(_b_) That it is opposed to the modern doctrine of infinite space above and beneath us—a space peopled with worlds. With the surrender of the old conception of the firmament, as a boundary separating this world from the regions beyond, it is claimed that we must give up all belief in a heaven of the angels.—We reply that the notions of an infinite universe, of heaven as a definite place, and of spirits as confined to fixed locality, are without certain warrant either in reason or in Scripture. We know nothing of the modes of existence of pure spirits. What we know of the universe is certainly finite. Angels are apparently incorporeal beings, and as such are free from all laws of matter and space. Heaven and hell are essentially conditions, corresponding to character—conditions in which the body and the surroundings of the soul express and reflect its inward state. The main thing to be insisted on is therefore the state; place is merely incidental. The fact that Christ ascended to heaven with a human body, and that the saints are to possess glorified bodies, would seem to imply that heaven is a place. Christ’s declaration with regard to him who is “_able to destroy both soul and body in hell_” (_Mat. 10:28_) affords some reason for believing that hell is also a place. Where heaven and hell are, is not revealed to us. But it is not necessary to suppose that they are in some remote part of the universe; for aught we know, they may be right about us, so that if our eyes were opened, like those of the prophet’s servant (_2 Kings 6:17_), we ourselves should behold them. Upon ground of _Eph. 2:2_—“_prince of the __ powers of the air_”—and _3:10_—“_the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places_”—some have assigned the atmosphere of the earth as the abode of angelic spirits, both good and evil. But the expressions “_air_” and “_heavenly places_” may be merely metaphorical designations of their spiritual method of existence.