal world. Though the Deity is in 

 visible to mortal eyes, yet his existence and per 

 fections are clearly demonstrated by his visible 

 operations, and he has not left himself without a 

 witness to his beneficence, in any age, &quot; in his 

 giving rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, 

 and filling our hearts with food and gladness.&quot; 

 In like manner, though the realities of a future 

 world are not presented directly to the eye of 

 sense, yet the faculties with which man is en 

 dowed, when properly exercised on all the phy 

 sical and moral scenes which the universe dis 

 plays, are sufficient to evince the high degree of 

 probability, if not absolute certainty, that his 

 duration and his sphere of action are not con 

 fined to the narrow limits of the present world, 

 but have a relation to a future and an immortal 

 existence. In illustrating this topic, I shall 

 waive the consideration of several of those meta 

 physical arguments which have been adduced by 

 philosophers and divines, founded on the imma 

 teriality of the human soul, and confine myself 

 chiefly to those popular considerations, which 

 are level to every capacity, and, perhaps, more 

 convincing than the subtle and refined disquisi 

 tions of metaphysical minds. 



SECTION I. 



ON THE UNIVERSAL BELIEF WHICH THE 

 DOCTRINE OF IMMORTALITY HAS OBTAINED 

 IN ALL AGES. 



It forms a presumptive proof of the immor 

 tality of man, that this doctrine has obtained 

 universal belief among all nations, and in every 

 period of time. 



That the thinking principle in man is of an 

 immortal nature, was believed by the ancient 

 Egyptians, the Persians, the Phenicians, the 

 Scythians, the Celts, the Druids, the Assyrians, 

 by the wisest and the most celebrated charac 

 ters among the Greeks and Romans, and by al 



most every other ancient nation and tribe who* 

 records have reached our times. The notions, 

 indeed, which many of them entertained of the 

 scenes of futurity were very obscure and imper 

 fect ; but they all embraced the idea, that death 

 is not the destruction of the rational soul, but 

 only its introduction to a new and unknown state 

 of existence. The ancient Scythians believed 

 that death was only a change of habitation ; and 

 the Magian sect, which prevailed in Babylonia, 

 Media, Assyria, and Persia, admitted the doc 

 trine of eternal rewards and punishments. The 

 doctrines taught by the second Zoroaster, who 

 lived in the time of Darius, were, &quot; that there 

 is one Supreme Being, independent and self-ex 

 istent from all eternity ; that under him there are 

 two angels, one the angel of light, who is the 

 author of all good ; and the other the angel of 

 darkness, who is the author of all evil : that they 

 are in a perpetual struggle with each other ; that 

 where the angel of light prevails, there good 

 reigns; and that where the angel of darkness 

 prevails, there evil takes place; that this strug 

 gle shall continue to the end of the world : that 

 then there shall be a general resurrection and a 

 day of judgment, wherein all shall receive a just 

 retribution, according to their works. After 

 which, the angel of darkness and his disciples 

 shall go into a world of their own, where they 

 shall suffer, in everlasting darkness, the punish 

 ment of their evil deeds ; and the angel of light 

 and his disciples shall also go into a world of 

 their own, where they shall receive, in everlast 

 ing light, the reward due to their good deeds ; 

 that after this they shall remain separated for 

 ever, and light and darkness be no more mixed 

 to all eternity.&quot;* The remains of this sect, 

 which are scattered over Persia and India, still 

 hold the same doctrines, without any variation, 

 even at this day. 



It is well known, that Plato, Socrates, and other 

 Greek philosophers, held the doctrine of the 

 soul s immortality. In his admirable dialogue, 

 entitled, &quot; The Phaedon,&quot; Plato represents So 

 crates, a little before his death, encompassed with 

 a circle of philosophers, and discoursing with 

 them on the arguments which prove the eternal 

 destiny of man. &quot; When the dead,&quot; says he, 

 &quot; are arrived at the rendezvous of departed souls, 

 whither their angel conducts them, they are all 

 judged. Those who have passed their lives in a 

 manner neither entirely criminal, nor absolutely 



Rollins Ancient History, vol. li. 



