The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-03-03

and for that matter none of us have
any right to NEEDLE with the public
schools, and school boards should say
to Catholics and Professionals "Hands
otf;''-when men literally compass sea
and land to make one proselyte as the
managers of the Whittle revival have
done, we are warranted in thinking
that whatever they may claim about
success through the intervention of the
holy spirit, those who have had this re-
vival in charge have shown by their
management that they recognize the
existence of natural law by which
success comes in religious work as in
all work.
But a movement carried forward by
such methods cannot honestly claim to
be the work of God. Bear in mind 1
am not taking exceptions to the methods
as whole. The compact organization
of twenty-one churches, the machinery
set in motion commands my profound
admiration. 1 believe thoroughly in
that sentiment expressed by the late
DR.. Holland, that Business iDstitu-
lions should be conducted on Christian
principles and Christian institutions on
business principles" l only insist that
the Whittle revival pass for what it is;
not natural revival born of Gods holy
spirit, moving the minds and hearts of
men in the way of better life, but the
artificial Inauguration of a religious
boom.
My criticism upon the Whittle revi-
val is in the nature of protest against
his theology. Night after night he has
told his hearers that all they have to do
to find the way to religious life was
to believe, believe, believe! Night after
night he has slandered the good Father
in heaven by declaring that he hated vir-
tue and righteousness; night after night
he has cheated men by making them be-
lieve they were saving their souls when
they were not. AS listened to his con-
demnAtion of noble living and the I'M
folding of his little plan of salvation
by which men could cheat the devil and
escape the torments of hell, l found
myself making some contrasts that a
man must make who gives religion any
serious thought.
saw in imagination murderer
standing upon the gallows and on the
brink Of eternity. He said 81 believe"
His revenge was satisfied for he had
destroyed its object. He could follow
no longer the inclinations of his lower
nature, and so he submitted to the
inevitable and passed from the gallows
into the celestial city. But the victim
of his revenge and lust had no such
opportunity for repentance and was
hurled suddenly into eternity, her
guilty soul forever and ever must suf-
fer the torments of the damned, while
her betrayer thanks God in realms of
glory for the wonderful redemption
that comes to him who says 81 believed"
You recoil from that-you say No,
no, God is just, he will not permit it.
So do l, and that is the reason of my
protest against the Whittle theology.
That is the reason why stand before
you to-day to champion that better in
depreciation of the Christian religion
that declares though hand join in hand
the wicked shall not be unpublished"
that neither in this world or the world
to come by any moral bankruptcy act
can the guilty soul escape the conse-
quences Of its sin.
l have a word to say also touching
his condemnation of noble living for he
declared that good life was the trap
door that opened into hell. If Major
Whittle tells the truth and men must
accept his scheme of salvation or be
lost forever; if it is folly to believe
that good life counts for ought in
determining mans eternal destiny,
then some very disastrous consequences
follow to some of the sweetest and
purest souls of earth.
What has become of Abraham Lin
coin of whom it was said at his death
"He was too broad for any church, but
the churches would do well to initiate
his virtues2" What has become of DIR.
Charming, Theodore Parker, Ralph
Waldo Emerson, William Wilberforce,
Oberlin, Lydia Maria Child, Lucretia
Mott, Dorothea Dix, and great host of
other sanity souls of whom the world
was not worthy? These noble men and
women did not accept this plan of saliva
ton. They did not believe in the efficacy
of the blood, but they felt the divineness
of duty and devoted their lives in
unselfish services to the good of others.
They have passed through the grave to
an eternity of pain and to-day are suf-
fering the torments of the damned.
If this be, and it is so if Major Whit
ties theology be true, am inclined to
think that Father Taylor's reply to his
brethren was in the nature of pro-
phecy. demonstrated with for assOcia.
ting so much with Emerson and told
that Emerson would probably 90 to hell