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

244 INFLUENCE OF SCRIPTUREtime it is fire, into wliicli any one is to he doomed fur alleging liis brotliera fool, whether this allegation be true or not; at another, it is utter darkness,with weeping and gnashing of teeth ; and of course there could be nofire. Then the disgusting description given by Josephus is sanctioned,agreeably to which, like the Elysium and Erebus of the heathen, both helland heaven are subterranean localities, but separated by a lake of unquenchablefire, across which Abraham and Dives converse. At another time,heaven is above ; he ascends to heaven in sight of his apostles, yet thepenitent thief is to be with him in paradise, which, agreeably to Genesisand Josephus, is upon the earth on the river Tigris, near the Persian Gulf.But wherever the Elysium and Erebus of the gospel may be, all souls, accordingto it, are to remain in their graves till the ''last day," and then,like Samuel, being called up from their tombs, are to be sorted into twosquadrons, of which one is to go to an undescrihcd heaven, the other to the''hell fire prepared for the devil and his angels from the beginning of theworld." The injustice which would follow from a judgment of this kind,by which two souls difi'ering from each other only by a shade would meeta fate so difi'erent that one would have to go to heaven, the other to hell toremain eternally, is so manifest, that, like the ultraism of the same record, itloses its eff'ect altogether upon people in general.1274. It must be clear that the great mass of professed Christians arevery little restrained by their fears of such an eternity of punishment. HadChrist any specific knowledge of the kingdom of heaven to which he occasionallyalluded, wherefore did he not convey that knowledge to his disciples ?But they seem to have learned no more from Jesus than Moses did fromJehovah, and hence their querulous inquiry as to what would be theirreward. But the promise of judgeships, (743 to 745,) of worldly preeminence,was a satire upon them. It argues that he considered them asworldly-minded. Had he known the world to be looked upon by the apostlesas beneath consideration in comparison with immortal life, he wouldhardly have insulted them by the off"er. But their tone has a great dealtoo much of the Swiss in it. Had they been so very dull, or Christ so reserved,that the idea was not conveyed to them that in acting the part of pious,virtuous men, they would have the reward promised to the righteous inthe other world.1275. Thank God, no spiritualist who reads with attention the communicationsgiven in this work, will ever inquire as to the extent of selfishreward which he is to enjoy ! He would be impressed by his generalknowledge with the idea that the less any being is actuated by selfish aspiration,the greater his capacity for happiness and his pretensions to themeans of felicity.