The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1878-01-24

among tie more conservative christians
of All denominations that Henry Ward
Beecher is not quite touud on all the
established doctrines OF the orthodox
churches aud il is, perhaps. too true
that the distinguished divine is eontin.
ually saying things that cause pain to
this class Of people, and which are
continually quoted and often misquoted
by universalists aud free thinkers. 1t
is also true that when these express.
ions are not m%isquoted aud are taken
in the light Of what goes before or
what follows in the sermon or lecture
ia which they occur that they are not
as bad as one class feared and the other
hoped.
A recent discourse contained a some.
what remarkable paragraph which has
caused considerable commotion in the
religious world. We give the passage,
which has often been misquoted, en-
tire
If, now, you tell me that this great
mass Of men, because they had not the
knowledge Of Gcd, went TO heaven,
| say that the inroad of such u vast
amount Of mud swept into heaven
would be destructive Of its purity and
| cannot accept that view. If on the
other hand, you say that they went to
hell, then you make an inidel of me
for ! do swear by the Lord Jesus Christ
by his groans, by his tears, and by the
wounds in his hands and in his side,
that / will never let go of the truth
that the nature of God is TO suffer Tor
others rather than to make them suffer.
If l lose everything else, | will stand
on the sovereign idea that God SO loved
the world that he gave his own Son to
die for it rather than it should die. Tell
me that back of Christ there is q God
who for unnumbered centuries has gone
on creating men and sweeping them
like dead f%ies-nay, like living ones
into hell, is TO ask me to worship a
being as much worse than the concep.
ton OF any medieval devil as can be
imagined but | will not worship
the devil, though he should come
dressed in royal robes, aud sit on the
throne of Jehovah. / will not worship
cruelty. / uH worship Love-that
sacrifices itself for the good Of those
that err, and that is as patient with
them as q mother is with a sick child
With every power Of my being will !
worship a God of love such as that.
But has not God justice also? And
is he not of purer eyes thar to behold
iniquity Yes. And the distinctions
between right and wrong are as eternal
as God himself. The relation between
sin and retribution belongs not to the
mere temporal condition Of things il
it inheres in the divine constitution,
and is for all eternity. The prospect
for any man who goes out OF this life
resolute ia Bin may well make him
tremble for himself, and may we'll make
us tremble for him But it is not true
the Scripture does not teach it, and
the whole sense Of human justice re
volts at it-that for the myIiads who
have been swept out Of this life with
out the light aud knowledge OF the di
vine love there is reserved an eternity
of suffering, In that mystery Of the
divine will and work Of which the
apostle speaks, ia the iar.off dispense
ton Of the nllness Of times, there il
some other solution than this nightmare
Of a medieval theology
The above declaration, stripped D
its Beecherism, means simply that be
does not believe that the wicked 90 C
heaven. aud be does believe that the
great mass Of people who have been
born ia ignorance and never had q
chance 10 know the light, will not be
etcrnally punished He states i as I
matter Of belief with him, aud brings
no scripture 70 support il, and but .
single reason, the goodness Of God
The uuiversalists carry Il step farther
and cay that God is so good He vii
not ~eterually punish any creature. BY
carry Ing the same reasoning a little
farther We might say with equal pro.
pretty that God is so good He will mol
allow any punishment or suffering al al
either ia this world or the next As
mere matter Of belief there is just IA
much reason for one as The other. j
Is 10 fact the same thing 10 principle
Bot We know The last proposition Is no.
true, and az Gods nature does not
change there is little zeal reason 10 cup.
pose that His goodness will be more
potent in the future world than in this
All through the Bible the happiness 81
, the righteous and misery Of the wicked