Flavius Josephus

Josephus about Hades

1. Now as to Hades, wherein the souls of the of the good things they
see, and rejoice in the righteous and unrighteous are detained, it is necessary
to speak of it. Hades is a place in the world not regularly finished; a subterraneous
region, wherein the light of this world does not shine; from which circumstance,
that in this region the light does not shine, it cannot be but there must be in
it perpetual darkness. This region is allotted as a place of custody for souls,
ill which angels are appointed as guardians to them, who distribute to them temporary
punishments, agreeable to every one’s behavior and manners.

2. In this region there is a certain place set apart, as a lake of unquenchable
fire, where into we suppose no one hath hitherto been cast; but it is prepared
for a day afore-determined by God, in which one righteous sentence shall deservedly
be passed upon all men; when the unjust, and those that have been disobedient
to God, and have given honor to such idols as have been the vain operations of
the hands of men as to God himself, shall be adjudged to this everlasting punishment,
as having been the causes of defilement; while the just shall obtain an incorruptible
and never-fading kingdom. These are now indeed confined in Hades, but not in the
same place wherein the unjust are confined.

3. For there is one descent into this region, at whose gate we believe
there stands an archangel with an host; which gate when those pass through that
are conducted down by the angels appointed over souls, they do not go the same
way; but the just are guided to the right hand, and are led with hymns, sung by
the angels appointed over that place, unto a region of light, in which the just
have dwelt from the beginning of the world; not constrained by necessity, but
ever enjoying the prospect of the good things they see, and rejoic in the expectation
of those new enjoyments which will be peculiar to every one of them, and esteeming
those things beyond what we have here; with whom there is no place of toil, no
burning heat, no piercing cold, nor are any briers there; but the countenance
of the and of the just, which they see, always smiles them, while they wait for
that rest and eternal new life in heaven, which is to succeed this region. This
place we call The Bosom of Abraham.

4. But as to the unjust, they are dragged by force to the left hand by
the angels allotted for punishment, no longer going with a good-will, but as prisoners
driven by violence; to whom are sent the angels appointed over them to reproach
them and threaten them with their terrible looks, and to thrust them still downwards.
Now those angels that are set over these souls drag them into the neighborhood
of hell itself; who, when they are hard by it, continually hear the noise of it,
and do not stand clear of the hot vapor itself; but when they have a near view
of this spectacle, as of a terrible and exceeding great prospect of fire, they
are struck with a fearful expectation of a future judgment, and in effect punished
thereby: and not only so, but where they see the place [or choir] of the fathers
and of the just, even hereby are they punished; for a chaos deep and large is
fixed between them; insomuch that a just man that hath compassion upon them cannot
be admitted, nor can one that is unjust, if he were bold enough to attempt it,
pass over it.

5. This is the discourse concerning Hades, wherein the souls of all men
are confined until a proper season, which God hath determined, when he will make
a resurrection of all men from the dead, not procuring a transmigration of souls
from one body to another, but raising again those very bodies, which you Greeks,
seeing to be dissolved, do not believe [their resurrection]. But learn not to
disbelieve it; for while you believe that the soul is created, and yet is made
immortal by God, according to the doctrine of Plato, and this in time, be not
incredulous; but believe that God is able, when he hath raised to life that body
which was made as a compound of the same elements, to make it immortal; for it
must never be said of God, that he is able to do some things, and unable to do
others. We have therefore believed that the body will be raised again; for although
it be dissolved, it is not perished; for the earth receives its remains, and preserves
them; and while they are like seed, and are mixed among the more fruitful soil,
they flourish, and what is sown is indeed sown bare grain, but at the mighty sound
of God the Creator, it will sprout up, and be raised in a clothed and glorious
condition, though not before it has been dissolved, and mixed [with the earth].
So that we have not rashly believed the resurrection of the body; for although
it be dissolved for a time on account of the original transgression, it exists
still, and is cast into the earth as into a potter’s furnace, in order to be formed
again, not in order to rise again such as it was before, but in a state of purity,
and so as never to he destroyed any more. And to every body shall its own soul
be restored. And when it hath clothed itself with that body, it will not be subject
to misery, but, being itself pure, it will continue with its pure body, and rejoice
with it, with which it having walked righteously now in this world, and never
having had it as a snare, it will receive it again with great gladness. But as
for the unjust, they will receive their bodies not changed, not freed from diseases
or distempers, nor made glorious, but with the same diseases wherein they died;
and such as they were in their unbelief, the same shall they be when they shall
be faithfully judged.

6. For all men, the just as well as the unjust, shall be brought before
God the word: for to him hath the Father committed all judgment : and he, in order
to fulfill the will of his Father, shall come as Judge, whom we call Christ. For
Minos and Rhadamanthus are not the judges, as you Greeks do suppose, but he whom
God and the Father hath glorified: Concerning whom we have elsewhere given a more
particular account, for the sake of those who seek after truth. This person, exercising
the righteous judgment of the Father towards all men, hath prepared a just sentence
for every one, according to his works; at whose judgment-seat when all men, and
angels, and demons shall stand, they will send forth one voice, and say, Just
Is Thy Judgment; the rejoinder to which will bring a just sentence upon both parties,
by giving justly to those that have done well an everlasting fruition; but allotting
to the lovers of wicked works eternal punishment. To these belong the unquenchable
fire, and that without end, and a certain fiery worm, never dying, and not destroying
the body, but continuing its eruption out of the body with never-ceasing grief:
neither will sleep give ease to these men, nor will the night afford them comfort;
death will not free them from their punishment, nor will the interceding prayers
of their kindred profit them; for the just are no longer seen by them, nor are
they thought worthy of remembrance. But the just shall remember only their righteous
actions, whereby they have attained the heavenly kingdom, in which there is no
sleep, no sorrow, no corruption, no care, no night, no day measured by time, no
sun driven in his course along the circle of heaven by necessity, and measuring
out the bounds and conversions of the seasons, for the better illumination of
the life of men; no moon decreasing and increasing, or introducing a variety of
seasons, nor will she then moisten the earth; no burning sun, no Bear turning
round [the pole], no Orion to rise, no wandering of innumerable stars. The earth
will not then be difficult to be passed over, nor will it he hard to find out
the court of paradise, nor will there be any fearful roaring of the sea, forbidding
the passengers to walk on it; even that will be made easily passable to the just,
though it will not be void of moisture. Heaven will not then be uninhabitable
by men, and it will not be impossible to discover the way of ascending thither.
The earth will not be uncultivated, nor require too much labor of men, but will
bring forth its fruits of its own accord, and will be well adorned with them.
There will be no more generations of wild beasts, nor will the substance of the
rest of the animals shoot out any more; for it will not produce men, but the number
of the righteous will continue, and never fail, together with righteous angels,
and spirits [of God], and with his word, as a choir of righteous men and women
that never grow old, and continue in an incorruptible state, singing hymns to
God, who hath advanced them to that happiness, by the means of a regular institution
of life; with whom the whole creation also will lift up a perpetual hymn from
corruption, to incorruption, as glorified by a splendid and pure spirit. It will
not then be restrained by a bond of necessity, but with a lively freedom shall
offer up a voluntary hymn, and shall praise him that made them, together with
the angels, and spirits, and men now freed from all bondage.

7. And now, if you Gentiles will be persuaded by these motives, and leave
your vain imaginations about your pedigrees, and gaining of riches, and philosophy,
and will not spend your time about subtleties of words, and thereby lead your
minds into error, and if you will apply your ears to the hearing of the inspired
prophets, the interpreters both of God and of his word, and will believe in God,
you shall both be partakers of these things, and obtain the good things that are
to come; you shall see the ascent unto the immense heaven plainly, and that kingdom
which is there. For what God hath now concealed in silence [will be then made
manifest,] what neither eye hath seen, nor ear hath heard, nor hath it entered
into the heart of man, the things that God hath prepared for them that love him.

8. In whatsoever ways I shall find you, in them shall I judge you entirely:
so cries the End of all things. And he who hath at first lived a virtuous lift,
but towards the latter end falls into vice, these labors by him before endured
shall be altogether vain and unprofitable, even as in a play, brought to an ill
catastrophe. Whosoever shall have lived wickedly and luxuriously may repent; however,
there will be need of much time to conquer an evil habit, and even after repentance
his whole life must be guarded with great care and diligence, after the manner
of a body, which, after it hath been a long time afflicted with a distemper, requires
a stricter diet and method of living; for though it may be possible, perhaps,
to break off the chain of our irregular affections at once, yet our amendment
cannot be secured without the grace of God, the prayers of good men, the help
of the brethren, and our own sincere repentance and constant care. It is a good
thing not to sin at all; it is also good, having sinned, to repent; as it is best
to have health always, but it is a good thing to recover from a distemper. To
God be glory and dominion for ever and ever Amen.