Among the pernicious dogmas taught by a perverted and mis-called Christianity, is the heinous doctrine that never-ending punishment or interminable bliss, unchanging in kind or degree, shall be the destiny of every soul,--the award being made according to the condition of that soul at the time of bodily death; a life of sin being thus nullified by a death-bed repentance, and a life of honor, if unmarked by the ceremonies of established sects, being followed by the tortures of hell without a possibility of relief. Such a dogma is to be ranked with the dread {91} heresy which proclaims the condemnation of innocent babes who have not been sprinkled by man's assumed authority. In the justice of God no soul shall be finally condemned under a law of which he has had no chance to learn. True, eternal punishment has been decreed as the lot of the wicked; but the real meaning of the punishment so decreed has been made known by the Lord Himself.[5] Eternal punishment is God's punishment; endless punishment is His; for "Endless" and "Eternal" are among His names, and the words are descriptive of His attributes. No soul will be punished for sin beyond the time requisite to work the needed reformation and to vindicate justice, for which ends alone punishment is imposed. And no one will be eligible to enter any kingdom of glory in the abode of the blessed to which he is not entitled through obedience to law. It follows as a plain necessity that the Gospel must be proclaimed in the spirit world; and that such ministry is provided for, the scriptures abundantly prove. Peter, defining the mission of the Redeemer, thus declares this solemn truth: "For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit."[6] As already shown, the inauguration of this work among the dead was wrought by Christ in the interval between His death and resurrection.