The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-04-07

no hope Of redemption. l say saints
who are fiends, for according to Cal
vinism, the saints in heaven are fiends;
all that was lovely, tender, true, SYM
pathetic, angelic, godlike, gone out of
their characters, and only hatefulness,
revenge, anger, GOODNESS, devilishness
come in. do not know sometimes
which is the more to be pitied, the Cal
whistle saints of heaven or the CalviDs
istic sinners of hell. 1 think really I'd
rather be one of their unredeemed than
their redeemed.
You may say "this is horrid talk,
don't like to hear it." Yes, it is hor-
rid talk and don't like to preach it.
But am here to do what L can, in my
humble way, to wash from my Gods
character the stains which Calvinism
has poured on to it, to bring it from
blackness to Wilderness. And / want
you to put these ultimates to thinking
Calvinists till they are all willing to
work together with Prof. Candlish to
get the damnatory clauses erased from
the Westminster Confession. Calvin
lists, as rule, in these days, are Chris
tians, they live the gospel; they live it in
their own lives; they live it in their
treatment of their children; they live it
in thousand beautiful charities; their
hearts, their warm, loving, tender,
bouDtiful hearts, repudiate the dogmas
of their church, and their lives follow
closely that of their dear Lord and
Master. Calvinism, in its ultimates,
cannot be lived out in these days. The
gospel has hold of every preacher,
and every member, and the result of
this hold, this hold on eternal truth, is
seen in the lives and homes of Presby-
terians, as rule, lovely lives, lovely
homes, often grand lives, consecrated
homes, because doctrine is stronger
than dogma, Christianity than Calvin
ism; Christ's words touch the heart to
the core, while Calvin's glance off the
surface. o let us pray for the time
when this creed, the creed of three CEN
turtles ago, when theologians were as
yet, many of them, barbarous in their
views; let us pray that it soon be
sent to the junk shop as waste paper;
that it be cremated, and the paper on
which it was printed, resolved into
ashes, ashes which shall fertilize some
garden, making the lily whittier, the
rose redder, the violet deeper blue,
and adding to the fragrance of each,
yielding the oil of joy for the gall of
sorrow.
Now let us look at the
other extreme of orthodoxy, Arminian-
ism in its latest form, that called here
Morrisonianism. By this we are to
understand that Christ made a full
atonement, that the door of Heaven is
open to every one-if-Ah that terrific
if Now, at first sight this dogma has
cheerful aspect; there is universally
about it in length, breadth, depth,
height, that is very fascinating. But
when you come to sift it down, you find
that there is no certainty about any
body reaching heaven. Christ has done
all he could; he has made full atone
ment; yet, unless mankind does some
thing, too, there will be failure. There
is chance for all. That sounds well.
But after all, chance to be saved al
ways implies chance to be lost. On
shipboard, when fire, or some other
awful experience obliges the officers to
command that you put on your life-pre-
servers and take to the boats, you know
there is chance to be saved; but al IS!
what chance to be lost, lost by thirst,
lost by starvation, lost by cold, lost by
being swept overheard in the dash of
some huge wave, lost because no vessel
heaves in sight, no land is seen. How
different the case, when as the alarm of
| fire is given, steamer is seen close at
hand, manning her life boats and send
ing them to the doomed ship. You
| take to them then with a certainty,
certainty that inspirits you, that gives
you lively hope of seeing your native
land again and your dear family.
A religion, my friends, that gives you
only chances of being saved is relig-
ion that has too much of the gambling
principle, too much lottery in it, to be
of God. If this MOrrisonian church,
for which l have high respect for
many reasons, one because it is an ad-
vance, wondrous advance on the
cruelty of Calvinism which gives you
no chance, if you are one of the nom
elect, and the other because of the
grand stand its ministers have taken
on the side of our Reform, they being
all abstainers,- If this church only said,
Christ has made full atonement,
using that word not with any meaning
but theirs, then it would be grand
religion, though even then lacking the
simplicity of Universalism. A full
atonement would ensure a Heaven for
all. But when you say a full atone
ment, and yet something to be done by
man, the whole thing loses its sacred
character and seems tragical,-an
atar,,;fu q I,I;oo ~ -, oAo..,s&,. - ~xxo1