The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-10-02


have their root ms turally and eternally
in this central idea-that God is our
Father. Love and mercy, justice and
holiness, are the prime moral qualities
which determine to us the Divine
Fathers character.
This doctrine of the Fatherhood of
God is the golden talent entrusted to
the stewardship of the Universalist
church. On this great truth we stand.
But our neighbors of the orthodox
churches base their systems of theology
on Gods sovereignty, or his omnipo-
tence, or his justice. These churches
are therefore unable logically to reach
Gods all-comprehending love. Allow
ing their premises, Gods tender mer-
cies are not I" over all his works. F"
Indeed, all they who are consistent with
the declared standards of orthodoxy.
teach in plain terms that the wrath of
God abides on the wicked. Calvinism
especially magnifies justice as the su-
preme attribute of Deity. Enthroned
justice seeks to drive men into obedi-
ence by inf1icting arbitrary punishment
if they do not obey. On the contrary,
it is the nature of love to draw men into
obedience, for punishment under love
is never felt to be inflicted arbitrarily
from without, but to be self-inflicted
by the act of disobedience. Love is
therefore greater than justice; in fact,
justice is simply the integrity of loves
operations. Love is the essence of the
Divine nature; justice is the equilib-
rum of moral action. God requires
that we do justly-walk in obedience to
the law of righteousness.
Our theological neighbors have made
their great mistake in taking part for
the whole. But they are beginning
seriously to recognize their error, and
many of them are, in these days, preach
ing love as the principal thing. In SO
far they are doing well. But it is our
particular duty to magnify love, and
we must do it and not wait for others
to do our work. Talents are given &C
cording to ability.-We are better able
to teach love than they, because our
philosophy of things is based on love.
Their system has been proven unphilo-
sophical, and the expectation of those
who hope, by whatever means, to per-
petuate that faith, is vain. "Their
intellectual condition has passed on
ward, never more to return. It re-
mains for them only to advance as far
as they may IN their o,on line and to die,
leaving their place to us of a different
constitution and of airenovated blood"
There is no successful shifting of prin-
ciples by decayiaag organisms, religious
or otherwise. The principle must be
the life-blood of the developing organ
ism in order to give it vital power.
The source of the stream of truth
which will satisfy the present, dates
farther back than the consciousness of
present inadequacy on the part of the
stream which satisfied the past. There
is no such thing as stepping out of the
stagnant pool of one faith into the
crystal spring of another. The faiths
which nourish the world overlap each
other in their periods of growth. The
infancy, and even boyhood, of Univer-
salism are already in the past. We
are come to the manhood stage of our
faith. NO,o is oar day of strength. 1t
is commanded unto us by the mouth of
the Lord that we bring the peoples of
this era of religious life into practical
acceptance of the faith whose keynote
is love. The sometimes horrible, and
othertimes amusing jugglery of the new
orthodoxy-like all jugglery- fails to
nourish sober life. Those who preach
the love of God in the best sense are
of US, promoting our dispensation, no
matter by what name they are called.
Our duty is clear to us and must be
done by US; it cannot be assumed by
others. 1t is this: For every rebuke
that we utter of mems vices we must
put forth claim upon their hearts;
for every assertion of Gods demands
from them, we should be able to sub
stitute display of His kindness to
them; 4. instead of assuming the
being of an awful Deity, we are to
show men a near, all-benefcent Fa-
Their, whose presence makes the earth
a heaven"
Universalism also teaches the doc
trine of human brotherhood. This is
another of the distinctive elements of
our religious philosophy, and is the
of the doctrine of Divine
Fatherhood. If God is our Father,
then we are brethren; if He is the
Father of all mankind, then the race is
one great brotherhood. In the evolu-
luton of religious thought and senti-
ment we have been appointed stew
ards of this doctrine. 1t is one of |
our talents. We must teach the world |
10 keep the image of brotherhood ever
in mind in all the conduct of life. In
his thought we preserve the logical |
of our conception of God as
.he Father of us all. And in this con-