ABSTRACT
Christian divines inculcate the doctrine of a future state as a state of retribution. ‘It is a strong argument,’ says Addison, ‘for a state of retribution hereafter, that in this world virtuous persons are very often unfortunate, and vicious persons prosperous.’ In reality the majority of mankind spend the principal portion of their lives in a state, if not of suffering, at least of grievous privations; and if the expectation of a state of future retribution is justified upon the conception of vindicating and asserting the entire benevolence of the deity, we ought to believe that all who have suffered considerably in this mortal life shall have their sufferings compensated in the life to come. The doctrine of final retribution is the infliction of future punishment. Punishment, according to the deductions of the human understanding, is the advantage of others, or, in the received language of jurisprudence, it is called into action, for the sake of example.
