As to the opinion of the soul being in a state of unrest while its body is not interred, that it remains for some time near the tomb of the body, and appears there in a bodily form; those are opinions which have no solid foundation, either in Scripture or in the traditions of the Church, which teach us that directly after death the soul is presented before the judgment-seat of God, and is there destined to the place that its good or bad actions have deserved. Footnotes: [369] Joseph Bell. Jud. lib. iii c. 25. [370] Deut. xxi. 23. [371] Homer, Iliad, XXIV. [372] Origenes contra Celsum, p. 97. [373] Origenes in Joan. ix. &c. Theophylac. ibid. [374] Tertull. lib. de Anima. [375] Origenes contra Cels. lib. ii. [376] Bereseith Rabbae. c. 22. Vide Menasse de Resurrect. Mort. [377] "Parete precanti Non in Tartareo latitantem poscimus antro, Assuetamque diu tenebris; modo luce fugata Descendentem animam primo pallentis hiatu Haeret adhuc orci." _Lucan, Pharsal._ 16. [378] Porphyr. de Abstin. lib. ii. art. 47. [379] Demet. lib. iv. art. 10. [380] Gruter, p. lxiii. Mauric. Hist. de Metz, preface, p. 15. [381] Homer, Odyss. sub finem. Horat. lib. i. satyr. 8. Aug. de Civit. Dei, lib. vii. c. 35. Clem. Alex. Paedag. lib. ii. c. 1. Prudent. lib. iv. contra Symmach. Tertull. de Anim. Lactantius, lib. iii. [382] Virgil, AEn. iii. 150, _et seq._ "Propterea jacet exanimum tibi corpus amici, Heu nescis! totamque incestat funere classem. Sedibus hunc refer ante suis et conde sepulcre." [383] "Animamque sepulchro Condimus, et magna supremum voce ciemus." [384] "Romulus ut tumulo fraternas condidit umbras, Et male veloci justa soluta Remo." [385] "Haec omnis, quam cernis, inops inhumataque turba est. Centum errant annos, volitantque haec littora circum." [386] Sallust. Philos. c. 19, 20. [387] Stolust. lib. ii. de Bella Persico, sub fin. [388] "Sequar atris ignibus absens; Et cum frigida mors animae subduxerit artus, Omnibus umbra lecis adero: dubis, improbe, poenas." [389] Homer, Iliad, XXIII. [390] Ibid. Odyss. V. [391] "Infelix simulacrum etque ipsius umbra Creuesae Visa mihi ante oculos, et nota major imago." _Virgil, AEneid_ I. [392] Tertull. de Anim. [393] Ibid. [394] Iren. lib. ii. c. 34. CHAPTER XLIV. EXAMINATION OF WHAT IS REQUIRED OR REVEALED TO THE LIVING BY THE DEAD WHO RETURN TO EARTH. The apparitions which are seen are those of good angels, or of demons, or the spirits of the dead, or of living persons to others still living. Good angels usually bring only good news, and announce nothing but what is fortunate; or if they do announce any future misfortunes, it is to persuade men to prevent them, or turn them aside by repentance, or to profit by the evils which God sends them by exercising their patience, and showing submission to his orders.