The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-09-18
UNIVERsALIsM AND THE BIBLE
BY REV. T. 5. GUTHRIE. D. D.

it's life and breathing its Spirit Its
truth becomes fact of conscience 70
the believer. The philosophies
around us may not be true; man with
all his boasted wisdom may be
brought to naught, as he is so liable
to err; but the word of the Lord shall
stand forever.
While the Universalists do not re-
gard the Bible as inerrant, still they
believe that the sacred book contains
an infalIible rule of faith and prac-
tice; that it contains revelation from
God. and has such revealed truths as
pertain to the present and the future
as man by his own unaided wisdom
could never have discovered or even
fathomed. By the truths contained
in the Bible our fathers (God bless
them have fought our battles and
won our victories and have be-
queathed to us doctrine that has
become or is becoming the light OF
the world, viz: the Fatherhood of
God, the Brotherhood of Man, the
triumph of the right and the final
destruction of all wrong. Brethren
of the Uniyersalist Church shun any
innovation the trend OF which would
lessen your faith in the grand old
Bible, as it contains all the everlast-
ing promises necessary to prove the
doctrine of worlds salvation.
There are in all denominations
those who call in question the super
natural as contained in the Old and
New Testaments, but who are per-
mitted to remain with their respective
denominations Notwithstanding their
doubts, skepticism and even intidel-
ity. Now let us see whether they
are in touch with Christianity suffi-
Gent to be entitled to the name
Christian or Universalist.
We do not inherit the name CHRIS
tian or Universalist as we do the
name of our parents. To be a
Christian and fully entitled to the
name. we must have faith in Jesus,
the Christ, that he is the author and
finisher of our faith. To be Christian
we must be disciple, follower OF
him. His Spirit must be our spirit
His life our life We must not
consider ourselves his equals, nor
Judge az to the correctness OF his
statements, for in so doing we might
try to make ourselves his superior.
His statements to US on all occasions
must be considered final and from
which there is no appeal,
Suppose that student of the New
Testament was to open ST. Matthews
or st. Luke's Gospel and read of the
miraculous conception of Jesus, and
also the wonders attending his birth
wherein the angel made the an
nouncement and the heavenly hosts
joined in the grand chorus, "Glory to
God in the highest, on earth peace
and good will to men," but after
reading and bordering the subject
in his mind he should come to the
conclusion that it savored OF the
miraculous or the supernatural and
therefore he would doubt the entire
narrative, would he not commence
his investigation of the New Tesla
ment as a doubter?
He turns to the sequel of the
Gospels and reads that the Jews con-
spire against Jesus. They bring him
before Plate and he is condemned
to death. They cruelty him, even
the worlds Messiah, and our student
sheds tear at the atrocity of the
tragedy. He pursues the history
still further and follows him to the
tomb of Joseph and in his thought
wickedness had triumphed, but he is
startled as he reads further and finds
that on the third day Mary of Mag
dalia and others were at the tomb
and found it vacant. He reads fur
Their and finds that two angels in
white apparel were there and one of
them said, "Why seek ye the living
among the dead; he is not here but
is risen" He once more reads and
ascertains that the once timid dis
ciples after meeting him become as
bold as lion. But the student once
more stops to consider and finally
SAYS this too savors of the marvellous.
He says that Immortality may be true
but he thinks Jesus went to heaven
after the ordinary way and that he
did not bring life and immortality to
light by his resurrection from among
the dead. By this conclusion we
would see that his doubt had budded
into skepticism and what faith he
previously enjoyed in the Bible had
almost gone.
Once more the investigator turns to
the eleventh chapter of st. Johns
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