and immortality (incorruption) to light through the gospel." That which was only dimly seen by the great philosophers of Greece and Rome was made clear by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He witnessed to the truth that "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." To the belief that the soul was not extinguished by the death of the body was added- -as far as the Gentiles were concerned-the revelation that death was not for ever to wreck the body, but that it was destined to share with the soul in the new and more glorious life of the world to come. As to the doctrine of the soul in its intermediate state we cannot of course teach, as undoubtedly true, anything that is not supported by the witness of the holy Scriptures. The Bible contains all the elements for a full, clear, and systematic theology; but these elements are scattered throughout various books and letters, much in the same way as the phenomena of natural science are scattered throughout Nature. The great Fathers of the early Church have left us commentaries on Scripture, letters, catechisms, and treatises on special points of doctrine directed against particular errors prevalent in their day; for many centuries, however, there was little or no attempt made to systematise this body of doctrine and show how it formed a coherent whole.

History and experience bear witness to the tendency there is in man to systematise his knowledge, for man 2 St. Matt. xxii. 32.

12 Tim. i. 10.

is pre-eminently a reasoning being. All departments of learning, taken possession of by the inquirer, are therefore in time reduced to a system. It has been so with astronomy, botany, geology, medicine, chemistry, and all the sciences; so also with ontology, psychology, ethics, political economy, and all the philosophies. Give to men a multitude of facts or theories, and they will begin to analyse their nature and qualities, to arrange and classify, frame other theories, and draw conclusions tending to systematisation and simplicity. To this rule it was impossible that theology should be an exception. Scientific theology is therefore the manifestation of the truths contained in Holy Scripture, in due relation to one another, and as far as possible setting forth their agreement with philosophy.

Starting, therefore, with some brief introductory chapters on the doctrine of the soul, I have endeavoured to trace in the Bible, the Fathers, the Liturgies, and the writings of the theologians, what was commonly believed as to the life of the soul in its intermediate, disembodied state. I have tried to avoid the pitfall of interpreting these documents so as to make them harmonise with my own beliefs. My aim has been to state as fairly and truthfully as I can what the teaching in each part of the Church of Christ has been at various times. The Church as a whole has defined very little as to the after-life, and hence we come across a great variety of opinions on many points. Persons who wish, then, to believe that their own views are those which

have been held "always, everywhere, and by all," are necessarily disappointed when they find at the outset that the Fathers were not agreed among themselves, and that to this day there is no "consent of the Church upon every detail of doctrine as to the conditions of the intermediate state.

At the present day the eschatology of the Latin Church differs in some respects from that of the Orthodox Church of the East, and the ordinary Anglican teaching differs from that of the Greeks and Latins.

I believe, however, that reason and revelation have led to much the same conclusions-that, in spite of the controversies that still divide the Christian Church, there is a great unity of belief underlying superficial differences of opinion. No doubt these differences of doctrine and practice may be, and often are, so magnified that the essential unity of belief is obscured. For example, all Christians can accept the statement of St. Paul in his Epistle to the Philippians, that “He which began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ." It is only when we come to the question where this good work is carried on, by what means the soul is perfected, etc., that controversy begins. And so with "prayer for the dead," as prayer for the departed is often improperly called, the controversy is mainly one of words. If "prayer is the soul's sincere desire, uttered or unexpressed," then surely

1 Phil. i. 6

all of us, Catholic and Protestant, do in reality pray for the souls of those we have loved? We all wish them God-speed on their journey home, whether we kneel down and put our desires into words or leave them unexpressed. Prayer is not confined to vocal addresses, but it is the "lifting up of the heart and mind to God." Why, then, should Protestants quarrel with the immemorial custom of the Church-a custom also common to the pre-Christian religions of antiquity-of expressing in vocal prayer the strong desires of her heart for the eternal welfare of the departed? To some such question the reply was lately made, that "there is more need to lead men to imitate Jesus Christ, and walk in His steps, than to pray for the dead." This is one of those statements, begging the question that are popular among the thoughtless. It belongs to the same category as the story of the bishop (said to have been perhaps the most influential man on the bench "), who peremptorily ordered a certain curate-reported to him for preaching on the subject of prayers for the departed-to "leave the dead alone, and go and do some parish work." We are not told why the preaching of the value of prayers for the departed was, more than any other doctrine, incompatible with "parish work." Such a prelate would doubtless have said to St. Paul, "Leave the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead alone and attend to missionary work." The truth is that-while it is of course possible to unduly dwell upon any doctrine-the subject of prayer for the

departed is far from being unfruitful. Apart from the help such prayers may bring to the departed, they serve in a material age to keep the Unseen World and eternal verities constantly before those who are often so absorbed in "work" that they are in danger of forgetting the lesson contained in the Apostle's words, "We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." St. Paul was not a dreamer who neglected work," nor does the history of the Church of Christ teach us that zealous work for God is the speciality of those who "leave the dead alone."

R. E. H.

EAST GRINSTEAD,

Feast of St. Margaret, 1901