The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-04-13
LIFE A PROBATION.
BY REV. S. CRANE, D. D.
CAMDEN. o.

BY REV. S. CRANE, D. D.
RIGHT views of life are of the first
importance. What life is to us and
what we make of life depends very
much on what we think of life. Our
doctrine of life will determine in
large degree the character of our
lives. The popular doctrine of life is
too we'll known to need explanation.
It is that life is a probation. Sin
ruined the world, and rendered every
soul liable to endless perdition.
Christ came, suffered and died, and
so gave every soul Christian proba-
tion, time to save himself. He can
now prove himself worthy of eternal
life. Any time between the cradle
and the grave he can, by faith and
repentance, fit himself to enter the
kingdom of everlasting joy and peace.
Beyond the grave, however, there is
no repentance, but everything is fixed
for good or evil. A life, therefore,
that is a failure in time, must be a
failure to all eternity.
The doctrine is Arminian in it's ori-
gin. 1t springs not out of Scripture,
but out of the philosophy Of free will.
There is no probation in Calvinism.
The doctrine was introduced into
English theology by Daniel Whitby
in ITO and has been largely popular
lied by Buffers Analogy and the
great Methodist movement. 1t has
spread through the evangelical world
until now it dominates Calsinistic
churches about as completely as it
does Arminian. In the form in which
it is popularly held, there are two fa-
tai objections to it.
First, it makes eternity depend on
time. What man is to be through
the eternal years" depends on what
he is for the few short years of this
life. Such a proceeding is neither
reasonable nor righteous. 1t is not
reasonable to suppose that God
would make mans endless condition
depend upon what he is or does in
this brief life. There is no proportion
between few years of sin or of right
eousness and an eternity of woe or
veal. All right reason revolts at the
idea that the condition of the latter
can depend on the former. If it
could be reconciled to reason it could
not to justice. An eternity Of reward
or punishment for the goodness or
sinfulness of this life would be to vio-
late every principle of honor and
right. If this life is a probation,
then the next is also a probation.
Well does Prof. Briggs say: "Chris-
tian ethics will inevitably compel
every probationist to become an out
and out probationist for this world
and the next"
The second great objection is that
this doctrine makes one element in
life cover all there is of life. No
doubt there is an element of probation
or trial in life, but this is far from be-
ing all there is oflife. There is much
more in life than trial or probation.
There is, for instance, the element of
retribution. We are punished in
life for our sins. This we know to
be fact. Hence, life cannot be ex-
clusively probation, for if it were,
there could be no punishment. 1t
would be unjust to punish until the
trial is over. The criminal is not pun
ished until his trial ends and he is
found guilty. So God could not
punish us in this world were it pro-
baton. He must wait until the trial
ends and we are found guilty. The
old theClogians saw this, so they said
that Judgment is suspended in this
life, that the means of reformation
may be tried" To sustain their the
ory they denied the facts. For it is
the most palpable of all facts, that
judgment is not suspended in this
life and therefore this life is not a
probation.
Further, there is an element of ed
ucation in life. But education is not
comparable with probation. When
we are on probation we are not in a
process of education. A trial is 10