The Gospel of the Hereafter and Should You as a Christian Be a Theologian

The Gospel of the Hereafter by Rev. John Paterson-Smyth

The Gospel of the Hereafter
and should you as a Christian be a theologian?

Archdeacon John Paterson-Smyth, author
Fleming H. Revell Company, 1910

This blog post written and offered by Mary Katherine May of QualityMusicandBooks.com.

Comments from Mary Katherine May

I happen to like talking about God, the way Christians believe and why, and how all of the varying thoughts about God, as the Holy Trinity, fit into the true sense of the one worldwide Christian Body of Christ.  I am not a liberal in this sense, thinking that anything that anyone thinks about what defines a Christian is right and true, but I do take seriously Christ's biblical mandate about people judging other people in relation to what is relative to salvation and eternal life.

Theology is the combination of two Greek words, Theo being God and logy from the root work logos or word. Thus God word, or words about God.  In this sense, committed Christians who believe that they are mandated by Jesus Christ to testify of their faith (Matthew 28:19) are all theologians.  Yet defining Christian theology in this manner is too simple, for Christian theology must be based upon God's infusion of revealed wisdom through his Living Word (Holy Bible) and the power of the Holy Spirit based upon faith that God is the original and only source of all truth.

I have been asked more than once, "What does it matter?" and this is a good question.  Theology matters in that understanding about what we believe as Christians is necessary when asked to explain our faith by those who are seeking answers.  Theological thought does become a problem, however, when it infiltrates the requirements for salvation, God's free grace through faith, turning what is free into a legalistic act of work.

Being a theologian for most Christians will mean being regularly steeped in God's word:  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2Timothy 3:16-17 NIV).

If you like to read more on this subject, here are links to two articles on defining what and who a theology is.

What Kind of Theologian Are You?

Theologians and Theology

The Gospel of the Hereafter

The Gospel of the Hereafter by John Paterson-Smyth is written for every person in clear, understandable language.  It is the author’s own discernment of what encompasses the soul, human life, and what happens after death based upon his study and interpretation of the Bible and early church writings by Tertullian, Iraneaus, Clement of Alexandria and others.

Smyth bases his understanding of the possibility of being saved following death upon his interpretation of Scripture passages, including Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. He concludes that because Christ did not ascend to Heaven until forty days following his resurrection from the dead, that paradise must be an intermediary location which he names the Near Hereafter that is not on earth or what he calls the Far Hereafter. Smyth also defines Hades and Hell as not being the same location.

“In Hades, says Christ, not in Hell (the Revised Version put that right), in that life just after death, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment”. (p. 51)

“St. Peter seems to be thinking of it in his first sermon when he quotes: “His soul was not left in Hades” (Acts 2:31). Therefore St. Peter knew that it was into that intermediate life—not into that final Heaven—that our Lord went at death.” (p. 57)

Rev. Paterson-Smyth begins by defining who the self is, what he calls simply, “I.”  He follows with explanations of the stages of life, from in the womb, life on earth, and following. Life after death, according to the author, is two stages which he names the Near Hereafter, the time between death and judgment, and the Far Hereafter, which is eternity in Heaven. 

 

Adobe PDF Download: Gospel of the Hereafter Chapter 1: "I"

Beginning with passages that include the request of the thief on the cross followed by Christ’s time between Resurrection and Ascension, the Reverend also explains Hades and Hell as two different places based upon two Greek words that in the King James Version Holy Bible are named as Hell.

Here are the source words for Hell as used in the New Testament of the King James Version of the Bible..

Hades = ᾅδης

Ge[h]enna = γέεννα

Tartarao (Tartarus) = ταρταρόω

 

Advertising Description for The Gospel of the Hereafter by Rev. John Paterson-Smyth

As the above advertisement suggests, Smyth believes in the opportunity for certain persons to receive salvation through Jesus Christ following death. The following is Smyth’s explanation.  The obvious danger is in relation to those who will think that receiving God's saving grace during life is optional because there is still time. Paterson does not state, however, that those who would believe but choose not to while their heart is still beating are included in receiving such in what he calls the near hereafter.

This was one of the gladdest notes in the whole Gospel harmony of the early Church for five hundred years, in the purest and most loving days, the days nearest our Lord and His Apostles.  It was a note of triumph.  It told of the tender, thoughtful love of Christ for the faithful souls who had never seen Him.  It told of the universality of His Atonement.  It told of victory, far beyond this life.  It told that Christ, who came to seek and save men’s souls on earth, had continued that work in the world of the dead while His body lay in the grave.  That He passed into the unseen world as a savior and conqueror.  That His banner was unfurled there and His cross set up there in the world of the departed.  That the souls of all the ancient world who had never known Him, and WHO WERE CAPABLE OF TURNING TO HIM (i.e., who in their earthly probation, in spite of all their ignorance and sin, had not irrevocably turned away from God and good), might turn to Him and live.  That the spirits of the old-world saints and prophets had welcomed Him with rejoicing.  That even men of such lower place had yet found mercy.  That even such men as those who had perished in the flood in God’s great judgment, BUT HAD NOT HARDENED THEMSELVES AGAINST HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND LOVE, were not shut out from hope. In the “many mansions” was a place even for such as they.  To the teachers of the early Church, I repeat, it was one of the most triumphant notes in their gospel—the wideness of Christ’s atonement. (pp. 61-62)

And it suggests that the departed souls of the old world who had no chance of knowing Him have not by death lost all capacity for repenting and receiving Christ.  Those men that St. Peter thinks of had perished in God’s great judgment, but it would seem in their terrible fate they had not hardened themselves irrevocably against God.  Those who do that on earth seem to close the door forever.  That is the sin against the Holy Ghost—the only sin which our Lord says hath never forgiveness either in this world or in the world to come.  These evidently had still their capacity for repentance.  And this gives one stirrings of hope in the perplexities of God’s awful judgments.  Don’t be afraid to think this.  There is not one word in Scripture to forbid our thinking it.  It merely means that in the terrible fate which they had brought on themselves they had not utterly hardened their hearts—and Christ had not forgotten them in their misery. (p. 66)

The Gospel of the Hereafter at least in part was published in serial form in The Canadian Magazine, a portion of which may be found online in Volume 31.  The book edition published by Fleming H. Revell Company upon which I base my comments shows a copyright of 1910 with no additional printings. The author’s prefatory remarks, however, state that there is a war going on—which would be World War I—and also that this is the tenth addition (sixteenth British edition) carefully revised. 

 

The Gospel of the Hereafter was a fairly popular book in its time and is still being read today. It is available for reading through public domain sources online, older editions, reprints, libraries, and ebook. Archdeacon (Anglican Church) John Paterson-Smyth’s theology is thoughtful reading.  It may give the reader new insight, or it may solidify the reader’s beliefs that are contrary to the author’s theology.  I found portions of the book, particularly the Foreword and Chapter One: I, inspirational and uplifting.

What Are Other Christian Viewpoints

What and where is the Paradise where Christ told the thief on the cross they would soon be?  Jesus did not go to the right hand of God until his Ascension, appearing on earth.  Is there an intermediary location called Hades that is different from Hell?  What do 1Peter 4:6 and 3:18-20 say about this.

For further readingI suggest the following blog articles

 

Rev. Dr. Hassert: An Anglican Priest

Do Christians Go Straight to Heaven when they die?

Billy Graham on Today you will be with me in Paradise

 

The following are quoted from Rev. Dr. Hassert's blog An Anglican Priest

Orthodox
"Concerning the state of the soul after the Particular Judgment, the Orthodox Church teaches thus: “We believe that the souls of the dead are in a state of blessedness or torment according to their deeds. After being separated from the body, they immediately pass over either to joy or into sorrow and grief, however, they do not feel either complete blessedness or complete torment. For complete blessedness or complete torment each one receives after the General Resurrection, when the soul is reunited with the body in which it lived in virtue or in vice (The Epistle of the Eastern Patriarchs on the Orthodox Faith, paragraph 18). Thus the Orthodox Church distinguishes two different conditions after the Particular Judgment: one for the righteous, another for sinners; in other words, paradise and hell. The Church does not recognize the Roman Catholic teaching of three conditions: 1) blessedness, 2) purgatory, and 3) gehenna (hell). The very name “gehenna” the Fathers of the Church usually refer to the condition after the Last judgment, when both death and hell will be cast into the “lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15)."

Anglican
The Anglican belief is similar and I think logical—if I were to have a concrete opinion on this which I don’t feel the need to have.

The emphasis is not on penance, nor on pain, nor satisfaction for sins (which Christ has already paid) but on growth “in the knowledge and the love of God” of those who have “died in thy faith and fear.” This emphasis is the Body of Christ as the Communion of Saints, who all continue in their walk with God before the Resurrection, is taught in the American Prayer Book—but it goes no further than this measured theology and it is accepted by and differentiated from Purgatory by Reformed minded Anglicans.

Archdeacon John Paterson-Smyth (1852-1932)

Considering the active ministry and the number of well-read books Rev. Paterson-Smyth wrote, there is very little to be found about his life, at least on the internet. Sometimes we forget that the wealth of information on the web is all based upon the entry of pre-internet publications by those interested in specific persons putting it there.  

 

John's father was George Paterson-Smyth. He married Anne Josephine Ferrar and with her bore six children, three sons and three daughters. I did find a listing for him in a 1914 Who's Who book.

The Venerable Archdeacon John Paterson Smyth, B.D., LL.D., L.M.D., D.C.L.—Rector, St. George’s Church, Montreal.  Born Kenmara, Ireland, son of Geroge and Jane (Paterson) Smyth.  Education: Trinity College, Dublin (Double first Honor Man: Triple first prize man: Senior Moderator Gold Medallist in Metal and Moral Philosophy; Primate’s Hebrew Prizeman, etc.); Dublin University (B.D., LL.D., L.M.D.); University of Lennoxville, Que. (D.C.L.).  Came to Quebec 1907.  Ordained at Belfast, Ireland, by the Bishop of Down and Connor, in 1881, for the curacy Lisburn Cathedral; Curate, Harold’s Cross, Dublin, 1883-1888; Vicar of Christ’s Church, Kingston, Ireland, 1888-1902; Rector, St. Anne’s, Dublin, 1902-1907; during this period was Chaplain to Viceroy of Ireland and professor of Pastoral Theology in the Dublin University; came to Montreal in 1907, to succeed the Rt. Rev. James Carmichael, of St. George’s.  Chaplain, Lord Lieutenant, Ireland; Professor of Pastoral Theology University of Dublin.   Married Nannie (died 13 Oct. 1941), daughter of the late Rev. William Hugh Ferrar FTCD, Fellow of Trinity College and Professor of Latin, Dublin University, 1883; has two sons, William Hugh (drowned 1901); Jessie; Marjorie. Died 14 Feb. 1932 at Montreal.  LINK

 

I do have an actual rare copy of Smyth's obituary upon which someone penciled 1932, which I offer here, unknown publisher.  I found this article glued inside the back of my book copy of The Gospel of the Hereafter.

 

John Paterson Smyth Obituary