condition in that state? And again, how does it
happen, on this supposition, that this spirit in each individual exhibits
so largely the mental and moral traits of the earthly parents? These
hypotheses not being very satisfactory, will it be claimed that God
creates these spirits as fast as children are born to need them? and if
so, who brings them down just in the nick of time? and by what process are
they incarnated? But if God has, by special act, created a soul or spirit
for every member of the human family since Adam, is it not a contradiction
of Gen. 2:2, which declares that _all_ God's work of creation, so far as
it pertains to this world, was _completed_ by the close of the first week
of time? Again, how many of the inhabitants of this earth are the
offspring of abandoned criminality; and can it be supposed that God holds
himself in readiness to create souls which must come from his hands pure
as the dew of heaven, to be thrust into such vile tenements, and doomed to
a life of wretchedness and woe at the bidding of defiant lust? The
irreverence of the question will be pardoned as an exposure of the
absurdity of that theory which necessitates it.

3. _The Spirits of Just Men Made Perfect._--This expression is found in
Heb. 12:23, and seems, by some, to recognize the idea that spirits can
exist without the body, and are to be treated as separate entities. Thus
interpreted it might appear to give some support to Spiritualism. But it
will by no means bear such an interpretation. The apostle is contrasting
the privileges of Christians in the present dispensation, with the
situation of believers before the coming of Christ. What he sets forth are
blessings to be enjoyed in the present tense. Yes, says one, that is just
what I believe: We are come to spirits; they are all about us, and tip and
talk and write for us at our pleasure. But hold! nothing is affirmed of
spirits separately. The whole idea must be taken in. It is the "spirits of
_just men_ made perfect;" and the participle "made perfect" agrees with
"just men," or literally "the just made perfect" ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~