ated during past lives, would
bring the existence of the soul within and in harmony with natural
laws, instead of without and contrary to them.

It is further argued that the feeling of "original sin" of which so many
people assert a consciousness, may be explained better by the theory of
Reincarnation than by any theological doctrine. The orthodox doctrine is
that "original sin" was something inherited from Adam by reason of our
forefather's transgression, but this jars upon the thought of today, as
well it might, for what has the "soul" to do with Adam--it did not
descend from him, or from aught else but the Source of Being--there is
no line of descent for souls, though there may be for bodies. What has
Adam to do with your soul, if it came fresh from the mint of the Maker,
pure and unsullied--how could his sin taint your new soul? Theology here
asserts either arrant nonsense, or else grave injustice. But if for
"Adam" we substitute our past existences and the thoughts and deeds
thereof, we may understand that feeling of conscious recognition of past
wrong-doing and remorse, which so many testify to, though they be
reasonably free from the same in the present life. The butterfly dimly
remembers its worm state, and although it now soars, it feels the slime
of the mud in which it once crawled.

It is also argued that in one life the soul would fail to acquire the
varied experience which is necessary to form a well rounded mentality of
understanding. Dwarfed by its limited experience in the narrow sphere
occupied by many human beings, it would be far from acquiring the
knowledge which would seem to be necessary for a developed and advanced
soul. Besides this there would be as great an inequality on the part of
souls after death, as there is before death--some would pass into the
future state as ignorant beings, while others would possess a full
nature of understanding. As a leading authority has said: "A perfected
man must have experienced every type of earthly relation and duty, every
phase of desire, affection and passion, every form of temptation and
every variety of conflict. No one life can possibly furnish the
material for more than a minute section of such experience." Along this
same line it is urged that the soul's development must come largely from
contact and relationship with other souls, in a variety of phases and
forms. It must experience pain and happiness, love, pity, failure,
success--it must know the d