Experimental investigation of the spirit manifestations, [electronic ...

THE IIEAVKN AND HELL OF SPIRITUALISM CONTRASTED 145analogous to that which God hiis been represented to have to the otherpotentates ; whence the title of " King of kings." Tlic existence, then, ofa sun of suns is suggested, about which the constellations formed by inferiorbodies of the same kind revolve.It would seem, then, that a morefitted allotment had been made if, enthroned by his Father's side on thatsun of suns, he had allotted to each of his disciples a constellation, thanhave assigned to them miserable transitory judgeships in Judea : a speckof territory, in this speck of a globe, which in a field of vision embracingthe universe, would be imperceptible.74G. There being in Scripture so much more stress laid upon the tormentsof hell than the jo3's of heaven, is probably the reason why thehorror of death is so great among Christians in general. Their practicein this respect is to speak of death as a great calamity. Here and theremay be found a believer who is thoroughly convinced that the efficacy ofhis peculiar tenets, combined with the absence of criminality, and theredeeming influence of repentance, will insure him a passage to heaven ;but the predominant language is to represent the death of any large numberof human beings as a great calamity. Those who are exposed to dangerpray most earnestly to be saved, and their death is always treated asa cause for deep regret by surviving friends. Hence the weeping, thegrief, and the mourning called for by custom,—the relations and connectionswearing black for months. Hence the dark hearse, the black pall, andbitter lamentation over the grave ; which shows that it is not realized thatdeath is only a glorious spiritual birth ! I am confident that spiritualistswill soon abandon a custom which must on their part be inconsistent;since they must look on death as no more a bereavement, than a residencein a foreign country, the means of communication being within reach, anda happy reunion foreseen.747. When on board of a steamer under way at night, the possibilityof her going down occurring to my mind, I felt cheered by the idea thatI should not go down with her, but soar to the spirit world with my immortalfriends, who would flock to meet my apotheosis. (Page 101.)748. It has been urged that a most substantial idea of heaven, given inthe old Bible, is that of a restoration to Paradise, of which the descriptiongives the idea of an exquisite, beautiful garden; but Spiritualismgives the idea of garden above garden, improving in beauty with theirelevation. Then there are thirty-six gradations in all, and in the fivehappy spheres thirty ; so that there is excitement arising from well-rewardedemulation as a source of interest. Into the idea of heaven, assuggested in Scripture, intellectualand give no superiority;ability and improvement form no partwhence the tendency of the more strict constructioniststo turn a cold shoulder to every acquirement which is not coupledwith scriptural knowledge. Neither the Athenaeum, nor any library, is tobe accessible on Sunday.If the time devoted at meetings and at church10