God selected man from animals to confer on him the soul,
    which is a substance free, simple, immaterial, non-compounded
    and non-appetitive.  And that becomes an angel by improvement.

    By his profound wisdom and most sublime intelligence, he
    connected the soul with the material body.

    If he (man) does good in the material body, and has a good
    knowledge and religion he is Hartasp....

    As soon as he leaves this material body, I (God) take him up
    to the world of angels, that he may have an interview with
    the angels, and behold me.

    And if he is not Hartasp, but has wisdom and abstains from
    vice, I will promote him to the rank of angels.

    Every person in proportion to his wisdom and piety will find
    a place in the rank of wise men, among the heavens and stars. 
    And in that region of happiness he will remain for ever.[4]

In China, the immemorial custom of worshipping the Souls of ancestors shows how completely the life of man was regarded as extending beyond the tomb.  The Shu King—­placed by Mr. James Legge as the most ancient of Chinese classics, containing historical documents ranging from B.C. 2357-627—­is full of allusions to these Souls, who with other spiritual beings, watch over the affairs of their descendants and the welfare of the kingdom.  Thus Pan-kang, ruling from B.C. 1401-1374, exhorts his subjects: 

My object is to support and nourish you all.  I think of my ancestors (who are now) the spiritual sovereigns....  Were I to err in my government, and remain long here, my high sovereign (the founder of our dynasty) would send down on me great punishment for my crime, and say, “Why do you oppress my people?” If you, the myriads of the people, do not attend to the perpetuation of your lives, and cherish one mind with me, the One man, in my plans, the former kings will send down on you great punishment for your crime, and say, “Why do you not agree with our young grandson, but go on to forfeit your virtue?” When they punish you from above, you will have no way of escape....  Your ancestors and fathers will (now) cut you off and abandon you, and not save you from death.[5]

Indeed, so practical is this Chinese belief, held to-day as in those long-past ages, that “the change that men call Death” seems to play a very small part in the thoughts and lives of the people of the Flowery Land.

These quotations, which might be multiplied a hundred-fold, may suffice to prove the folly of the idea that immortality came to “light through the gospel”.  The whole ancient world basked in the full sunshine of belief in the immortality of man, lived in it daily, voiced it in its literature, went with it in calm serenity through the gate of Death.