Nor would it be in harmony with divine operations, so far as we know
them, to thrust a frail, human, imperfect spirit into eternal joys so
suddenly. He is not prepared for them. He requires a preliminary stage
of preparation. It is only in harmony with what we know of God's methods
to believe that such is provided. When a child is born into this world,
it is not thrust into new conditions suddenly. For a time it is not even
aware that it has entered on new conditions; but it adapts itself
naturally and easily to its new surroundings. So it is not easy to
believe that a soul accustomed to the darkness of earth is thrust at
once into the blinding glory of heaven. A preliminary stage of
preparation seems to be necessary; and if it is necessary, it
is provided.
I raised this difficulty once to an aged minister. At that time I saw
no solution of it, and I simply wanted information. He studied a moment
and then said, "When the flesh is put off, I think many of our sins and
imperfections will go along with it." That was a wise answer, and there
is a great deal of comfort in it. But it does not fully meet the case.
The flesh is a lodging place for many of our sins, and it is a happy
thing to think that we shall drop these sins when we drop the flesh. But
there are sins of the mind too; and these we shall not drop with the
flesh. They will go with us into the next life. The question is. How
shall we get rid of them? The idea of Restoration solves all difficulty.
Besides, we believe that nothing that is really good will ever perish
from the universe. In the case we have supposed, the man possessed real
goodness; but it was largely goodness in the germ; it needed to be
developed. It is only congenial with what we know of divine operations
to believe that what is good will be developed, rather than that it will
decay into nothingness. From that point of view a preliminary stage of
progress seems to be necessary.
I have just met with a lecture by Sir Oliver Lodge, in which he espouses
the same idea in a scientific relation. He quotes from Professor
Hoffding, who agrees with Browning and other poets, that no real value
or good is ever lost. Sir Oliver Lodge says that "the law of evolution
is that good should on the whole increase in the universe, with the
process of the suns." He says again, "Nothing really perishes in the
universe that is worth keeping."