Page:Heaven Revealed.djvu/181

 Let this doctrine be generally accepted and devoutly believed, and what a change would speedily be wrought by it in nearly all existing churches! How quickly would bigotry, intolerance, and belittling sectarianism—all doleful creatures of the night—take their departure, as owls and bats retire at the approach of dawn! For all agree that the Church on earth ought to be, and in a state of true order will be, somewhat like the church in heaven. All Christians, indeed, pray for this. Accepting, therefore, the new doctrine of the human form of heaven—the doctrine of endless diversity coupled with completest harmony and unity—they would no longer aim at perfect uniformity in things pertaining to the church, for they would see that no such uniformity exists in heaven. They would see that perfect agreement in doctrine or ritual (save in two or three fundamentals) is neither to be expected nor desired; that variety everywhere—in the spiritual no less than in the natural realm—is the Divine order. And seeing this, they would allow and encourage the utmost freedom of thought and inquiry on religious or doctrinal questions, not deprecating but cordially welcoming whatever diversity might result from such freedom. Prejudice against new ideas, or against writings said to contain them, would everywhere be condemned and frowned upon as a hindrance to religious progress.

Thus would bigotry and intolerance be banished from the churches, and in their place would come a grand catholicity, broad and beautiful as that in heaven. Instead of antagonistic sects warring against, fretting and weakening each other, we should have, out of many