The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-09-19
Behind the cloud the starlight turks,
Through showers the sunbeams fall;
And God who loveth all his works,
Hath left his hope with ALL"

Hath left his hope with ALL
Of God as ever blessed little need
be said. l will only quote few
words from the work of a teacher of
religion who, q little while ago,
fought his way out of the "orthodox"
doctrine, gave it up. and is now
preaching the justice and the love of
God: THE love of God is universal.
Absolutely holy, and infinitely sup
erior to the possibility of being
affected by the ills to which his Great
ures are liable, he is also the perfect
ly happy. 1t may be presumed that
these positions will not be disputed.
But how do they accord with the
endless misery of his creatures?
However wicked they may be, they
are the work of his hands, and so far
good, and worthy OF his complacency;
the wretchedness consequent on their
wickedness secures to them his COM
passion also. Here, then, are intelli-
gences, the objects of the love of God,
because he is unchanging, ever loved
by him, loved by him as certainly,
though sinners, as they would have
been if they had never fallen. And
they are not only supremely wretched
but destined to remain so through
out the immortality of which he has
constituted them the possessors. And
he is still The Infinitely Happy"
GAIL Gods works praise him, and for
them all it becomes his saints to do SO
too. But for the creation of rational
beings, of whom it was foreknown that
their history would be one of intensest
wickedness and woe, and that
throughout all eternity, how is it pos
sible that they should intelligently
and conscientiously praise hims" No;
the ever blessed God will not be the
eternal Tormentor of his children.
Happy in himself, he will not provide
for the wretchedness of others; and
the praises of heaven will not forever
be marred by the blasphemies and
shrieks of hell.
The next conception we have of
God is that of the Universal King.
This is involved in the idea of his
omnipotence. Whatever he may
allow for a time, the words of the
Apostle must sometime come true
| that God shall be ''all in all" But
how can God be "all in all" while
Satan reigns in hell, and evil shares
thu universe with good? How can he
be "all in all" until his will is done
by all? 1t is we'll known that some
of our ancient fathers of the Chris
tian church faced the question fairly,
and confessed and gloried in the con-
fession that wickedness would come
to an end, and Gods reign be uni
versal at last: and see not how the
conclusion can be avoided, unless we
give up the idea of God as Universal
King. One of these fathers, only 300
years after Christ, said: st will only
be true of God that he is in all things,
when no evil shall exist. For it is
not to be supposed that God can be
in evil. So that either he will not be
in all things, or it is demonstrated
that nothing will be evil. For it is
not possible for God to be in evil"
1t is true he permits evil now, but
this does not touch the fact of his
ultimately universal reign. But the
existence of everlasting sin and never
ending enmity to him would proclaim
him anything but Universal King
It has been we'll said that "The
glory of an earthly government is,
that all it's subjects shall be virtuous,
happy, and contented. Some great
crisis in the hist orY of nation may
prevent this for certain amount of
time; peculiar circumstances, against
which its people have to fight, may
intervene, and hinder that prosperity
which else would be theirs; but that
constant and unmitigated misery and
disorder, and that rebel
lion should ever be rife, is a sufficient
proof that that government is not
answering the purpose of its exis-
tence, and that it is time for it's dis
graceful power to come to an end.
And yet that which is the disgrace of
earthly governments is said to be an
honor to the Sovereign who has all
the resources OF the universe at his
command" But our King will tri
umpb, not in the eternal torturing of
his enemies, but in the eternal love
and service of his friends.
And now, finally, one thought as
to the idea of God as Universal
Father. The very idea of fatherhood
and everything connected with it
make the idea of eternal torment
odious and hateful. And yet if God