The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

IV. Differing Books of Maccabees Exemplify Divergencies

The four Books of the Maccabees were named after the Jewish hero Judas Maccabaeus (d. 161 B.C.), leader of the Hebrew revolt against the Syrians for the purification of the Temple and the restoration of its worship. The first two books are included in the canon of the Greek and Latin churches, and in the Apocrypha of certain English Bibles. 1 Maccabees traces the history of the Jews from the accession of Antiochus Epiphanes (175 B.C.) to the death of Simon Maccabaeus (135 B.C.). CFF1 666.3

2 Maccabees largely parallels, rather than follows, Book 1, Dr. Charles suggesting that it may even be the older. It describes the horrors of the Maccabean wars from the death of Syrian king Seleucus IV (176 B.C.) to the victory of Judas Maccabaeus over Nicanor (d. 161 B.C.). It is an epitome of the larger, original work by Jason of Cyrene. CFF1 666.4

4 Maccabees is a philosophical treatise addressed to the Jews on the supremacy of devout reason over the passions. For a time it was erroneously attributed to Josephus, but was obviously written by a Hellenistic Jew of Alexandria, later than Book 2 but before A.D. 70. Books 2 and 4 are commonly recognized as bearing on the immortality question we are tracing, as is apparent from the following recent authority: CFF1 666.5

“The Books of the Maccabees contain important doctrinal teaching on immortality (2 Macc. 7. 9, 23, 37 and 4 Macc.), the value of human suffering as a means of expiation (2 Macc. 7. 39 f.) and prayers for the dead (2 Macc. 12. 43-5). This last passage has played an important part in the defence of the doctrine of Purgatory.” ³⁹ CFF1 667.1

1. “2 MACCABEES”—INNATE IMMORTALITY WITH PRAYERS FOR DEAD

That Hebrew views of the soul and its destiny had undergone little alteration until a century and a half prior to the Christian Era is attested by the earlier apocryphal writings. Then the divergencies begin, with 2 Maccabees as a clear case in departure. This was written to encourage the Jews to hold fast the faith of their fathers and to provide an inspiring account of their religion and sanctuary. CFF1 667.2

The present form of the treatise is an abridgment of the original work, made about 125 B.C. by Jason of Cyrene, a Hellenistic Jew. 1 Maccabees had been written by a Sadducee and friend of the Maccabean dynasty, but 2 Maccabees was composed by an Alexandrian Pharisee, suspicious of the Maccabees, who sought to sustain Pharisaism as the only legitimate Jewish faith. It makes no reference to the coming Messiah. CFF1 667.3

2. BELIEVES BOTH IN IMMORTALITY AND IN RESURRECTION

2 Maccabees repeatedly asserts belief in the survival of the soul upon the death of the body, as well as teaching that after death only the righteous rise up with their bodies in reunion with those near and dear (7:11, 22ff.; 14:46). ⁴⁰ Thus we read, when they are raised up it is to “life everlasting” (7:10). Again, the Creator “in mercy will restore to you the breath of life” (7:23). So will they be received again (7:29). ⁴¹ CFF1 667.4

3. PRAYER TO AND SACRIFICES FOR THE DEAD COMMENDED

But another distinct innovation is introduced. The writer of 2 Maccabees contends that God does not irrevocably seal the eternal doom of men immediately at death, but that He may be influenced by the prayers and sacrifices of the surviving friends of the departed dead (12:43-45). The practice must have been common, as it is commended. The Roman Church, it is to be noted, leans heavily on this precedent. In fact, the later popularity of 2 Maccabees is due, in large part, to the support found in it by Roman Catholics for their practice of prayers for the dead (12:43-45) and for intercession of saints (15:11-16). This point is so vital that we quote the first passage: CFF1 667.5

“He [Judas Maccabaeus] then collected from them, man by man, the sum of two thousand drachmas of silver, which he forwarded to Jerusalem for a sin-offering. In this he acted quite rightly and properly, bearing in mind the resurrection—for if he had not expected the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and silly to pray for the dead—and having regard to the splendour of the gracious reward which is reserved for those who have fallen asleep in godliness—a holy and pious consideration! Hence he made propitiation for the dead, that they might be released from their sin” (12:43-45). ⁴² CFF1 668.1

4. VICARIOUS SUFFERING EXPIATES GOD’S ANGER

Two additional points should also be noted: (1) The vicarious sufferings of the righteous martyrs allegedly serve to expiate God’s just anger, thus atoning for the sins of the rest of God’s people, and staying His anger (7:33-38); ⁴³ and (2), the intercession of saints (15:11-16), ⁴⁴ as well as the interposition of angels (“five resplendent men from heaven”) for the salvation of God’s people (10:29). ⁴⁵ CFF1 668.2

5. HOPE OF “SEVEN BROTHERS” BASED ON RESURRECTION

Chapter six tells of the Hellenization of the Jews. In chapter seven the moving story is told of the martyrdom of seven brothers and their mother, all in one day, for refusing to obey the demands of Antiochus Epiphanes, obedience to which would violate the commands of God. One by one these noble men were tortured and mutilated, but they refused to yield. One boldly declared that if slain the King of Heaven would “raise us up,” and would “revive us to life everlasting” (7:9, 10). Their “hope divine” was that they should “be raised up by God again” (7:14). One boldly declared to Antiochus, “Thou shalt have no resurrection to life” (7:15). CFF1 668.3

Picture 1: Slaughtering Under Antiochus Epiphanes:
The Seven Sons of Solomona, Together With Their Mother, Were All Slaughtered in One Day, Under Antiochus Epiphanes in the Terrible Desecration.
Page 669

And the courageous mother assured her sons that the “Creator of the world,” who had “fashioned” each, would in mercy “restore to you the breath of life” again (7:23). CFF1 669.1

The youngest son, the last to die, she admonished, “Show thyself worthy ..., and accept thy death, that by God’s mercy I may receive thee again together with thy brothers” (7:24, 30). He solemnly warned the king, “Thou hast not yet escaped the judgment of the Almighty God who seeth all” (7:35, 36). In standing firm unto death he tells of “torment and plagues” to be visited upon transgressors (7:38). ⁴⁶ Such was their heroic faith in the resurrection. CFF1 669.2

If ever in all Jewish literature one would expect to find a declaration of Eternal Torment for this tyrant, it would seem to be here. But there is no allusion to Gehenna. The strongest word is, “Thou shalt have no resurrection to life” (7:14), ⁴⁷ which, as Dean Farrar notes, would “at the worst” seem to point to final extinction, or annihilation. And while the faithful receive “overflowing life,” the sacrilegious, deserving Antiochus Epiphanes receives “just punishment” for his pride, but “not a syllable about endless torments” (7:36). ⁴⁸ CFF1 670.1