The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-06-22

willing to make sacrifice for their
church, and seem not to care whether
it succeeds and prospers or not.
III. But let us take another view
of our subject. Let us suppose that
the Universalist Church has finished
its doctrinal work, that its doctrines
were generally accepted by the ortho-
dox churches, would that be any rea-
SOL for it's disbandment9 By no
means. That might be reason for
it's union with other churches, but
there would be precisely the same
reason for the continued existence of
the Universalist Church as for that of
any other. For, after all, what is the
great object of church9 Does it
exist simply for the purpose of pro-
pagating certain doctrines or theories
! about God and the Universe? This,
doubtless, is one of its objects, and
very important one, but is it or ought
It to be its chief object? By no
means. On the contrary, the supreme
object of every church should be to
save men from sin-to socially, polit-
ically, morally and religiously regen
crate and elevate society: and as long
as men continue to sin, as long as So
| ciety continues as corrupt as it is to-
day, so long will there be need of
churches, and of the Universalist
Church among the rest. The popu-
lar idea that the Universalist Church
has accomplished its work rests on
the mistaken assumption that the
Universalist Church was organized to
propagate certain set of doctrines,
particularly to attack the dogma of
endless punishment, and since SO
many have abandoned the old views
Of hell, it is concluded that there is
no further need of the Universalist
Church
That is the popular idea of us. Be-
cause the early Universalists used to
make it pretty warm for their ortho-
dox opponents, it is generally sup
posed that our chief business is to be
forever running tilt against our or
thodox friends. But, OF course, as
Universalists we believe in giving
people as much of heaven and as lit
tie of hell as possible. Our church
was organized to save men from hell
not distant, unknown hell-but
the various bells in this world, and
while it was necessary, and is still
necessary to refute the errors of Or
thodoxy, yet we do this simply as
means to far higher end. We con-
slider the teachings of orthodoxy dis
honoring to God and man and Christ
and the Bible, and we aim to give
men higher and truer views on these
subjects, not that we may encourage
them in sin, but that we may encour-
age them to escape from sin and en-
ter into eternal life here and now.
Hence the supreme object of our
church is practical and not primar
lily doctrinal object We desire, in
the spirit of the Master, to go about
doing good, lifting up the fallen,
caring for the needy, cheering the
sorrowful, enlightening the ignorant,
in word, establishing the king lom
of God on earth. And just here is
our grandest opportunity. The whole
tendency of our age is humanitarian
in its nature. Never before was
"man's inhumanity to man. more Sc
verely condemned-never before was
greater effort being made toward the
uplifting of humanity. Great edu-
cational, philanthropic, social, indus
trial and political projects have been
started, all looking to the material,
AhbOilCCtuul duO spiritual OCJtOiLuCAt
of the human race. We often speak
of our age as being "a skeptical age"
and there is great deal of doubt
abroad, but there is still more real
faith-a faith in man and mans prog
ress-a faith in the eternal moral
laws of God and their obligations,
and this faith can move and is NOV
ing mountains of difficulty, sin and
misery, and is casting them into the
sea of oblivion. Here, then, is our
opportunity as Universalists-"Let
your light SO shine before men that
they may see your good works and
glorify your Father in heaven" Yes,
let them ''see your good works." for
by your fruits shall ye be known.
There are great problems facing us
today and demanding solution. There
is the temperance problem, the race
problem, the woman question, the
labor question, municipal and politi
cal reform and social regeneration;
and the church, all churches but our
own in particular, should interest