Page:The New View of Hell.djvu/35

 down to us from the past." And he gives, as among the reasons of those gross representations, "the mediæeval literalization of the Bible figures."

Now, to judge correctly of the need there was of a new revelation a hundred years ago, we should go back to the time when Swedenborg wrote, and see what were the then accepted teachings upon the various points of Christian theology. Since that time the beliefs of Christians have, through the light of the New Dispensation (which is "as the lightning that cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west"), become so modified, that, on many subjects, they bear but little resemblance to those held previous to that time. Very few are aware of the changes in theological opinion that have taken place in nearly all the churches during the last hundred years, and that are still going on at a rapid pace; and fewer still are aware of the cause of these changes.

Take, for illustration, the doctrine concerning hell, or the future punishment of the wicked. At the time Swedenborg wrote, the commonly received doctrine in all the churches was according to the literal teaching of the Bible. It was believed and taught for Christian verity that hell is literally a lake of fire and brimstone;—a place created by the Lord at the beginning for the express purpose of inflicting upon all who die in their sins as much suffering as infinite ingenuity could possibly devise. It was held that sinners, after death, were to be