The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-07-18


from all eternity elected certain par
ticular individuals to salvation, not
from any merit or saving faith fore
seen in them, but solely from his
own good pleasure.
2. Particular Redemption Fol
them and them only God hath pro-
vided redemption through the life
and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
8. The Moral Inability of Man.
Since the fall man has been abso-
lutely unable of himself to do any
thing pleasing to God. The whole
race has fallen under Gods wrath
and curse, and no member of it has
naturally anything good in him.
4. Irresistible Grace. - To the
elect God gives saving grace so eff
fectually that they cannot finally re-
sist its influence.
5. Final PerseUerdnce.-In conse-
quence, all elected persons must and
will finally persevere in faith and
virtue SO as to secure perfect saliva
ton.
These "five points" of Calvinism
are but part of the doctrine of
modern reformed theology,-but a
part even of that which is called
Calvinism. They express the Calvin
istic doctrine regarding election"
and "the elect" but say nothing re-
garding the correlative and implied
doctrine of "reprobation." If it be
true that God has, from all eternity,
elected certain number of specially
designated individuals to eternal life
and happiness, it follows by neces'
sary implication that he must have
fore-ordained all the others to eter-
nal misery. And John Calvin was
too consistent and remorseless in his
logic toavoid or evade this necessary
conclusion.
The reformers of the sixteenth
century, when they broke away from
the ancient Catholic church, inherited
modes of thought and certain con-
ceptions which had come down to
them through the centuries. Promi-
nent amongst these was the idea OF
God, the Three-i in One and One-in-
Three, who was seated upon the
throne of the universe which he ruled
with a hand of power and an out
stretched arm. This eternal One-in-
Three was omnipotent and omnisci-
emit, foreseeing and foreordaining all
Enthusiastically sovereign over the
universe which he had spoken into
being.
The conception of man as an alb
solutely fallen and depraved creature
was also inherited. In man there
was nothing good since the first pair
had fallen; the race was in rebellion
against the eternal King, and any
natural qualities apparently good
which some of them might have were
absolutely worthless in consequence
of their holding the position OF
rebels. In the doctrine of Calvin
this "fall" was not an accident, or the
victory over God of an evil spirit.
The temptation and the fall were
equally fore ordained by the eternal,
a part of the general course of cos
mic experience which had been pro-
yided for in the eternal counsels.
And the serpent was but carrying
out the divine will in deluding our
first parents to their destruction,
Doctrine of the Reformers.
So also did the reformers inherit
the doctrine that salvation was to be
secured only by those who belonged
to the true church. The result of
the manifestation of Christ was the
establishment of an institution by
means of which fallen men might be
rescued from death and hell and re-
stored to a condition of eternal life
and Joy. Outside of this church
there could be, ordinarily, no saliva
ton. The reformers, however, diff
fered from the Romanists in their
definition of the true church; and
this, indeed, was the chief point in
which the reformation consisted.
The medieval Catholics regarded the
true church as consisting of the pope,
cardinals, archbishops, bishops and
subordinate clergy, through whom
alone the Word of God could be in
fallibly interpreted. All within the
precincts of this true church who
held it's faith and submitted to its
discipline were assured of final en-
trance into the heavenly kingdom.
All outside of the church might be
equally assured of the torment of
hell.
Martin Luther and his co-reform-
ers denied the claims of the pope and