Paul refers in Ephesians iv. 8, when, quoting the 68th Psalm, he tells
us that He ascended up on high, leading captivity captive.

According to the Romanists, Hades consists of three divisions--heaven,
hell, and purgatory. Heaven is the most blessed abode reserved for three
classes of persons:--1st, Those Old Testament saints whose spirits were
detained in custody until Christ arose, when they were led out by Him in
triumph; 2nd, Those who in this life attain to perfection in holiness;
and 3rd, Those believers in Christ, who, having died in a state of
imperfection, have made satisfaction for their sins and receive
cleansing through endurance of the fires of purgatory. Hell is the abode
of endless torment, where heretics and all who die in mortal sin suffer
eternally. Purgatory is supposed to complete the atonement of Christ.
His work delivers from original sin and eternal punishment, but
satisfaction for actual transgression is not complete until after the
endurance of temporal punishments and the pains of purgatory. The Church
of Rome claims the right to prescribe the nature and extent of such
punishments, and having devised a complicated system of indulgences,
penances, and masses, professes to hold the Keys of Heaven and to
possess authority to regulate penalties and obtain pardon for the living
and the dead. Such claims are unfounded and false. God alone can forgive
sin, and He recognises only two classes--the righteous and the
wicked--here and hereafter; and only two everlasting
dwelling-places--heaven and hell. The Romanist doctrine has no authority
in Scripture, but is of heathen origin, being derived from the Egyptians
through the Greeks and Romans, and having been current throughout the
Roman Empire. Its effect has been the aggrandisement and enrichment of
the papal priesthood and the subjection of the people. It contradicts
the Word of God, which declares that there is no condemnation to the
believer in Christ Jesus; that he hath eternal life; that for him to