The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-09-07

gism or the definition of a word. In some
way the key 10 Christ's meaning In these
awful chapters Of Matthew has been lost.
Besides. our Savior always used the Ian
guage of hyperbole. The Sermon on the
Mount Is wholly unavoidable until the
church modifies II Gas she wisely does) to
suit the conditions of actual life. The other
answer to the Catholic Church and Dante
is that II our Savior actually taught ever
lasting punishment for all outside of a
church, IL the Communion of the Saints"
excludes Socrates. Plato and Buddha.
should be compelled to say in explanation
that He was a man and this awful doctrine
is a mans error. 1t will not do TO ignore
the Christian consciousness of the twen-
tieth century upon this subject. No min
lister now breaches this hideous dogma; in
fact, when IL Is discussed by ministers in
private IL only excites distrust, and often
derision, just as 1t is said the Roman
Augurs laughed in each others faces when
they publicly celebrated the mummeries Of
their so-called faith in the gods of Olym-
pus. THE world do move" and 1t has
moved on and left Dante's Inferno behind
and now regards the Purgatorio as the only
hell consistent with either divine justice or
divine love. We, of to-day, universally be-
lieve in Tennyson when he says,
THAT not one life shall be destroyed.
Or cast as rubbish to the void.
When God hath made the pile complete"
1t is extremely significant that the word
punishment does not occur, nor Is il
limited at, in the great I'm Memoriam."
How base and cruel 1t was in Dante to re-
mand to the Inferno his revered friend
Virgil, who so faithfully guided the great
poet through the horrors of the pit and up
the mount OF purgatory, even to the borders
of the terrestrial paradise. 1t is the fashion
now to talk long and loud about Virgils
being only a symbol for the human intel
lect and therefore to insist that 1t was
proper that he should be among the lost.
But the question arises has the splendid
human intellect, such appears in Plato,
Shakespeare, Darwin and Spencer. no con-
sideration in the rewards of the hereafter?
Dante's limitation is the narrow Catholic
Church dogma that consigns nine-tenths
of the human family, and among them such
superb minds as above named. to everlast-
ing despair.
In its doctrine of purgatory the world
is indebted to the Catholic Church for a
| modification. in spite of itself, of the hor-
rible dogma Of eternal punishment. as well
as of the harsh Hebrew concept of the
Deity. The great mother church, upon no
better theological foundation than tradi-
ton and her own infallibility, but In fact
as the expression of the universal instinct
of the human race, teaches that the great
majority of Catholics at death enter upon
a limited hell, where, in time, the sins Of
this life are expiated, and whose ultimate
| outcome is restoration in heaven. The Pur-
gatorio of Dante is punishment for refor-
nation and not for vindication. When we
examine this great subject in the light of
reason this idea of purgatory explains the
most facts. 1t will not do to restore the
| scoundrels of the world-the lagos and the
| Observation-Disclosures punishment any
| more than to send the Francesca da
! Riminis and the Ophelias to the pit. Pun
ishment hereafter is as necessary to jus
| tice as the final restoration of the whole
human race. And this is the fatal defect
in the evolutionary doctrine Of conditional
immortality. This last teaches that only
those fit for Immortality attain 1.-THE rest
are annihilated. But thus the villains of
| the world escape from their crimes into
what Colonel Ingersoll called "the win
| dowless palace of eternal peace
| One of the sweet consultations of the
| Catholic Church is the efficacy of prayer
| for lost souls and the intercession of saints
| in their behalf But the idea is purely
| fanciful, just like its beautiful Mariolatry,
| which Is the softening of the Hebrew idea
| of God as a stern judge by associating
| with Him the feminine qualities of the
| Blessed Virgin. 1t was the great Goethe,
| II 1 remember right, who said that ''in
| God we need a mother as we'll as a father"
| We must not forget or slight the spirit
| ual Interpretation of Dante's Purgatorio.
! The atmosphere is that of hope. Blue sky
| and gresnery succeed the gloom and desola-
| ton of the Inferno. Every one of the
terraces up the mountain Of Purgatory
| is bracing and stimulating. Everywhere
| we hear the strenuous cry, Climb, climb!
| Courage, courage! can and 1 will" II
| the lesson of the Inferno is 1.-The wages
| of sin Is DEATH" equally the lesson OF the
/ Purgatorio is THE gift of God is eternal
| life" Rightfully. therefore, upon the top
| of this mount of effort does our great poet
place the terrestrial gardens of Paradise.
Here. in the upper terraces of the Purga-
torio, we have the great lesson of growth
by service. and. fguratively speaking. of
multiplication by division.
| How can a person get rich by division
Applied to material things this unqualified
| statement Is surprising. The more of these
| things we give away, the less we have.
But in matters intellectual and spiritual
| this paradox is perfectly true We do not
intellectually gain by multiplying knowl-
| edge. A sponge that does nothing but
| absorb gradually rots by reason of its in
| creased and increasing richness. Intellectu-
ally, those persons who give most acquire
most, that is, those who share their accom-
| plishments with their fellow-man grow the
| richer and are always the happier. A
| curious illustration of this great truth is
| also found in finance. If a man can devise
some way of cheapening a necessary arti-
! Gle of living or improving its quality, his
| future is made, for the lower price or the
/ improved quality will increase the de-
mand that riches are certain for the for
| tunate inventor. The cheaper and better
| the railroads and telegraph or any other
| necessary service the more the patrons and
| the greater the profits. In the spiritual
world multiplication by division is the law
! of the land. This is the constant teaching
| of Christ. Here is that giving which en-
| richeth and that Withholding that impover-
| isheth."
1t Is In the upper terraces of the Purga-
in the whole world is personal love Love