Bible, highly Oriental and figurative as it is throughout, and addressed directly to the Oriental mind. The most effective argument is perhaps to show that we have not hesitated repeatedly to set aside the literal in other directions. Thus nearly all Christendom has resisted the Calvinistic view, in spite of the strong passages in the Epistle to the Romans; while the Real Presence doctrine is, on the ground of patent fact and common sense, summarily dismissed by all sound Protestants, notwithstanding the strongly literal terms in St. John's Gospel. And, again, while but two centuries ago witchcraft and an eternal hell were equally orthodox teaching, humanity and common sense have happily already quite rid us of the former. The laity first dropped it, and finally and grudgingly the clergy; and now, when for like reasons the laity have begun to throw off the latter belief, we must hope that the tenacity of the clergy will prove, as before, but a temporary hindrance.
But let us, continued Reed, directly confront the two great pillars of the dogma in question, namely, the stories of the Sheep and the Goats, and of the Rich Man and Lazarus. In the former we have Heaven and Hell respectively awarded for the performance or neglect of ordinary charities. Well, we have made no scruple whatever to relegate all this charity doctrine to the realm of figure, but we still retain all the literal Hell fire. One might surely say here, with the noble poet, in a slight modification of his words:—
The nobler and the likelier one."
Then, again, as to the second story, we have the
