arly Universalist
Christians whom Epiphanius condemns as heretics; also of a few in
more modern times. Secondly, it has been thought that each person
would be punished in the future state according to the deeds done
in the body, each sin be expiated by a proportionate amount of
suffering, the retribution of some souls being severe and long,
that of others light and brief; but, every penalty being at

4 Flugge gives a full exposition of these points with references
to the authorities. Lehre vom Zustande, u. s. f., abth. ii. ss.
243-260.

5 Dietelmaier, Commenti Fanatici [non-ASCII characters omitted] Hist.
Antiquar.

length exhausted, the last victim would be restored. This was the
notion of Origen, the basis of the doctrine of purgatory, and the
view of most of the Restorationists. Thirdly, it has been imagined
that, by the good pleasure and fixed laws of God, all men are
destined to an impartial, absolute, and instant salvation beyond
the grave: all sins are justly punished, all moral distinctions
equitably compensated, in this life; in the future an equal glory
awaits all men, by the gracious and eternal election of God, as
revealed to us in the benignant mission of Christ. This is the
peculiar conception distinguishing some members of the
denomination now known as Universalists. Finally, it has been
believed that the freedom and probation granted here extend into
the life to come; that the aim of all future punishment will be
remedial, beneficent, not revengeful; that stronger motives will
be applied for producing repentance, and grander attractions to
holiness be felt; and that thus, at some time or other, even the
most sunken and hardened souls will be regenerated and raised up
to heaven in the image of God. Almost all Universalists, most
Unitarians, and large number of individual Christians outwardly
affiliated with other denominations, now accept and cherish this
theory.

One important variation from the doctrine of the dominant sects,
in connection with the present subject, is worthy of special
notice. We refer to the celebrated controversy waged in England,
in the first part of the eighteenth century, in regard to the
intermediate state of the dead. The famous Dr. Coward and a few
supporters labored, with much zeal, skill, and show of learning,
to prove the natural mortality of the soul. They asserted this to
be both a philosophical truth proved by scientific facts and a
Christian doctrine declared in