IINIVERSALISTS, a body of Christians whose distinctive peculiarity consists in their belief that " evil " will ultimately be eradicated from the world, and that all erring crea tures will be brought back to God through the irresistible efficacy of Christ's divine love. The grounds on which their faith in the final salvation of all men rests are derived more, perhaps, from reason than from Scripture; and when they do appeal to the latter, it is. rather to the spirit and design of the Gospel than to particular passages. They argue, that when an infinitely wise, holy, and benevolent God resolved to create man, it could onlybe with a view to his everlasting good; that if he did allow him to be tempted and fall, it must have been because he foresaw that through sorrow and suffering man could rise to higher degrees of perfection; that therefore all punishment (or what, with our limited knowledge, we conceive to be such) is of necessity designed as a remedial agent, and not intended to satisfy God's indignation as a sovereign at the disobedience of his subjects; that no other view of the subject is compatible with the Scriptural, and es. pecially the New Testament representation of God as a " Father," or with the oft repeated declaration (in various terms) that Jesus Christ was a propitiation for the sins of the whole world. In answer to those who adduce against them the express language of Scripture; e.g., " And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal" (Matthew, xxv. 46), they reply, that the word aiOnzos, translated "ever lasting," does not necessarily bear that signification; that properly it does not express the idea of duration at all, either finite or infinite, but was rather used by the sacred to denote a mode of existence distinct from and wholly dissimilar to any mere chronic state; in proof of which they point to such passages as—" This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent " (,John, xvii. 3), where eternal life is affirmed to be knowledge—that is, a present state of mind, and not a perpetual hereafter of duration.
Universalists, it may be observed, generally differ from the prevalent bodies of Chris tians in other important doctrines, though it is not because of such differences that they have received their name, nor is it necessary to merit the name that one should share these differences. Most of them agree with Unitarians—but there are eminent examples to the contrary—in rejecting the doctrine of the trinity; they are also Pelagian in the matter of original sin, and reject the notion that the new birth is something supernatural.
Universalism, as a mode of belief, is of very ancient origin, and its modern adher ents, besides urging its congruity with the divine plan of redemption, as revealed in Scripture, point to the earliest Christian writings; e.g., the Sibylline oracles (150 A.D.—see
Sravit)--expressly composed to convert pagans to Christianity—as evidence that the doc trine was recognized from the first. Passages in favor of the doctrine are cited from many of the fatber's—Clemens Alexandrinus; Origen; Marcellus, bishop of Ancyra; Titus, bishop of Bostra; Gregory, bishop of Nyssa ; Didymus the Blind, presi dent of the Catechetical School of Alexandria; Diodorus, bishop of Tarsus; Theodore, bishop of Mopsuestia; and Fabius Marius Victorinus. It is said to have been held by some of the Albigenses and Waldenses, the Lollards and the Anabaptists, and it probably had isolated supporters in most of the countries into which the reformation penetrated. Nor has it wanted illustrious adherents belonging to the church of England and the Non conformists, among whom it is customary to rank archbishop Tillotson, Dr. Burnet, bishop Newton, Dr. Henry More, William Whiston, Jeremy White (chaplain to Oliver Cromwell), Soame Jenyns, David Hartley, William Law, and (in our own day) Thomas de Quincy and professor Maurice. The same remark is applicable to the French Prot estant an German churches, and indeed it may safely be asserted that the non-clerical mind in all ages is disposed to look favorably upon the doctrine of the universal restora tion to holiness and happiness of all fallen intelligences, whether human or angelic. Hence the irrepressible sympathy of men, however orthodox, with the language of Burns: Then, fare ye weel, auld Nickie Ben. Oh, wad ye tak a thocht, and men', Ye aiblins micht—I diana ken— Still hae a stake.
I'm was to think upo' you den, E'en for your sake.
But the existence of Universalism as a distinct religious sect is a feature of American, rather than of English religious society. About the year 1770, the rev. John Murray became a propagator of Universalist views; and since his time, an organized body has.
sprung up, which contains many able, learned, and pious divines. According to the " Register " of the denomination published in 1S71, there are in the United States, 904 societies, owning 687 churches, and ministered to by 621 preachers. These societies have under their patronage 11 institutions of learning, including 4 colleges and 7 acade mies, and they support 13 periodicals. Various missionary, tract, and Sunday school associations are also employed in teaching and propagating their peculiar views. Sec Ancient History of Universalism, by the rev. Hosea Ballot]; and the Modern History, by the rev. Thos. Whittemore (Bost. 1830; new edit. 1860 et seq.).