The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-04-09

ton, has been gaining ground rapidly In
American religious communities during
the past few years. The preaching OF Dr..
Briggs and Rev. DR.. Lyman Abbott has
persuaded thousands Of orthodox church.
gosrs TO abandon their belief In the CAL
whistle doctrine Of the eternal damnation
Of the non-elect
Within the Roman Catholic church,
Prof. ST. George Mivart, distinguished
thsologian, suggests the theory that 1.-The
condition Of the damned In hell II one OF
evolution and gradual amelioration."
Prof Mivart in 1870 put forth the idea that
Adams body might have risen from
non-human animal, the rational soul being
subsequently infused; sent his book to
Plus TX, and the pope granted him doc
tors hat. Prof Mivart quotes this fact to
illustrate that the head of the Catholic
church accepted the idea Of evolution
oncs rejected by Catholic ecclesiastics,
and he maintains that the old and semi
barbarous view Of hell has become -
obsolete and untenable - the old eccIesi.
astical teaching concerning the age OF the
earth and the antiquity Of man.
Prot. Mivsrt says: ''If in hell there were
no mitigation and no evolution, existence
could, 20 far q We can see. serve no useful
purpose for each individual lost, and they
would be thus simply maintained in exist.
ence 70 endure IN aimiess, useless misery
for eternity, % far - either reason or
-~v>l.e;o~ =. 80 >~>hlns ~ "a y>Arroivo -
It IL true that Prof Mivart - not sup
ported in his views By any other theoloei-
ans Of the Roman Catholic church
in Great Britain; nevertheless. he
Il not regarded or treated a. .
hereto. but remains in good standing
- an exponent of the Catholic faith and
doctrine within the church. despite the
fact that he regards the common teaching
- to hell a. doing violence TO mems per-
captions Of right and wrong BY attributin3
to the perfect God heartless and monstrous
injustice. Prof Mivart treats hell Ere -
. mere figure Of speech. Prof Bruce, .
distinguished orthodox Protestant theolo-
gian, in his recently published volume,
says:
For the Christian theory Of the universe,
universal salvation II not an article Of faith any
more than IL u herssy.
The liberality Of these views are In
strong contrast with the teaching and
preaching Of the churches City years ago.
Oliver Wendell Holmes. the poet, dis
cussed some three years ago in the At.
Ian tic Monthly the old orthodox dogma Of
everlasting punishment DR.. Holmes
grew up under the old orthodox or Calvin
istic belief and in his early years accepted
it, but like his friend. the poet Bryant.
grew ont of this creed. More than thirty
years ago DR.. Holmes was denounced BY
IN eminent theologian a. "a moral parri.
eide" because he attacked some of the
doctrines Of his fathers creed. Jonathan
Edwards wrote that anybody who was
out OF Christ was a. viper and hated
worse than . viper in tho sight Of God"
. vemonous sentence which has been Ok.
purgated BY . descendant Of Edwards
from tho page in which It stood says
depth Christian heathenism will sink I'm.
der the teaching Of that great master Of
logic and spiritual inhumsnity." The
doctrine Of the fall Of man % the ground
Of infiicting endless misery on the human
race: that man inherits the curse Of God
on Adam ~ his principal birthrieht, and
10 punished for what he could not help, il
described by DR.. Holmes Is tho reasoning
OF the wolf with the lamb transferred to
the dealings Of the Creator with His
creatures. This doctrine John Morley
called "the most frightful idea that ever
corroded human character" Toward the
end Of the last century the popular sense
of the barbarian of this idea had already
become 90 strong that Burns dared TO
say:
The fear OF hell . Q hangman's whip
To hold the wretch In order.
It il . notable fact that the great John
Wesley rose above this ''hell IRE" fetch
and frankly avowed his conviction that
the great men OF antiquity who without
knowing Christ had led virtuous and hui
name lives, like Socrates and Marcus
Aureiius, would not be denied salvation.
DR.. Holmes points out that the legendary
hell Of the church is nothing more or less
thar the Tartarus of the old heather
world. Our ancestors hung their grand
mothers on the strength Of the positive
Biblical command Thou shalt not suffer
the witch to live" but even as civilization
has outgrown witchcraft SO il il fast ont.
growing the Christian Tartarus. Civilixa-
ton has crowded out the old superstition,
legends by the "naked individual protest"
uttered by Burns in Scotland, by Bryant,
Longfellow, Lowell and Whittier in
America This was the poets part in
preaching the new gospel that has gradu.
ally supplanted that of Edwards.
The tex, books of astronomy and geology
have worked their way between the cues.
tons and answers Of the catechisms. and
the doctrine Of evolution has substitute
infinite hope in place of infinite despair
for the vast majority Of mankind.
Churches keep in their confessions Of
faith statements they do not believe because
''the fear Of everlasting punishment i, mora
than any other or all motives the source
Of their power and the support of their
organization" and be makes one of thu
listeners 10 bis lay sermons say: Think
what an army Of clerical beggars would
be turned loose on the world. il oncs
those raging danes in the subterranean
ire chambers were suffered to so
out or calm down" The demand for