_There is no knowledge in sheol._ This fact is plainly stated by Solomon through the Spirit of inspiration: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in _sheol_ whither thou goest.” Eccl. 9:4-6, 10. When man goes in there his very thoughts perish. Ps. 146:4. Such are the great facts concerning _sheol_, or hades, revealed to us in the books of “Moses and the prophets.” Their statements are literal, plain, explicit, and unequivocal. In opposition to all these, can it be maintained that in _sheol_ and _hades_ there _is_ consciousness, wisdom, device, knowledge, happiness, and misery, as is popularly claimed on the authority of this record about the rich man and Lazarus? If not, and if _sheol_ is such a place of silence, darkness, inactivity, and unconsciousness, as they declare, can the use of such language as is employed respecting the rich man and Lazarus in this very place be accounted for? CHAPTER XX. THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS. The previous chapter left us with the problem on our hands whether it were better to try to overthrow all that Moses and the prophets have written respecting _sheol_ and the condition of those who enter therein, for the purpose of sustaining the common view of the rich man and Lazarus, or to try to account for the use of the language used in that narrative, in harmony with what Moses and the prophets have said respecting that place. In the first place, we cannot set aside what Moses and the prophets have written; for Christ, in the very case under consideration, indorses them and refers us to them for instruction. How, then, can we account for the fact that the rich man is represented as conscious, intelligent, and active, in _hades_, when Moses and the prophets have taught us that _hades_ is a place of darkness and silence, without knowledge, wisdom, or device? If the record of the rich man and Lazarus is a parable, the use of such language is at once accounted for; for if it is a parable, the language is allegorical; and in allegory, life and action are often attributed to inanimate objects, for the sake of enforcing or illustrating some particular truth.