The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

II. Documented Evidence of Ezra’s Conditionalist Position

1. “MORTAL MAN” IN A “CORRUPTIBLE WORLD.”

2 Esdras takes the form of a dialogue, in which the speakers are Ezra and an angel. God’s ways are defended by the angel, who is God’s spokesman. The first questions concern the source of “sin and misery in the world,” and the condemnation of men, and how affliction can be reconciled with divine justice (3:4-36). Ezra protests it, but it is justified on the ground that men are free moral agents and know their duty, but wickedly refuse to do it. The divine reply maintains that God’s ways are inscrutable. Ezra had never “gone down into Hades,” nor “ascended to Heaven,” “nor entered Paradise” (4:8) ⁵ “The human spirit can only hope to understand dimly and in part” (4:1-11). ⁶ So Ezra submits. The angel answers for God: CFF1 696.1

” ‘How then should thy vessel (note 10: “understanding”) be able to comprehend the way of the Most High? For the way of the Most High has been formed without measure, how, then, should it be possible for a mortal in a corruptible world to understand the ways of the Incorruptible?’” (4:11). ⁷ CFF1 696.2

2. “NEW AGE” AND THE INTERMEDIATE STATE

Ezra is told of a new age about to dawn that will solve all difficulties (4:22-32). And he is assured that “the [present] age is hastening fast to its end” (4:26). ⁸ In answer to his question, “When shall these things be?” the reply is “When the number of the righteous is complete.” And reference is mysteriously made to “the souls of the righteous in their chambers” (note: or “habitations”) (4:34-43), and to the underworld (infernum, or Sheol) (4:41), ⁹ a general term for the abode of the wicked dead. CFF1 696.3

Then the “signs which precede the End” (4:51-5:13) are mentioned—world panic, hiding of truth, barrenness of faith, and increase of iniquity, as well as certain celestial signs (5:1-4). There is reference to the mystic, eschatological time periods of Daniel, ¹⁰ which must first be fulfilled. CFF1 696.4

3. RIGHTEOUS TO LIVE, WHILE UNGODLY PERISH

Ezra is told, as epitomized in the headings, that “the earth has grown old and its offspring degenerate” (5:50-55), and that “the end of the age shall come by the agency of God alone” (5:56-6:6). ¹¹ And “numberless armies of angels” are mentioned (6:3). The discussion continues on the corruption of the present world, and the outcome—of it all at the end of the age. Then the question is asked Ezra, “Why disquietest thou thyself that thou art corruptible? Why art thou moved because thou art mortal?” (7:15). And Ezra answers, “Thou hast ordained in thy law that the righteous shall inherit these things, but that the ungodly shall perish” (7:17) ¹² And perish is emphasized again in verse 20, and many times in chapters seven and nine. CFF1 697.1

4. GENERAL RESURRECTION AND FINAL JUDGMENT

Then the writer comes to the “end of the age” (7:26-44), the revelation of the Messiah, the general resurrection, and the final judgment, when “that which is corruptible shall perish” (7: 31). ¹³ And the end of time is the beginning of Immortality (7:43). The Messiah’s immortal companions, Enoch and Elijah, “who have not tasted death” (6:26), ¹⁴ will appear as evidence of the future life and its rewards. ¹⁵ CFF1 697.2

5. “SLEEPERS” IN THE “DUST” CALLED FORTH

Next the discussion turns to the restoration, or resurrection, of those who “sleep” in the “dust,” until brought forth to judgment. CFF1 697.3

“The earth shall restore those that sleep in her, and the dust those that rest therein, (and the chambers shall restore those that were committed unto them). And the Most High shall be revealed upon the throne of judgement: (and then cometh the End)” (7:32, 33). ¹⁶ CFF1 697.4

6. THE WICKED ARE DOOMED TO DESTRUCTION

“Recompense shall follow,” and righteousness and iniquity be manifest. Then comes this contrast: CFF1 697.5

“And then shall the pit of torment appear, and over against it the place of refreshment; the furnace of Gehenna shall be made manifest, and over against it the Paradise of delight” (7:36) ¹⁷ CFF1 698.1

And Dr. S. D. F. Salmond notes that— CFF1 698.2

“the language of the later apocalyptic books is sometimes indeterminate, so that it is possible to interpret it as pointing now to annihilation, and again to a punishment limited in duration. The Fourth Book of Esdras, for example, says of the day of judgment that ‘its duration shall be as it were a hebdomad of years’ [7:30- (6):16], and describes the wicked as doomed to be destroyed [8:52-62].” ¹⁸ CFF1 698.3

7. WICKED, AS A “FLAME,” ULTIMATELY “EXTINGUISHED.”

Ezra grieves because the number of the good is so small—so many condemned and so few saved (7:45-74). The reply is that gold is scarcer than silver, iron, lead, and clay (7:56, 57). Then comes the comparison to “vapour” and to “smoke,” and “unto the flame.” They are “fired, burn hotly, are extinguished” (7:61). ¹⁹ Ezra’s comment is that it were better not to be an accountable and condemned free moral agent, “because we perish and know it” (7:64). Then follows Ezra’s lament over the sad condition and destiny of man. But the answer is that man is accountable to judgment, and will be punished because of his accountability (7:62-74). ²⁰ CFF1 698.4

But while Ezra still laments the “fewness of the saved” (7:45-61) and the “multitude of them that perish” (7:61), ²¹ he inquires as to “the state of the soul after death and before judgement” (7:75-101), and— CFF1 698.5

“whether after death, even now when every one of us must give back his soul, we shall be kept in rest until those times come in which thou shalt renew the creation, or shall we suffer torture forthwith?” (7:75). ²² CFF1 698.6

The answer given is that all souls return to God, and are assigned places awaiting the judgment day: CFF1 698.7

“When the decisive decree has gone forth from the Most High that the man should die, as the soul from the body departs that it may return to him who gave it, to adore the glory of the Most High” (7:78, 79). ²³ CFF1 698.8

On the contrary, those who “have not kept the ways of the Most High, that have despised his law, and that hate those who fear God—such souls shall not enter into habitations, but shall wander about henceforth in torture, ever grieving and sad” (7:79, 80). ²⁴ CFF1 699.1

They contemplate “the torture laid up for themselves in the last days,” how “the habitations of the other souls are guarded by angels in profound quietness,” and how they must “pass over into torture” (7:85-87, 100, 101). Allusion is made to the righteous “when they shall be separated from this vessel of mortality [note: “corruptible vessel”]” (7:88), ²⁵ “gathered together in their habitations” (7:101). ²⁶ The decisions of the judgment are final, and as to the question of intercession for sinners, the answer is that there is “no intercession on the day of judgement” (7:102-115). ²⁷ No man can assist another, nor cast his burden on another. Each must bear his own. CFF1 699.2

8. “TREASURES OF IMMORTALITY” MADE MANIFEST TO EZRA

Still troubled over the fate of the wicked, Ezra prays to God who “dwellest eternally” (8:20-30). ²⁸ But the divine reply (8:46-62) is that such is man’s destiny, and that there should be no thought of the “fate of sinners,” which is of undetermined but limited duration, but rather one should think of the “treasures of immortality” (8:54). ²⁹ This is the assurance: CFF1 699.3

“For to you is opened Paradise, planted the Tree of life; the future Age prepared, plenteousness made ready; a City builded, a Rest appointed; ... and Death is hidden, Hades fled away; Corruption forgotten, sorrows passed away; and in the end the treasures of immortality are made manifest” (8:52-54). ³⁰ CFF1 699.4

9. WICKED BROUGHT TO “DEATH BY TORMENT.”

Ezra is admonished to “ask no more concerning the multitude of them that perish; for having received liberty they despised the Most High; scorned his Law, and forsook his ways,” treading the saints underfoot (8:55, 56). “The Most High willed not that men should come to destruction” (8:59). But they have “defiled the Name of him who made them, and have proved themselves ungrateful to him who prepared life for them” (8:60, 61). ³¹ CFF1 699.5

Still meditating on the signs of the end, and the last times, Ezra is assured: CFF1 700.1

“For all who failed to recognize me in their lifetime, although I dealt bountifully with them; and all who have defied my Law, while they yet had liberty, and, while place of repentance was still open to them, gave no heed but scorned (it); these must be brought to know after death by torment” (ix. 11, 12). ³² CFF1 700.2

This “death by torment” phrase has often been put forth as evidence of the doctrine of eternal future punishment. But the case for Eternal Torment is not sustained, for wherever the words “perish” or “destruction” are used, they denote “bringing” or “coming to an end.” Thus when Ezra tells of the ungodly perishing, it is almost immediately followed by the thought that there be many who perish in this life (7:17, 20). So whether it be punishment here or hereafter, the Lord “delivers to death and destruction.” CFF1 700.3

10. WICKED PERISH BECAUSE OF DISOBEDIENCE

So to Ezra was presented the “justification of the fewness of the saved,” and that “there are more who perish than shall be saved, even as the flood is greater than a drop!” (9:16). All God’s bounties were prepared in the “eternal ages” for the obedient, but because of corruption the wicked are “destroyed” (9:18-22). ³³ Again and again there is the thought that the disobedient “perish” because of their willful disobedience to the will and abiding “law” of God (9:32-37). ³⁴ CFF1 700.4

11. EZRA’S SINGLE PROPHECY DEALS WITH ESCHATOLOGY

In the Eagle Vision (10:60-12:35) prophetic symbols are presented, and the course of empire and “lordship over the earth” (12:23) is portrayed, in relation to it all. Its climax is “kept for the time when its time for dissolution shall approach” (12:21, 22). ³⁵ So there is, as it were, “a lamp in a dark place, as a haven of safety for a ship in a storm” (12:42). ³⁶ CFF1 700.5

This is Ezra’s only venture into prophecy, and he here seeks to link his Eagle Vision with the paralleling vision of the prophet Daniel of the four world powers (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome). Ezra’s climactic Eagle parallels Daniel’s symbolic fourth monster—the Roman Empire (Daniel 2; 7; and 8). ³⁷ The vision leads up to the world’s climax. Thus his prophetic portrayal is definitely eschatological in intent. CFF1 701.1

12. TIME’S LAST HOURS, AND MORTALITY

In the final Ezra-Legend, Ezra, in discussing “the secrets of the times” and the “end of the season” (14:5), is again told that “the world has lost its youth,” and the times are waxing old (14:10). Then Ezra is admonished, “Now do thou renounce the life that is corruptible, let go from thee the cares of mortality” (14:13, 14). ³⁸ CFF1 701.2

Ezra’s last words (14:27-36) include the following conclusion. CFF1 701.3

“If ye, then, will rule over your own understanding and will discipline your heart, ye shall be preserved alive and after death obtain mercy. For after death shall the judgement come, [when we shall once more live again;] and then shall the names of the righteous be made manifest, and the works of the godless declared” (14:34, 35). ³⁹ CFF1 701.4

“Ezra” was clearly a Conditionalist. CFF1 701.5

Chart E:
PARALLELING PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN NEOPLATONIC SCHOOLS CENTER IN ALEXANDRIA
(Pagan School Climaxes in Resurgence of Paganism, Expiring in A.D. 529; Christian Catechetic School Becomes Mighty Force, Giving Way to Developing Catholic Church)
1. Philo (c. 20 B.C.-c. A.D. 47), precursor—emanation; pre-existence; incarnations
2. Lucius Apuleius (c. A.D. 126-c. 200) of Numidia—Orientalism; World-Soul postulate
3. Numenius (fl. A.D. 150-200) of Syria—incarnations punishment for former sins
Christian Catechetical School of Alexandria
I. Pantaenus (d. A.D. 190)—Neoplatonic positions replace those of apostles and Apostolic Fathers
II. Clement of Alexandria (d. A.D. 220)—switches to Immortal-Soulism, with restorative purgation of wicked
III. Origen (d. A.D. 254), allegorizer—pre-existence of souls; successive transmigrations; spiritual resurrection; ultimate restoration of all
[Origenism condemned in A.D. 544, under Justinian, at a Council of Constantinople]
IV. Heracles; Dionysius; Theognostus; Pierius; Didymus
4. Ammonius Saccas (c. A.D. 175-c. 242)—lays foundations of pagan Neoplatonism
5. Plotinus (c. A.D. 205-270) of Egypt—Orientalism; Emanation; Dualism; Mysticism; Reabsorption
6. Porphyry (c. A.D. 232-c. 304), Skeptic—holds to Universal-Soul; liberation from body
7. Lamblichus (c. A.D. 250-c. 333) of Syria—mythology; astrology; necromancy
8. Julian the Apostate (A.D. 332-363), emperor—suppresses Christianity; exalts paganism
9. Proclus (A.D. 412-485)—emanation; reabsorption; mystic union of soul with deity
10. A.D. 529—Justinian closes academy; confiscates property; forbids teaching of philosophy; philosophers exiled to Persia
ACCOUTERMENTS PASS, BUT MAIN PLATONIC TENET REMAINS
North Africa (particularly Alexandria and Carthage), gathering place for philosophers, Jews, Gnostics, and Christian apologists and teachers, was the rallying point for Neoplatonism, both pagan and Christian, the last great system of Greek philosophy. Its penetrations continued until the Christian Church was compassed by the doctrinal darkness of the Middle Ages.
As with the demise of pagan Neoplatonism under Justinian in A.D. 529, so in A.D. 544 Origen’s Universal Restorationism was condemned in the Second Council of Constantinople, and Tertullian-Augustinianism prevailed, with its Universal Innate-Immortality postulate and Eternal-Torment corollary.
Thus, while the accouterments of Neoplatonism passed—with its emanation, pre-existence, reincarnation, and reabsorption—the basic premise of Platonism (the Innate Immortality of the soul) became a permanent plank in the creed of the dominant Catholic Church, with its paralleling postulate of the Eternal Torment of the wicked.