66. But let those who have not been taught
doubt. For us who have read the Law, the Prophets, the Apostles,
and the Gospel it is not lawful to doubt. For who can doubt when
he reads: “And in that time shall all thy people be saved
which is written in the book; and many of them that sleep in the graves
of the earth shall arise with one opening, these to everlasting life,
and those to shame and everlasting confusion. And they that have
understanding shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and of
the just many shall be as the stars for ever.” Dan. xii. 1, 2, 3. Well, then, did he speak of the
rest of those that sleep, that one may understand that death lasts not
for ever, which like sleep is undergone for a time, and is put off at
its time; and he shows that the progress of that life which shall be
after death is better than that which is passed in sorrow and pain
before death, inasmuch as the former is compared to the stars, the
latter is assigned to trouble.