The Lord has given to man a code of laws that we call the gospel of Jesus Christ. Due to lack of inspiration and spiritual guidance, men may differ in relation to these laws and their application, but there can hardly be a dispute in regard to the fact that such laws do exist, and that all who seek entrance into that kingdom are subject to them. We teach as fundamentals, first, faith in God the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost; second, sincere repentance from all sin; third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. No man may enter into the kingdom of God without first meeting all of these requirements. This is virtually what the Lord declared to Nicodemus when he said: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5.) It must be accepted by all who profess belief in our Savior that this edict is true and final. However, in the centuries past and even now in many so-called Christian communities, a wrong application of this doctrine has led to serious errors and unwittingly to the committing of grievous sins. I refer to the doctrine which proclaims that all who in the flesh have not professed belief in our Lord, or heard of him before death removed them from the earth, are forever damned and without means of escape from the torments of hell. This false conception and application of gospel truth has been a teaching of so-called Christianity from the earliest centuries of our era, but it never was a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In his Divine Comedy, Dante depicts the doctrine of damnation for unfortunate souls who die without a knowledge of Christ, as that doctrine was taught in the thirteenth century. According to the story, Dante is lost in the woods, where he is met by the Roman poet Virgil, who promises to show him the punishment of hell and purgatory, and later he is to have a view of paradise. He follows Virgil through hell and later into Limbo, which is the first circle of hell. Here are confined the souls of those who lived virtuous and honorable lives but who, because they were not baptized, merit punishment and are denied forever the blessings of salvation. As Dante looks upon these miserable souls in the upper stratum of hell and sees, as the story says, “many and great, both of children, and of women and men,” he marvels. His guide asks: “Thou askest not what spirits are these thou seest?” Dante shows a desire to know, so the guide continues: “I wish thee to know, before thou goest farther, that they sinned not; and though they have merit, it suffices not: for they had not Baptism, which is the portal of the faith that thou believest; and seeing they were before Christianity, they worshipped not God aright; and of these am I myself. For such defects, and for no other fault, are we lost; and only in so far afflicted, that without hope we live in desire.” (Philo M. Buck, Jr., ed., An Anthology of World Literature [New York: Macmillan Co., 1940], p. 446.)