th our guardian gods,
And, dead thou rulest a king in these abodes.'
'Talk not of ruling in this dolorous gloom,
Nor think vain words (he cried) can ease my doom.
Rather I'd choose laboriously to bear
A weight of woes and breathe the vital air,
A slave for some poor hind that toils for bread,
Than reign the sceptered monarch of the dead.'"

Yet, even this outpouring of hopeless words by the heathen poet is
encouraging when compared to the writings of the Psalmist, of Solomon or
Job, for those who have gone beyond the grave still have memory, an
interest in their friends on earth, love and desire. But no such hope
exists for man, if we are to accept literally all the passages of
Scripture which have been quoted. By such interpretation, man passes
after death into eternal darkness, forgetfulness, silence, "where there
is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom--where even his very
thoughts perish." If these particular passages are to be accepted as
final on the subject, there is no future life for either man or animal.
They are too definite to admit of any interpretation that might soften
or alter their meaning.

It may be shocking to some to compare the belief of an ancient Greek and
the teachings of a Latin Epicurean with the sacred writings of the
Bible. Yet, it may be even more startling to point out that some of the
teachings of the Epicurean sensualist are quite as good as some of those
of the writers of the sacred texts, and that those of the Greek poet are
far better and more spiritual! There is no denying that these are the
facts, if we are to be bound by literal interpretation, unless we throw
to the winds all reason and common-sense.

This leads us back to the point previously mentioned; and we must
determine if the authorised version gives a full and truthful
interpretation of the Hebrew original. Even a man who does not pretend
to scholarship knows that it does not. The word "perish," for example,
is not found at all in the Hebrew text, nor is the idea expressed; the
words which our translation twice renders as "beasts that perish," is,
in the original Hebrew, "dumb beasts." By comparing a number of the
translations of the Psalms, into various languages--Psalm XLIX, for
example--we find that few, if any, of them suggest the idea of
"perishing" in the sense of annihilation. First, let us consider the
Jewish Bible, which is acknowledged to be the most accurate translation
in the Englis