minism, the physical and physiological sciences can receive no injury, and such facts in their turn need fear nothing from those sciences, for such facts are of a nature of which the objects of the "natural" sciences are not. In this fashion, determinism may be a fair postulate with those sciences, without becoming, as is claimed by some indiscreet enthusiasts of materialism, the supreme rule of the world. Indeed, it is contrary to sound method in science to pretend to apply determinism to everything, since, in order to do that, it is necessary to ignore facts that are certain, for the sake of a materialistic or idealistic conception of science which is by no means sure. But it would be just as unsound to endeavour, for the sake of psychologic and moral facts, to ignore the postulates on which rests the "study of matter."

In that wise the domains of the sciences are distinct, though that of one is not closed to another, and vice versa. Reason has its place in all. By means of sciences of all orders, reason is in pursuit of unity, for which purpose alone reason exists. Reason entertains the idea of a supreme cause which, by its power, brings about the diversity of elements and brings them into harmony by the unity of its plan. A mind guided throughcut to the principia of thought, but ever careful to submit to the control of facts its hypothetical developments from those principia, combines in a just measure the self-confidence which is strength with the moderation which brings security.

In proposing a vote of thanks to the Lecturer the CHAIRMAN said we had had a most interesting account of the work of one great thinker by another great thinker. It was a fine summing up of the work of a very long and very useful life. Professor Naville's views as set forth may well be said to be in accord with the objects of the Institute. It had been a great pleasure to hear such a clear exposition of those views, and that in spite of the difficulty of expression in what to the Lecturer was a foreign language. He wished to add one word of warning as to the bad company into which the word "spiritualism" had fallen, but he thought the Lecturer had carefully safeguarded it in his paper.

Colonel MACKINLAY seconded the vote of thanks, which was carried with acclamation.

Professor ROGET, in expressing his grateful thanks, said he looked upon the paper as a pious act to the memory of a great and good man, an act in the performance of which he had gained every assistance from those who before him had written upon Naville.

519TH ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING.

MONDAY, MAY 22ND, 1911, 4.30 P.M.

PROFESSOR EDWARD HULL, LL.D., F.R.S., IN THE CHAIR.

The Minutes of the previous Meeting were read and confirmed, and the election as an Associate of the Rev. Claude C. Thornton, M.A., was announced.

The following paper was then read by the author :-
:-

THE

DESCENT INTO

HADES: A STUDY IN COMPARATIVE RELIGION. By Rev. Canon MACCULLOCH, D.D.

THE

HE belief in our Lord's descent into Hades occurs for the first time in a formal creed in A.D. 359, when it appears in the creed of the 4th Synod at Sirmium. Why it should not have appeared until then is not very obvious, unless, as seems likely, it is included comprehensively in the reference to the burial which occurs in many earlier creeds and summaries of doctrine. For there is scarcely any document of the first three centuries in which some reference to the descent does not occur, and it is known to all the Fathers, who usually write of it as an important doctrine.

A belief in the possibility of descent to Hades and return thence is well-nigh universal, though in nearly all the myths or legends which tell of it there is one important difference between the descent there recounted and that of our Lord-the person who descends and returns is a living person, God or man.* The purpose of this paper is to study the belief in our Lord's descent in relation to these myths, and to enquire into its sources and into the question of its indebtedness to pagan beliefs.

* The exceptions are mainly Hindu and Buddhist.

The universality of these myths is connected with early man's views regarding sleep and death. He believed that, in dreams, in which he saw and spoke to dead relatives, they had come to him or his soul had gone to them. Hence arose the belief that the soul could leave the body in sleep or trance, go to the Other-world, and return to the body. Savage affection is not so slight as is sometimes thought, and doubtless the intense affection for dead friends or relatives prompted the dream fancy. It was then an easy step to believe that what took place in dream might take place in actual fact; that the whole man, not merely the soul, might visit the Other-world! Always, from possibility to fact, from the "might be " to the "had been," was an easy step to the primitive mind. And as it is commonly believed that there is little difference between life and death, that the dead may revive, affection would easily suggest that one could go to the Other-world to bring back a dead friend. So arose stories of those who had gone, and these were all the more credible because the way to the Other-world was generally well-known.

These visits to the Other-world were made for different purposes. Mere curiosity, the desire to find out what the unknown region is like, prompts some of these mythical visits. In many others it is to obtain a boon by force or fraud or through their goodwill from the rulers of Hades. But in by far the largest number the object is to recover someone dead from the clutches of Hades. In another group, mainly Hindu and Buddhist, but including some later Jewish and Muhammadan examples it is to lessen the sufferings of the lost or to free them altogether from hell. In another small group, in which the descent is not to a region of the dead, but to the dark worlds of demoniac beings, the object is to overcome them by force or skill or stealth, and to rob them of their magic powers. We shall confine ourselves to the three last groups.

(1) Descent to rescue a dead person. Of this group there are innumerable savage variants, usually told of mortals, and they occur most plentifully among the American Indians, Polynesians, and Melanesians. In many of these, as in more civilised versions, the quest is often unsuccessful, usually through the breaking of a tabu. From the higher religions there are Hindu, Japanese, Chinese, Babylonian, Scandinavian, and many Greek myths of this class, in which the descent is usually attributed to a divinity. Many of them preserve a great similarity, but this is not necessarily due to borrowing. The typical instance is the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Haunted by the

image of his dead wife, Orpheus resolves to seek her in Hades, and there enchants its inhabitants by his lyre. Pluto and Persephone are moved to pity and grant the restoration if Orpheus will observe one condition, that of not looking back till he reaches earth. But just before arriving at the fatal limit his love overcame him; he looked back and lost Eurydice for ever. Other Greek myths tell of the rescue of Semele by Dionysos and of Alcestis by Heracles.

The Babylonian instance is that of the descent of Ishtar presumably to rescue her dead lover Tammuz. She arrives at the gate of Hades and demands admission, threatening to break down the gate and set free the dead if it is refused. Allatu, the goddess of Hades, allows her to enter, but at each of the seven gates she is stripped of her ornaments and apparel, and is then struck with disease. All things languish on earth and die. The gods take steps to remedy matters, and Uddushunamir is sent to Hades to demand the water of life for Ishtar. Allatu is finally compelled to give this; Ishtar is restored and led back through the gates. The story, as connected with Tammuz, should have described his restoration, but the references at the end of the poem are obscure. In all probability two myths of descent have here coalesced--that of Ishtar to recover Tammuz, and that of Uddushunamir to rescue the dead Ishtar.

The Hindu and Buddhist descent stories of this class are told either of divinities or of mortals, living or dead, and they usually end in the success of the seeker.*

2. Descent to assist the lost.—This class is most certainly an extension of the former and perhaps has a natural place in religions in which the ethical aspect was fairly well developed and the idea of divine benevolence strong. In several Hindu and Buddhist legends the mere presence of a god or a pious mortal who has descended to the hells is sufficient to alter the whole condition of things there. The torments cease, anguish and despair change to joy and hope, and hell becomes a paradise. In some cases a dead person sent to hell to expiate a single slight fault is bidden to leave it when the expiation is complete. But his enormous treasury of merit has relieved the damned of their miseries. They beg him to stay, and though pressed by the gods he refuses to go and finally ransoms:

* For all these myths see an article in the forthcoming volume of Hastings' Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics, on "Descent to Hades (Ethnic)," by the present writer.

the sinners from hell.* In the Lalita Vistara, the life of Buddha, at his descent to earth and at other moments of his existence, a marvellous light is projected from his body and illumines all the worlds, including those of the hells. Darkness is dispelled, suffering and torment cease, and joy reigns. At his birth Buddha prophesied that he would destroy the fires of hell and cause rain from the cloud of the law to fall and all beings would rejoice. Here there is neither descent nor release. But in a northern Buddhist myth Avalokiteçvara, of whom it was prophesied that he would bring even the miseries of Yama's kingdom to an end, visits the hell Aviçi as a glorious prince clad in light and frees the victims from their pains. Mild airs take the place of flames, the cauldron of boiling water in which men suffer bursts, and the sea of fire becomes a pool with lotus blooms. The saving work is carried on in the city of the Pretas, whose denizens are freed from torments. The damned, being granted the gift of right knowledge, are led as Bodhisattvas to the Sakhavati world.†

The origin of these Buddhist legends has been sought in the Christian descent story; others trace it from them. It is not unlikely that the Buddhist documents are later than the Christian story in origin, but though there may have been mutual interaction of each at a later time, it is probable that both are originally independent, and the Buddhist stories are simply a development of an idea inherent in Hinduism. The Jewish beliefs will be referred to later; it is certain that the Muhammadan belief in the release of souls in hell who have a particle of faith, at the intercession of the righteous dead in Paradise and by their mission to hell, is derived from Jewish

sources.

3. Descent to conquer the powers of darkness.-This is found in two myths of the Mandaean religion. In one of these Hibil Ziwa descends before creation to the seven lower worlds. Remaining in each invisibly for thousands of years he finally reaches the lowest and compels its lord to give him the talismans by which the might of the opposing demon will be annihilated. As he ascends he seals the doors of each world, so that none can pass. In the fourth and third he takes the form of their rulers and then obtains other talismans. After his ascent he imprisons the female Ruha, whom he has brought

* See the Ramayana, xxv, 21; Mahabharata, xvii ff.; Wilson, Journ. Royal Asiat. Soc., v. 295.

+ Cowell, Journal of Philology, vi (1873), 222 ff. Cf. Rockhill, Land of the Lamas, 331 f. for a Tibetan variant.