EARLY ADVOCACY OF UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA.
"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way
of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our
God."--ISAIAH, xl. 3.
Rev. John Murray, from England, landed on the shore of New Jersey in
1770. He came hither much oppressed in spirit on account of severe
afflictions in England, and had determined not to place himself before
the public again as a preacher. His published biography tells us how
differently the arrangements were made by Providence respecting him.
It is a remarkable record, that of his meeting with Thomas Potter, who
declared that he had been long waiting for the minister who had now
come, that he must preach in the new meeting-house which had been
builded for him; and who, in face of the preacher's refusal to comply
with his request, declared that the wind would not change for him to
leave in the vessel until he had delivered his message. After a severe
mental conflict the stranger consented to preach on the following
Sunday. Due notice was given, and the house was filled with attentive
listeners.
There had been some other preaching of Universalism in different
places in America previous to this time, as there were here and there
those who cherished the faith and made public avowal of it. Dr. George
de Benneville, a fugitive from France because of religious
persecution, established himself near Germantown, Pa., as a physician,
and being a devout believer in Universalism, took occasion often to
advocate it in public, with much effect. This beginning on the part of
Mr. Murray, however, opened the way to a systematic, permanent
movement, and led to the establishment of Universalist churches. He
preached much in New England, and was settled in Portsmouth, N. H.,
and afterwards in Boston, where he remained pastor of one church for
nearly thirty years. In his preaching at first, Mr. Murray did not
design to establish a separate sect. He was welcomed by ministers and
their followers into orthodox pulpits, until his outspoken views
respecting the salvation of the race raised a strong opposition
against him, which made him an object of persecution, and marked him
as the propagator of a dangerous heresy. Thus excluded from Christian
communion and fellowship by other sects, it was but reasonable and
just that the believers in Universalism should assume for themselves
the rights and privileges of a distinct and independent Christian
fraternity; so that other sects were responsible for the separation of
this branch of the Christian church from themselves. It has been
justly said by another:--
"If there was sin in this schism, in this separate religious
organization, it was a sin for which the other sects of those times
should bear the blame. They turned us out of doors, because we dared
express our earnest solemn opinions, and we had only these two
alternatives,--to stay out of doors or go in at those which were
hung on Universalist hinges. Does anybody to-day condemn us because
we chose the latter? We do not uncharitably condemn them for the
course they took; they acted, in most cases, conscientiously; and it
was, perhaps, a providential necessity of the times that the two
elements should separate; that the two classes of Christians,
holding views so opposite, should walk apart for a while. Denied the
fellowship of other churches at the start, we have tried to be
content with the fellowship of Christ; and we neither desire nor ask
for any other until we are deemed worthy of it. That we can endure
to be called heretics, even infidels, that we can stand alone, and
yet live, and grow, and win the respect of the best part of the
world, is already demonstrated. Our great anxiety in the future will
be to show to all right-minded people, by our life rather than our
word, that we are Christians, that this last form of Protestantism
is only more genuine, because nearer the truth, than the first."[14]
Contemporary with Mr. Murray during his early ministry in America were
Elhanan Winchester, a highly gifted and effective minister; Thomas
Jones, formerly of the Lady Huntington connection in England, and
afterwards settled at Gloucester, Mass.; Adams and Zebulon Streeter,
Caleb Rich, Thomas Barnes, Noah Parker, Noah Murray, George Richards,
William Farwell, Joab Young, Hosea and David Ballou, Edward
Turner,--most of these preachers in New England; Abel Sargent in
Western Pennsylvania, and a few others. Dr. Joseph Priestley was for a
time in Philadelphia, where he advocated the doctrine of the final
restoration of all souls; and Rev. Dr. Mayhew and Rev. Dr. Chauncey,
although not identified with the work of the ministers already
mentioned, had made distinct avowals of this same faith. A remarkable
fact in connection with the history of most of these men is, that they
were not from theological schools, nor largely endowed with literary
qualifications. They were men of clear mental perceptions, were well
versed in the Bible, ready and apt in their references to it, of
sincere convictions, and of indomitable will. They went forth in
readiness for whatever encounters might await them, never fearing what
theological forces might appear in their way, so long as they felt
assured that "the sword of the Spirit" would not fail them, and that
they should be made "strong in the Lord," and victorious in his might.
Well has it been written:--
"It will be brave reading when somebody shall display to us how the
faith came quietly to exist at far distant points, Pennsylvania, New
York, New England, variously born of widely different antecedents,
but gradually converging to a general likeness by the time John
Murray came to be the nucleus around which all should centre, an
organic but unorganized mass, without form but not void. Then will
follow the long history of separated and desultory warfare with the
established prejudices and partialities of the Christian sects,
during which every verse of Scripture was discussed, every doctrine
examined from the base, every conventional habit of thought dragged
to the light and called to account, every inch of theological ground
stubbornly fought over. All this while there were annual meetings
called the General Convention and recognized as a centre of
denominational union, but they were little more than voluntary
mass-meetings; all authority was jealously reserved to societies or
local Associations, with the largest liberty of individual
preference, and Universalists, like Israel under its Judges, did as
seemed good in every man's sight. Men in less deadly earnest, or
dealing with doctrines less profound and fundamental, would have
formed a close compact early in their history. But it was in the
nature of the case that these revolted thinkers should be shy of new
bonds, and that these divers searching the deeps should think little
of the surface. It was only when there came to be multitudes born in
the faith, with intellectual habits and social affinities based on
Universalism, with established worship and gathered congregations
scattered across the continent, that the imperative need of a firm
union for work and discipline was felt; and to reach this point had
taken almost a hundred years."[15]
As time passes, and new phases of the church representing the
Universalist faith appear, and new advocates of it arise, these days
of its first advocacy in our land may lose their significance to many
minds in the increasing attractions connected with the same church in
the present time. But he who would see most clearly the hand of Divine
Providence in the breaking of the light of this new dispensation upon
our shores, will hold in just and sacred estimation this "day of small
things," when these faithful ones stood forth to declare its glad
tidings. So graphically have the words of another given the deserved
tribute to their works, that we gladly record them in these pages.
"The early defenders of Universalism were plain, earnest men,
aroused to the exertion of all their energies by the presence of a
great thought. The truth of God's universal love and benevolent
purpose in creation possessed them. They saw it everywhere,
prefigured in Hebrew types, predicted by the prophets, implied in
every word of Jesus, enforced in every letter of his apostles. They
taught it in all places, and by all methods, in parish churches and
district school-houses, in fields and workshops, in pulpits with
stones flying about their heads, in rooms filled with the odor of
nauseous drugs, in face of the reckless slander of the undignified
and the quiet contempt of the dignified portion of the clergy. They
were armed at all points, like the old war engines that, overturned
every moment, always stood right side up. They turned the tables
upon the literal Calvinistic interpreters, and held a text to floor
every opponent. They were not moved by ridicule, for they possessed
a keen sense of the ludicrous, and knew well how to expose the
absurdities of the piebald theology of the churches. To the threats
of their opponents they opposed Hudibrastic rhymes; to their
missiles, words like old Murray's, 'While I have a "thus saith the
Lord" for every point of doctrine which I advance, not all the
stones in Boston, except they stop my breath, shall shut my mouth or
arrest my testimony.' To the arguments of their adversaries, a logic
like that of Ballou, simple as the talk of a little child, strong as
the tramp of a giant. There were varieties of opinion among them;
they had not all come up to the mount of their elevation by the same
path, but the sublime truth 'God is Love' burned like an undying
flame in their souls, and united them like brothers. Thank God that
the sleep of the church was awakened by these strong champions.
Nobly they spake their words in days when it was a disgrace in the
eyes of men!"[16]
[14] Rev. J. H. Tuttle, D. D.
[15] Rev. J. Smith Dodge, D. D.
[16] Rev. A. D. Mayo, Sermon at Funeral of Rev. Thomas Jones of
Gloucester, Mass., 1846.