CHAPTER XIII

OF THE TWELFTH ARTICLE

“LIFE EVERLASTING”

QUESTION I

Why this Article of Faith is placed last, and how important it is that it be frequently expounded to the People

With this article touching eternal life the holy apostles, our leaders, thought fit to conclude the Creed, in which the summary of our faith is contained, first, because, after the resurrection of the body, the only remaining object of hope to the faithful is the reward of everlasting life; and secondly, in order that that perfect happiness, embracing as it does the fulness of all good things, may ever be present to our eyes, and that we may be taught to absorb all our thoughts and affections therein. Hence, in instructing the faithful, pastors must unceasingly endeavour to inflame their souls with the proposed rewards of eternal life; that they may look upon the greatest difficulties, which are to be undergone in the cause of the Christian name, as light and agreeable to God, and may yield a more ready and cheerful obedience to God.

QUESTION II

What is here intended by “life everlasting”

But as, under these words, which are here used to declare the happiness reserved for us, many mysteries lie concealed, they are to be explained in such a manner as to make them intelligible to all, as far as their respective capacities may permit. The faithful, therefore, are to be admonished, that these words, life everlasting, signify not only that perpetuity of existence, to which the devils and the wicked are also consigned, but likewise that perpetuity of happiness, which is to fulfil the desires of the blessed. And in this sense they were understood by that lawyer mentioned in the Gospel, who asked the Redeemer: Good master, what shall I do to possess everlasting life? As if he had said, What shall I do, in order to arrive at that place, where it may be permitted me to enjoy everlasting happiness? And in this sense these words are understood in the Sacred Volumes, as may be seen in many passages of Scripture.

QUESTION III

Why that Supreme Happiness is called Life everlasting

The supreme happiness of the blessed is designated by this name, principally to prevent any one supposing that it consists in corporeal and transitory things, which cannot be everlasting. To express this idea, even the word blessedness were insufficient, particularly as there have not been wanting men, who, inflated with the opinions of a false philosophy, would place the supreme good in things perceived by the senses; but these grow old and perish, whilst blessedness terminates with no boundary of time. Nay more, so far are the goods of this life from [conferring] real happiness, that, on the contrary, he is farthest removed from its enjoyment, who is captivated by a love of, and a longing after the world. For it is written: Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world; if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him; and a little after: The world passeth away and the lusts thereof. Pastors, therefore, will be careful diligently to impress these truths on the minds of the faithful, that they may learn to despise mortal things, and to know that in this world, in which we are not citizens, but sojourners, happiness is not to be attained. Yet, even here below we may with reason be said to be happy in hope: if renouncing ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, and righteously, and godly, in this world; looking for that blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Many, who seemed to themselves wise, not understanding these things, and imagining that happiness was to be sought for in this life, became fools, and fell into the most deplorable calamities. But these words, life everlasting, also give us to understand that, contrary to the false notions entertained by some, happiness once attained can never be lost. For happiness is an accumulation of all goods without any admixture of evil, which, as it fills up the measure of man’s desires, necessarily consists in eternal life; for he who is happy cannot but earnestly desire that he may perpetually enjoy the goods which he has obtained. Were not that possession, therefore, permanent and certain, he would necessarily be tormented by extreme agony of dread.

QUESTION IV

Eternal Happiness is inexpressible and incomprehensible

But the greatness of the happiness which the blessed enjoy while dwelling in the heavenly country, and its utter incomprehensibility to all but to themselves alone, are sufficiently set forth by our use of the words happy life. For when, to express any idea, we make use of a word which is common to many others, we do so, as we may easily understand, because a proper term is wanting by which fully to express that idea. When, therefore, happiness is expressed by words which are equally applicable to all, who are to live for ever, as well as to the blessed, we are led to infer that the idea presented to the mind is something too great and exalted to be conveyed perfectly by a proper term. For although the happiness of heaven is expressed in Scripture by a variety of other words, such as the kingdom of God, of Christ, of heaven, Paradise, the holy city, the new Jerusalem, my Father’s house, yet it is clear that none of these appellations is sufficient to convey an adequate idea of its greatness. Pastors, therefore, will not neglect the opportunity which this passage presents, of inviting the faithful to the practice of piety, justice, and all the duties of the Christian religion, by [holding out to them] such ample rewards as are announced in the words life everlasting.

Amongst the blessings which we instinctively desire, life is undoubtedly reckoned one of the greatest; but by it principally, when we say life everlasting, is happiness defined. If then there is nothing more dearly loved, nothing which is more fondly cherished, nothing more pleasant than this short and calamitous life, subject though it be to so many and such various miseries, so as more truly to deserve to be called death; with what zeal of soul, with what earnestness of purpose, should we not seek that eternal life, which, all evils being at an end, contains the perfect and absolute aggregate of all goods? For the happiness of eternal life, according to the holy Fathers, is an exemption from all evils, and a fruition of all goods. That it is [an exemption] from all evils, the Scriptures declare in the clearest terms; for it is written in the Revelation, They shall not hunger nor thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat; and again, God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow, shall there be any more, for the former things have passed away. But the glory of the blessed shall be without measure, and their various solid joys and pleasures without number. The magnitude of this glory our intellect is altogether incapable of containing, nor can it at all penetrate into our souls; whence it is necessary for us to enter into it, that is, into the joy of the Lord, that immersed therein we may abundantly satisfy the desires of the soul.

QUESTION V

What kinds of goods the Blessed chiefly enjoy

But although, as St. Augustine writes, it would seem easier to enumerate the evils from which we shall be exempt, than the goods and the pleasures which we shall enjoy; yet we must endeavour to explain, briefly and clearly, those things that are calculated to inflame the faithful with a desire of attaining this supreme felicity. But it will be necessary first to make use of a distinction, which has been sanctioned by the most eminent writers on divine matters. Now they assert that there are two sorts of goods, one a constituent of the nature, the other an accompaniment, of happiness itself; and hence they have termed the former essential, the latter accessory.

QUESTION VI

In what consists the Essential and Primary Cause of Eternal Happiness

Now solid happiness, which we may designate by the common appellation essential, consists in the fact of our beholding God, and enjoying the beauty of him, who is the source and principle of all goodness and perfection: This, says Christ our Lord, is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. These sentiments St. John seems to interpret, when he says: Beloved! now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. We know that when He shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him even as he is. For he [thereby] signifieth that [supreme] happiness consists of two things, to see God such as he is in his nature and substance, and to become [ourselves] as it were gods. For those who enjoy that [vision], although they retain their own substance, do yet assume a certain admirable and almost divine form, so as to seem gods rather than men.

QUESTION VII

In what manner the Blessed do, after a fashion, put on the Form and Nature of God

Why this is the case becomes at once intelligible, if we consider that everything is known from its essence, or from its resemblance and external appearance. And since nothing resembles God, so as that by that resemblance we may arrive at a perfect knowledge of him, it follows that no creature can behold his nature and essence, unless this same divine essence be united with us. This the words of the apostle signify: We now see through a glass in an obscure manner, but then, face to face. The words in a dark manner St. Augustine interprets to mean, that we see him in a resemblance, suited to understanding God. This St. Dionysius also clearly shows, when he affirms, that the things above cannot be known by any resemblance between them and the things below; for the essence and substance of things incorporeal cannot be known through a resemblance between them and things corporeal; especially as a resemblance must have less of grossness and be more spiritual than those things which they represent, as we easily know from general experience. Since, then, it is impossible to find a resemblance of anything created, equally pure and spiritual with God himself, it follows that no resemblance can enable us perfectly to understand the essence of God. Furthermore, all created things are circumscribed within certain limits of perfection: but God is infinite, and therefore the likeness of any created thing cannot comprehend his immensity. The only means left, therefore, of arriving at a knowledge of the divine substance is that it unite itself to us; and, after an incredible manner, elevate our understanding to a higher state of perfection, and that we be thus rendered capable of contemplating the beauty of his nature.

QUESTION VIII

The Blessed are illumined with the Light of Glory, and all ought to be moved, with all their hopes, towards the Sight of God

This by the light of glory we shall accomplish when, illumined by its splendour, we shall see God, the true light, in his own light; for the blessed always see God present; and by this greatest and most exalted of all gifts, being made partakers of the divine essence, they attain true and solid happiness. Our belief of this truth should be joined with a certain hope of one day arriving at the same, through the divine goodness; according to these words of the Nicene Creed: I expect the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

QUESTION IX

The Manner in which Man is joined to God in bliss is expressed by a comparison

These are things altogether divine, which cannot be expressed by any words, or comprehended in human conception. Of this happiness we however may trace some resemblance even in sensible objects; for as iron, when acted on by fire, becomes igneous, and, whilst its substance remains the same, seems changed into a certain different substance; so they, to wit, who are admitted into the glory of heaven, and who are kindled with a love of God, although they cease not to be the same, are yet affected in such a manner, as that they may be said with truth to differ much more from those that are in this life, than glowing iron differs from that which contains no influence of heat. To comprise all, then, in a few words, that supreme and absolute bliss, which we call essential, is to be placed in the possession of God; for what can that man want to consummate happiness, who possesses God, the best and most perfect?

QUESTION X

Of the Accidental Goods with which the Blessed abound

To this happiness, however, are added certain gifts, common to all the blessed, which, because less removed from the reach of human comprehension, are generally wont to excite the mind, and inflame the heart with greater acuteness. Of this description are those things which the apostle seems to have in view when, in his Epistle to the Romans, he says: Glory, and honour, and peace, to every one that worketh good; for the blessed shall enjoy glory, not only that glory which we have shown to constitute essential happiness, or to be most closely connected with its nature, but also that [glory] which consists in the clear and distinct knowledge that each [of the blessed] will have of the singular and exalted dignity of his companion [in glory]. But how distinguished must not that honour be esteemed which is conferred by God on those whom he no longer calls servants but friends, brethren, and sons of God! Hence, the Redeemer will address his elect in those most loving and most honourable words: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you. Justly, then, may we exclaim: Thy friends, O God! are made exceedingly honourable. And they shall also be celebrated with the highest praises from Christ the Lord, in the presence of his Heavenly Father and his angels. And if nature has begotten in all men the common desire of that honour, which is conferred by men eminent for wisdom, because we deem them the most authoritative vouchers of our own merit, what an accession of glory shall we account it to the blessed, to experience reciprocally from one another the highest honour?

QUESTION XI

With what Abundant Plenty of Goods the Blessed will be enriched in those Everlasting Dwellings

The enumeration of all the delights with which the glory of the blessed shall be replete, would be endless; we cannot even conceive them in idea. Of this conviction, however, the minds of the faithful should be persuaded, that with the abundance of all things that can be enjoyed or even wished for in this life, whether they regard the powers of the mind, or the perfect state of the body, will the blessed life of those in heaven be filled; albeit this must be more exalted in the manner of its accomplishment than, as the apostle says, eye hath seen, ear heard, or the heart of man hath conceived. For the body, indeed, which before was gross and material, having put off mortality, and being now refined and spiritualized, will no longer stand in need of nutriment; whilst the soul, full of supreme delight, will be satiated with that eternal food of glory, which the Master of that great feast passing by will minister to all. And who can desire rich garments or royal robes for the body where there will be no further use for these appendages, and where all shall be clothed with immortality and splendour, and adorned with a crown of everlasting glory! And if the possession of a spacious and magnificent mansion appertains to human happiness, what more spacious, what more magnificent, can be conceived than heaven itself illumined, as it is throughout, with the tender love of God? Hence the prophet, contemplating the beauty of this dwelling-place, and burning with the desire of reaching those blissful abodes, exclaims: How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! my soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God. And that this may be the sentiment, this the language, of all the faithful, as it should be the object of the pastor’s most earnest desires, so should it be that of his most zealous care.

For In my Father’s house, says our Lord, there are many mansions, in which shall be conferred rewards of greater and of less value, according as each one has deserved; for He who soweth sparingly, shall also reap sparingly; and he who soweth in blessings, shall also reap of blessings. Pastors, therefore, will not only excite the faithful to arrive at this happiness, but will also frequently admonish them, that a sure way to its attainment is, that, endued with faith and charity, and persevering in prayer and the salutary use of the sacraments, they apply themselves to discharge all the duties of benignity towards their neighbours. For thus, through the mercy of God, who has prepared that blessed glory for those who love him, will one day be fulfilled what is said by the prophet: My people shall sit in the beauty of peace, and in the tabernacles of confidence and in wealthy rest.