Part 4

Possibly he would say that the matter was not a proper one to be spoken of. But why not? If there is such a fearful possibility for anyone, why should he not be warned? The very warning might be the means of averting such a fate. Surely, the most lurid picture of eternal woe would be better than the realization of it. Yet it was seldom or never spoken of, especially as to its duration.

Here, then, is a most serious consideration. If we can think of God doing a thing, the horror of which we cannot bear to speak of, or even to think of, is there not in this a strong presumption that the theory is not true? Let this thought revolve for a while through your mind; remember the strong affinity which the mind has for truth; and then see if the thought which I am trying here to sustain is not a reasonable one. Surely, we have here a strong argument against the theory of endless torment.

There was lately a great Missionary Conference in Edinburgh. Amongst other matters, all sorts of expedients were discussed as to how the heathen of different countries could be most successfully reached. Certain doctrines of Christianity were recognized as best fitting to be presented to certain countries, as especially suited to meet the special conditions that prevail. Strange to say, so far as I saw any report, the doctrine of everlasting punishment was not once suggested as being especially appropriate. Yet if it is true, what could be more appropriate to the heathen mind of all countries? Is it really believed by Missionaries, and those who support them? If it is, why not present it? If it is not, why not expunge it from our stated confession of faith? Can we not afford to be honest on this supremely sacred question? When an intelligent heathen is converted to the Christian faith, and realizes that we profess to believe what we do not really believe, what will he think of us? Will not the Christian church lose more than it gains by this worldly wisdom, which essentially is moral cowardice?

A devout use of the imagination is of great service here. Yes, I say the imagination. I do not mean the revelling of mere fancy in the realm of the unthinkable or the impossible. I mean the vivid realization of facts that lie outside the ordinary rut of thought. So exercised, imagination is one of our noblest powers.

We need a devout, yet chastened, imagination in dealing with such themes as the one we are considering now. No wonder that Ruskin says that imagination is the greatest power of the soul. It is but reasonable to imagine, then, that God has disclosures of love, and wisdom, and power, to make in the next life, that far transcend our present thought.

II.

CRUELTY OF FORMER VIEWS.

Unconditional Election--Children of Believing Parents--An Arrogant Pretension--God's Own Children--The Heathen of All Time--A Baleful Shadow--Former Cruelty--Herbert Spencer--Dr. Farrar's Eternal Hope--A Lady With an Open Mind--Dr. Dawson's Larger View.--The Universal Attraction.

The old doctrine of God's unconditional decrees still survives, despite our conviction that perfect impartiality is one of the attributes of the divine character. The idea seems to have taken hold of some minds that a thing is right because God is the Author of it. That is certainly beginning at the wrong end. God does a thing because it is right; His doing of it does not make it right. But we need to have faith that His future administration will rectify all the apparent wrongs of the present. It is our failure to take this larger view that has led many people of the kindest heart to adopt the most cruel conclusions.

Just now a lady has told me of a certain "eminent divine" who says that children who die in infancy are elected if they are the children of believing parents! What a revelation this "eminent divine" must have of the eternal mysteries! Since he knows so much, I would like to ask if one believing parent would not suffice, in an urgent case, or if both must infallibly be believers! A more arrogant pretension it would be difficult to conceive.

The lady who spoke to me on the subject said it would be a very comfortable thing to believe. "Yes," I said, "it might be a comfortable thing for you, but what about the other woman down street who is not a believer? Do you think that her children are not as precious in God's sight as yours?"

Away with all such hard, narrowing conceptions! Can it be imagined that God would consign infants to everlasting torment, simply because they are children of unbelieving parents? A thousand times No! Let us remember that they are His own children, whatever earthly parentage they may have. His love and power are not going to be thwarted by any considerations of evil ancestry. Any lingering doubt of that is a survival of the old, narrow, hard doctrine of absolute election.

But in support of the idea referred to, this passage may be quoted: "The promise is to you and to your children." Does not that exclude all others? Well, let us see. Read on. "And to all that are afar off." Ah! That immensely widens the circle. "All that are afar off." Who are they? Are they not the heathen of all the world, and of all time? So the children of believing parents are bound up in the same bundle with the vilest of mankind. And we are not greatly surprised. For they are God's own children, every one; and whether they are little innocent infants or others advanced in some stages of wickedness, or the most depraved of mankind, we believe they are all subject to redeeming power and grace. Different means may be required for their education or reclamation; but it is easy to believe that divine love, and power, and wisdom, will not fail of their effect.

But, then, something more is added in the passage we have quoted. "Even to as many as the Lord our God shall call." Does not that look like restriction, or selection? Well let us see. Who are they that are called? Here we have it, Listen. "Look unto me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth." Surely, that means the whole race. And equally it means the next life as well as the present; for there are millions and millions who never heard the call, and never will hear it, on this side of time.

We hope we are now leaving behind us the ferocity which was formerly considered quite appropriate to religion. Indeed, a man was hardly accounted serious, if he was not severe. And the worst of it was, that God was considered severe. Men could read over and over again that "God is love;" but somehow the great truth was not received in its fulness. The idea of God's justice seems to have cast a baleful shadow over men's hearts and lives. Certainly heaven's own light is now breaking through the gloom. Many of the highest judgment and character now entertain views which their fathers would have repudiated as rank heresy.

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It is a most unfortunate thing that we have derived from our bloodthirsty ancestors an impression of divine cruelty that is utterly opposed to the fact. And it is not so very long ago that such traditions were handed down to us. "What we forget," says the New York Evening Post, "is the short distance of time and space that separates us from our ferocious forefathers." Dr. Johnson in his 'Journey to the Western Islands,' relates the tradition that the Macdonalds--honored name to-day--surrounded the Culloden Church on Sunday, fastened the doors, and burnt the congregation alive. The entertainment received its perfecting touch when the Macdonald piper mocked the shrieks of the perishing crowd with the notes of his bagpipes.

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"Perhaps an even more striking illustration of the survival of savagery may be found in men's religious beliefs--say, in the conception of a God who is a cruel man endowed with omnipotence. Grave divines were telling us within a generation that a just and merciful Father, for his good pleasure, had doomed certain of the non-elect to the most hideous physical tortures for all eternity. It was in 1879, about thirty years ago, that Herbert Spencer in 'The Data of Ethics,' stated the theory quite nakedly: The belief that the sight of suffering is pleasing to the gods,' He added: 'Derived from bloodthirsty ancestors, such gods are naturally conceived as gratified by the infliction of pain; when living they delighted in torturing other beings; and witnessing torture is supposed still to give them delight. The implied conceptions long survive.'

"Some of our readers may recall the attacks upon Spencer, and even upon clergymen otherwise orthodox, like the late Frederick William Farrar, who doubted the doctrine of eternal torture."

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We hope we are beginning to survive such false and horrible ideas. Those ferocious representations are the very contrary of the truth. To get the truest conceptions of God, we have to think of man at his highest; and even then we are as far below the reality as the earth is below the stars. We are made in the image of God, however, and are a human transcript of the divine. But we are finite at our best, while God is infinite. Beyond all human thought His love is strong, and tender, and unchangeable. He is veritably our Father, and I think He is so in a far closer relation than mere creation. If we can think of the possibility of delight in torturing our children, ten thousand times more repugnance would God have in torturing us, except for a time, and for the highest and wisest ends.

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If we go back to medieval times we have the most revolting pictures of the agonies of hell. We are told, for instance, of a certain monk who in the course of his journeys came to the underworld, and there he found "a fiery glen 'darkened with the mists of death,' and covered with a great lid, hotter than the fires themselves. On the lid sat a huge multitude of souls, burning, 'till they were melted, like garlic in a pan with the glow thereof.' Reaching the nethermost hell, he was shown the Prince of Darkness, black as a raven from head to foot, thousand-handed and with a long thick tail covered with fiery spikes, 'lying on an iron hurdle over fiery gledes, a bellows on each side of him, and a crowd of demons blowing it.'

"As he lay there roasting, tossing from side to side, filled with rage and fury, he grasped the souls in his rough, thick hands, bruising and crushing them, as a man would crush grapes to squeeze out the wine. With his fiery, stinking breath, he scattered the souls about Hell, and as he drew in his breath again he swallowed them down with it, and those whom his hands could not reach he lashed with his tail. This, the angel explained, was Lucifer."

Unfortunately, however, medieval ages had no monopoly of such horrors. They have survived almost to our time. In some cases they are reproduced even yet. It is a painful thing to recall, but even our late beloved Spurgeon at times fell into this snare.

I have just had an interview with a lady of the highest Christian character. She was brought up in the orthodox faith, and never doubted its truth. I hesitated to launch these larger views upon her, thinking they might only disturb her, and that perhaps she was too old to recast her opinions. But I found that her mind was perfectly open; and after some discussion she firmly believed in the larger hope. I was persuaded that such would be the experience of thousands more, if they would but give their heart and mind to a devout consideration of these questions. And oh, what a pall of gloom would thus be lifted from the heart of the world!

We may well give here the noble words of Dr. Dawson, who in an address before the Royal Society of Canada, quoted this stanza:

"For a day, and a night, and a morrow, That his strength might endure for a span, With travail, and heavy sorrow, The holy spirit of man."

Then he says: "The holy spirit of man! Holy in its capacity, in its possibility: nay, more, in its ultimate destiny!"

This is no self-righteousness. It is a gleam of man's potentiality, that makes him truly sublime. There are many Scripture statements that make man pitifully little; but this is because of his present sinful condition. Bye and bye he will rise into his true condition, and then "The holy spirit of man" will be not only a possibility, but an experience. It is gratifying to notice that such a man as Dr. Dawson has this larger hope.

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In striking antithesis to such views as we have referred to, I may here narrate an experience of my own in which I think there was revealed to me a peculiar phase of Christ's universal attractive power. One day in San Francisco I saw a funeral procession passing along the street. I joined the procession, and went with it into the church. I saw that all the company were negroes. The minister, who was also a negro, announced the Hymn:

"Safe in the arms of Jesus, Safe on His gentle breast, There by His love o'ershaded, Sweetly my soul shall rest."

It was sung with all the fervor of the negro race. As it proceeded a strange thought struck me: How could negroes find rest on the bosom of One quite another color? It was a natural thought, for the color prejudice is strong. Even when we think of Christ, we instinctively think of Him as a white man. How, then, could these worshippers find rest on His bosom, and in His arms? If He had been a negro, they might do so; but how could they do such a thing when they realized that He was of a different color from themselves?

Then suddenly, a solution same to my mind. If Christ was not black, neither was He white. In fact He was brown; about midway between white and black. So in color He was as near to the negroes as to the white race. Therefore the negroes can recline on His breast, and in His arms, as naturally as we. That seemed to me a very happy idea; perhaps even a revelation.

But then, another thought quickly followed. What if Christ took this central place, even as to color, of set purpose? He could thus appeal more directly to the whole human race, and thus more effectively draw all men to Himself. Therefore I hazard the conjecture that one reason why He chose to come of the Jewish race was, that he might be, even as to color, the central attraction of the world. Oh yes; if we only widen the horizon of our thought and our affection, we shall see that the great scheme of redemption is co-extensive with the race, and reaches forward into the eternities.

III.

THE CHURCH IN TRANSITION.

No Definite note of Warning--Preachers Afraid of Discipline--Divided as to Restoration or Extinction--Plea of Liberty--Liberalism of the Episcopal Church--Advance in Christian Unity--Dr. Edward White--Conditional Immortality--Endless Torment--If True Ought to Be Preached Morning, Noon and Night--Awful Penalty of Sin--Extinction--True Religion is Reasonable--Enlarged Conceptions.

There can hardly be a doubt that the church in general is in a state of transition on this question. The want of a definite note of warning, to which I have referred elsewhere, is an indication of it. Some preachers have not the conviction of eternal torment and do not speak of it. Others know very well that many of their hearers would resent any such declaration. But they do not preach Restoration. They are afraid, I suppose, that they might expose themselves to the discipline of the church. Some, I believe, would very quickly espouse the Restoration theory, if they were sure that they would escape all pains and penalities. Meantime they do not examine the doctrine, for I suspect they fear they would be convinced that it is true. I believe that most ministers of the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches occupy one or other of the positions I have indicated.

A few days ago I was speaking with a mature and scholarly man who occupies a prominent position in the Methodist Church. In our conversation we drifted into the subject of Restoration, and he freely avowed his faith in it; but he said that if such a thing were known, he would lose his position.

In the Presbyterian Church there is by no means a universal loyalty to the traditional doctrine of eternal torment. There was a notable indication of this some time ago. Somehow--I do not know how--the question of eternal punishment came up among Presbyterians in the United States. A great number of letters was addressed to "_The Interior_," of Chicago. Some of these endorsed the doctrine of Extinction, and the others of Restoration. So far as I can remember, none were in favor of eternal punishment. At the close, the Editor summed up in favor of extinction. But he was not indicted for heresy, nor any of his correspondents, so far as I am aware.

The whole affair showed very clearly that there is a tacit and wide repudiation of the doctrine of eternal torment. It also showed that the church is divided on the theories of restoration and extinction; while I presume that many would uphold the old doctrine of torment. I claim that this division of opinion is allowable. There ought to be, and I think that on the whole there is, Christian liberty on this topic. Some day the church may see eye to eye on these matters.

Especially do I honor the Episcopal Church for always having taken this more liberal ground. It is possible to hold the most diverse views on this point, and yet be in good standing in that communion. I lately spoke with an Episcopal clergyman who believes not only in the Restoration of the entire human race, but who believes that Satan himself will ultimately be restored. I know another Episcopal clergyman who is a confirmed and advanced spiritualist; yet he believes in Restoration; and he is a very able, devout, and godly man. Witness also Archdeacon Farrar's book on "Eternal Hope;" yet that man held his position in the church, and grew in public esteem till his dying day.

OPENING OF THE PULPITS.

And there was lately a remarkable expression of Christian charity on the part of the Episcopal Church in the United States. At a triennial convention of that body held at Richmond, there was passed a resolution opening the pulpits of the Episcopal Church to clergymen of other denominations. The resolution was then referred to the House of Bishops, which passed it by a vote that was practically unanimous.

This is a marvellous advance in Christian unity, and a tacit recognition of the secondary nature of many questions that were once thought to be of primary importance. Amongst other topics, there may well be a difference of opinion on matters pertaining to the next life.

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And I believe that the Methodist Church is really, though not avowedly, in a state of transition on the same point. I was speaking a short time ago with a noted official of that church, and one that has a wide and intimate acquaintance with the views of his brethern. He said to me, very candidly, that the ministers of the Methodist Church do not believe in eternal punishment; and he said this with such an air of satisfaction that I concluded that he himself took that position.

As for the Congregational Church, it makes no pretense of exacting such a view on the part of its ministers. Some of its ministers and members uphold that theory; but there is perfect liberty of opinion. I know that many of their ministers believe in Conditional Immortality. Dr. Edward White, of England, the apostle of that doctrine, was a highly respected minister of that church.

I think I am right in saying that there is no Universalist Church in England. There Universalism is no barrier to membership in the Congregational Church.

At all events, in either of the four churches named, there is little or no preaching of eternal torment. That is the outstanding fact. We can account for the fact only on the supposition that the doctrine is not believed. If it were really believed it would certainly be preached. If it is true it ought to be preached, morning, noon and night. One cannot conceive of believing in hell fire as the doom of sinners, and not warning men of it, even with the earnestness of frenzy.

THERE IS NO WARNING.

And here I would notice the great loss we sustain in having no emphatic note of warning. It used to be the custom of warning men of hell fire; but now there is no warning, except the very general and vague warning of wrath to come, which has really little meaning. We do not say in what it consists; therefore the vague statement has but slight significance. To this may be attributed much of the comfort and carelessness of sinners. Many there are, even of regular church goers, who hear nothing on these matters but what they hear from the pulpit; and from that they hear practically nothing. How much better it would be if they could be warned very definitely of coming suffering, if they are not now delivered from their sins. So long as there is sin there will be suffering. I am convinced that the nerve of the preacher's message is often cut by this want of a definite note of warning.

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Let it be clearly noted that punishment is a large factor in the theory of Restoration. Let no one suppose that the transition from sin to holiness is an easy matter under any circumstances. There are multitudes of men that go out of life so utterly wicked that they must suffer terribly, and perhaps suffer long, before they are reformed. At least we may suppose such to be the rule. There may be exceptions, like that of Saul, to which we shall refer later. Sin unforgiven will pursue a man into the next life, and exact a fearful penalty. The prodigal must eat of the husks before he comes back to the Father.

A VITAL PHASE.

Here, then, is the point of agreement. Suffering is entailed by Sin. Whatever view we espouse, that fact remains. It was mainly to emphasize that fact that we entered on this discussion. It is one phase of the agreement, and a vital one, between the Christian churches. While there is much diversity of view as to the mode and the object and the duration of suffering, there is a broad basis of agreement as to the fact.

Not only, therefore, does the doctrine of eternal punishment recognize suffering as the effect of sin, but so does the doctrine of extinction. To be eternally put out of being, and so precluded forever from eternal happiness, is punishment beyond the power of the mind to conceive. As we cannot conceive of the felicity of eternal joy, so we cannot conceive of the loss of it.

It is a matter of no great moment to others how I myself stand on this great question, except for the reasons which I think support it. I am by no means dogmatic on the subject, for the reason, as stated before, that revelation does not seem to give a clear and direct deliverance on it. But I do think that there are much clearer and more emphatic Scriptural statements in favor of the doctrine of Restoration than any of the alternate theories.

I think, moreover, that reason is clearly in favor of it, so far as reason will carry us. And I believe what an eminent minister said lately: "We ought to make our faith reasonable to reasonable minds."

The fact is, that all true religion is reasonable, and we would see it to be so if we could see the truth in all its relations. But our views are limited; that is the trouble. Hence there are many topics that we shall not fully understand in this life; but "when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away."

It will be seen also that details are not only unrevealed but also that they could not possibly be revealed. The main fact only can be the subject of investigation. Faith can wait for the revelation of the mode and the time.

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