522 STUDIES, SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL chap. 



punishments ; that dogmatic beliefs are absolutely unim- 

 portant, except so far as they affect our relations with our 

 fellows ; and that forms and ceremonies, and the complex 

 observances of most religions, are equally unimportant. On 

 the other hand, what are of the most vital importance are 

 motives with the actions that result from them, and every- 

 thing that develops and exercises the whole mental, moral, 

 and physical nature, resulting in happy and healthy lives 

 for every human being. The future life will be simply a 

 continuation of the present, under new conditions ; and its 

 happiness or misery will be dependent upon how we have 

 developed all that is best in our nature here. 



Under the old theory the soul could be saved by a mere 

 change of beliefs and the performance of certain ceremonial 

 observances. The body was nothing; happiness was 

 nothing ; pleasure was often held to be a sin ; hence any 

 amount of jDunishment, torture, and even death were con- 

 sidered justifiable in order to produce this change and 

 save the soul. 



On the new theory it is the body that develops, 

 and to some extent saves, the soul. Disease, pain, and 

 all that shortens and impoverishes life, are injurious to 

 the soul as well as to the body. Not only is a healthy 

 body necessary for a sound mind, but equally so for a 

 fully-developed soul — a soul that is best fitted to com- 

 mence its new era of life and progress in the spirit world. 

 Inasmuch as we have fully utilized and developed all our 

 faculties — bodily, mental, and spiritual — and have done 

 all in our power to aid others in a similar development, 

 so have we prepared future well-being for ourselves and 

 for them. 



All this is the common knowledge and belief of Spirit- 

 ualists ; and I should not have thought it necessary to re- 

 state it were it not that their creed is often misunderstood 

 and misrepresented by outsiders, and also because it is 

 preliminary to certain conclusions which, T think, logically 

 follow from it, but which are not so generally accepted 

 among us. 



It seems to me that, holding these beliefs as to the 

 future life and what is the proper and only preparation 



