His words are, "Let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn."[1] It is thus plain that both the good and the evil are reserved in the world of spirits until the coming of the great day. To this view of the case no reasonable objection can be urged; for even those who consider that the last judgment will be attended with a resurrection of material bodies, must see that some place will be necessary in which the souls of all the dead should remain until that event. The reason, however, for such detention is to be sought for in the mixed characters of men at the time of death. And this is a state of things towards which the condition of the Church contributes. For, notwithstanding men are preserved in freedom, and in this freedom form their character, the result is always influenced by the teachings of the Church to which they belong. In proportion as those teachings depart from the purity of truth, so far will the good of the people, which it is established to promote, be diminished. All who are under the influence of such circumstances will have a prolonged existence in the world of spirits. So that in the process of time a perverted Church, through not encouraging goodness in its people, endangers its equilibrium, and thus causes the detention in the world of spirits of multitudes of those who die within its pale. Hence we read of "multitudes in the valley of decision."[2] Errors in the Church permit evils to grow up, and to permeate society, until at length this first region for the reception of departed men becomes the scene of sad corruptions,
- ↑ Matt. xiii. 30.
- ↑ Joel iii. 14. Doubtless, "the valley of decision" is the place of judgment.
