The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-09-12
SEVEN GREAT CONCEPTIONS OF
G0D.-L.
BY REV. JOHN PAGE HoPPS.
England

(EuSiduU.
shall refer to the seven great con-
ceptions of God which, think, cover
the whole ground of our belief con-
cerning him. He is the Almighty;
he is the All Holy; he is the All Just;
he is the All Merciful; he is the Ever
Blessed; he is the Universal King;
he is the Universal Father. In the
light of every one of these thoughts
of God it is easy to dome to the con-
clusion that they whom God loves,
and in whose obedient and trusting
spirits he has implanted the longing
for continued life, will pass into the
world of light beyond the grave, to
find that their hope has not been in
vain. The Almighty will guard
them; the All Holy will not consent
to lose them; the All Just will not
let their trust be put to shame; the
All Merciful will save them; the Ever
Blessed will rejoice over them; the
King of heaven will welcome them
as his obedient subjects; the Father
will take them home. These things
are believed by all who believe in
the Christian faith at ALL 1t is when
we think of the "lost" that we part
company; and it is the destiny of
these, therefore, that l propose to
consider now
God, then, is almii hty. We must
begin with this: fer we need the
power of God as base, on which all
our trust is to be built What would
it avail to show that he is just and
merciful, nay! to shs-' that he is the
Universal Father, if we could not be-
lieve in his power? And here, of
course, must take the omnipotence
of God for granted. l am reasoning
out this question now with those who
believe in God, and presume they
will grant that God has the power to
carry out his purposes. If so, he
must have power to put an end to all
misery and sin. Whether he ought
to do it is another question:: whether
he will do it is another question: all
we are considering now is whether
he has the power: and, believing
that this will, as matter of course,
be granted, pass on to consider the
subject in the light of God as all
holy. By all holy mean the love
of all good for others and the posses
sion of all good for himself: and by
good mean moral and spiritual
purity. Here, then, we come to the
second step in the inquiry. Wehave
agreed apon the power, and now we
can, l think, agree upon the WILL
An eternal hell means eternal sin;
and everlasting torment means ever
lasting blasphemy. Now Orthodoxy"
teaches us, not that hell exists apart
from God, not that God is absent
from hell either as ruler or spectator,
but that hell is as much Gods as
h saven; that he is the Tormentor;
that he is the Being who prevents
men escaping from hell; that he is
the Being who refuses to give any
one of the lost another chance; that
he is the Being who shuts the gate
and binders all return; that he is the
being who will not listen to prayer,
but compels lost souls to be sinners,
and tormented sinners, forever.
/ say that is as opposed to the idea
of God as all holy as one thing can
be opposed to another. God, if he is
all holy, must desire to see sin come
to an end; he must desire to see the
sinner learning from bitter expert
ence, the error of his ways; and yet
we are told that it is he who will for
ever, not only permit, but actually
secure the never ending existence of
sin. If any good man knew of but
one house in the place where he
dwelt that was little hell in itself,
where men and women blasphemed
God, and spent their time in making
every one in the house miserable and
wicked, would he not long to do
somthing to put an end to that mis-
cry and horror? And if he had any
authority in that place, would he not
move for the sweeping away of that
den of infamy, as moral pest house9
Orif he owned the house would he
not rather burn it to the ground than
endure the sight of it as such an
lrthly hell? But, in any case,
would he, could he, hear the screams
of the inn ates for mercy and help,
and only reply by pitiless silence,
and by preventing their escapeG If