THE PURPOSE OF LIFE 181 



tion ? What place does the ancient conception of 

 purgatory, either present or to come, occupy in a 

 modern version of the Divina Commedia ? 



To many people the answer seems clear. The 

 Christian religion, side by side with its insistence on 

 charity and mutual helpfulness, has always maintained 

 that suffering might bestow as great benefits and lead 

 to greater advantage than happiness and prosperity. 

 All the great teachers of religion have dwelt on the 

 essential position of suffering in the scheme of human 

 progress, and there are very few people who have 

 studied reverently themselves and their neighbours 

 who can deny that suffering and disappointment have 

 often led the way to a higher and more spiritual outlook 

 upon life. Now it is of the essence of the Christian 

 religion, though not invariably the practice of those 

 who profess it, to regard apparent success or even 

 happiness in this world as no criterion of the attainment 

 of the real object of life, so that much of what we 

 strive for wealth, for instance is an entirely illusory 

 gain, and suffering undergone for its sake is certainly 

 suffering in vain. Yet there is no doubt that the most 

 ardent Christians, those who believe most firmly in 

 the sanctity and divine origin of suffering and in the 

 prolongation of existence beyond the threshold of this 

 life, are nowadays among the most insistent to relieve 

 distress and to equalize, as far as possible, the natural 

 possessions of humanity. The old teaching that all 

 these apparent inequalities and injustices have a mean- 

 ing and a purpose, will be put right, and in some way 

 compensated for, in another state, does not convince 

 them of the desirability of leaving things alone here. 



