INDISSOLUBLY connected with the thought of man is the idea of dwelling place; for the very fact that man is, establishes the additional one that man must be somewhere. Therefore, what can be more important than to know where man truly abides?
To material sense, and in accordance with the customary thinking of mortals, man would seem to be material, dwelling in a house of wood, stone, or brick, in a material universe. Nevertheless, there have always been some who, perceiving the temporal nature of this concept of man and his dwelling place, and refusing to believe in an ephemeral creation, have endeavored to lift thought beyond the testimony of material sense, thereby anchoring their hope in the eternity of Spirit, or Soul.
A prevalent belief is that Soul or Spirit abides in matter; but thought is vague as to how this Soul or Spirit leaves matter at the moment of dissolution, whence it goes, and where it thereafter abides. Many theories have been promulgated about this; and the term "heaven" has generally been applied to the conjectural abiding place, located apart from mortals and their earthly environment.
