Since three-fourths of the world are heathen, the weight of numbers implies that they next should be asked for their solution to the question — Where are the dead? Heathenism gives two general answers:

(1) Prominent are those which hold to Transmigration. These reply to us, “Our view is that when a man dies, he does not die, but merely changes his form. His future estate will correspond to his present living and give him either a higher or a lower position. We believe that we lived on earth before, perhaps as cats, dogs, mice, elephants, or whatnot, and that if the present life has been wisely used, we may reappear as men of nobler talents, as philosophers, etc.; but if, as usual, life has been misspent, at death we will be remanded to some lower form of being — an elephant or a worm, perhaps. It is because of this belief that we are so careful in respect to our treatment of the lower animals and refuse to eat meat of any kind. Were we to tramp ruthlessly on the worm, our punishment might be a form in which we ourselves should be treated ruthlessly after the change which we call death.”

(2) The other large class of heathen believe in a spirit world with happy hunting grounds for the good and a hell of different torments for the wicked. We are told that when people seem to die, they really become more alive than ever; and that the very minute they cross the river Styx they go to the realms of either the blessed or the ever doomed, and there are steps or degrees of punishment and reward. We inquire, “Where did you receive these views?” The answer is, “They have been with us for a long, long time. We know not where they came from. Our learned men have handed them down to us as truths, and we have accepted them as such.”

But heathenism’s answer is not satisfactory to our heads and hearts. We must look further. We must not trust to speculation. We must look for divine revelation; the message from Him with whom we have to do — our Creator.