The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: Innate Immortality Established by Last Century B.C

I. The Book of Jubilees—Soul Survives; Resurrection Abandoned

We come next to the apocryphal Book of Jubilees, called “important” by Dr. Charles. It was widely read in some of the early Christian churches. It is important for us too because it furnishes, apparently, the earliest recorded instance in the apocryphal writings of the expected entrance for the souls of the righteous upon a “blessed immortality immediately after death.” ¹ CFF1 671.1

It was called Jubilees because it divides Biblical history, from Creation onward, into “Jubilees,” or periods of forty-nine years each—the heptadic system. It was also called “The Little Genesis,” because it constitutes a compendium of Genesis. Its author was obviously a Palestinian Jew, because he gave minute descriptions of things Jewish, and probably he was a Pharisee. The majority of authorities places its date about 135 B.C. CFF1 671.2

Comprising a commentary on the canonical books of Genesis and Exodus, it advances the theory that the “sons of God,” of Genesis 6, were angels who seduced the “daughters of men” (4:22; 5:1-4) ² According to The Book of Jubilees, human depravity stems from this rather than from the fall of Adam, and occasioned the Deluge. Human freedom and responsibility are emphasized. And demonology is also stressed, demons being the offspring of fallen angels (5:1-4; 7:27). ³ The doctrine of retribution is likewise pressed, and final judgment both for the human and the superhuman worlds (5:10-14; 10:1-15). ⁴ CFF1 671.3

1. INNATE IMMORTALITY ALREADY FIRMLY ESTABLISHED

The Book of Jubilees thus reveals another facet of Jewish belief in the century before the Christian Era—that the postulate of Innate Immortality was already firmly established on the part of some. It proves that many Jews by now believed in the survival of the soul after the death of the body (23:31), and had abandoned “all hope of a resurrection of the body.” ⁵ Nowhere is the resurrection mentioned in the treatise. CFF1 672.1

The Jubilees taught the existence of Satan (Mastema), chief of the legions of evil spirits (10:8, 9) ⁶ which have dominion over men. It shows that many Jews believed in the coming and kingdom of the Messiah, and the great day of judgment (31:18, 19, note; 23:11, 30). ⁷ But in that coming kingdom “there shall be no Satan nor any evil destroyer; for all their days shall be days of blessing and healing” (23:27-29). ⁸ CFF1 672.2

2. BODY RESTS; SPIRIT LIVES ON INDEPENDENTLY

As to the nature and destiny of man, Jubilees taught that the “bones” rest while the “spirits” live on independently. So the life of the spirit, separated from the body, is portrayed. Here are the precise words in the Jubilees: CFF1 672.3

“And their bones shall rest in the earth, and their spirits shall have much joy, and they shall know that it is the Lord who executes judgment, and shows mercy to hundreds and thousands and to all that love Him” (23:31) ⁹ CFF1 672.4

Thus, according to Charles, outstanding British authority on the apocryphal writings, “This is the earliest attested instance of this expectation in the last two centuries B.C.” ¹⁰ The new thesis had been put forth. CFF1 672.5