the flesh is chastised to prevent it from wantonly giving way to those desires to which it is constantly and violently inclined by a perverse nature; the whole body is burdened heavily by having to bear all kinds of sickness, pain, discomfort, and other inconveniences; and hence it would not be just if it too had not its share of reward.
For God is as just in rewarding the good as in punishing the wicked. Besides, if this were not the case we should have to say that God is more severe in punishing the wicked than good in rewarding the just, which is altogether opposed to the infinite goodness of His nature. In hell the reprobate suffer, not only in their souls, but also in all the senses and members of their bodies. Terrible darkness and hideous phantoms torment the eyes, clamorous howlings and noises afflict the ears, an intolerable stench fills the nostrils, the taste is tortured by hunger and thirst, by the gall of asps and serpents, while the whole body burns in fire forever. And this punishment is just, because during life the body helped in the enjoyment of various sinful pleasures. And it cannot be less right and just that the body, which has mortified itself and its senses in different ways here on earth for God’s sake, should hereafter in a happy eternity receive different kinds of enjoyments from that God whose mercy and generosity are manifested in all His works. Truly there cannot be a doubt of this!
And since God is a great Lord, those pleasures shall be almost infinite. But it is equally certain that the pleasures of the body and its senses in heaven shall be infinitely greater than those we enjoy in this vale of tears, if we only consider the Person who will confer those pleasures as a reward for service truly rendered Him. When a great lord on earth gives a public festival, it must correspond to the greatness and magnificence of the giver. Ham and sausage, wine and beer, a fiddle or a bagpipe to make a little music would do well enough for a peasant’s wedding feast; but if an emperor or a king has a gala day far more pomp and splendor are required.
Shown by a simile from Scripture.
Not without reason has the Holy Scripture described so minutely the feast that King Assuerus gave the princes and nobles of his kingdom. Read the first chapter of the Book of Esther and you will be amazed at it. The banquet lasted a hundred and eighty days; the place where it was held was an earthly paradise. “In the court of the garden, and of the wood, which was planted by the care and the hand of the king. And there were hung up on every side sky-colored and green and violet
