769.关于死后灵魂的情况，无论总体还是细节，观念都是这些：死后，人的灵魂是空气样的东西（有人认为它们就象一阵风），它们以这种形式被保留到最后审判之日，这审判要么在他们所居的地中心，要么在先祖所描述的地狱外缘进行。但对于这些问题，也有不同看法，有人认为灵魂是轻盈或空气样的形态，因此类似鬼魂和幽灵，其中，有的灵魂生活在空气中，有的在森林里，有的在水中；也有人认为死者的灵魂将被转到其它行星或恒星上，且在那里有住处；有的认为几千年后，它们会回到肉身。但大多数人相信，它们将被保留到整个宇宙，连同地球及其陆地海洋一起灭亡的那一刻。届时，大火要么从地中心喷出来，要么如包罗万象的雷电一样从天上落下来；然后坟墓被打开，保留的灵魂再次披上自己的肉身，被运到圣城耶路撒冷，之后他们将以明亮的身体共同生活在另一个地球上，有的住在低处，有的住在高处，因为圣城的高度是四千里，长和宽也一样（启示录21:16）。
769. 关于死后灵魂的情况, 无论总体还是细节, 观念都是这些: 死后, 人的灵魂是空气样的东西 (有人认为它们就象一阵风), 它们以这种形式被保留到最后审判之日, 这审判要么在他们所居的地中心, 要么在先祖所描述的地狱外缘进行。 但对于这些问题, 也有不同看法, 有人认为灵魂是轻盈或空气样的形态, 因此类似鬼魂和幽灵, 其中, 有的灵魂生活在空气中, 有的在森林里, 有的在水中; 也有人认为死者的灵魂将被转到其它行星或恒星上, 且在那里有住处; 有的认为几千年后, 它们会回到肉身。 但大多数人相信, 它们将被保留到整个宇宙, 连同地球及其陆地海洋一起灭亡的那一刻。 届时, 大火要么从地中心喷出来, 要么如包罗万象的雷电一样从天上落下来; 然后坟墓被打开, 保留的灵魂再次披上自己的肉身, 被运到圣城耶路撒冷, 之后他们将以明亮的身体共同生活在另一个地球上, 有的住在低处, 有的住在高处, 因为圣城的高度是四千里, 长和宽也一样 (启示录21:16)。
769. As for the state of human souls after death, there are some universally held opinions and some more narrowly held opinions today. They are as follows.
People think that human souls after death are breaths; they like to think of these breaths as puffs of wind. These puffs of wind that are awaiting the day of the Last Judgment are kept either in the middle of the earth, where their somewhere-or-other is, or in the limbo mentioned by the church fathers; but there is a difference of opinion on this point. Some think that breaths are forms made of ether or air, and are therefore like ghosts or phantoms; some of them live in the air, some in the woods, some in lakes and streams. Other people think that the souls of the dead are transferred to other planets or stars, and are given places to live there. Some think that souls return to their bodies after a thousand years. Most people think that souls are kept in some kind of storage until the time when the entire firmament and the whole planet are going to be destroyed by fire - either by fire erupting from the center of the earth or by fire in the form of an all-encompassing thunderbolt cast down from the sky. Then the graves will be opened, and the stored souls will be put back into their bodies and taken to the holy city Jerusalem. On another planet, then, they will live together in enlightened bodies. Some there will live lower down, some higher up, since the city is going to be twelve thousand stadia high - as high as it is wide and long (Revelation 21:16).
769. On the condition of souls after death the general and detailed beliefs are these. Human souls after death are spirits (pneumata), about which they entertain the idea that they are like a puff of wind. Being in this form, they are stored until judgment-day either in the centre of the earth, where they have their pu 1 , or in the limbo described by the early Fathers. But there are divergent views about these matters. Some hold that they are ethereal or airy shapes, thus resembling ghosts and spectres, some of which live in the air, some in the woods, and some in waters. Others hold that the souls of the departed are transported to other planets or stars, and are there given dwellings. Some hold that after thousands of years they come back into bodies. But most people believe that they are kept until the time when the whole universe together with the globe with its lands and seas will perish. This will be by fire, which will either burst out from the centre of the earth, or fall from the sky like an all-embracing thunderbolt. Then the graves will be opened, and the stored souls will be clothed again with their own bodies, and be transported to the holy city of Jerusalem. Thus they will live together on another earth in resplendent bodies, some lower down, some higher up; for the height of the city will be twelve thousand stades, the same as its breadth and length 2 (Revelation 21:16).
Footnotes:
1. Pu is the Greek word for 'Where?', which is at once explained by the Latin translation.
2. A correction for 'height'.
769. In respect to the state of souls after death, the belief universally and in each instance is that human souls after death are airy things (some cherishing the idea that they are like a puff of wind), and being such, they are reserved until the day of the last judgment either in the center of the earth, where their abode is, or in the limbus of the fathers. But on these points they differ, some holding that souls are ethereal or aerial forms and thus are like phantoms and specters, some of them dwelling in the air, some in the forests, some in the waters; others holding that the souls of the dead are transferred to the planets or to the stars, and have habitations given to them there; and some believe that after a thousand years they will return into their bodies; but the majority believe that they are reserved for the time when the entire firmament together with the terraqueous globe will be destroyed, which will be done by fire breaking forth from the center of the earth or hurled down like universal lightning from heaven; that then the graves will be opened, and the reserved souls will be clothed again with their bodies, and transported to that holy city, Jerusalem, and so will dwell together on another earth in lustrous bodies, some lower down in that city, some higher up; for the height of it, like its breadth and length, will be twelve thousand furlongs (Revelation 21:16).
769. Respecting the state of souls after death the belief generally accepted by religious communities and by individuals at this day is, that human souls are airy beings, and they think of these as a breath of wind; and that, because they are such, they are reserved till this day of the Last Judgment either in the centre of the earth where their abode is vaguely located, or in the limbo of the Fathers. 1 On these points, however, there is a difference of opinion. Some suppose souls to be ethereal or aerial forms, and thus like ghosts and spectres, some of these dwelling in the air, some in woods, and some in water. Some again suppose that the souls of the dead are translated to the planets or the stars, and there have abodes allotted to them; and some, that after thousands of years they return into their bodies. The general belief, however, is that they are reserved till the time when the whole firmament, together with the terraqueous globe, will be destroyed. This will be effected by fire, either bursting forth from the centre of the earth or cast down from heaven like an all-destroying blaze of lightning. The graves will then be opened, and the souls that were reserved will be clothed again with their bodies, and be translated to that holy city, Jerusalem. Thus they will dwell together on another earth in bodies bright and shining, some lower down in that city and some higher up; for its height will be twelve thousand furlongs, the same as its breadth and length, Revelation 21:16.
Footnotes:
1. in Limbo patrum. Limbo, a border, edge, belt; border substance; here, place of waiting in the next world for the souls of such as, though not disqualified, are not yet properly qualified for heaven. Ariosto makes it the place of all lost things, Milton the paradise of fools, and Shakespeare hell, a place of restraint. 103, 112.
769. De Animarum statu post mortem universaliter et singulariter 1 hodie creduntur haec; quod Animae humanae post mortem, sint Pneumata; de quibus ideam fovent sicut de halitu venti, et quod quia tales, ad diem ultimi judicii reserventur vel in medio terrae, ubi est Pu eorum, vel in Limbo patrum, sed dissident in his; quidam opinantur quod sint formae aethereae vel aereae, et sic quod sint sicut larvae et spectra, et quod quaedam ex his habitent in aere, quaedam in sylvis, quaedam in aquis; quidam autem opinantur quod animae defunctorum transferantur in planetas, vel in stellas, et ibi illis dentur habitacula; et quidam quod post millia annorum redeant in corpora; plerique autem, quod reserventur ad tempus, dum universum Firmamentum una cum Orbe Terraqueo periturum est, quod fiet per ignem vel erupturum ex Centro terrae, vel dejectum e Coelo sicut fulmen universale; et quod tunc sepulchra aperiantur, 2 et animae reservatae reinduerentur suis corporibus, et transferrentur in Sanctam illam Urbem Hierosolymam, et sic super terra alia in Corporibus illustratis cohabitarent, quidam inferius ibi, quidam superius, quia altitudo ejus futura est 12000 Stadiorum, sicut ejus latitudo et longitudo, 3 Apocalypsis 21:16.
Footnotes: