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 like the upper stories of a house upon its foundations, and at death no intermediate state would be necessary, but men could pass instantaneously to their proper places in heaven.

The world of spirits performs a great use by intervening between our world and heaven and hell. If the heavens flowed immediately into our evil and corrupted natures, we should be tortured as the devils are at the approach of angelic spheres. If the hells flowed directly into us, the last remains of our spiritual life would be suffocated and we should be turned into beasts. That fearful danger really impended when God manifested himself in the flesh, to contend, by his divine sphere or Holy Spirit, against all the hells, and thus to rescue mankind from spiritual death.

The world of spirits acts as a great breakwater, saving us from a spiritual deluge, as a vast cloud protecting us alike from the light of heaven which would blind and from the fire of hell which would destroy us. By the arrangement of forces in that world, the adjustment of equilibriums, the Lord maintains the free-agency of man, and secures that freedom of will and thought which is requisite for regeneration.

Societies in the world of spirits are arranged