30.]--and, secondly,
how unwise it is to dogmatize on such subjects beyond the plain
declaration of the sacred narrative. Moreover, how very unsatisfactory
is the theory which we are examining as to the state of the souls of the
faithful who died before Christ, even the words of Jerome himself prove,
who, commenting on the transfiguration of the blessed Jesus, is
unhappily led to represent the Almighty as having summoned Elijah to
descend from heaven, and Moses to ascend from Hades, to meet our Lord in
the Mount[4].
[Footnote 4: "Elia inde descendente quo conscenderat, et Moyse
ab inferis resurgente."--Hieron. in Matt. xvii. 1. Paris, 1706.
vol. iv. p. 77.]
Strange and startling as is this sentiment of Jerome, it is, you will
observe, utterly irreconcileable with the theory, that the reason why
the ancient Church did not {31} pray to the saints departed, was because
they were not yet in heaven.
On this point, among Roman Catholic writers themselves, there prevails a
very great diversity of opinion, arising probably from the difficulty
which they have experienced in their endeavours to make all facts and
doctrines square with the present tenets and practices of their
Church[5]. Thus, whilst some maintain that Elijah was translated to the
terrestrial paradise in which Adam had been placed, not enjoying the
immediate divine presence; others cite the passage as justifying the
belief that the saints departed pray for us[6].
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