heard of Christ in this world, and as men are excluded from the operations of divine grace after they die, how can all men be saved on his plan? We reply, that he did not exclude men from the operations and efficacy of divine truth, as revealed in and through Christ, after the death of the body. (Vol. IV., p. 223.) There are none who are wholly free from moral corruption in this world; none who need no more washing, no more refining, when they come to die. This is true of some of the most eminent members of the church. Now, as they are to be saved hereafter without any further process of punishment than they experienced in this world, so may other sinners. St. Paul thought it would be far better for him to depart and be with Christ, than to remain in this world; but did he expect to carry his sins and sources of temptation with him? No; Jesus will be revealed to all in the future state, as we have never seen him here. Will not all bow before him, and say "our Lord!" "our God!" and glorify and praise him, and wish to serve him, as did Saul of Tarsus? Men are to be made alive in Christ by the resurrection of the dead. What this resurrection will effect may be seen by St. Paul's luminous description of it, as recorded in 1 Cor. 15: 42, and onwards. All who enter that state will be holy and happy, because they will see, know, love, adore, and glorify, the Father and the Son.

Mr. Ballou held that the word resurrection was used in different senses in the word of God. (See Vol. III., pp. 255, 256.) The primary signification of the Greek

HIS DEATH

word anastasis was a rising, merely

as rising from a

seat, or from an obscure condition to eminence, or from oppression to freedom; but the word was applied secondarily to the resurrection of the dead. Is the resurrection simultaneous or progressive? Is it a resurrection of the body, or of the spirit? Mr. Ballou would have replied, that, according to Paul's description (1 Cor. xv.), man did not seem to possess an immortal constitution until the resurrection. Previously to that event, he was a mortal and corruptible being. It is somewhat difficult to understand Paul's language as applicable to all these points of inquiry. In some places it seemed to imply a simultaneous resurrection of all the dead, and all the living, to immortal glory (as in 1 Cor. 15: 51, 52); but, on the other hand, there were passages which seemed to assert individual entrances into the immortal existence, as 2 Cor. 5: 1-8, and Phil. 1: 23. Although we may not be able to understand fully the teachings of the New Testament writers on all these subjects, Mr. Ballou thought there is enough revealed to supply all the comfort and consolation we need in regard to the momentous subject. There shall be a future life for all the dead, in which they shall be as the angels of God in heaven. All shall be made alive in Christ. That which is sown in corruption shall be raised in incorruption; that which is sown in dishonor shall be raised in glory. There is nothing to be dreaded, either in the immortal state, or in any intermediate state, supposing the latter to be established. If we believe that Jesus has absolutely confirmed the doctrine of immortality by his own glorious resurrection, we ought not to deprive ourselves of the sweet comforts, the strong conso

lations of the Christian's hope, because we are unable to comprehend all the particulars which our inquisitiveness may aspire to know. Mr. Ballou had no belief that men would sin after death. They would be immortal, glorious, happy. In the words of Paul, "He that is dead is freed from sin;" and, to his last day, Mr. Ballou believed this to refer to the actually, literally dead.

We have already shown that he cannot be said to have believed in an intermediate state. There is no sentient state, he said, between the mortal and the immortal; but this is not to be construed in a way to conflict with the fact that all the dead live unto God, for He is the God of the dead as well as of the living. (See Vol. II., 383; IV., 167, 168.)

When it was said to him, in 1828, that he believed in "death and glory," or death and immediate happiness, he replied, Owing to my want of discernment, I have not been able to reconcile all the passages which seem relevant to a fair support of either side of the question," that is, immediate happiness, or an intermediate state. "The question is not one of any great consequence. Being fully satisfied that the Scriptures teach us to believe in no moral state between the death of the body and the resurrection, it seems to me immaterial whether we enter immediately after the dissolution of the body on the resurrection state, or sleep in unconscious quietude any given time before that glorious event shall take place. In either case it is 'death and glory;' for it makes no difference as to the length of time during an unconscious state. In such a state no moral preparation can be effected."

It was objected to the theory of the resurrection which

Mr. Ballou deduced from the Scriptures, that "it left no room for the agency of Christ in the salvation of the world; it made death the Saviour, rather than Jesus. There is no other name given among men, whereby we may be saved, except Jesus Christ. How is Christ the Saviour of those who live and die without a knowledge of him?" In answer to this, we refer the reader to what has already been said on the subject of salvation, on page 364. It is not expected that pious Christians will carry with them into the future state the sins that attach to them at death. By what process are they to be cleansed? There must be some divine process, aside from punishment in the future state, by which men can be saved from the sins which attach to them at death, or else all men must be punished hereafter. There need be no other means of saving men, except the revelation of Jesus to them; and should it please God to reveal Jesus to all, on their entrance into the future state, even though it be no more vividly than he was revealed to Saul of Tarsus, every soul will be conformed to the divine will, and be filled with the spirit of obedience, love, and adoration. The full glories of the eternal world, who can describe? The full effect of those glories, when seen by the immortalized spirits, who can foretell? All are to be made alive in Christ; they shall be as the angels of God in heaven; they shall be free from earthly appetites and passions; they shall be immortal and incorruptible; they shall die no more, and shall be the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. Jesus then will be the Saviour of all men, even though they may not have heard of him until they enter the state where he shall be all

in all; or, if they have heard of him, may have denied him, like Peter, or persecuted him like Saul. Appearing before them in the full glory of the ascension, every knee will bow, and every tongue confess him Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Mr. Ballou gave his influence, through his long life, to the perpetuity of the Lord's Supper. He believed it to be a morally beautiful and useful institution; and wished Universalists to observe it with a rational, grateful, pious spirit. On public occasions, when he was present, as conventions and associations, he was usually invited to officiate at the table. He did not believe that the supper was enjoined, by a positive command, to be observed by the church in all ages; but he held that it was an important means of Christian culture. He regretted deeply the abuses of the service in past times, the effect of which, to this day, had by no means passed wholly away. He did not believe that it was a service. for a few only, but for the whole body of sincere Christian believers; and he regretted the establishment of creeds, invented by the wisdom of this world, to which persons were required to give assent before they could be allowed to approach the Lord's table. Jesus did not institute a creed for his followers to subscribe, before they could be admitted to the table. All who sincerely believe in him may come. Let every man examine himself; and, if he feels that he desires to live a Christian life,- to become more and more like Christ, and to honor him as the