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

put uhH u'dy, ny ulhe VI ioaoOu dlOuos
arrive at the idea of one, and but one
God, though as matter of fact it does
not appear that he has ever done so.
The old magians, by logic most severe,
and thought most profound came to
the conclusion that there must be two
Gods, one good and the other bad; and
that 1 think is as near the truth as
human reason unaided by revelation
ever came. But If we were to admit
that man by his philosophy can reach
the idea of the simple unity of God,
that would only lead us up where
Moses stood, and fail of realizing the
light that came.through Jesus Christ.
IN view Of the mixture of apparent
good and evil that we see around us,
the alternate sorrow and joy, pleasure
and pain, suffering and enjoyment thst
fill up the theater of life; no man could
guess at the character of God, or spell
out his purposes; but all beyond the
simple fact that God is, would be hid
in impenetrable darkness and gloom.
Whether God is a friend or an enemy,
whether his purpose is to bless or to
curse, to save or to damn, these are
questions upon which the oracles of
human wisdom can give US no light.
The utterances are various and self
contradictory. And so Of man; whether
he is thing of earth destined to live a
few years, as related only to the earth,
and then die, to live no more forever?
or whether he is allied to the divinity,
as his own child is allied to spiritual
natures and destined to live forever,
And if so, whether he is destined to
live in heaven or hell? These are
points upon which the world pauses,
and hesitates, and doubts, and seeks
for light in vain. On these subjects
Jesus is emphatically the light of the
world. "God is spirit and they that
worship him must worship in spirit
and in TRUTH "God is thy father"
and he who maketh the sun to rise
upon the evil and the good, and sendeth
the rain upon the just and the unjust
will never leave nor forsake thee.
He loveth thee with an everlasting
love, and all his requirements center in
this, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and thy neigh
Dor as myself. Man is Gods child and
thy brother, and his destiny is to be-
come equal unto the angels, to glorify
God and enjoy him forever" This is
, the testimony Of Jesus and this is the
light that shines from the cross and
the vacant tomb. Granted that this
, light has been obscured by the vain
traditions of men, and that unto this
, day it is but dimly seen and poorly ap-
pretended; nevertheless it is the light
of the world. Though the light shineth
now as in ancient times, in darkness,
and the darkness comprehendeth it not,
yet is it the true light. How poorly it
is understood, how much it is needed,
and how thick and dark the clouds that
yet linger upon the earth. / illustrate
by the following extract from sermon
by that eminent scholar and excellent
man, Rev. Albert Barnes, Of this city.
He says THAT the immortal mind
should be allowedto leopard its infinite
welfare and that trifles should be allow
ed to draw it away from God, and vir-
tue, and heaven, that any should suf-
fer forever, lingering on in hopeless
despair, and rolling amidst infinite tor
ments, without the possibility of allevia-
ton, and without end;-that since God
can save all men, and will save part,
he has not purposed to save all; that on
the supposition that the atonement is
ample, and that the blood Of Christ
can cleanse from all sin, it is not in
fact applied to all-that, in a word, a
God who claims to be worthy of the
confidence of the universe, and to be
being Of infinite benevolence, should
make such world as this-full of sim
ners and sufferers; and that when an
atonement had been made, he did not
Save all the race and put an end to sin
and woe forever. have read to some
extent what the wise and good have
written. have looked at their theo-
ries and explanations. have endeav-
ored to weigh their arguments for my
whole soul pants for light and relief on
these questions. But get neither, and
in the distress and anguish of my own
spirit, confess that 1 see no light
whatever. see not one ray to disclose
to me the reason why sin came into
the world; why the earth is strewed
with the dying and the dead and why
man must suffer to all eternity. /
have never seen a particle of light
thrown on these subjects that has
given moments ease to my tortured
mind, nor have / an explanation to
offer, or thought to suggest, which
will be relief to you. 1 trust other
men, as they profess to do, understand
this better than I do, and that they
have not that anguish of spirit that 1
have; but 1 confess, that when 1 look
upon a world of sinners and sufferers.