DISCUSSION IN PONTIAC--THE APOSTLE’S FAITH--HIS ARGUMENT IN
ROMANS--EXTENSIVE TRAVELING--IN KANSAS AND MISSOURI--PRICE’S RAID--IN
OHIO AND INDIANA--DARK NIGHT AND WALK IN TOLEDO--CONVERSATION ON
DESTRUCTIONISM--THE VICTORY--THE DEATH--PRESIDENT LINCOLN--DEBATE IN
MILFORD, OHIO--THE RESTITUTION AN OLD DOCTRINE--THE SENTIMENT WIDE
SPREAD--AT WORK IN IOWA--LABORERS THERE--MURDERERS SAVED AND THE
MURDERED LOST--INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL GROWTH--WHAT MAN WAS--WHAT HE
IS TO BE--THE VICTORY--SPIRITUALISM--IMMORAL PREACHING--SAVED WITHOUT
REPENTANCE--PREACHING A MEANS OF SALVATION--A METHODIST MINISTER
BELIEVES--THE SUICIDE.
In the spring of 1861, I resolved to move to Chicago, and publish
the _Magazine_, in that city. The war was still raging, and I was
apprehensive it would linger several years longer. I could do nothing
in Missouri, and most of my subscribers were nearer Chicago than St.
Louis. Accordingly, in May of said year, we bid adieu to the city
which had been our home for many years, and took up our abode in the
“Garden City” of the West. I had been there but once since 1840, and
what a change had taken place! Its population at the present time, is
about two hundred thousand, but in 1840 it did not number more than
six thousand inhabitants. And it will doubtless continue to make rapid
strides in its onward march. Its lake navigation almost connecting it
with the Atlantic ocean; its railroads extending in all directions
through the most productive agricultural region of the world, must
concentrate immense wealth and business in Chicago.
Our denomination has two church edifices in Chicago, and two large
societies. Dr. W. H. Ryder is pastor of the first society, and T. E.
St. John of the second. Till recently, J. H. Tuttle had charge of
the second society. There is also a denominational paper there--_The
New Covenant_--published by D. P. Livermore. It has, I understand, an
extensive circulation.
There are far more of the liberal faith in this northern region than
as far south as St. Louis. A large portion of the people are from
the Eastern States, and they brought with them rational views of the
Bible and religion. We have meeting-houses and societies all over this
northern section, also ministers at work instructing the people, and
uniting and concentrating their efforts.
Soon after moving to Chicago, I had an oral discussion in Pontiac,
Ill., with Elder Brooks, on Endless Misery and Universal Salvation. In
one of my speeches, I remarked:
The apostle Paul was certainly a believer in the salvation of all
men. Some of his statements of this doctrine are remarkably lucid,
comprehensive, and weighty. Take, for instance, the fifth chapter to
the Romans.
1. In the eighteenth verse he says: “Therefore, as by the offence
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so, by
the righteousness of one the _free gift_ came upon _all men_ unto
justification of life.” What is this “free _gift_” to all men? Answer:
“For the wages of sin is death; but the _gift of God is eternal life_.”
Rom. vi. 23. Eternal life, then, is given, made sure, to _all men_. Not
to one here and there; to this sect or that sect; this nation or that
nation; but to ALL MEN. Let this be remembered.
2. In the next verse of said chapter, he continues: “For as by one
man’s disobedience, many were made sinners; so by the obedience of one
shall many be made righteous.” By “many” here he means the same as by
“all men,” in the preceding verse, the terms being varied to avoid
tautology. Parkhurst, in his Greek Lexicon says, “The word _many_ in
this verse, signifies _the many_; that is, the _mass_, the multitude;
the _whole bulk_ of mankind.” Dr. Macknight, a Presbyterian critic,
writes, “For as the word _many_ in the first part of the verse, does
not mean some part of mankind only, but _all mankind_, from first to
last, who without exception are constituted sinners; so _the many_, in
the latter part of the verse, who are said to be constituted righteous
through the obedience of Christ, must mean _all mankind_, from the
beginning to the end of the world, _without exception_.” The statement
of the apostle is this--all mankind are sinners, and all mankind shall
be righteous. Can universal salvation be expressed in clearer terms?
3. He continues his argument: “Where sin abounded, grace did much more
abound; and as sin hath reigned unto death, even so, might grace reign
through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Verses 20, 21. Sin abounds universally, but grace is much more to
abound. The grace of God is not only to banish sin from every soul, but
to bless every soul forever and ever. But how can grace abound more
than sin, if millions of mankind are to be victims of sin eternally?
Will the grace of God, resulting in eternal life, abound in such
souls? A valuable building is on fire; the fire abounds in every part
from base to attic. The engines rush to the spot and pour water all
over the building, and extinguish the devouring flames. In this case
where fire abounded, water much more abounds. But if the water failed
to extinguish the fire in one half of the building, would water have
abounded more than fire? So, if the grace of God puts out the fires of
sin in only half of the universe, will grace abound more than sin? How
is that, Elder Brooks?
4. The whole creation to be delivered. “For the creature was made
subject to vanity, not willingly but by reason of him who hath
subjected the same in hope; because the creature itself shall be
delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of
the children of God.” Rom. viii. 20, 21. The word, “creature,” here
means mankind; the Greek whence it is taken, is rendered “creation” in
the twenty-second verse. The words, “every creature,” in the commission
of Christ to his apostles, are from the same term. “Go ye into all
the world and preach the gospel to _every creature_.” Mark xvi. 15.
Dr. Macknight and other good critics tell us, that the word rendered,
_creature_, signifies, “_every human creature_; ALL MANKIND.” Dr.
Thomas White, an English divine of the Episcopal Church, translates the
text thus: “For THE CREATION was made subject to vanity, not willingly,
but by reason of him who hath subjected it; in hope that THE CREATION
ITSELF also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into
the glorious liberty of the sons of God.” Mankind, then, are to be
delivered from corruption--from moral and physical corruption--into
the glorious liberty of the children of God. The apostle says, this
universal deliverance SHALL be effected, and I believe him.
5. God will have mercy on all. “For I would not, brethren, that ye
should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your
own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the
fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved;
as it is written, There shall come out Sion the Deliverer, and shall
turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant unto them,
when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are
enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved
for the fathers’ sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without
repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have
now obtained mercy through their unbelief: even so have these also now
not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For
God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon
all. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out? For
who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto
him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things;
to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” Rom. xi. 25-36. Jews and Gentiles
include all mankind. The apostles tell us, that the blindness of the
Jews is to continue “Till the _fulness_ of the Gentiles be come in,”
and then “_All Israel_ shall be saved.” “For God hath concluded them
_all_--Israelites and Gentiles--in unbelief that he might have mercy
on _all_.” And then he adds, “For of him, and through him, and to him
are _all things_, to whom be glory forever. Amen.” No terms can express
more forcibly the proposition I affirm on this occasion.
In the next verse, the apostle adds, “I beseech you therefore by the
_mercies_ of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable duty.” In the previous
part of his letter to the Romans, as I have shown, he writes of the
_mercies_ of God for mankind. 1. “The free gift came upon all men unto
justification of life.” 2. “Many,” that is, the mass, all mankind,
“shall be made righteous.” 3. “Where sin abounded, grace did much more
abound.” 4. The whole creation shall be delivered from the bondage of
corruption. 5. God will bring all the Gentiles, and all the Jews, into
the kingdom; will “HAVE MERCY ON ALL; for of him and through him, and
to him are ALL THINGS.” His next words are, “I beseech you therefore
by the MERCIES of God,” etc. It is sometimes said by the opposers of
Universal Grace, that it has an immoral influence. But the great
apostle beseeches men in consideration of its truth, to live holy,
godly lives. He does not say, as some have profanely said, “If God’s
mercy will save the world, we have nothing to do; let us then eat,
drink and be merry; lie, steal, and murder. It is all right; God will
save us any how.” Let every believer in the universal mercy of God aim
to live a life “holy and acceptable to God,” which is his reasonable
duty.
These are the statements of the apostle to the Gentiles concerning
the extent of salvation; and I, and no other one, can employ language
expressing more clearly the Universalist faith. That gifted man was
certainly a believer in the “Restitution of all things.”
Since I have been in Chicago, I have traveled and lectured on nearly
all the railroads running out of the city; have labored not only in
Illinois, but in Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas. I was at
work in Kansas and Missouri when Price made his late raid into the
latter state. That was in the fall of 1864. Was in Leavenworth when the
state militia were called out to resist the invaders. The people of
Kansas expected no mercy at their hands should they enter the state;
Leavenworth, especially, would be sure to feel their wrath. The streets
of the city were guarded, and orders issued, to arrest every straggler
who was without a pass. Cannon were mounted on the surrounding hills,
and every man who could shoulder a musket was required to report for
duty. I was tempted to go, armed and equipped, to the “front,” but
recollecting I had not fired a gun for twenty years, I concluded I
could not do much execution, and so set my face homeward. But how to
get across the river into Missouri, was the question, as no one was
allowed to go over without a pass, and I had no pass, and probably
could not get one. I, however, rode boldly to the ferry as if I was
on important business, and was passed over without being questioned.
But when near Weston, I was stopped by the picket; but the officer of
the day soon coming along, took me to head-quarters, where I obtained
a pass to St. Joseph. Leaving my horse with a kind friend, I went to
St. Joseph by rail, and thence to the Mississippi river, two hundred
miles across the state. Considerable portion of the way being infested
with bushwackers, there were thirty soldiers on the train to protect
us from those bloody scoundrels. The guards fired on two horsemen,
who seemed to be fleeing from the rushing train. Both fell, and as I
learned afterward, they were killed, and were Union men. The conductor
thought they were bushwackers, and that class of fighters were shot
down like mad dogs, as they deserved to be. Only a few days before,
and a few miles from that spot, Bill Anderson’s bloody crew stopped a
train, and murdered in cold blood twenty-one of the passengers. All
armed stragglers on the prairies, were suspiciously regarded in that
locality, after that terrible crime was perpetrated. Macon City was
alive with business, fifteen hundred soldiers being there digging
ditches, throwing up breastworks, and making every other necessary
preparation to resist an attack, which was daily expected. I went to
St. Louis, and found the citizens very indignant at the way General
Rosecrans was managing affairs. Half of a general, with the force at
Rosecrans’ command, would have driven Price out of the state at the
beginning of the invasion, when he was yet in the south-east corner of
it. But Rosecrans’ head being full of whisky and popery, he let the
rebels do about as they pleased. They overran the best portion of the
state, and did an immense amount of harm.
I spent three weeks, in the business of my life, between Chicago and
Toledo, Ohio. Lectured in many places I had not before visited, and
much extended my acquaintance. Had an appointment in East Toledo, a
suburb of Toledo, and about three miles from it. It was a dismal
night, and the road out there was a dismal road. I started after dark,
on foot and alone, to fill the appointment. The weather was cold, the
night dark, and the rain pouring down in torrents. There being no
sidewalk, and the mud deep, I had an interesting walk. Arriving at
the meeting-house, I found it dark, and the door locked; and after
shivering in the wet and cold outside one hour, and not a soul joining
me, I returned whence I came. I suppose no one expected I would be
on hand such a night. The next day on the cars, I had the following
conversation with a fellow passenger:
“I do not believe in eternal punishment. I believe God will _destroy_
the wicked, soul and body, root and branch.”
“When will he do all this?”
“At the resurrection. Then God will raise saint and sinner, take the
righteous to himself, and burn the wicked to ashes.”
“I congratulate you on the improvement you have made on old Orthodoxy.
It is certainly better to burn sinners up, then burn them eternally.”
“I do not believe any one in this world has a spark of immortality in
him. We are born mortal, live mortal, and unless we comply with certain
conditions, we never can be immortal. Immortality is conditional, and
unless we comply with those conditions, we shall be consumed in the
conflagration.”
“What are those conditions?”
“Faith in Christ, is one of them.”
“Will all be destroyed except those who exercise faith in Christ? Is
that your theory?”
“Yes.”
“Then nearly all mankind will be burned up. The countless millions who
lived before Christ’s advent--the good and the bad--all consumed in one
pile. All the Pagans, Mohammedans, and Jews who have lived since his
birth will share the same fiery fate. All idiots, all children who
have died such, will be consumed with them. Your creed is the gospel of
destruction, almost universal destruction.”
“I did not say all them would be destroyed.”
“I admit you did not say so in so many words, but no other inference
can be drawn from your position. You said no one would be blessed with
immortality and eternal life, who did not have faith in Christ in this
world. The child, the idiot, the Pagan, the Mohammedan, all lack such a
faith here, and the inference is, they will all be destroyed. You are
ashamed to admit in so many words such a horrid idea to me, but that is
your faith.”
“You do not understand me, and you cannot convince the people of the
White House that all will be saved.”
“I understand you and your fiery faith perfectly well. It is worse
than Atheism, for it asserts that death is the end of man, while your
creed asserts, that nearly all mankind will be raised from the dead on
_purpose to burn them up_. Atheism is a hundred fold better than your
theory. It is amazing to me, that a man with the Bible in his hands,
and God all round him, can entertain such a terrible theory. You have
eyes, but you see not; ears, but you hear not; understanding, but
understand not. Read the words of truth emblazoned on God’s word and
works, accept their teachings, and abandon your fiery creed, your worse
than atheistical dogma.”
Spent one month on the Illinois Central railroad, and went south as far
as Du Quoin, about three hundred miles, and lectured in most of the
important towns, on and near the road. When in Mattoon and Charleston,
the glorious news arrived of the evacuation of Richmond, and the
surrender of Lee. Up went the banners, and loud were the hosannas.
Every body were in the street, shaking hands, and with smiling faces.
The terrible war was over, the government was triumphantly sustained,
and the soldier boys would soon return. No wonder the people were happy.
I was in Ashley, April 14th. Some one said, “Have you heard the news?”
“What news?” “Mr. Lincoln was murdered last night!” “It cannot be so,”
I replied; “it is doubtless a false report?” But in a few moments,
the passenger train came down with its engine draped in black. That
confirmed the heart-rending report. As the train approached the depot
no one spoke--no one could speak. The people turned homeward with
meditative steps and down cast look. All over the land, from the
Atlantic to the Pacific, in city and country, where the sad tidings
was conveyed, the people were struck dumb. Mr. Lincoln’s character had
been tested by the most difficult circumstances, and he had proved
himself to be a wise, noble, far-seeing man. Every body had confidence
in him--in his judgment, his uprightness, his patriotism. He was deemed
the Savior of his country. No wonder the people were “stricken, smitten
and afflicted.” And then, the awful news was so different from what the
people had just been feasting on. This was victory, victory, victory.
The enemy was subdued, and the country saved. That was death, death,
death. The great, the good, the beloved President, was murdered, and
that, too, in the very hour of his triumph.
I was at Du Quoin the next day; and it was reported of three men in
town, that they had said, “Lincoln was served right,” and forthwith
some soldiers, who were at home on a furlough, started post-haste,
and brought them into town. They would have been hung, if it had been
proved they dropped those obnoxious words.
I had a discussion in Milford, Ohio, with John Sweeney of Chicago,
which continued four days. He was pretty well posted on doctrinal
points, and did some good work for his cause. The discussion was
conducted pleasantly, and I trust profitably to the hearers. He said,
that the idea of the salvation of all men was new in the world; had
been entertained but a few years. In my reply I remarked:
The gentleman greatly errs in asserting that the idea of the final
purification and salvation of all souls, is a new thought in this
world. The apostle Peter informs us, that the “Restitution of all
things was spoken by the mouth of all God’s holy prophets since the
world began.” Acts iii. 21. It is as old, then, as inspiration, as
revelation. And far back in the depths of the past, hundreds of years
before Christ, and outside of the Jewish nation, the “Restitution of
all things” was cherished by many of the wise and good. Upper India
was doubtless one of the first abodes of mankind after the flood, Noah
or some of his children, having settled there. In the sacred books of
the early inhabitants of that country, the redemption of all souls is
distinctly stated. Budhism, a sort of Protestant Reformation of the old
faith of the people, avows the same destiny for mankind. Padmahani,
the Son of the Supreme God, made a vow not to return to heaven until
all beings should be brought through him to salvation. True, they
were to pass through many terrible hells--first, a hell of snakes,
then came thirty-two principal hells, and then one hundred and twenty
minor hells. The road to heaven, according to that old theology, was
certainly hard to travel; but I suppose one had better go to heaven
through all those hells than not get there at all. The author of the
“Friend of India,” gives the following as the views of many of the
present inhabitants of that country. “According to the Brahmos, God is
a loving Father, and men are his children; to secure happiness, men
must avoid sin and subdue the sins to which they are prone. They must
fulfil all human duty, and especially devote themselves to works of
benevolence among the ignorant and poor. For the wrong they do, they
will suffer punishment; _but their sufferings are remedial, and will
purify the soul from all its errors_. Meditation and prayer are to be
employed for the same end; and to assist their followers in this duty,
a little book has been published, which is extensively used.”
In Egypt, the land of ancient wisdom, many of the priests, Dr.
Enfield thinks, entertained a belief in the salvation of all men. See
his “History of Philosophy,” Book I, chapter 8. In the old Persian
mythology, the same idea is contained. It has a God and a Savior; and
the latter will finally restore all from the power of satan.
For three or four hundred years after Christ, many of the leading
Christian writers were believers in the “Restitution of all things.”
Says Clement, President of the theological school in Alexandria,
the most noted school of the second and third centuries: “How is he
a Savior and Lord, unless he is the Savior and Lord of all? He is
certainly the Savior of those who have believed: and of those who have
not believed he is the Lord, until by being brought to confess him they
shall receive the proper and well-adapted blessing for themselves.”
“The Lord is the propitiation not only for our sins, that is, of the
faithful, but also for the whole world; therefore he indeed _saves
all_, but converts some by punishments, and others by gaining their
free-will, so that he has the high honor that unto him _every knee
should bow_, of things in heaven, on earth, and under the earth; that
is, angels, men, and the souls of those who died before his advent.”
Clement’s great pupil, Origen, was a noted advocate of Universal
Salvation. He says: “We assert that the Word who is the wisdom of God,
shall bring together _all intelligent creatures_, and convert them into
his own perfection, through the instrumentalities of their free-will
and their own exertions. And the consummation of all things will be
the extinction _of sin_; but whether it shall then be so abolished as
never to revive again in the universe does not belong to the present
discourse to show. What relates, however, to the entire abolition of
sin and the _reformation of every soul_, may be obscurely traced in
many of the prophecies; for there we discover that the name of God is
to be invoked by all, so that _all_ shall serve him with one consent,
that the reproach of contumely is to be taken away, and that there
is to be _no more sin_, nor vain words, nor treacherous tongue. This
may not indeed take place with mankind in the present life, but be
accomplished after they shall have been liberated from the body.”
A century later, Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, advocated the same faith
in the plainest terms: “What therefore is the scope of St. Paul’s
dissertation in this place? That the nature of evil shall at last be
_wholly exterminated_, and divine, immortal goodness embrace within
itself _every rational creature_; so that of _all_ who were made by
God, _not one_ shall be excluded from his kingdom.”
Diodorus, Bishop of Tarsus, in Silicia, A.D. 378, was of that faith.
“The wicked,” he says, “are to suffer, not eternal torment, but a
punishment proportioned in length to the amount of their guilt; after
which, they are to be happy without end.” About the same time, lived
Fabius Manus Victorinus. He maintained, that “Christ will regenerate
all things; through him all things will be purged, and return to
eternal life.”
Other learned, good, and influential men in those early days, believed
in and taught this truth. I will name Titus, Bishop of Bostia; Basil
the Great, Bishop of Cæsarea; Didymus the Blind, and the learned
and powerful Jerome. In fact, most of the Christians, Orthodox and
anti-Orthodox, in the first age of the Christian Era, entertained this
faith. The writers of those times speak of this faith as if it was not
questioned; they offer no labored argument in its defence, and when
they do refer to it, it is only incidentally. But darkness was rapidly
covering the earth, and gross darkness the people. The enlightened
and benevolent doctrine of the Restitution was not adapted to the
savagism of the dark ages that was then threatening the world, and so
in the year of our Lord 553, at Constantinople, by the Fifth Ecumenical
Council, it was condemned. From that period till the Reformation of
the fourteenth century, the religions of the world corresponded with
the ignorance and brutality that prevailed. Our wise, benevolent, and
pure faith, not harmonizing with the savagism of the times, had but
few adherents. But in the great religious awakening of the fourteenth
century, it was again entertained, and has been ever since gradually
gaining in favor.
In A.D. 1650, Gerard Winstonley, an Englishman, in a book called,
“Mystery of God,” thus writes, “The whole creation of mankind shall be
delivered from corruption, bondage, death, and pain.” He was persecuted
for his faith, and thrown into prison. At the same time lived and
labored William Earbury, an eminent preacher among the Independents.
He was a defender of the same faith. He asked, “What gospel, what glad
tidings is it to tell the world, that none can be saved but the elect
and believers? Christ came to save only the _lost_, giving the word
of life to _all men_, that they might believe, a shutting all up in
unbelief, that he might have mercy on _all_.” “For the ministry of God
shall be finished, fully known, and the angel swears by God, that time
shall be no more; for _all_ shall be taken up into eternity, unto God
himself, and God shall be _all in all_.” (_Terror of Tythes_, pages
175, 244.)
Another noble defender of the Restitution in those times, was Richard
Coppin. He was charged with blasphemy for believing in Universal
Salvation, and he replied, “Whatever is the will of God is not
blasphemy to affirm. The will of God is the salvation of all men,
therefore to say that _all men shall be saved_ is not blasphemy.”
(_Truth’s Triumph_, page 7.) He confounded his opposers in discussion,
and that so enraged them, they had him imprisoned. This took place in
1656. At this time a book by an unknown author appeared, with this
title: “Of the Torments of Hell; The Foundation; And the Pillars
Thereof Discovered, Searched, Shaken and Ruined. With infallible proof
that there is not to be punishment for the wicked after this life; for
any to endure that shall not end.” The author was certainly a man of
ability, and much reading. He gives Orthodoxy some pretty hard hits.
This was written over two hundred years ago.
At the same time lived Jeremy White, a chaplain to Protector Cromwell.
He published a book called, “The Restitution of All Things: or, a
vindication of the goodness and grace of God, to be manifested at last
in the recovery of the whole creation out of their fall.” He was truly
a christian man; his soul was imbued with the spirit of his faith.
Dr. Thomas Burnet of that age, was of like faith, and Lord Macauley,
in his “History of England,” says he was a “clergyman of eminent
genius, learning and virtue.” In one of his works he writes, “I know
not by what means it happens at present, that some divines of a cruel
and fiery temper are extremely pleased with eternal and infinite
punishment, and can hardly endure to have the point fairly examined and
debated on both sides.” There are some of that kind in the world now.
William Whiston, the well known translator of Josephus, was an
unbeliever in endless misery. He wrote a book entitled, “The Eternity
of Hell Torments Considered.” Archbishop Hare says, he was “a
fair, unblemished character; all his life he cultivated piety,
virtue and good bearing.” He succeeded Sir Isaac Newton as Professor
of Mathematics, at Cambridge. In his book he offers some cogent
arguments against eternal woe, but I have not time to state them on
this occasion. R. Roach, another English clergyman, who flourished
over an hundred years ago, say, “Then will the general redemption be
accomplished, and the mediating office of the great High Priest be
at an end, for he will then deliver up the kingdom thus completed to
his Father, that ‘God may be _all in all_.’” Bishop Warburton, the
celebrated author of the “Divine Legation of Moses,” had no faith
in ceaseless woe. He justly calls the preachers of that doctrine,
“unmerciful doctors,” “merciless doctors.”
But I have not time to cite any more English testimony, that the
doctrines of the Restitution have been long entertained by many of the
purest, best, and most learned of that nation. I will cross over into
Germany, and see if these sentiments have not been entertained in that
enlightened land.
As early as 1590, Samuel Huber, Professor of Divinity, in Wittemburg,
was a believer in the Restitution, according to Spauheim, Professor of
Divinity at Geneva: “We think,” says the latter, “the opinion of Huber
on this subject absurd, who about the close of the last century, began
to publish and defend a universal election of all men in Christ to
salvation.” At the same early day our righteous faith had a talented,
learned and pious advocate in John William Petersen. He was Professor
of Poetry at Rostock, in 1677. He was also superintendent at Lubic and
Lunenburg, and court preacher at Lutin. In 1700, he published a work
in three volumes, in defense of the Restitution, which was extensively
read, and caused much excitement in Germany.
At the same time was published a book which has been widely circulated
and extensively read. It is entitled, “The Everlasting Gospel,” by Paul
Seigvolk. It clearly and forcibly advocates the salvation of mankind.
It was very popular in Germany, and has been republished at various
times in different parts of Europe. It was also published in this
country as early as 1753. That our divine faith was widely diffused
in those days, we learn from many other sources. In the _Analytical
Review_, an English periodical published in 1780, we find the following:
“The doctrine of the final happiness of mankind, which present the
prospect of the termination of all evil, and of a period in which the
deep shades of misery and guilt, which have so long enveloped the
universe, shall be forever dispelled, is so pleasing a speculation
to a benevolent mind, that we do not wonder it meets with so _many_
advocates. From the _earliest_ period, we doubt not the belief of it
has been secretly entertained by many, who, in the face of opposition
and danger, had not the resolution to avow it. Now, however, it has
broken through _every_ restriction, and walks abroad in every form that
is adapted to convince the philosophic, to arouse the unthinking, and
to melt the tender.”
These books, and others of like character, were extensively circulated
in Germany, and called the attention of the public to the benevolent
faith advocated with so much learning and piety. An exciting
controversy was the result; and learned men on both sides put forth all
their strength for and against this controverted doctrine.
But I have not time to say more about the history of Universalism
in Germany. Ever since the Reformation, that faith has been gaining
adherents, and at the present time, it is almost universally
entertained by the Protestants of that country. Says Dr. Dwight, in
“Travels in North Germany,” “The doctrine of endless punishment is
almost universally rejected. I have seen but one person who believed
it.” Not only in Germany and England, but in Holland, Switzerland,
France, Scotland, and in other parts of Europe, the doctrine of
Universal Salvation prevailed at an early day, and at the present
time is widely diffused. It exists more or less in all the Protestant
denominations. There is no sect in Europe called Universalist, but the
sentiment is found in all sects, and encounters very little opposition.
I also spent three weeks in the north part of Iowa. Lectured in Lyons,
Marshalltown, Newton, Iowa City, Washington, and in many other places.
T. C. Eaton, who resides in Des Moines, has labored very successfully
in the interior of that state. He has long been in the West--has
resided in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, as well as in Iowa--and wherever he
has lived, has always been a faithful laborer in the Master’s vineyard.
J. P. Sanford, is in Marshalltown, and is an eloquent speaker, and
laborious worker. Some fifteen years since, I was introduced to him in
Bentonsport, Iowa. He was then a Methodist, and asked many questions
concerning the liberal faith. Six months afterward he commenced
preaching, and has been in the ministry ever since. He was in the
army two years during the late rebellion, and was captain, colonel,
chaplain. He has traveled some in Europe, and, it is said, delivers
some interesting lectures concerning “the old country.” He is also a
noted masonic lecturer. In Newton met A. C. Edmonds, who resides and
preaches in the place. He has spent several years in California and
Oregon, traveling and preaching; has also published a denominational
paper in those states. Our people have a meeting-house, also a society,
in Newton. In Iowa City, the Universalists own a church edifice, and J.
Kinney is pastor of the society. He is an excellent man, and the good
cause prospers under his ministry.
I have labored in Iowa, more or less, most every year, for a long time,
and until lately my journeys were made on horseback. In this way I have
traveled over about two thirds of the state. Iowa abounds in good soil,
and will, in a few years, be a rich and populous country. Now is the
time to establish our beautiful faith in that young and vigorous state.
It will improve the people spiritually and morally, while they are
making themselves pleasant homes, and developing the resources of the
land. Said a man to me in Marshalltown:
“Do you think the assassin Booth can be saved?”
“Jesus said, ‘I came to seek and save the lost.’ ‘They that are whole
need not a physician, but they that are sick.’ And the apostle Paul
teaches, that Christ came to save the chief of sinners. As it was the
mission of our Savior to save the lost, the morally sick, the chief
of sinners, I dare not say, that even Booth cannot be saved. But if
Orthodoxy is true, I had rather have Booth’s chances for heaven than
Mr. Lincoln’s. The latter received his death wound without a moment’s
warning, and was not conscious an instant after the fatal bullet struck
his head. He belonged to no church, was not a professor of religion;
and so according to Orthodoxy, died impenitent, unregenerated, a
sinner, and must be lost eternally. But Booth lived one or two hours
after he was wounded, and was perfectly conscious to the last moment
of his life. And who knows but he repented of his great crime before
he expired? And if he did, according to Orthodoxy, he went straight
to heaven. But if there is any truth in Orthodoxy, Mr. Lincoln had
no chance whatever, for he died ‘impenitent.’ If Partialism is true,
as a general rule, murderers are saved, while the murdered are lost,
for in nine cases of every ten, the latter, being killed suddenly,
without any intimation of their doom, and so have not time to say
‘Lord save me,’ are eternally lost; while the former, the murderers,
having timely warning of their fate, and special effort being made for
their regeneration, almost invariably swing from the gallows soundly
converted, and so go from the gibbet to immortal glory. It takes
Orthodoxy to translate the bloody criminal into a saint, and fit him
for heaven between his monstrous crime and the halter; but Universalism
is required to save the murdered, the victim of his iniquity. While
I was residing in St. Louis, a wretch by the name of Lamb, held with
his own hands, his young and confiding wife in the Mississippi river,
till she was dead. He was arrested, confessed his guilt, and was hung;
and on the gallows said, ‘I have a hope within me that bears me up--a
hope that I shall live with God, and be happy with him, and that I
shall sing his praise. I die with a trust in God.’ And Dr. Anderson,
a Presbyterian, his spiritual adviser, published in the papers that
he was ‘satisfied of the reality of Lamb’s penitence.’ Behold the
abominations of Orthodoxy! That woman belonged to no church, had not
‘got religion,’ and so was banished from the murderer’s hands to the
devil, to be the victim of his diabolical cruelty eternally. But the
incarnate fiend, whom the law called her husband, was transported a few
months afterward, from the gallows to the third heaven, according to
Orthodoxy.”
In one of my sermons in Washington, I spoke as follows:
As man is susceptible of physical improvement, is he not also of
intellectual and moral? Cannot the soul develop, grow, as well as the
body? What a vast difference there is between the infant mind and
that mind which has devoted years to intellectual and moral culture?
The soul is a germ; and as the germ in the seed, under favorable
circumstances, will bud, blossom, and yield a rich harvest, so this
spiritual germ, if no obstructions interdict, will develop its heavenly
proportions to perfect manhood. The race, like each individual, has
its childhood, its youth, and perfect manhood. One individual is a
representative of the race. As one progresses the rest may. Suppose
every human being who walks the earth for five hundred years, should
make intellectual and moral improvement, the great end and aim of his
life, all other pursuits subordinate to that one, what would be the
consequence? Would not Americans and Europeans, at the expiration of
that time, be as far in advance of their present condition as they are
now in advance of the New Hollanders, Hottentots, and inhabitants of
the South Sea Islands? Undoubtedly they would. The whole race would
then be in the kingdom of God. Sin would no longer be nurtured on
earth. There would be no soil for it to grow in. The long hoped for,
and prayed for, Millenium would be ushered in--all would know the Lord
from the least to the greatest--the lion and the lamb would lie down
together. This glorious era is predicted by Holy Writ, and God’s elder
Scriptures. Revelation and nature unite in testifying that mankind,
God’s noblest and best work, and for whom the universe was made, are
susceptible of infinite improvement, that they will shine brighter and
brighter to the perfect day.
It may require more than five centuries to produce such results; it
probably will; but eternity is before us. Our race is in its dawn only.
The morning twilight has just appeared. The darkness of barbarism
still lingers in the horizon. The chains of intellectual and moral
despotism are still clanking in our midst. But the race, as well as
the individual, will reach noon-day. The sun of righteousness will
mount the zenith, and disperse all darkness and melt all chains.
Such characters as Moses, Homer, Plato, Lord Bacon, Shakspeare,
Newton, Napoleon, Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, Clay, Webster,
Beecher, Chapin, and a multitude of others in INTELLECT; and such as
Socrates, St. John, St. Paul, Melancthon, Howard, Channing, Oberlin,
Speer, and others too numerous to mention, in MORAL WORTH, indicate
the intellectual and moral heights all may ultimately attain. They
stand out in bold relief from the mass of mankind, indicating the
capabilities of human nature. They are pioneers in the intellectual and
moral field, and the ground they occupy will ere long be occupied by
all. They are beacons on the rushing stream of life to pilot humanity
into the celestial haven.
The history of the earth and all therein and thereon, as revealed by
science and history, illustrates the law of progress. This earth has
been a theater of life for innumerable ages--how long it is not for us
to know. Many of the remains of the old world are embedded in the crust
of the earth; and from them we learn, that from the first appearance
of life in the vegetable form, up to man, there has been a regular
progressive development. The order seems to have been about thus: 1.
Gross matter; 2. Mineral; 3. Marine Plants; 4. Fish; 5. Reptiles; 6.
Birds; 7. Marsupial; 8. Mamalia; 9. MAN, the flower, the crown, the
lord of creation. All these classes are interlinked, one hand reaching
up, and the other down, and all are ascending in the line of the
spiral, up to man. Every succeeding class is superior to the preceding,
from the first to the last, and each class is moving onward. The last
type of the vegetable kingdom is infinitely superior to the first,
and so of all the other classes. And man of the sixtieth century is
far superior to man of the first century. No miracle was wrought in
bringing any of these species into existence. No law of nature was
violated, or suspended; but all, from the lowest grade up to man, were
brought on to the stage of life according to perfect and immutable
laws, emenating from the great Fountain of the Universe.
Mankind in their infancy were ignorant creatures; as much below the
Indians of the Rocky Mountains, intellectually and morally, as they
are below us. They wandered, naked, in clans, like the Indians of the
West, subsisting on fish, reptiles, and such animals as they could kill
with their simple weapons, and on the spontaneous fruit of the earth,
without shelter by night, or protection from the burning sun or pelting
storm.
Many centuries after this period, about the time the city of Babylon
was founded, although great advancement had been made, yet the mass of
the people were as ignorant as are the aborigines of America. There
were a few highly developed minds, but the great body of the people
were enveloped in mental darkness, of which we can form but faint
conception--fit materials for tyrants and leaders to make machines of,
and they freely used them for such sacrilegious purposes. They were
subject to their leader’s will; were his bone and sinew; his battle
axe and shield. He was the head, they the body. At his will they
suffered and toiled, lived and died, and when their oppressors’ earthly
career closed, they erected pyramids to perpetuate his fame and their
degradation. No effort was made to enlighten and moralize the mass of
mankind, for their masters well knew that ignorant men made the best
tools. No advancement would have been made under such unfavorable
circumstances had not growth been natural to man.
If we trace the history of mankind during the rise and progress of
the Chaldean, Babylonian, Persian and Roman empires, up to the time
Christ was on earth, we find, that although ignorance and degradation
are prominent features of the civilization of those times, yet our
hearts are made glad with clear evidence of human progress. Every
subsequent generation was wiser and better than the previous one.
True, the advancing tide was slow, the current sluggish; sometimes
obstacles would arrest its progress, and even force it back toward its
source, but nature would then redouble her efforts, and sweep away all
obstacles, and press forward with her immortal freight to sunnier skies
and fairer climes.
When the Christian Era opened, it was the golden age of antiquity. The
purity of our Savior’s life, his deep and fervent love for mankind, the
beauty and life-giving energy of the precepts and truths he uttered,
together with the goodness, zeal and extensive labors and sufferings of
his apostles and their associates, gave the human mind an impetus it
had not before known.
The apostles and their coadjutors traversed the Roman empire, which
embraced most of the known world, and denounced Paganism, and every
species of immorality, and called on the nations of the earth to
worship the one living and true God, who made and governs the universe.
They proclaimed, in obedience to their divine Master, that God was the
FATHER OF ALL MANKIND; that the latter compose one great BROTHERHOOD,
and are destined for IMMORTALITY, PROGRESSION and HAPPINESS; and from
these cardinal truths they drew these inferences, and enforced them
with holy life and eloquent speech--that men should exercise brotherly
kindness, general benevolence and charity, and aid each other in
traveling the heavenly road.
Those holy men did not labor in vain. The human soul was quickened into
higher life by the germinating power of truth; and had the gospel been
retained in its purity, and had the social and political condition of
mankind been in a higher sphere of development, and had those favorable
conditions continued to the present time, long ago the Millenium would
have been ushered in. But the gospel was corrupted; the social and
political condition of mankind, although in advance of any previous
period, was in a deplorable state. The Roman heart was rotten, the
Roman empire was corrupt, and before Christianity was proclaimed in
it to much extent, the empire was tottering on its throne, and shaking
from center to circumference; and these precursors of still greater
evils filled the world with terror and confusion. The Pope supplanted
Christ, and Catholicism, Christianity; and the Roman empire, by
political earthquakes, was shaking on its sandy foundation. And to add
to the terrors and disasters of the times, floods of barbarians came
rushing from the north, and the Saracens from the east, like the lava
from Vesuvius, that overwhelmed Herculaneum and Pompeii, and buried the
empire and civilization beneath the flood, and almost extinguished the
light and life of Christianity. Those were the darkest days the world
had seen for many a century.
Human progress then received a check from which it was a long time in
recovering; but the innate tendency of human nature to move onward
finally overcame the mountains that human folly had thrown in its way,
and after the lapse of several centuries it emerged into the light of
science and religion.
The morning twilight which succeeded that long night of anarchy,
priestly rule and superstition, dawned on the world in the fourteenth
century. Intellect, which had slumbered for ages, began to throw off
its lethargy. Universities sprang up in Europe. Science, literature
and religion began to be studied. Old theories were looked into
and questioned; and then the martyr’s fires were rekindled by the
conservatives of that age; for every age has a class who love to stand
up to their ears in mud at their old landmarks, and threaten all with
temporal ruin or eternal damnation, or both, who make an effort to get
out of the filth into the pure air and sunshine of heaven. This old
hunkerism I abhor, whether in church, state, or literature. It would
repress the energies of the world. Our motto should be--go where the
stream of truth bears us, regardless of consequences; they should not
be feared. Error and ignorance only are real and fearful enemies.
Those early pioneers in the domain of truth, paid dear for their
independence and wisdom; many of whom were burned at the stake or
incarcerated in dungeons. But the truths they uttered were not so
easily forced out of the world. A pious poet of those times, speaking
of the disinterment and scattering of Wickliffe’s ashes on the Avon,
utters this prophetic language:
“The Avon to the Severn runs,
The Severn to the sea,
And Wickliffe’s ashes shall be strewn
Wide as the waters be.”
The martyrs of truth fertilize our soil. The fires that consumed
their bodies lighten our skies. The clanking of their chains, and the
groans they uttered, are yet sounding in our ears, and inspire us with
indignation against despotism of every name and kind. They did as much
for human progress by suffering and dying in its cause as they did by
the pen, speech, or holy life. Their tears and their blood form a river
which has been meandering through the heart of humanity down to the
present time; and all along its margin, little rills have been pouring
into it from the hearts and eyes of those who have been persecuted for
righteousness’ sake. And the stream that was once small has become
large, and will increase every day as it flows on, imparting vitality
to the great heart of humanity. Revere those great men. And although
they may not have known the whole truth, yet they were far in advance
of the age in which they lived, were true friends of man, and we owe
them a lasting debt of gratitude.
And what shall I say of the present condition of the enlightened
nations of the earth? The truth is, never before did man attain
the intellectual and moral eminence he now enjoys; never before was
the human mind so active or making such rapid strides. “The world
is entering on a new moral cycle. The great heart of humanity is
heaving with hopes of a still brighter day. The instincts of our
nature prophesy its approach, and the best intellects of our world are
struggling to turn that prophecy to fulfilment. Thoughts of freedom,
duty, benevolence, equality and human brotherhood agitate the nations
of the earth; and neither the Pope with his Cardinals and Jesuits, nor
the kings with their ministers, can repress it. Were these thoughts
imprisoned in the center of the earth, they would burst its granite
folds, speed onward in their career and fill their destiny. They are
imbued with a deathless vigor. They must prevail, or the idea of a
Moral Governor of the universe is impossible, and the divine truths of
the gospel a fable.”
Old ideas are being modified, or laid aside without a memento to keep
them in remembrance, and new ones from the heavenly mint are taking
their places. The pruning-hook and plough-share are making sad havoc
of grey-bearded theories. But we must not for a moment suppose that
the worshipers of antiquated institutions and ideas, will yield in
this struggle without a desperate effort to preserve their idols. And
no doubt the cry will be raised as of old, “Great is Diana of the
Ephesians;” and multitudes will shout, “Crucify, crucify, all who are
not of our party.”
All who have eyes must see that changes are taking place every where.
Men may shut their eyes and prophesy that all things will continue
as they are; but as Galileo said of the earth, after renouncing his
philosophy to save his life: “IT REVOLVES STILL;” so whether we believe
it or not, the human mind is outgrowing and leaving old errors, which
had their origin in barbarism, and is advancing into the region of
truth and reality.
But the old heavens and earth will not pass away without great
noise--not until the elements shall be melted with fervent heat, by the
Sun of righteousness. The nations of the earth have long fought with
steel and bullet, but now the great battle of ideas is being fought.
The old and the new, the past and the present, the kingdom of God and
the kingdom of satan, have entered the list; and as sure as the rising
sun dispels the darkness, chill, and dampness of night, as sure as day
succeeds night, will truth triumph over error in this conflict. The
hay, wood and stubble will be consumed, but the silver and gold will
pass the fiery ordeal.
Had some conversation with a Spiritualist. The Bible, in his
estimation, is full of lies and absurdities, as unreliable in its
religious instruction as an almanac in its weather prognostics. But
all Spiritualists do not go to that extreme; many of them entertain
sincere respect for that book, and love to cultivate the religious
sentiment. I have a great deal of faith in that kind of Spiritualism.
The old prophets, Christ and his apostles, and multitudes of the wise
and good in all ages, have been Spiritualists of that character. Such
kind of Spiritualism is only another name for Christianity. But with
the irreverent and ungodly sort of Spiritualism, I have no sympathy.
I believe it to be blasting and damning in its influence, and will
ultimately land its believers in rank Atheism. It has already made
shipwreck of many a man and woman, and its dreadful work in that
direction will fearfully increase unless there should be a return to
reason.
I attended a revival meeting while on this journey, and witnessed some
extraordinary doings. There was shouting, ranting, screaming, jumping,
crying and laughing. The preacher told us, that the lowest and vilest
could be instantly translated into saints. I remembered the old song I
had heard on such occasions:
“Come dirty, come filthy, come ragged, come bare:
You can’t come too filthy--come just as you are.”
The preacher did not intend to promote immorality, but no doubt this
telling people, that unwashed scoundrels at the end of a long life
in every crime can be instantly transformed into saints of the first
water, and so escape all punishment for a misspent life, has a very
immoral influence. A hardened sinner may to-day right-about face, and
resolve to travel upward hereafter, but he has a long journey before
him. But if he pursues it, he will finally reach the heavenly city, and
walk its golden streets.
A man at the meeting asked me if a person could be “saved without
repentance and regeneration?” I replied:
“You might as well ask if a man can see without eyes, hear without
ears, think without a head, talk without a tongue, or walk without
legs. You misunderstand salvation. It is not from an outward hell, but
from ignorance, error, sin, and all their debasing effects. He who has
thoroughly repented, or reformed, which is the same thing, _is_ saved,
not will be; a regenerated soul _is_ saved, not will be saved at some
future period, and in some other world. Repentance and regeneration
sweep and garnish the soul, make it a fit habitation for the heavenly
guest--salvation. Jesus said, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of God is
at hand.’ It is always ‘at hand,’ ready to be established in every
reformed, regenerated heart.”
Said another, “If Universalism is true, what is the use of preaching?”
“Why, my dear sir,” I answered, “preaching is one means by which
salvation is effected. God works by means. By means of the sun he
lightens and warms the earth; by means of the rain he cools and
purifies the atmosphere, fertilizes the soil, and fills our fountains
with living water. By means of natural laws he controls every globe,
and every particle of matter in the universe. So, by wise and righteous
instrumentalities, he blesses man spiritually, and will continue
to bless him forever and ever. And the proclamation of truth and
righteousness, through the christian ministry, is one means appointed
by heaven to this blessed end. Eighteen hundred years ago Jesus said,
‘Know the truth, and the truth shall make you free;’ and he consecrated
men, and commissioned them, to ‘Go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature.’ It is freedom _now_ that we need; it
is salvation _now_, that the proclamation of the truth produces. As
the presence of Jesus brought salvation into Zaccheus’ house, so the
preaching of the gospel brings a present salvation to the soul. Give up
the wretched delusion, that the chief end of preaching is to save us
from a hell beyond the grave. It is for no such a purpose. Its object
is to enlighten and purify man _now_, that he may be happy in this
world.”
In Kimball, I delivered a discourse; and at its close a Methodist
minister told the congregation that he, heart and soul, believed in the
“Restitution of all things;” and that he would not part with that faith
for the world. He said it was the joy of his life; it made him a better
man; it prepared him to live, and he trusted that it would be his stay
and his hope in the hour of death.
I stopped in Moline, Ill., and delivered one discourse. This is a
manufacturing place, at the head of Rock Island, and exhibits much
thrift and enterprise. Said a man to me in the town:
“The Bible says, no self-murderer shall enter the kingdom of God. What
do you do with that passage?”
“That is home-made scripture,” I replied; “there is nothing of the
kind in the Bible. Besides, there never was, and never will be, a
self-murderer. To murder is to ‘kill _with malice aforethought_.’ A
man may commit suicide, but that is not murder, for he does not do it
with malignity or malice toward himself. For the poor suicide I have
much sympathy. Who can estimate the agony he suffered, to escape which,
he took his own life? Have charity for such a poor unfortunate; speak
not harshly of him; condemn him not. Jesus would weep over his grave,
and say, ‘Father, forgive him.’ The apostle John says, ‘Whoso hateth
his brother is a murderer, and ye know, that no murderer hath eternal
life abiding in him.’ 1 John iii. 15. This speaks of the _present
condition_ of the murderer--not his everlasting condition. No murderer
_hath_ eternal life _abiding in him_. Of course he has not, or he would
not be a murderer. Eternal life is Christ-life, heaven-life; a life of
love to God, and good will toward man. A murderer is selfish, cruel,
bloody, revengeful. A murderous character, and a christian character,
cannot exist in one soul. But the murderer may reform. Paul was a
persecutor, assisted in murdering Stephen of blessed memory, but he
reformed. Jesus on the cross prayed God to forgive his murderers.”
“But then suppose he dies a murderer, what will become of him?”
“If the murderer can reform before he dies, why not after he dies? Does
reason, wisdom, goodness, the Bible say, that if a man leaves this
world a sinner, he will be compelled to be a sinner eternally? That is
an assumption of Orthodoxy; but it never was proved, and never will be.
Why does the Bible say, ‘God will have all men to be saved,’ if it is
his purpose that all who leave this world sinners never shall be saved?
Why does he call on all to repent, if he intends, that all who die
impenitent never shall reform? It is a dreadful thing to live or die
a murderer; but the mercy of God can save him in this world, and that
same mercy can save him in the future world.”