95 RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Unity of the Brethren Universalists
UNIVERSALIST DISSENTERS: See Purves,
JAMES. UNIVERSALISTS. I. Doctrine and Organiza- II. History. tion. Universalism in the East Doctrine (§ 1). (§ 1). Standards; Conditions of In the West (§ 2).
Fellowship (§ 2). Polity (§ 3).
In America (§ 3). Present and Future of
the Church (§ 4).
I. Doctrine and Organization: Universalism is the characteristic doctrine of those who believe that all souls will some time be induced to repent and turn from their sins, and that so all will be saved. Advocates of this doctrine are found in nearly all
denominations of religion, Christian 1. Doctrine. and heathen. Some of these advocates
differ from their parent religion or sect only in holding that the benefits of salvation will finally be enjoyed by all men. Even among those organized as a Christian church and called Universalists nearly every variety of doctrine is represented except as to the distinctive and confident hope of universal salvation. Yet a large majority of them hold a definite system of doctrine which may be indicated as follows: the Bible contains a revelation from God mingled with elements entirely hu- - man and fallible, and has authority such as experts have in their special line of activity. Other good books have the same kind of authority, but in a lower degree. God is a person of infinite excellencies. His nature is best expressed in the one word love, at least the other attributes are entirely consistent with this one. As to the nature of Christ the Universalists are divided. The younger clergy commonly regard him as a man born of Joseph or some other human father and Mary. The older Universalists have commonly regarded him as a being ranking, so to speak, half-way between God and man, born of God and Mary, according to a literal understanding of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The Holy Spirit is either God the Father himself or is impersonal. Miracles are the constant or occasional action of God in (human or other) nature for its betterment. Providence is therefore both general and special. Salvation is from sin and its sequences and from all other forms of evil and unto righteousness, holiness, and a perfected humanity, and is constantly going on under the impulse of God and other good spirits and agencies. This is the so-called moral salvation, and contains no element of substitutional satisfaction or transfer of guilt or merit. Punishment is a sequence of sin, is divinely appointed as a remedy therefor, and is consequently one of the agencies of salvation both in this world and in the next. The clergy have no apostolic succession, but are merely the special agents of God in the salvation of men. The Church universal is the great body of all professing Christians, of which body a humble member is the Universalist Church. Religion is right relations with God, and therefore includes right thoughts about him, right feelings toward him, and right acts in the service of him and his children. Hence the Universalists have always been zealous for doctrine for the honor of God and for social reforms and
charities. The sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s Supper) are chiefly sacred symbols and distinguishing marks of the Christian life and of membership in the Christian Church. Future life is substantially a continuation of the present life, but without the present body of the flesh. There will be no resurrection of this body, and no general judgment, no annihilation of the wicked, no endless punishment in the usual sense of the term, and no second coming of Christ, except in the improvement of souls and of the usual means thereof in this life and in that to come.
The Winchester Profession of Belief has been commonly regarded as the creed of the Universalist church, but in fact it has not been at any time adopted and used as a creed by more than a small
fraction of the local churches. In
2. Stand- order to have the law of the church
ards; Con- conform to the consent and practise
ditions of of the people, the general convention
Fellowship. in 1899 thought best to adopt the following statement:
1. The profession of belief adopted at the session at Winchester, N. H., 1803, is as follows: