The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1901-11-11
REPLIES TO DR..
KINGS SERMON
[Continued From Page One.l

iciSms. He said ne thouSnt lieiii it- 49,
in kindly spirit and with markeu
/, effort to be just. He continued;
1.-THE first criticism is that we hold
opinions that are held by people with
whom we should not associate. Though
members of our communion were ac-
knowledged to be of"good character and
ability" it was also asserted that the
habitues of saloons and the slums were
of like faith; indeed, the strong state
ment was made that if a canvassSwere
taken of the houses of shame in our
city the inmates without exception
would hold to practical Universalism
Let us get our breath before we
reply for 1 doubt if many of us ever
heard quite such a sweeping character
= ization of our faith. 1t had never en-
tered our mind to give it such asso-
Citations. Is 1t true? 1t is safe to make
such a prediction, for it cannot be
verified. Such a canvass for such a
cause will not be made. But is 1t plaus-
/ ible? We have from good authority
the statement that every good tree
! bringeth forth good fruit; but a cor
rupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. !"
; The same tree does not bring forth
at the same time good and bad fruit
! If the Universalist faith is helping
men and women to be good, and it is
acknowledged by our critic that it is,
it is hard to see how it is also peopling
the saloons and places of infamy.
Satan must be divided against him
self.
Would not q more probable explain
alton be that 1t is something other
than Universalism that is responsible
| for the sluins? AS q matter of fact
very rarely does any one admitted to
prison claim to be Universalist The
popular creeds, by the declaration of
the inmates of prisons freely given,
have many representatives, but sta
tistics show that Universalism has
very few. Is not the truth of the mat
ter in justice to all churches, prob
ably this, that people in vice and
crime are not bothering themselves
about religion at all?
IF, as alleged, any excuse them
selves by saying they consider God
is too good to punish them forever"
/ this does not inValidate the goodness
| of God and His merciful purposes to-
ward His children A bad child is no
credit to a home, but it would be very
unfair because he abuses his father s
| love to deny or discredit that love,
and it would be still more illogical and
unfair to argue that the good children
in the family are responsible for his
misdeeds and ask them to give up
their belief in their fathers goodness.
IF we were really to canvass the
matter, however, think we would find
that If doctrines have anything to do
with vice the most pernicious that can
filter into the minds of sinners is that
they can go on SHINING as long as they
please, and by the magic of a long
delayed repentance, escape all the con-
sequences. If such door is held open
the misguided will take their chances
op Iii aNyif From
through it.
THAT other doctrine. too, that has
passed for orthodoxy, that Jesus paid
1t ALL" that he has "borne our sins,
as it has often been badly set forth,
rather than borne with them, has, it
is to be feared lessened a sense of per-
sonal responsibility.
Whatever the faults of the Univer-
salist Church it has not failed to de-
clare the impera tiveness of law, the
truth that a sin committed, the pen
atty must follow.
mo text is more familiar to Univer-
salist congregations than Whatsoever
a man soweth that shall he also reap
We have always insisted that there
will be no Heaven for any one until
the kingdom of Heaven is established
within him. If every drunkard and
every fallen woman in Worcester
|
would only show that they do not I'M
derstand Universalism, for its mes
sage is, and ever has been. that saliva
ton means character-that it is the
pure in heart who see God" We
champion no universal salvation which
does not mean universal holiness-a
world reconciled through Christ to the
will of God
"a second criticism made upon our
enough emphasis on the enormity and
awfulness of sim" And then our
Methodist brother adds, "They surely
do not emphasize it as we do"
81 suppose this is more or less true.
We have not put the emphasis where
some of our sister churches have. If
we did there would be no excuse for
separate organizations. We have not
begun our theology with the depravity
of man and ended it with eternal dam
nation. We have begun it with the uni
versal fatherhood of God and ended it
with the final restitution of all things.
This involves different set of motives
and a different kind of an appeal. We
have had more to say about good than
of evil, of love than of fear, of God
than the devil, of Heaven than of He'll
Perhaps we have not always given
due proportion in our preaching to the
emphasized enough the bright ones ?
They want us to preach more on the
enormity of sin-well 1t cannot be toe
strongly set forth-the exceeding sin
fitness of sin-but might they not also
with advantage sweeten and make
more cheerful their faith; might they
not so preach the Gospel in its fitness
that it would indeed be Good tidings
of great joy which shall be to all the
: people?' 1t is daring, perhaps to cher
ish the hope of all Gods children be-
ing brought in obedience to His feet;
daring to prophesy the final triumph
of good over evil; but we do not believe
that it will be imputed against us as a
presumptuous sin.
But after all how does an endless
hell solve the problem? How does pro-
longing evil forever add tonic tc
Christian effort? It hopelessly in
wolves Gods wisdom and power and
sends those out who serve Him in feal
and despair. For one, I will not ac-
cept the doctrine that we need the spur
. and whip of an eternal doom in order
to be active in the service of Christ
When, therefore, our critic tells us that
our belief Takes tonic out of life and
that thoughts of endless misery rouse
him to greatest solicitude and activity
we can only say that to us such a
conception of Gods government and
the issues of it are only paralyzing in
the extreme to all faith and effort Bet
, ter chaos and doubt than a moral gov
eminent which cannot govern: which is
= to end in eternal anarchy and despair
"Our critic, as his last and strongest
argument apparently. asserted that
the Scriptures were against it, The
, Bible said he. makes explicit state
ments which do not warrant the doc
, trine of universal salvation Strangely