It of Life and Light. Is there anything on the face of a belief of this kind which is repulsive to the feelings of a good heart, or contrary to the sense of an intelligent mind? is impossible. We are to look into something beyond and independent of the doctrine itself for the cause of the hatred which is everywhere manifested against it, and against its believers, even into the hearts of those who are its enemies. And who are the despisers of our glorious Hope? Are they the benevolent, the amiable, the humble, the merciful, and the truly devotional, and the truth-loving among us?— Nay, for this is the very 'word which is nigh unto them, even in their hearts and in their mouths, this word of Faith which we preach.' It is only this hope which can completely satisfy the deepest longings of every Christian's soul of all faiths; nothing short of this accords with the highest aspirations of the philanthropic heart; no other view of things so entirely agrees with the most natural instincts, the most satisfactory reasonings, and the brilliant harmony that swells from the beautiful fabric of nature; and nothing else can rationally explain or vindicate the ways of God to man,' or be reconciled with the whole spirit of the gospel Christianity, an I the character of its holy Founder. Who then but the proud i high places, the cold-hearted, bigoted, stubborn-minded, self-righteous, Pharisaical Religionists of the Church, who, not enduring to be deprived of the vain unction which they cherish of their being the peculiar objects of the Divine favor, the most highly valued of God's children, the only rightful inheritors of His blessings, in the narrow selfishness of their souls, " do not wish to go to heaven if such and such shall also attain it too." Surely, the sentiment of 'the great salvation,' of all others, is not that which is pleasing and grateful to the impulses of the depraved, the revengeful, the selfish and carnal heart, nor is it a sentiment half so likely to have originated in the bosom of the dark Prince of Evil as the terrible dogmas to which this is opposed. No, it is not the Universalist that cherishes a faith which corresponds with the profane desires and evil wishes of the wicked. Yet it is only from the lips of the pro fane that we hear the utterance of prayers for the damnation of their fellows in the awful oven of gehenna. 66 Here is a fact which is "worthy of all acceptation," that however much men may affect to be horrified at the doctrine of "the Restitution of All Things," which was "spoken of by all the holy prophets since the world began," however severely they may scorn and anathematize and villify its believers, no man that prays, can steel his conscience to pray against the salvation of all and the destruction of evil, a consummation of things so devoutly to be wished for," which would so greatly glorify God, and kindle the spirit of love, gratitude and devotion,-neither can any man rationally pray for the verity and hastening of the doom of everlasting misery; and no person could listen to such a prayer without being shocked at its impiety and blasphemy. In this respect indeed, the hearts and souls of all the most divinely amiable of the Christian Church are with us, so true it is that the more deeply the believer drinks into the genial and gracious spirit of the Master and his religion, the more ardent and irrepressible is his yearning for the truth of the very sentiment which distinguishes us 'a peculiar people,' that "THE NEEDY shall not alway be forgotten.”—“SureÎy the God of all truth would never have implanted aspirarations so universal in the minds of good men, did they not leap from the heart to the recognition of the same truth which gave them birth. And whatever may be said or inferred from this fact, we deem it an important corroboration of the truth as it stands out from the pages of God's revelation. It is not the law written in the heart, so much as it is the testimony, responded to by every evidence in nature, and by every utterance of the God of nature. Our hearts suggest, nature promises, and the word of God declares, that "Of Him, and through him, and TO HIM are All Things." * "Celestial CHARITY! thy labors most Divine; thy sympathy with sighs, and tears, * Fernald's Universalism against Partialism, p. 32. COMPLETION OF THE ARGUMENT. Shall this DESIRE of the Lord, these PRAYERS of Jesus, and this HOPE of the Angels and Saints, be ever Realized? 'Behold,' saith the Psalmist, Thou Desirest truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part, [therefore,] Thou shalt MAKE ME to know wisdom.'-Ps. li. 6. David here expresses a very different sentiment from that which has commonly obtained in the Church. If he had writien, 'We know, O God, that Thou deeply Desirest that truth and holiness should possess the souls of the children of men, yet, O Lord, the wicked shall forever disobey Thee, and thus defeat Thy merciful Desires toward them, which Thy creatures only can fulfil, when they choose to MAKE THEMSELVES pure, and worthy of being the recipients of Thy favors,' he would have been decidedly more 'orthodox.' 'He is of one mind, and who can turn Him? and what His Soul DESIRETH, even that HE DOETH.'-Job xxiii. 13. This explicit testimony of the inspired word, completes our argument. It is established that the Desire, the Disposition of the Father of Life, is for the redemption of all souls; and now we prove with equal plainness, that whatsoever enters into the mind of the Infinite One to Desire, there can be no possible obstacles in the way which His wisdom and power cannot surmount, to the most complete accomplishment of all His pleasure. 'He that planteth the ear shall He not hear?' and He that 'openeth His hand and satisfieth the Desire of every thing living,'-Ps. cxlv. 16; shall He not be abundantly able to mould the hearts of all His intelligent offspring to the satisfaction of that great ineffable wish of Infinite Perfection, celestial love, and even of human righteousness, that evil may be overcome with good, and immortal happiness, which is 'the Desire of all nations, shall come?' Besides, 'The Lord shall REJOICE in His works.'-Ps. civ. 31. Surely we are not to believe in a Deity who would 'Rejoice in His works,' when the all-beneficent Desire and Pleasure of His nature, should be forever disappointed and baffled through the counter machinations of His own crea tures; who would 'Rejoice in His works,' in the event of a consummation of His creation in which the end of things should be infinitely worse than the beginning or progress; who would 'Rejoice in His works' when millions of the immortal spirit-works of His hands shall be crushed forever beneath the tremendous doom of everlasting misery and sinfulness. And does not the Wise Man tell us that 'the Lord heareth the prayer of the Righteous,'-Prov. xv. 29; and that 'the Desire of the Righteous shall be granted?'-Prov. x. 24. And David, also, that 'He will fulfil the Desire of them that fear Him ?'-Ps. cxlv. 19. The Saviour taught, 'What things soever ye Desire when ye pray, believe that ye Receive them, and YE SHALL HAVE THEM.-Mark xi. 24. And in the next verse he particularly forbids the utterance of selfish, exclusive prayers, in these words: 'And when ye stand praying, FORGIVE, if ye have aught against ANY.' This ought to convince us that the Christian Gospel requires uot only Universal Prayers, but that such prayers be trustful and believing. Jesus said, 'I know that God heareth me always.'—John xi. 42. We cannot indeed believe that the Son, to whom the spirit of the Father's wisdom and knowledge and power were not given by measure, should have ever offered any petitions to the God of grace that were not to be most fully answered. Yet we have seen that he himself prayed for the Salvation of sinners, of his very crucifiers, and for the World. In David's 'Psalm of Triumph,' which is also typical and prophetical of the glorious Conquest of the Saviour of the World, it is written, The King [Messiah] shall joy in Thy strength, O, Lord! and in Thy Salvation howgreatly shall he Rejoice! Thou hast given him his HEART'S DESIRE, and hast not withholden the request of his lips.'-Ps. xxi. 1,2. In sequence to the Desire of Paul for the salvation of All Israel, it is not to be forgotten that he himself, in his consideration of the subject, positively declared, 'And so All Israel SHALL be Saved.'-Rom. xi. 26. And also that the falling of them should be 'the riches of the Gentiles,' and 'the reconciling of the world.' Furthermore, God is 'Omnipotent,'-Rev. xix. 6, 'Almighty,'—xi. 17. 'Doeth according to His will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,'Dan. iv. 35. 'Doeth all His Pleasure,'—Is. xlvi. 10. And 'There is NO RESTRAINT to the Lord to save by Many or by Few,'-1 Sam. xiv. 6. The first section of this argument is in entire accordance with Arminianism, whose most distinguished champions have availed themselves of the same strong, unequivocal scripture proofs, that the Creator would be the Saviour of the entire family of mankind, were there nothing to prevent it; while the Calvinists, on the contrary, who in this respect understand the Scriptures too well to doubt the infinite Ability of Deity to accomplish whatsoever pleaseth Him,' taking the doctrine of endless misery for granted, very well know that this dreadful doom could not possibly be brought about except it were of the absolute and eternal Will of God, and consequently deny in toto the Divine Desire, Will, Purpose, or Pleasure to redeem all men. They are thus obliged to narrow down the interpretation of all those universal passages which the Arminians and the Universalists cling to, while on the other hand, concerning the principle involved in the second section of this argument, namely, that the Sovereign Jehovah eternally and perfectly accomplishes every Desire which it is possible for His wisdom and goodness to conceive, and every Inclination that can possibly enter into the good pleasure of His Will, the tables are turned, and the Calvinist and Universalist are together with the Bible all their own, to hurl the doctrine of an evil Antagonist deity, to the shades of oblivion, to prove that 'There is none other God but THE LORD,' and that 'The Lord God OMNIPOTENT reigneth!' This great and sublime truth which is the glory of old Calvinism is a terrible weapon against the inconsistencies of Arminianism, and would sweep that doctrine entirely from its strong-hold upon the Church, as the mightier truths of Universalism shall themselves ultimately both of them, were it not for the secret deep hidden prayer that sparkles in the souls of so many of the good victims of the darksome faith of everlast |