Protestant sections of the professing Church; though the admission of its reality seems indispensable for preserving any reasonable idea concerning the existence of the soul after the death of the body and before the judgment. It is, however, to be found in the teachings of the Scriptures, and among the ancient doctrines of Christianity. It was known to the Jews; indications concerning it are to be found in the philosophy of the Greeks, and in the poetry of the Latins. Indeed, it was universally accepted in the Christian Church up to the time of the Reformation. At that period, however, the true idea of it had been corrupted, and the Romish purgatory had been substituted in its stead. The Reformers, in disgust at such corruptions, threw aside the doctrine as not having any foundation in Christian teaching. Instead of reforming the abuse, they rejected the truth that had been abused; so that the "Church" was left without any information concerning the destination of the soul between the times of natural death and final judgment. The soul is immortal; and, therefore, it must live somewhere. If it does not immediately undergo its judgment, that residence cannot be either in heaven or hell; hence it follows that there must be an intermediate region for its reception: and did not the Lord Jesus Christ plainly refer to this when He spoke of Abraham, who was in heaven, saying to the rich man who was in hell, "between us and you there is a great gulf fixed "?[1]
- ↑ Luke xvi. 26. "The universal Christian world from the very commencement, believed generally in an invisible world of spirits, which was divided into three different regions: heaven, or the place of the blessed; hell, or the place of torment; and then a third place, which the Bible calls hades, or the receptacle for the dead, in which those souls which were not ripe for either destination, are fully made meet for that to which they most adapted themselves in this life."—Dr. Jung Stilling: "Theory of Pneumatology," Jackson's translation, p. 11.
