What happens to the virtuous Soul, when the Flesh dies? [from Part II]
![What happens to the virtuous Soul, when the Flesh dies? [from Part II]](/woodcuts/1704Luik1/00033356.jpg)
Author: Luiken, Jan, 1649-1712
Image Title: What happens to the virtuous Soul, when the Flesh dies? [from Part II]
Scripture Reference:
- Revelation 14 (further images / scripture text)
Description: Jesus, portrayed as a blacksmith, uses a pair of tongs to hold a piece of glowing iron that he has just taken out of the fire. The Soul, portrayed as a young woman, looks on. Above the brick forge is an image of the Soul in heaven watched over by angels and Jesus. The Dutch artist and poet, Jan Luiken (1649-1712) was responsible for drawing and etching this emblem and composing the poem that accompanies it.
Poem: The enlightened Soul explains to the Intellect the departure of a righteous person.
How does a Soul,
Who kept God’s commandments so righteously,
After her flesh and blood slipped away,
Ascend to heaven from this earth?
So asks the child of the old Adam,
Who has lost all wisdom,
Being so blind about God and Fatherland,
As if born blind on this earth.
When the Soul is so completely
Submerges, and keeps quiet,
Then the Deity reveals Himself,
And lives in her retained will;
If now the flesh and blood slip away from her,
Then she is translucent with God’s light.
Like the iron with a hot glow,
That is God’s hand; where should she go?
She is crowned with glory,
And with the Temple and Heaven itself,
In which God lives with His Splendor,
And His Spirit with a sweet flock.
The Kingdom of Heaven is without measure,
Like the space above the sun and the stars,
Like here as well, where the earth is,
In eternity, neither close nor far exists.
God’s Answer:
"Tell the innocent how fortunate they are, for they shall eat the fruit of their labors" (Isaiah 3:10).
(Translation by Josephine V. Brown, with editorial assistance from William G. Stryker)
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