The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-11-20

ed human brother whom God made
of the one blood with me.
Suppose that these men at Des
Moines had been so many men in South
Africa or some unfrequented region of
Asia, ignorant of Christianity suppose
they had voted on their own fortunes
for the eternity, would they have voted
themselves to perdition? Nobody ever
voted himself that way. He votes him
self up and others down. Dr. Withrow
said they had no time to waste on dead
heather. Is it then 80 small matter
that 30, 100000 of immortal souls sink
into hell every year? Would that this
same board had been equally pressed
for time when they decided long years
ago that the heather would sink down to
eternal death. Since that board was
organized, seventy eight years ago, over
2,OO0,O00,000 souls-nearly double the
entire population of the globe at this
time-bave gone to the eternal flames,
and the board has not time to think
about it, Perhaps it is time wasted,
but If they could get time to think de-
liberately about it L believe they would
change their judgment. These men are
good men, anxious to do good, but in
stead of thinking from the basis of a
living humanity and living God, they
are thinking along the lines of ancient
and dead traditions. The editor of the
New York Tribune says: 1.-THE churches
have taken the opinions that come
down by tradition as decisive, but to an
impartial mind it would seem that no
opinion as to the eternal state of mill
/ ions of human beings should be held
positively, unless it was sustained by
a weight sof evidence proportioned to
the greatness of the subject" The
world of free and enlightened thought
will not believe the evidence sufficient
for such a verdict as the board has.ren
dered with reference 20 the heather
world. And SO long as enlightened
AuOh oCOh W AoACC upOu OuIlSblduIty
such cruelty and inhumanity of judg-
ment ard teaching SO long will they re-
main hostile to that religion. And
every vote like that at Des Moines is a
seed that will spring up into a harvest
OF skepticism in every brain, and in
every community in which there is
intelligence enough to nourish and sus-
tain rational action.
Here is man who was born in
a heather land. His parents for gen.
erations had lived and died in that land.
They never heard of Palestine or Jeru-
salem, or Moses or Abraham or Jesus;
never heard Of America or a railroad;
never heard of the American board of
commissioners. This man has been sin
cere in his devotion to his own religion.
The same God made him who made DIR.
Withrow, of Boston, Drs. Goodwin and
Noble, of Chicago, and Hon. Philo Par
sons, of Detroit. Here is such a man,
and who, | ask again, will declare his
belief that the God whom we call ''Our
Father" will send that creature away
! into everlasting torment from the hour
of death? My imagination cannot mea-
sure the enormous humanity of such
|. a decision, and l am certain that no
company of men can estimate the evil
which such a decision can inflict on
religion they love and would defend.
Let us glance for moment at some
of the tremendous and appalling re-
suits of this faith as declared by the
Des Moines council. The population
of the globe in round numbers may be
set down as 300, 100000. OF this vast
number only one third, by the mostl lib
eral allowances, can be claimed as
Christians, leaving the other two thirds
still in the darkness of heathenism.
Eight hundred and sixty-six millions
are thus seen to be candidates for eter-
nal burning every generation. If we
allow thirty years as the length of a
generations life we find that every year
28000,0 600 immortal souls go down TO
eternal torment, making so, 900 every
day gathered for the burning, 1888
every hour, SIS every second while we
sleep or wake. And all this for what?
For the crime of simply being human
and not believing in Being of whom
they have never heard Nor does the
prospect improve. After we have COM
bined all the souls saved by all the mis-
sionary agencies together, we find that
the natural increase of population in
those countries is vastly greater than the
ratio of redemption, and with all the
efforts of Christian lands the situation
becomes worse and worse and the tide
of fated souls swells evermore as it
surges down to hell.
THE BLESSED NINETEENTH
| CENTURY.