That divine wisdom, divine power, and divine love can compass nothing better than endless torment, is almost unthinkable. And if such an ultimatum could be thought of as a possibility, then I would humbly ask: Is such a consummation worthy of God? And I would ask also: What would be the practical benefit of it? Would it not be a reflection on love and power that are infinite? To think that man was made in the divine image, and had within him the potentiality of attaining to absolute perfection and blessedness, but that his career has culminated instead in the character of a demon, and the suffering of endless torment! Is it possible to believe that the divine administration could be such a failure? This is no exaggeration Men believed, or tried to believe, that for certain persons of the human race there was no possibility of a different fate. They might say it was possible because they did not know who was elected and who was not; and that they did not know for whom Christ died, and for whom He did not die. Therefore, they might argue that all men had a chance. No; they had no chance if the secret divine intention was against them. Away with all untruth and misrepresentation. How much better, and how much more in keeping with the divine character, and the divine revelation to say, without any halting or doubt, that God loves every man whom He has made; that He has provided for every man's salvation; that if men do not accept the provision they will suffer; but that God will triumph in the end, and that divine love will win. Surely, that would be a Gospel indeed for our poor sin-stricken world! XV. TESTIMONY OF REASON. Divine Gift of Reason--Its Proper Sphere--No Dogmatism--Is Sin an Infinite Evil?--Infinite Penalty Impossible to Be Rendered--Justice Can Delay--Good Cannot Perish--Testimony of Dickens--Endless Punishment Increases Moral Evil--The Divine Character Never Changes --Time But a Short Epoch--Our Capacity of Development--Salvation of Infants--The Insane--Imperfect Christians--Their Destiny--Good Unchristian Men--Where Will They Go?--"All Souls Are Mine"--Worth Preserving--Fate of the Heathen--Reclaimed in the Next Life--Human Freedom Never Destroyed--Provision for All--A Dreadful Hymn--Divine Sacrifice not in Vain--Bringing Good Out of Evil--Final Triumph of Goodness--Sin Is Abnormal--Will Therefore Cease--Law of Gradual Change--Sins of the Mind--The Race Might Easily Have Been Intercepted --Endless Torment Cannot be Believed--The Mind's Affinity for Truth --True Punishment Is Reformatory--Alleged Divine Cruelty--Agony of Eternal Separation--All Are God's Own Children--The Universal Call --No Design of God Can Fail--Ingersoll and His Shafts of Ridicule --Incentive to Good Works--Unfathomable Divine Love--"Joy Cometh in the Morning."