the consequences of which no effort of their own can deliver them. But from this fearful condition the theory which we are now considering provides a partial deliverance in the sacrament of baptism, which, if administered rightly,* conveys remission of original sin, i.e. of all the consequences entailed on man by the fall, of all actual sins if repented of, and the additional benefit of " spiritual regeneration." To this last word various meanings are attached; it may mean more, but it never means less, than a transference from the kingdom of the evil one into the kingdom of God, in which are such means of grace that it is a man's own fault if he fails to attain to everlasting salvation.

This theory is evidently a great improvement on the one we have just considered; but it leaves the unbaptised, i.e. the overwhelming majority of mankind, exposed to all the consequences of a sin in which they had no part, and of their actual transgressions. Carried out to its legitimate consequences, it consigns all unbaptised infants, though they have died before it was possible for them to commit an actual sin, just as the predestinarian theory consigns those who are non-elect, to everlasting damnation. From this result even the moral sense of Augustine, who first reduced these theories to a systematic form, recoiled. He therefore provided for infants a milder hell, designated the limbo infantium," yet still a most unpleasant condition to live in everlastingly. Others have endeavoured to hide from themselves the terrible consequences of this theory, by consigning the unbaptised to what they designate "the uncovenanted mercies of God," which words, whatever they may be supposed to imply, mean something very

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There are various theories as to what right administration consists in, some holding it to be valid if administered by a layman, a woman, or a heretic, while others affirm that it is essential to the validity, both of this and the other sacrament, that it should be administered by one who possesses what is designated Apostolical Succession.

different from the mercies of the Gospel. So obvious is the inference from this theory that even unbaptised infants may be the just subjects of God's wrath and damnation, that the compilers of the baptismal service of the Church of England have deemed it necessary to add to it a rubric which affirms that "it is certain, from God's word, that children who are baptised, dying before they commit actual sin, are undoubtedly saved." The natural inference from such words is, that there is no certainty of the salvation of those who die unbaptised, or, in other words, that it is consistent with the Divine character to leave such exposed to the condemnation which is affirmed to be due to every one who is naturally engendered of the offspring of Adam, although they have had no part in Adam's transgression or in the production of those evil results in themselves with which it has been attended.

V. THE SECTARIAN THEORIES.

Similar results follow from the theories propounded by those sects which affirm that there is no salvation outside their communion, and that they are in exclusive possession of the means of grace. The logical result of such theories is to consign the overwhelming majority of mankind either to everlasting damnation or to what are designated the uncovenanted mercies of God.

VI. THE POPULAR THEORIES.

Popular belief varies considerably respecting the conditions which will admit one man to heaven and consign another to hell, and for the most part is indeterminate and vague. The following opinions are the most important:

1. That it is necessary for the attainment of salvation to pass through certain religious experiences, which are designated "conversion ;" and that those who die in an uncon

verted state, having no share in the mercies of the Gospel, will be consigned to that place which is popularly understood by hell. What constitutes conversion is variously defined, according to the views which are entertained by different sects respecting its nature, but they for the most part agree in affirming that it is some action of the Spirit of God on the spirit of man, which is capable of being perceived by the consciousness of the individual. In one opinion, however, they all concur, that the unconverted will form an overwhelming majority of mankind.

2. That a cordial acceptance of what is called the doctrine of the atonement (what that doctrine is, is variously defined), and an exercise of a personal faith in Jesus Christ, is necessary for salvation. Some, however, modify this theory, and affirm that although faith is necessary to salvation, yet the necessary faith may be something short of this, but what it is is left indeterminate. This theory in like manner excludes from salvation the great majority of mankind, and exclusion from salvation, according to popular ideas, means damnation.

The remainder of the popular beliefs on this subject, owing to their indefiniteness, are difficult to formulate in propositions, but they concur in the following affirmations:

1. That there will be no intermediate state of probation after death, in which it may be possible for those who die not incurably wicked, or whose probation in this life has been passed under unfavourable conditions, to repent and turn to God; and that mankind at the day of judgment will be separated into two divisions, designated the righteous and the wicked, which will be exhaustive of the human race, the one of which will go to heaven and the other to hell, thus leaving no place for an intermediate class who are fitted for neither.

2. That mankind thus divided will enter into a state of

happiness or misery, which will be unchangeable throughout the eternity to come; and that the misery of the wicked will be everlasting, admitting neither of alleviation nor of hope; and that they will constitute an overwhelming majority of

mankind.

Such are the chief theories respecting the condition of mankind after death, which have been accepted as the teaching of the Christian revelation by one or more of the chief sections into which the Christian Church is divided. Their extreme awfulness has caused various modifications of them to be propounded. Of these, those which have attained the widest acceptance are―

1. The doctrine of purgatory, as it has been held by the Roman and by several of the Oriental Churches.

This professes to provide an instrumentality whereby those who die without having committed what is designated deadly sin," and who have fulfilled some condition which entitles them to escape from hell, may expiate their venial sins and become qualified for the enjoyments and the employments of the heavenly world, the expiation being effected through some form of penal suffering. This theory, whatever may be its defects-and they are many-has at least the merit of propounding a means of rescuing from never-ending torment a considerable number of those who, according to widespread popular beliefs, will be consigned to it. The sufferings of purgatory may be great and of long duration, but they will be neither hopeless nor endless, such as those which are attributed to the hell of popular theology.*

* I am here speaking of purgatory apart from the latter abuses of this doctrine, such as the efficacy of indulgences, transfers of the superabundant merits of the saints, and various acts supposed to free the sufferers in it from a portion of the sufferings due to their sins.

2. The theory designated "life in Christ," or "conditional immortality."

According to this theory, all men are naturally mortal, and their survival after death is no natural endowment of man, but is a gift bestowed on him through Jesus Christ. Man, however, as originally created, might have avoided death by eating of the tree of life; but this condition of things, in consequence of the sin of their progenitor, now no longer exists; yet, as the result of the Incarnation, all men will be raised again in their bodies and rewarded or punished according to their works, the wicked passing into a state of suffering, which will ultimately destroy them. This is affirmed to be the real teaching of the New Testament respecting future retribution, and that the expressions therein used, such as death, destruction, and others of similar import, signify cessation of existence, and not continued existence in neverending misery.

3. The theory of universal salvation.

This theory affirms that Christianity teaches that there is a time coming in the distant future when every being who possesses a moral nature will be brought into voluntary subjection to God; that neither reason nor Scripture affords any ground for believing that human probation terminates at death, and that it is the end and purpose of the Incarnation to bring all things into voluntary subjection to Jesus Christ. 4. The theory of the late Professor Maurice. This theory may be briefly stated as follows :—

The words αἰών and αιώνιος, which are usually translated in the Authorised Version by some words denoting existence without limits to its duration, are frequently used in the New Testament in a moral sense without any reference to time. When they are used to denote duration, they mean an age, a dispensation; but when not so used, they denote a state of mind which is capable of enjoying communion