The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-04-06

/
behind that of the numerous deitles,
and this was also true, without much
doubt, in the case of the Aryan
races. How men first came to con-
ceive of and to teach of one Supreme
Being is an interesting thought.
Probably the disclosure came first
through the illumined mind of some
great religious teacher, thus making
it in a true sense disclosure from
God. That this disclosure or revela-
ton, or discovery if you please,
should be departed from in after
years, allowing the unity of God to
retire, and trinities and multiplied
deities to be brought forward, re-
ceives an illustration of considerable
force in the history of the Hebrew
people. The authoritative doctrine
of the Israelites was the oneness of
their God and his absolute power.
This was taught to the people by
Abraham, by Moses and by the pro-
phets. 1t was rehearsed to them con-
stantly, line upon line, and precept
upon precept. "Hear, oh. Israel, the
Lord our God is one Lord" 81 am
the Lord and there is none else.
There is no God beside me. form
the light and create darkness. [
make peace and create evil. l, the
Lord do all these things" "He doeth
according to his will in the armies of
heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth, and none can stay his hand
or say unto Him, what doest thou"
To the Israelites these declarations
came as voice from heaven, yet they
did not all hold fast to the doctrine
of the divine unity. And though the
Jewish people have never at any
time, as a body, protested the doc
trine of trinity or polytheistic the
ology, still when in heather exile,
they seem to have embraced the be-
lief in a satan. god of darkness,
who was opposed to Jehovah, land had
power to thwart his wishes, obstruct
his plans, and so in measure to be
able to stay the hand of the cal
mighty" This is quite contrary to
the principles of early Judaism, con-
trary to the teachings of the Old Tes-
lament, that the power, the will, the
purpose of God is or can be in any
way annulled. The knowledge of the
oneness of God came to the Hebrew
people professedly by a revelation
through Abraham, and SO, too, his
absolute power and will. This, if
adhered to, would have forever ex-
cluded all notion of other gods, es
pecially such one as Satan, with his
disastrous abilities, the existence of
whom no Hebrew ever professed was
revealed to his nation by any sage or
prophet. Hence in this very religion
we have verified what is apparently
fact of most religions, the original be-
lief in one absolute deity and a de-
parture more or less great, in the
after years from that belief and the
embracing for time at least, of
faith in the plurality of divinities.
Substantially the same thing has
been, believe, and is now illustrated
in Christianity. Jesus proclaimed
the fact that there is one God. He
quoted as q part of the first and
great commandment, the words al
ready noticed, "Hear, oh Israeli The
Lord our God is one Lord /" Again
it is written: "For one is your
Father" This truth shines clearly
in all his teaching and in his express
sions of devotion. Time will not al
low us to introduce from the words
of Jesus the large number of pas
sages in support of this, both those
which directly assert the fact, and
others wherein it is implied. Nor are
the views of the New Testament
authors other than the Gospel writ
ers, at all obscure in reference to this
matter.
The thought of Saint Paul must
have been the apostolic view, else it
would have been denied. Could the
belief in one God be more clearly
expressed than it has been by him in
these wordsi "We know that there
is no God but one, for though there
be that are called gods, whether in
heaven or on earth Gas there are gods
many and lords many, yet to us
thereis but one God, the Father" No
one would suppose, from an unpreju-
diced reading of the New Testament,
that the doctrine of the trinity would
have found a place in Christianity.
1t is certain that the Christians of
the first century knew nothing of it,
and the concession is quite general
| o.,oo,,-. Al ,,,oo% laorDo6 Trinito r;ons