464.]
In reply to the 75th Question, inquiring into the condition of man after
death, this very remarkable answer is returned:--
"The same relative condition which souls have with the body now, they
have not after the departure from the body. For here all the
circumstances of the union {102} are in common to the just and the
unjust, and no difference is in them in this respect,--as to be born and
to die, to be in health and to be in sickness, to be rich and to be
poor, and the other points of this nature. But after the departure from
the body, forthwith takes place the distinction of the just and the
unjust: for they are conducted by the angels to places corresponding
with their deserts: the souls of the just to paradise, where is the
company and the sight of angels and archangels, and also, by vision, of
the Saviour Christ, according to what is said, 'Being absent from the
body, and present with the Lord;' and the souls of the unjust to the
places in hades, according to what is said of Nebucodonosor king of
Babylon, 'Hades from beneath hath been embittered, meeting thee.'--And
in the places corresponding with their deserts they are kept in ward
unto the day of the resurrection and of retribution." [Page 469.]
I much regret to observe that Bellarmin omits to quote the latter part
of this passage, stopping short with an "&c.
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