106 Symbolic Meanings of Fire. CHAP. 



not only this : while calling those who are saved 

 sheep, He goes out of His way to call the con- 

 demned, not goats but kids, and, in the second 

 place where the word occurs, kidlings (e/ot^ia) a 

 double diminutive. These are words of endearment, 

 as diminutives generally are; and moreover they 

 suggest immaturity ; which, when mentioned in con- 

 nection with sin, can be understood only as a 

 palliative of guilt. The sketch in the Catacombs of 

 Eome, representing Christ bearing a kid on His 

 shoulders, appears to prove that this interpretation 

 was known to the Primitive Church. 1 



We have now to consider the meaning of the fire 

 denounced against sinners in this passage and in 

 many other parts of Holy Scripture. 



Fire has the property of causing intense pain ; it 

 destroys, and in destroying it purifies; it is an 

 energy, and is the source of light and warmth and 

 life. These its different properties are all included 

 in the symbolism of Scripture, but in different places 

 they are prominent in different degrees ; and it 

 appears doubtful whether . pain is the predominant 

 idea connected with it anywhere, except in the 

 apologue of Dives and Lazarus, where Dives says, 

 "I am in anguish in this flame."' 2 But if pain were 

 in general the predominant idea, there is no reason 

 why the image of fire should be so constantly used ; 

 the scourge and the cross were more familiar to Our 



1 See Matthew Arnold's sonnet "The Good Shepherd with 

 the Kid." 2 Luke xvi. 24. 



