ACC ~ Revelation 6 v9

ONLY MARTYRS ARE IN PARADISE UNTIL THE RESURRECTION. TERTULLIAN: How is it that the region of paradise, which was revealed in the spirit through John as being “under the altar,” contains no other souls but those of the martyrs? How is it that Perpetua, that bravest martyr of Christ, on the day of her death saw only the souls of the martyrs in paradise, unless it be that the sword that guarded the entrance allowed none to pass save those that had died in Christ and not in Adam? Those who die this new death for God, and violently as Christ did, are welcomed into a special abode. Here, then, is the difference between pagan and Christian in death: If you lay down your life for God as the Paraclete recommends, then it will not be of some gentle fever in a soft bed but in the torture of martyrdom. You must take up your cross and follow him, according to the precept of Christ. The only key that unlocks the gates of paradise is your own blood. ON THE SOUL 55:4-5.

THE SOUL IS CORPOREAL, ALTHOUGH INVISIBLE TO THE EYE OF FLESH. TERTULLIAN: The fact that the soul is invisible flows from the nature of its corporeal substance and is determined by its own nature. Besides, of its very nature it is destined to be invisible to certain things. … And so, an object may be invisible to one being and quite clearly seen by another without any prejudice to the corporeality of the object itself that is seen by one and not by the other. The sun is a bodily substance, being made of fire. The eagle gazes at it steadily, but it is invisible to the owl, but the owl does not deny the object seen by the eagle. In such fashion, the bodily substance of the soul may generally be invisible to the eye of flesh, but it is clearly perceived by the spirit. Thus John “in the spirit” saw “the souls of them that were slain for the word of God.” ON THE SOUL 8.4-5.

THE SAINTS REPOSE UNDER THE EARTH. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: “And he saw the souls of the slain under the altar,” that is, under the earth. For both the heaven and the earth are called “altar.” And so, the law, prefiguring by way of images the face of the truth, presented two altars, one that is gold within and one that is bronze without. And we understand that this altar is called “heaven,” since this testimony was given to us by our Lord. For he said, “When you offer your gift on the altar”—to be sure, our gifts are the prayers that we ought to offer—“and there should remember that your brother has anything against you, leave there your gift,” and most certainly prayers ascend to heaven. And so, heaven is understood to be that altar that was gold within—for even the priest, who had the command of Christ, entered into the temple to the golden altar once a year. The Holy Spirit was signifying that [Christ] was going to do this, that is, that he would suffer once for all. And parallel to this, the bronze altar is to be understood as the earth, under which exists hades, a region removed from pains and fire, a place for the repose of the saints, in which to be sure the just are seen and heard by the impious, but these cannot go across to those. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6.4.

THE SAINTS OF THE OLD COVENANT PROTEST THE BEATINGS OF THEIR MASTER. OECUMENIUS: The fifth work of salvation that the Lord gave to the human race and that loosed the fifth seal of the Lord and offered to us freedom from sin and friendship with God was the chains and beatings to which the Lord was subjected before he was brought to Pilate and also those that he suffered from Pilate himself because of his timidity. Isaiah spoke of these beatings, when the Lord was asked by the divine angels, “What are these wounds between your hands?” and he said, “Those which I received in my beloved house.” For these wounds have healed our wounds that we suffered when we were going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves who beat and wounded us and left us half dead, as the story in Luke says. But he loosed our chains, namely, the bonds of sin that were holding us tightly. For the prophet says, “The cords of the wicked ensnare me.” Therefore, while he was working evil, the devil was ignorant concerning him, and through his drunken violence against the Lord thrust a sword into himself and fell from that rule that he had wickedly established. However, when [the fifth seal was opened], the saints who had given witness in the old covenant remained silent. They could recall nothing like this treatment ever having happened to them, and they had not yet seen any such thing done against Christ. For although within the lawless Sanhedrin he had been spit upon, slapped and beaten, this had occurred in secrecy and only upon the testimony of servants and others summoned to the trial. But when they saw the Lord bound and whipped publicly by Pilate before the crowd of the Jews, they altogether rose up, and regarding that which was happening against their Master as intolerable, remembered also what had happened to them. For it says, “I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the church which they had.” I saw, it says, the souls of the martyrs that had the most exalted place, for they were under the heavenly altar. Then he remarks about these martyrs, namely, that they had been slain for the holy word of the old covenant and for the church or synagogue that they had. For the martyrs die not only for themselves, but they effect a common benefit. Their courage becomes an exhortation to others, and by the blood of the saints the knowledge of God is built up. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6.9-11.

THE OFFERING OF PRAISE. BEDE: Having said that the church was afflicted in many ways in the present age, he also speaks of the glory of the souls after the punishment of their bodies. “I saw them,” he says, “under the altar,” that is, in the secret place of eternal praise. For the altar that is of gold and is placed within and is near the altar of the Lord’s body does not present, as does the altar without, flesh and blood to the Lord, but only the incense of praise. And those who now present their bodies as a living sacrifice, then, when the chains of the body have been broken, sacrifice to him the offering of praise. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 6.9.

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