The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-09-28
SATURDAY. SEPT. %.
EDITORIAL.

Dr' henson oon' stands very clearly
cesslons' that his recent SER
mon against the universal Fatherhood
of God is not in line with the current
thought on this subject, even in the ortho-
dox churches. And he makes important
concessions. He says: I'm recent years
this doctrine has forged to the front and
swept the world, and seems to mark an
unreasonable advance over the crude
and cruel conceptions of God that char
acterized the preaching Of hundred
years ago. And any man who presumes
to question a doctrine so widely main
tanned by what are called the foremost
thinkers, is apt to be regarded as big
oted bourbon, whose proper place is not
in a progressive modern church, but in
the catacombs." DIR. Henson in this last
paragraph has fixed his own place. He
will hereafter be known as DIR. Henson
of the catacombs. But we beg to remind
him that his theology is darker than
that of the catacombs. The inscriptions
on the tombs do not deny the Father
hood of God. On the contrary. they
abound in the faith and hope inspired
by the divine paternity.
500
DIR. S. j. MCPHERSON,
DR.. Mcpherson Dec the Second Presby-
cidedly Dissents' terrain Church in Chi
cago, is quite outspoken in his dissent
from DR.. Henson's views OF the Divine
Fatherhood. He is not willing to &C.
cent the statement that limits the Fa-
therhood of God to the regenerate only,
and regards the Henson theology as de-
moralizing in it's influence. He said in
reply to a reporter of the Tribune who
asked for the expression OF his opinion:
"Dr. Henson seems to teach that God is
the Father of the regenerate, but not OF
the unregenerate. Now l could never
assent to such doctrine as that. Ac-
cording to my view God is the Father OF
all men and his fatherhood is inaliena-
BILE. AS to the unregenerate their SON.
ship is not destroyed, but only in abey-
ance. In the parable the prodigal was a
prodigal SON. God has 'prodigal sons
as well as elder sons. 1t is the univer.
sal impression OF ungodly men that God
has cast them off and is no longer their
heavenly Father, and the point where
conversion takes place is commonly the
point where the sinner is disabused OF
this impression and becomes convinced
that in all his wanderings and re-
bellion God has never ceased to love
him and to be his Father. 1t is true
Jesus did once say to the Jews, 'ye are
OF your father, the DEVIL but as that is
the only expression Of the kind, and as
the whole drift of the scriptures is to-
ward the universal Fatherhood OF God.
we are bound to conclude that Jesus
meant that the Jews were like the devil
only and did not mean to deny the Fa-
therhood of God. This much for the
correctness of DIR. Henson's position"
800
"Now as to the effect
The Effect of DR.. of preaching such a
Henson's Doctrine. doctrinev continued
DIR. Mcpherson, II should think the
tendency of it would be demoralizing.
AS / said before, to convert man you
must fret persuade him that God is his
Father. that he is prodigal and rebell-
ious son. and that a great inheritance
awaits him when he returns to his
fathers heart and home. To tell him
that he is and always has been the child
of the devil, a monster and brute, is
the surest way / know of to make him
Just that thing. That is human nature.
The way to elevate degraded man, for
instance, is to tell him that he is man
and a brother. and appeal to him to
abandon his false position. To tell him
there is not a spark of anything good in
him is TO put out the spark. So, you see
| do not agree very well with DIR. Hen
son.
So far Dr. Me Pherson. whose utter
ance does him credit. Not even Pres
byterians will be willing in an excess Of
orthodoxy to give up the blessed doctrine
of the divine fatherhood. DIR. Henson's
views will be very generally repudiated
by all denominations of Christians. Only
a voice here and there will be lifted up
in defence of the Henson doctrine of the
fatherhood of the devil.
500
VERY little has been
Berlin lndus- said about Berlin's
trlal hXhiOl'lon' industrial exhibition
which will be opened on May next year.