The great Hebrew author of Job makes him say:—
"I have made my bed in the darkness,
And where is now my hope?
As the waters fail from the sea,
And the Hood decayeth and drieth up,
So man lieth down and riseth not."
Solomon, or another poet, in the name of that learned king, says:—
"For him that is joined to all the living there is hope,
For a living dog is better than a dead lion.
The living know that they shall die,
But the dead know not anything,
Neither have they any more a reward.
All things come alike to all,
This is an evil among all things
That are done under the sun,
That there is one event unto all.
There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked."
—Eccles.
The Israelities had no belief, at this time, in an incorporeal soul, any more than the Egyptians had in the time of Moses. They believed in ghosts.
But one of our English poets sings,—
"Religion! Providence! an after state!
Here is firm footing; here is solid rock!
His hand the good man fastens on the skies,
And bids Earth roll, nor feeds her idle whirl.
Poor mutilated wretch that disbelieves!
By dark distrust his being cut in two,
In both parts perishes; life void of joy,
Sad prelude of eternity in pain!"
—Young.
Whether Jesus taught the doctrine of an eternal hell for punishment in the after life, is a question among doctors of divinity. Origen denied it. The Roman Catholic Church has adopted purgatory in imitation of the sheol, hades or tartarus. That church has many doctrines, forms and rites similar to those of the older religions. Jesus seems to have considered doing good deeds and living a pure life, the true way to worship God.
