In their habits of life, also, the Jewish nation was permanently affected by the lirst captivity. The love of agriculture, which the institutions of Moses had so vi-orou-ly inspired, had necessarily declined in a for- eign laud; ami they returned with a taste for com- merce, banking, and retail trade, which was probably kept up by constant intercourse with their brethren who remained in dispersion. The same intercourse in turn propagated towards the rest the moral spirit which reigned at Jerusalem. The Egyptian .lews, it would seem, had gained little good from the contact of idola- try (Jer. xliv, 8); but those who had fallen in with the Persian religion, probably about, the time of its great reform by Zoroaster, had been preserved from such temptations, and returned purer than they went.
Thenceforward it was the honorable function of Jerusa- lem to act as a religious metropolis to the whole dis- persed nation: .and it cannot he doubted that the ten tribes, as well as the two. learned to be proud of the holy city, as the great and free centre of their name and their faith. The same religious influences thus diffused themselves through all the twelve tribes Ol I — rael. — Kitto. See DiSPi KSSD.
2. Their Futim Return in Palestine. -It is a favor- ite view with many that the Israelii Mi race, now scat- tered over the face of the earth, will eventually be brought hack to their own land. To this is generally added the belief that they will yet return in a convert- ed, i. e. Christian, state. The final ingathering of the •lews, no less than of all Gentiles, is certainly taught, not only in the I >ld Test., but Liken ise in t In- New | see Rom. xi. 1 1 25). But it appears to he an error to infer that, therefore, they will generally be restored to their original home. Sec Swaine, Objections to the. Restorer
RESTORATIONISTS
1053
RESURRECTION
Hon ofihe Jews (3d ed. Lond. 1861); Browne, Restora- tion of the Jews (Edinb. 1861) ; Clarke, Restoration of the Jews (Loud. 1861). See Millennium.
Restorationists, the name assumed by a body of professing Christians who are to a very great extent identical with the Unitarians, on the one hand, and the Universalists, on the other. Their peculiar doctrine is, that all men will ultimately become holy ami happy. Thej' maintain that God created men only to bless them, and that he sent his Son to " be for salvation to the ends of the earth." They further teach that man's probation is not confined to this life, but extends through- out the mediatorial reign of Christ; and that, as he died for all, all will eventually be saved. They consider that punishment is reformatory in its character, and has for its object the conversion of the sinner. Although the Restorationists, as a separate body, have only existed for a few years, their sentiments are by no means new. Some of the early fathers — Clemens Alexandrinus, Origen, Didyraus of Alexandria, Gregory Nyssen, and others — believed and advocated the restoration of all fallen in- telligences. A branch of the German Baptists, before the Reformation, held and propagated the doctrine. In Europe many prominent names may be cited as its ad- vocates. It was introduced into America about the middle of the 18th century, but not much taught until about 1775 or 1780, when John Murray and Elhanan Winchester became its advocates. Afterwards we find Dr. Chauncey, of Boston; Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia; Dr. Smith, of New York; and Mr. Foster, of New Hampshire, as advocates, although most of them con- tinued in the ranks of the various sects. In 1785 a convention was organized at Oxford, Mass., under the auspices of Messrs. Winchester and Murray ; and as all who believed in universal salvation believed that the effects of sin and the means of grace extended into a future life, the terms Restorationist and Universalist were synonymous, and the convention adopted the lat- ter as their distinctive name. In 1818 the Rev. Hosea Ballou, of Boston, advanced the doctrine that all retri- bution is confined to this world; to which was added by others the doctrine of the mortality of the soul, that the whole man died a temporal death, and that the res- urrection would introduce all men into everlasting hap- piness. As a result a distinct sect, by the name of Uni- versal Restorationists, was formed at Mendon,Mass., Aug. 17, 1831 ; but it soon became extinct. The Restoration- ists maintain that a just retribution does not take place in time ; that men are invited to act with reference to a future life ; that there are grades of reward and punish- ment; that it is not death or the resurrection that intro- duces men into heaven. The Restorationists have never been numerous ; they are found more extensively in Mas- sachusetts, although they have a few societies in other states. At one time they published a weekly newspaper, and had from twenty to thirty ministers, with from two to three thousand members. Very many, however, are found in the other sects who entertain the peculiar views of the Restorationists. See Ballou, Ancient History of Universalis m; Belcher, Religious Denominations ; Foster, Examination of Strong ; Hudson, Letter and Reply; Chauncey, Salvation of all Men; Hartley, On Man; Stonehouse, Universal Retribution; Smith, On Divine Government. See Universalis}!.