LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 "I 
 
 1 
 
 Ti 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
-2 <r, //w. 
 
THE 
 
 UNIVERSALIST'S ASSISTANT; 
 
 OR 
 
 AN EXAMINATION 
 
 OF 
 
 THE PRINCIPAL OBJECTIONS COMMONLY URGED AGAINST 
 UNIVERSALISM. 
 
 He that is first in his own cause seemeth just ; 
 
 But his neighbor cometh and searcheth him.— Prov. 
 
 BY A BE LIE V^R 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 ABEL TOMPKINS, 3 8, 
 
 AND 
 
 B. B. MUSSEY, 29 Cornhill 
 1846. 
 

 X 
 
 ftfT 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1846, by 
 
 DARIUS FORBES, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 
 
 I)bh 
 
 Stereotyped by 
 GEORGE A. CURTIS; 
 
 NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY, 
 BOSTON. 
 
THIS VOLUME 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED TO 
 
 REV. HOSEA BALLOU, 2d, D.D. 
 
 AND TO 
 
 REV. EDWIN H. CHAPIN, A.M., 
 
 As a token of the respect and esteem the Author cherishes 
 for these men — the one as a diligent and persevering Theo- 
 logical Student, and the other as a General Scholar and an 
 Eloquent Preacher — whose labors and influence have done 
 so much to secure the attention and respect of other sects 
 to the Universalist Denomination in the United States ; and 
 to encourage a manly independence in its ministry in form- 
 ing and expressing their opinions ; and to promote Theo- 
 logical Science among its members, and elevate the tone 
 and spirit of its pulpit ; and as personal friends, and Chris- 
 tian men, and lovers of truth and righteousness. 
 
" It is not an unusual occurrence, when any new view 
 of a theological or scriptural subject is broached, to array 
 against it a host of objections, and to insist upon the 
 formidable difficulties with which it is encumbered, as if 
 the old view were free from all exceptions, and stood 
 forth in self-evident truth ; while, in fact, it was the diffi- 
 culties attendant upon popular belief, which gave rise to 
 
 the innovation." 
 
 Bush. 
 
PKEFACE 
 
 This volume is rather unique in its character ; and the author 
 feels great diffidence in presenting it to the public. But it has 
 long seemed to him that something of the kind was needed. 
 Tracts have been and now are circulated all through the com- 
 munity, presenting an array of objections against Universalism, 
 while there has been no one book, which could be placed in the 
 hands of those whose minds are attempted to be influenced by 
 these little books, in which, their objections are answered in 
 detail. Answers to very many of them are scattered through the 
 various newspapers and books that have been published by the 
 believers of this doctrine ; but they are not available to the great 
 mass of readers. 
 
 Were any apology needed for the peculiar character of this 
 work, or the form in which its materials are presented, it would 
 be the manifest advantages secured by it. In arranging the 
 matter in the form of answers to objections, an opportunity is 
 afforded to embrace a much wider range of topics in the same 
 space, and make the materials directly available where wanted, 
 to an extent which could not be secured by a formal treatise upon 
 the several subjects which come under review. This form, 
 therefore, seems better adapted to answer the great end for 
 which it is designed, than any other that presented itself to the 
 author's mind. 
 
 The author's attention was first called to the want of some 
 book of this kind, about ten years since, by the circulation of 
 great numbers of tracts, devoted to the exhibition of objections 
 against Universalism, among the members of his congregation. 
 At the request of some of his hearers, he prepared a series of dis- 
 1^= 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 courses, embracing the topics now included in the second chapter 
 of this work. Since that time, he has directed a very consider- 
 able portion of his studies to the topics therein embraced, and 
 the investigation of collateral subjects, enlarging his range of 
 inquiry to all the matters embraced in this volume. And 
 believing that the results of these inquiries and investigations 
 may be of some service to the cause of religious truth, and with 
 the advice of some friends, in whose judgment be has great 
 confidence, he has concluded to present them to the public. 
 
 In the execution of his work, the author has aimed to present 
 the several topics discussed, in as condensed and popular a 
 manner as possible ; to come direct to the subject in hand, with- 
 out amplifying the arguments, or introducing illustrations, except 
 in a few cases ; trusting to the good sense of the reader to 
 supply these, and his judgment and perception to get at the 
 meaning, without their aid, from a plain and unequivocal state- 
 ment of facts, and the use of the most simple and unambiguous 
 language. 
 
 All reflections upon the want of candor and fairness on the 
 part of the authors, whose works have furnished the objections 
 noticed, have been avoided, although abundant occasion has 
 been presented for comments of this kind. In numerous 
 instances, the conviction has been most painfully forced upon 
 the author's mind, that most of them were sadly wanting in 
 honesty and integrity, in many of their statements, as well as in 
 candor and fairness in argument. It seems as if very many 
 things were said in a spirit of the most reckless malice, and with 
 an entire destitution of all feeling of accountability for what 
 they were writing. But all this has been passed over in silence, 
 because thoughts and reflections of this kind, especially in rela- 
 tion to men claiming to write for the good of human souls, are 
 extremely unpleasant and painful to an honest, ingenuous, and 
 fair mind ; and it is no gratification to it, to comment upon 
 them. Beside, reflections upon the characters and doings of 
 opponents, afford no good or satisfactory answer to the arguments 
 they may adduce. These stand or fall upon their own merits. 
 It has been the single object, therefore, to meet the objections 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 urged, in the spirit of candor and fairness ; with how much suc- 
 cess, others must judge. 
 
 The most difficult part of this work, in execution, has been 
 the discussion of the several Hebrew and Greek words, which 
 have been urged as objections against Universalism. It has 
 been the aim to present the matter in such a way as to be intelli- 
 gible to the mere English reader, and in so popular a form, 
 that he can perceive somewhat of the state of things, in relation 
 to these words, as it is exhibited to the minds of scholars. To 
 gain this end, the text has been kept as free from these terms as 
 possible, and some unusual expedients adopted ; while notes 
 have been pretty freely introduced, to put scholars upon the 
 track which has led to the conclusions stated in the text. In 
 this way, it is hoped, the book may be rendered of some service, 
 in this department, to both classes of readers. 
 
 In the department of this work to which allusion is now had, 
 it is not expected, that anything particularly new, to those who 
 have looked into the subject, has been presented. Still, it is 
 believed that much is presented, which may be new to the great 
 mass of readers, or if nothing new is presented, it is hoped, at 
 least, that old and familiar things are presented in a new and 
 more striking light. 
 
 As will be seen from the quotations and references, all state- 
 ments in relation to the usage of Greek words, and facts con- 
 cerning them, from sources aside from the Scriptures themselves, 
 have been derived from others. Reliance is placed entirely upon 
 their accuracy and fidelity, as the author has not the means of 
 verifying their statements, by an appeal to their authorities, if 
 he has the requisite learning and ability. But such is the well 
 established reputation of these authors, that there is no room to 
 question either their accuracy or their fidelity. Still, in all cases, 
 when in his power, the author has preferred to see with his own 
 eyes, and thus know whereof he affirms. 
 
 The first person singular has been adopted throughout this 
 work, to avoid seeming to speak in behalf of others, or to refer 
 responsibility for the sentiments and facts presented, to others 
 beside the author. And he here wishes to say, that he claims 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 to speak only for himself, not for any sect or body of men. He 
 alone wishes to be held responsible for whatever is herein writ- 
 ten, that the reader may deem untrue or in any degree excep- 
 tionable. All that this book contains is the free expression of 
 the free thoughts of one who desires and claims to belong to the 
 community of free minds ; of diligent inquirers after truth, who 
 would see with their own eyes, hear with their own ears, think 
 with their own minds, and understand with their own under- 
 standings ; of those who would follow truth meekly and rever- 
 ently, but firrnly and resolutely, wherever it may lead ; and of 
 those who scorn to be shut up within the narrow precincts of 
 party or sect. And what is herein written, the reader is desired 
 to regard as the utterance of such a mind. 
 
 With the sincere hope and the fervent prayer, that this little 
 volume may contribute something to the extension of a liberal 
 and enlarged theology ; to more just and rational views of the 
 divine character and government ; to higher conceptions of human 
 accountability and the great aims and offices of religion ; to a 
 more profound sense of the necessity of labor and effort, on the 
 part of every individual, to secure the great ends proposed by 
 religion ; to the more thorough persuasion of all minds, that they 
 are the makers of their own heaven or hell, and of the indispen- 
 sable necessity of faith and repentance, as the means of salvation ; 
 it is submitted to the candid consideration of the public, and 
 especially that portion of it, which embraces the idea of the 
 absolute eternity of human punishment, at the hand of God. 
 
 Boston, April, 1846. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 INTRODUCTION, 
 
 Importance of religion — sources of information concerning it — need to 
 be interpreted — exercise of the rational powers, the only safeguard against 
 guilty error— Universalism not a negation, but an affirmation— its trans- 
 cendent beauty — the one thing needful in certain cases. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Section I. The Safe Side, 30 
 
 Belief alone, not an infallible surety of salvation — not a subject of pru- 
 dential considerations — the belief of Universalism as safe as any other 
 ism — men approved or condemned according to their characters — pru- 
 dence demands the belief of Universalism. 
 
 Section II. The Safest Side, 43 
 
 Importance of belief—endless misery tends to form a character unlike 
 that demanded by Christianity — Universalism favorable to the formation 
 of Christian character — unsafe to believe its opposite. 
 
 Section III. Christ and his Apostles incompetent Teachers, . 53 
 The Scriptures not designed to explain and enforce a system of dogmatic 
 theology — all errors not corrected by Christ and his apostles — this objec- 
 tion lies equally against Christianity and Protestantism — some of the 
 most eminent Christians have been and are Universalists — persecution 
 and wickedness have prevented the more general prevalence of this 
 doctrine. 
 
 Section IV. Why did the Preaching of Christ and his Apostles alarm 
 
 the Fears and excite^the Enmity of Wicked Men ? 73 
 
 Christ's and the Apostles' preaching alarmed men's fears, and awakened 
 
 their enmity — proving Universalism will not produce this effect — all 
 
 other isms in the same category — Universalist pulpit not limited to one 
 
 idea — perverse sinners always offended at rebukes. 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 Section V. Universalism inconsistent with the Character of God 
 
 as a Rewarder. . . . . .80 
 
 Punishment means, not ends — probation— present conduct and future 
 Condition intimately connected. 
 
 Section VI. Universalism inconsistent with God's Mercy, . 85 
 
 Universalism and the Bible err in the same direction — nothing unmer- 
 ciful in rewarding men according to their works. 
 
 Section VII. God treats the Righteous worse than the Wicked, . 88 
 Founded upon the idea that all men enter upon a state of felicity imme- 
 diately after death — a blessing to be killed if immediately happy. 
 
 Section VIII. There is no such thing as Forgiveness, . . 92 
 
 Punishment not merely vindictive or vindicatory — punishment prospec- 
 tive and consistent with forgiveness. 
 
 Section IX. The Necessity of Repentance, .... 96 
 Number saved does not affect the necessity of the use of means — the 
 relation of cause and effect not denied by Universalists — religion important 
 if no connexion exists between the present and the future — this connexion 
 defined. 
 
 Section X. Universalism not needed by the true Christian, . 101 
 
 The unconcern of the wicked and worldly — Universalism dares not 
 promise impunity to the most horrid and polluted of our race — endless 
 misery tortures the purest and best only, in this world. 
 
 Section XL Universalism pleasing to the carnal heart, . . 106 
 
 The natural heart pure — Universalism not pleasing to the carnal heart, 
 but offensive — at war with all wickedness. 
 
 Section XII. A Universalis! Meeting in a new place, . . 109 
 
 Character of Universalist congregations — where known only as repre- 
 sented by enemies, professed by all the vilest of society — enemies 
 responsible for it. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE ORIGINAL WORDS RENDERED EVERLASTING, ETERNAL, 
 ETC., CONSIDERED AS AN OBJECTION TO UNIVERSALISM. 
 
 Section I. Preliminary Remarks, . . . . .115 
 
 Subject involves much learned inquiry — relates to the original Scriptures 
 — translations the mere judgment of fallible men as to the meaning of the 
 original. 
 
 Section II. Admissions of those opposed to Universalism, . 1 18 
 
 Aion and aidnios sometimes used in a limited sense — fatal to the position 
 that they mean of necessity absolute eternity. 
 
 Section III. The Arguments by which it is attempted to fix upon the 
 terms aion and aidnios the sense of Endless Duration, 
 considered. . . . . .121 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 Page. 
 Formation of the word aioti — usage among the Jews — perpetuity of 
 happiness and misery depends upon' the permanency of character— dura- 
 tion of each individual's happiness and misery contingent— usage against 
 the sense of absolute eternity. 
 
 Section IV. Additional Considerations to show the terms aibn and 
 
 aionios do not mean " absolute eternity," . . 136 
 
 Statements of Lexicons— Classical usage— Scripture usage— usage by 
 the Christian Fathers. 
 
 Section V. Conclusion, ....... 151 
 
 Used in a variety of senses — means an indefinite duration— spiritual — 
 other words more decisive might have been used — misery will endure as 
 long as men are bad. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL, COMMONLY RENDERED GRAVE 
 
 AND HELL, CONSIDERED AS AN OBJECTION TO UNI- 
 
 VERSALSM. 
 
 Section I. Preliminary Remarks, ..... 160 
 Ground of controversy changed— difficulties arising out of this change 
 in managing a discussion. 
 
 Section II. Admissions of the Learned, .... 162 
 Change in the tone of remark by those opposed to Universalism — may 
 mean a world of woe — hazardous to affirm more. 
 
 Section m. An Exhibition of the Usage of Sheol, . . . 164 
 
 Means the under-world, or state of the dead in general — inhabitants 
 and their employments — men sent to Hades as a punishment. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE GREEK WORD HADES, COMMONLY RENDERED HELL 
 
 IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, CONSIDERED AS AN 
 
 OBJECTION TO UNIVERSALISM. 
 
 Section I. Preliminary Remarks, ..... 171 
 Change in the meaning of the term hades and hell — to be annihilated. 
 
 Section II. Classical and Jewish Usage of Hades, . . .173 
 
 ^ Race of departed spirits — dark, unsubstantial and shadowy — having 
 rivers and gates — inhabitants unsubstantial forms — employments the ideal 
 of those here — division into Elysium and Tartarus — place of purgation — 
 Jewish views substantially the same as those of the Greeks and Romans 
 
XII CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 Section EL New Testament Usage of the term Hades, . . 183 
 
 Jewish sense of the term Hades — the New Testament sense of this 
 term. 
 
 Section IV. Exposition of Luke 16 : 23 186 
 
 A parable — designed to rebuke some of the notions and the perverse 
 obstinacy of the Jews— represents two individuals, first in this and then 
 in the future state — an argumentum ad hominem — impassable gulf be- 
 tween the good and bad in this world. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE GREEK WORD TARTARUS, RENDERED HELL IN OUR 
 COMMON VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, CONSID- 
 ERED AS AN OBJECTION TO UNIVERSALISM. 194 
 
 Description of Tartarus — not used in the heathen sense by the apostle 
 —used in the sense of sheol. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE HEBREW-GREEK WORD GEHENNA, ALWAYS RENDERED 
 
 HELL IN THE COMMON VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 
 
 CONSIDERED AS AN OBJECTION TO UNIVERSALISM. 
 
 Section I. Preliminary Observations. .... 200 
 
 Not used as the name of a place of endless punishment in Christ's 
 time — not found in the Apocrypha — at variance with collateral ideas. 
 
 Section II. The Derivation of Gehenna, .... 208 
 Name of a valley— used as a figure of punishment in general, with- 
 out reference to time when or place where it is to be inflicted. 
 
 Section III. New Testament usage of the term Gehenna, . . 213 
 
 Expositions affirmative— Matt. 5 : 22 and 29, 30 ; 10 : 28 ; 18 : 8, 9 j 
 Mark 9 : 43—48 ; Matt. 23: 15, 33; James 3 : 6. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 GENERAL CONCLUSION. 230 
 
UNIVERSALIS^ ASSISTANT. 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Religion, in its relation to man, as a moral and 
 accountable being, who is, at the same time, mortal 
 and immortal, destined to live on forever, as a 
 spiritual existence, is emphatically the subject of 
 subjects. There is nothing that so nearly concerns 
 his highest and best interests as this. It is so, 
 because it is what relates to that part of his being 
 which is immortal, and which must be affected, for 
 weal or for woe, as it is regarded or disregarded, 
 not only during his fleeting physical existence, but 
 on his entrance at least, upon the verities of the 
 spiritual world. As is the character he forms 
 under its influence, during his present mode of 
 existence, such must be his character and condition 
 when the soul is ushered into the unseen realities 
 of the world of spirits. This position few well- 
 informed and reflecting minds will question, 
 2 
 
14 universalist's assistant. 
 
 The kind of character we form, and that we may 
 think necessary to secure our highest good, must 
 depend very much upon the theological ideas we 
 cherish. In other words, what we are as men, in 
 our dispositions, feelings, principles and habits — all 
 that goes to make up the character — bears a nearer 
 relation to what we believe, theologically, than many 
 seem to imagine. Indeed, it is very much to be 
 doubted, whether any man's character will be any 
 more refined and exalted than his theological views. 
 The whole history of man, as an intellectual and 
 moral being, goes to establish this position.^ 
 
 Eeligion then, coming and claiming to present 
 truths of such infinite and eternal moment to us, 
 and calculated so deeply to affect our characters, 
 and destiny, as moral and accountable beings, does 
 it not demand, and ought it not to receive our most 
 profound and earnest attention ? Many of its teach- 
 ings relate to the world beyond the darkness and 
 silence of the grave, of which we can know nothing, 
 in the common acceptation of this term, in this 
 mortal state. All we can learn concerning that 
 state is from revelation alone. We may speculate 
 and conjecture about it; but no voice from the 
 home of the dead, comes to tell us what it is, what 
 their mode of existence, or what their employment 
 
 * Universalist Quarterly, Vol. 1, Art. xxiv., p. 256. Bib- 
 lical Repository, Vol. 9, New Series, Art. 1 for April, 1843, 
 p. 253. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 and their condition. All the light that is shed upon 
 its impenetrable darkness, comes from the great 
 facts of our being, and the revelations God has seen 
 fit to make in the volume of inspiration. 
 
 Now both these sources of information need to be 
 interpreted. They address our reason, and with 
 this for a guide, we are to search for the truths they 
 would communicate. And no other means are 
 offered for our protection against error, in reference 
 to this matter, than in relation to all other subjects 
 presented for human belief. Our only protection 
 against error, which involves guilt, is diligence and 
 faithfulness in examination, an unprejudiced and 
 candid spirit in weighing testimony, and sincere 
 and fervent desires to know and receive the truth, 
 whatever it may be. If, with such a spirit, we fall 
 into any error, it will not bring guilt upon our souls, 
 nor will God condemn us for it. But if such is not 
 our course, the spirit and temper of our minds, and 
 our desires, we shall bring guilt upon our own 
 souls, if we fall into error, and subject ourselves to 
 the rebukes of the Most High. And even if we 
 escape all error and attain all truth, it will secure 
 no reward, because it will result from circumstances, 
 not from our own endeavors after it.^ 
 
 * "^hewell's Elements of Morality, Vol. 1, pp. 243, § 336 
 and 327, § 455. Vol. 2, p. 113, eh. xiii. Harpers' Ed., 1845, 
 2 Vols. 16mo. "Undoubtedly the reception of a system, 
 so pure in spirit and tendency as the gospel, is to be regarded 
 
16 universalist's assistant. 
 
 If such be the state of the case, how important it 
 is, that we diligently and earnestly inquire after 
 the truth, and give all that claims to come from 
 God, a candid and fair examination, however widely 
 it may differ with our present views ! We may 
 not innocently sit down and give ourselves up 
 to inaction, as intellectual beings, in reference to 
 religion, under the vain and presumptuous notion, 
 that we have attained all truth, without any admix- 
 ture of error. The idea of our own infallibility or 
 that of our sect, is no less preposterous and absurd, 
 than the claim for the infallibility of the Pope, or 
 any other saint of the Romish calendar. 
 
 What imperfect creatures we are ! How little 
 do we know, much as we may boast of our intelli- 
 gence ! With all the distinguishing powers God 
 has conferred upon us, how little can we see ! 
 How liable we are to be mistaken, even about the 
 most ordinary affairs of life ! How constantly are 
 we committing mistakes and falling into errors, 
 even upon the most plain, simple and obvious mat- 
 ters that fall under our observations ! When we 
 
 in general, as a favorable sign. But let a man adopt this 
 religion, because it will serve his interest and popularity ; 
 let him shut his mind against objections to it, lest they 
 should shake his faith in a gainful system ; let him tamper 
 with his intellect, and for base and selfish ends, exhaust its 
 strength in defence of the prevalent faith, and he is just as 
 criminal in believing, as another would be in rejecting Chris- 
 tianity under the same bad impulses." Channing's Works, 
 Vol. 3, p. 320; Boston, 1841. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 go forth upon the earth, the very grass, earth and 
 stones, which we tread under our feet, are covered 
 with the thick veil of mystery ! Whence came this 
 grass, this earth, and these stones ? How does this 
 grass grow ? Why is one kind of grass produced 
 upon any given spot, rather than another ? Why 
 is it green, rather than red, black or some other 
 color? Why is the ground, in any given place, 
 composed of gravel or sand, rather than argile, 
 alluvium, or some other kinds of earths ? And 
 these stones, of what are they composed ? What has 
 given them their peculiar forms and appearances ? 
 How many can answer such inquiries as these ? 
 And yet the answers to most of them, are clearly 
 within the range of our powers. 
 
 We are endowed with our five senses, to guide 
 us in our connexion with the material world ; and 
 yet, perfect as these are, the utmost wariness and 
 caution, and continual effort is requisite to prevent 
 us from committing mistakes. But with a full 
 knowledge of all this, hardly a day passes but it is 
 the witness of our betrayment into some error, 
 much, perhaps, to our mortification, if not to our 
 injury. With reason and experience to guide us in 
 business, how many errors we commit in our cal- 
 culations and plans ! Nor is the loftiest genius and 
 the largest experience sufficient, to protect men 
 against this liability. 
 
 If we are so much exposed to errors and mis- 
 2* 
 
18 universalist's assistant. 
 
 takes, from the imperfections of our nature, in 
 relation to things of every-day life and of the out- 
 ward and material world, and so limited in our 
 knowledge of those things, subject to the examina- 
 tion of the senses, can we regard ourselves as 
 having attained all truth, and as exempt from all 
 liability to errors and mistakes, in reference to that 
 greatest, grandest, highest, and most sublime of all 
 subjects, religion — that subject which deals with the 
 mysteries of the soul, and the world to come ? And 
 should not this very danger lead us to exercise 
 modesty, humility and fear, in deciding upon the 
 claims of our brother's peculiarities of faith, to con- 
 sideration? Should it not lead us to pause, con- 
 sider and examine, with the utmost fairness and 
 candor, the opinions of others, before we venture to 
 assume we are certainly right, or censure and con- 
 demn them, as in grievous and hurtful error ? 
 This, surely, is one of the most plain and obvious 
 inferences from these facts. 
 
 With these views of the importance of attaining 
 religious truth, to the formation of a right char- 
 acter, and of our liability to error, I cannot but 
 regard it as perilous business, for any one to shut 
 up his mind against all new light upon the sub- 
 ject of religion ; to stifle all inquiry ; to smother 
 every doubt about present views, as profane ; or to 
 treat what is claimed from any respectable source, 
 as truth from heaven, with neglect and contempt, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 before a thorough and candid examination of these 
 claims has been made. In such a course we shall not 
 be held guiltless by our Maker. It was this spirit 
 which led the Jews to reject Jesus. Let us beware 
 of its indulgence, lest we are found fighting against 
 God, and are involved in a like condemnation. 
 
 Is it with these views, and for the purpose of 
 aiding my fellow-Christians in their inquiries after 
 truth, that this work is entered upon. Before enter- 
 ing upon it, a few explanations are necessary, that 
 the author and his readers may have a fair under- 
 standing of each other's meaning and intentions. 
 
 The terms Universalists and Universalism are 
 placed in the title-page, and will frequently occur 
 in this work. Different senses are attached to 
 these words, at the present time, in the religious 
 world, even when applied to the denomination of 
 Christians which bear that name, and used to 
 describe their views. Hence it seems necessary 
 that an explanation of what is intended by these 
 terms, be made. What is Universalism? Who 
 are Universalists? 
 
 I reply, Universalism is a doctrine, not a system 
 of doctrines. I say it is not a system of doctrines, 
 because many of those who are known by this 
 name, hardly hold any two doctrines in common, 
 except such as are held in common by all who 
 claim to be Christians. They agree in but one 
 doctrine as distinctive and peculiar to themselves, 
 
20 universalist's assistant. 
 
 and upon which the name is founded. Let a system 
 of doctrines be adopted, and the attempt be made to 
 enforce it as Universalism, and those who now live 
 together in harmony and good fellowship, would be 
 alienated from each other, and the denomination 
 torn into fragments. What, then, is this peculiar, 
 distinctive and characteristic doctrine ? 
 
 I answer negatively, that it is not the belief, that 
 all the consequences of human conduct are confined 
 to the present mode of being, as is sometimes 
 represented. Such a restriction of the meaning of 
 the term, would convey the idea to the world, that 
 the distinguishing faith of the denomination of 
 Universalists, is the belief of a mere negation — that 
 all the consequences of men's habits of thought, 
 feeling and action, are confined to the state this 
 side of the grave. But this is not, neither was it 
 ever a fact. There never has been a time since the 
 denomination had an existence, when more or less 
 of the members, both clergy and laity, were not 
 believers in the doctrine of future punishment, or 
 that present conduct would affect the future condi- 
 tion of man. How false, then, is such a definition ! 
 
 But such a representation is not only false in 
 fact, but wickedly unjust. If thus restricted in its 
 meaning, the term Universalism is despoiled of its 
 distinctive character. It is no longer a proper 
 name, pointing out a particular class of religionists, 
 but becomes a common name, descriptive of a genus 
 
INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 under which are several species. Admit such a 
 definition, and the Deist and Atheist, who deny the 
 truth of revelation, that man exists at all after the 
 dissolution of the body, contemn public worship, 
 and scoff at and ridicule all the great truths of 
 religion, are as much Universalists, as those are, 
 who believe in the existence of God, the truth of 
 divine revelation, and human accountability; in 
 Jesus Christ, and own him as their Master and 
 Saviour; in the importance of social and public 
 worship to man's progress in piety and virtue ; and 
 in the doctrine of human immortality, and that 
 every human soul shall at last arrive at purity and 
 bliss, and endeavor to live devoted and godly lives ! 
 And why ? Simply because all alike believe, all 
 the consequences of human action are confined to 
 the present mode of existence, while there is as 
 wide a difference in their positions, as there is 
 between light and darkness — the one believing, that 
 this is the case, because man will not exist after 
 his mortal dissolution, and the other, because all 
 men will be cleansed from all moral defilement. 
 How unjust and false, then, is a definition which 
 involves such consequences ! 
 
 I remark then, affirmatively, that Universalism, 
 instead of being a mere negation, is a positive 
 affirmation. It is the simple doctrine of the final 
 salvation of every human soul. It is not the mere 
 denial of the doctrine of endless punishment, but 
 
22 universalist's assistant. 
 
 the positive affirmation, that all men will ultimately 
 attain to holiness, and consequently to happiness. 
 And those who embrace this doctrine, however 
 widely they may differ in regard to other points of 
 belief, are Universalists, theoretically. 
 
 Should I go more into detail, in denning what is 
 meant by the term Universalism, by those who pro- 
 fess it, I would say, that they mean by it, not that 
 the whole human family shall be delivered, so much 
 from outward and material flames ; not from the 
 unimaginable terrors of a world of woe ; not from 
 everlasting perdition ; but from what is more to be 
 dreaded — from sin itself ; from the evil of their own 
 minds, which is the cause of what men do and are 
 to suffer, as moral beings. They mean by it deliv- 
 erance from the control of wrong principles and hab- 
 its ; a purifying of all souls from all that is base and 
 vile, in thought, affection and principle ; a removal 
 of all the guilt and contaminations of sin ; a pluck- 
 ing of all souls from that hell of darkness and guilt, 
 into which the soul of every wicked man is plunged ; 
 that by being thus renovated, they are exalted to 
 heaven. This is the fact in reference to both classes 
 of Universalists. All the difference there is between 
 them, in regard to this matter, is as to the manner 
 of attaining this end. Those who believe the con- 
 sequences of human action extend beyond the pres- 
 ent state, suppose salvation to be attained in all 
 cases, through each individual's own agency — the 
 
INTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 voluntary exercise of his own powers, under God's 
 blessing ; and in so far as it relates to the present 
 life, those who believe all the consequences of men's 
 conduct are confined to this mortal existence, fully 
 concur in this view. But they do not suppose this 
 principle applies to another state. They think, that 
 at death, or between death and the resurrection, all 
 the corruptions of every human soul will be purged 
 out, by some mysterious agency, wholly indepen- 
 dent of the individual's volitions and the exercise of 
 his own powers.^ 
 
 Such is Universalism as it is understood by its 
 friends ; and although there seems to be a wide differ- 
 ence, so far as practical tendencies and influences 
 are concerned, between the views of the two classes, 
 as to the manner of attaining this great end, they 
 agree in maintaining, that holiness is indispensably 
 necessary to happiness, in all worlds ; and it is on this 
 ground, they are united together as one division 
 of the church. They differ only in regard to the 
 method by which this state of soul is attained, in the 
 
 # This view is only the popular view universally applied. 
 That is, it is the popular view relative to those termed the 
 regenerate, extended to all men, and I cannot see, if the 
 regenerate are to have their fern remaining corruptions at 
 death, purged out by some means, independent of their own 
 volitions, or the exercise of their own powers, why the more 
 numerous sins of the unregenerate, may not be removed in the 
 same way and upon the same principle. The one is cer- 
 tainly as rational, and philosophical, and, indeed, scriptural 
 as the other. 
 
24 universalist's assistant. 
 
 world of spirits, which manifestly involves impor- 
 tant consequences, in its bearings upon the present 
 conduct of men, for if the condition of the human 
 soul, upon its entrance into a future state, is not 
 to be at all affected by the character formed in the 
 present state, the motive to effort, in cultivating a 
 character in conformity with God's law, is mani- 
 festly much weaker, than under the view, that all 
 holiness is to be attained, in all worlds, by the exer- 
 cise of our own volitions and powers — that it is the 
 result of action, not a thing mechanically to be con- 
 ferred upon the human soul, by some outward or 
 foreign agency. 
 
 From what has been said, it appears, then, that 
 Universalism is the single doctrine of universal sal- 
 vation, flowing out of universal holiness, without 
 reference to the manner or method by which holi- 
 ness is attained. In other words, it is the restora- 
 tion of the whole human race to goodness and vir- 
 tue, and, as a consequence, to happiness. 
 
 Against this doctrine, many objections have been 
 urged, from various sources, and it is the design of 
 this work to meet and answer these objections, for 
 the purpose of removing the difficulties they present 
 to many minds, in the way of embracing Univer- 
 salism. This topic is selected, because no work 
 exists at present, which covers thi3 ground, directly 
 and specifically, that can be put into the hands of 
 an inquirer, and the want of something of the kind 
 
INTRODUCTION. 25 
 
 is often felt. For direct proof of the doctrine, the 
 reader is referred mainly, to works already in exist- 
 ence in abundance. 
 
 In the discussion of the several topics that will 
 claim the attention, it will be the object to give it as 
 much of an affirmative character, as is consistent 
 with a negative position. In meeting the several 
 objections that will pass under review, it will be the 
 effort to throw as much light upon the general sub- 
 ject, as the extent of the work will admit. 
 
 The point of doctrine involved in this discussion, 
 I regard one of transcendant interest and importance, 
 aside from the consideration of its being a religious 
 matter. When we look out upon the world, and 
 see the scene of darkness, confusion and misery 
 that is presented to the mind's eye — the strife and 
 contention, sorrow and despair, degradation and 
 want, sin and misery ; the human race debased and 
 enslaved by unholy desires, by vice and crime, by 
 wars and fightings, by domestic and civil commo- 
 tions, and all the turmoil and wretchedness there is 
 in the world, Universalism, like an angel of light 
 direct from heaven, comes and tells us, that all this 
 distressing scene shall give place to one of glory 
 and peace ! It tells us, that God has so arranged 
 things, that a time shall come in his infinitely wise 
 and beneficent counsels, when a scene of order and 
 harmony shall succeed to this of confusion and strife, 
 and man become the universal friend of man. It tells 
 3 
 
26 universalist's assistant. 
 
 us a time will come, under the divine government, 
 when every degraded, enslaved and suffering one 
 shall be relieved, elevated and brought into the glo- 
 rious liberty of the sons of God ; when sin and 
 crime shall cease, all evil passions be hushed to rest, 
 and order, harmony and love shall not only prevail 
 throughout the vast domain of the Creator, but in 
 every human soul ; and that all this shall be brought 
 about through the mediation of Jesus Christ, acting 
 upon human volitions. 
 
 When we look about us, and see how wide are 
 the ravages of death — one after another of our neigh- 
 bors and friends cut down on our right hand and on 
 our left — leaving mourning husbands, widows, pa- 
 rents, children, brothers, sisters and friends, whose 
 tears would make a mighty river, Universalism 
 gently whispers in our ears, " Weep not;" for hus- 
 bands and wives, parents and children, brothers and 
 sisters, neighbors and friends shall all meet again, 
 where sickness and death, sorrow and crying shall 
 be unknown. It tells man, that a time will surely 
 come, when there will be no bereaved husbands, no 
 widows, no childless mothers, no broken circles of 
 domestic love or social affection ; but all husbands 
 shall meet their lost wives, and all wives their lost 
 husbands ; all parents their children, and all chil- 
 dren their parents ; all brothers and sisters, neigh- 
 bors and friends, each other, no more to be separated 
 forever ! It tells him every wound shall be healed, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 27 
 
 every lost one found, and not one of earth's unnum- 
 bered millions shall be missing from the sun-light of 
 God's countenance ! 
 
 Is not this a bright and glorious prospect for our 
 race ? Who that has the heart of a man, must not 
 contemplate such a consummation as the result of 
 Christ's mission, with delight ? What can be more 
 grateful, than such a view, to a pure, benevolent and 
 Christian mind and heart? Pause and meditate 
 upon it a moment, A fallen world elevated to God ! 
 A family of prodigals returned in penitence and 
 tears, to a father's house ! A race of rebels brought 
 back to their allegiance to the Infinite One ! The 
 universe attuned in every pulsation, in harmony 
 with its Creator, its soul ! What more grand and 
 magnificent spectacle could be presented to the 
 human mind ! It is all the largest and most philan- 
 thropic heart can desire, and the most comprehen- 
 sive and generous mind imagine. 
 
 Let not the reader say, as many have said before, 
 " It is too good to be true ! " Nothing is or can be 
 too good for the Infinite Father to do. But let this 
 very excellence of the view, commend the subject 
 to your most devout and serious attention, and make 
 you feel that it is preeminently entitled to a candid 
 and fair investigation. This is all its believers ask 
 for it ; and if others cannot see as they do in refer- 
 ence to it, they can only lament their misfortune. 
 
 Besides this, there are circumstances in which 
 
28 
 
 men are often placed, when nothing but Universal- 
 ism can meet the wants of the most pure, devout 
 and pious minds and hearts. When called to 
 part with children or friends upon whom our fond- 
 est affections are placed, by death, who have gone 
 away without that preparation we may deem ne- 
 cessary for a world of bliss, upon entrance into the 
 spirit-land, what can meet our wants, in the sad hour 
 of separation, but a hope that there is yet room for 
 them to return ; that the door of mercy is still open, 
 and a Father's arms still extended to receive them, 
 when they will turn toward him in penitence and 
 faith ? This is what the heart desires above all 
 things, in this extremity ; and the more pure and 
 Christ-like it is, the more earnest these desires. 
 But these desires cannot be answered, nor these 
 wants met, except by Universalism. Is not this 
 doctrine, then, worthy of the most profound attention 
 of every human soul ? It surely is so ; for all are 
 liable to be placed in these circumstances, and if we 
 do not possess such a faith, we shall be left com- 
 fortless. 
 
 It will not do for us to try to comfort ourselves, 
 in that hour, with saying, " God is just, and will do 
 right with my child or my friends. " If such are our 
 views of his character and his government, that we 
 think he can consistently doom any soul to endless 
 perdition, it will be a hopeless task to attempt to make 
 our hearts feel, that such a fate is just, much less 
 
INTRODUCTION. 29 
 
 I 
 
 merciful for our children or friends. It can afford 
 no comfort. 
 
 May I not expect, then, a candid and serious 
 examination of what is herein said, in defence of 
 Universalism, by every one into whose hands this 
 volume may fall ? This I demand of you as an 
 accountable being, who must answer to God for 
 your doings ; a regard for your own comfort, and 
 your highest and best good, as a moral agent and a 
 spiritual existence. 
 
 3* 
 
30 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 SECTION I. THE SAFE SIDE. 
 
 " On the ground of prudence, I am constrained to reject 
 that system. It is a maxim, the correctness of which you 
 will readily admit, that in every question of duty and hap- 
 piness, where one side is 'doubtful and the other safe, it is 
 the part of wisdom to take the safe side. Act according to 
 this maxim, and you cannot be a Universalist." # 
 
 This objection has undoubtedly produced a tre- 
 mendous effect upon a certain class of minds. It has 
 unquestionably deterred many an honest and simple- 
 hearted person, from all attempts at free religious 
 inquiry. They are afraid if they venture to inquire, 
 they may be led to adopt views other than they 
 now hold, and these may prove false, and in con- 
 sequence they may be eternally damned ; forgetting 
 entirely that they may now be in error, and exposed 
 in the same way. 
 
 In reply to this objection, I remark, in general 
 terms, that plausible as it may seem at first view, 
 this objection is a most miserable and shallow 
 sophism, as will be shown by several considerations. 
 
 1. This objection is founded upon the idea, that 
 
 * American Tract Society's Tracts, No. 224, p. 1. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 31 
 
 the simple belief of a truth, is an infallible surety 
 of salvation, without any reference to other circum- 
 stances. But this is a position to which no Protes- 
 tant will adhere. Even the most strenuous believer 
 in the doctrine of endless punishment will admit, 
 that an individual may most cordially and heartily 
 receive that doctrine as the truth, and yet be 
 eternally lost. Wherein, then, is the safety of 
 believing this, more than its opposite ? 
 
 2. I remark, that belief is not the subject of 
 volition, or any prudential considerations, except in 
 an indirect way. It is the result of evidence sup- 
 posed or real. The only way in which belief can 
 be effected by our volitions, is in reference to evi- 
 dence and its consideration. Men may shut their 
 eyes against the light, and so rush on in darkness ; 
 or cultivate an uncandid spirit, and thus be blinded 
 to the force of evidence, and in this way they may 
 be governed, in their belief or unbelief, by their 
 volitions, to a very great extent. But when a man 
 has his eyes open and is possessed of a candid and 
 serious spirit, his belief is controlled by the evidence 
 presented to his mind He must believe according 
 to the evidence he sees. Hence it will be seen, 
 that the supposed safety in this case, lies not in the 
 belief but in the avowal of one's convictions ; for it 
 is the avowal only of a candid man's honest convic- 
 tions, that is entirely subject to his volitions, or any 
 prudential considerations whatever. So that the 
 
32 universalist's assistant. 
 
 amount of the matter is this ; that it is safer to 'pro- 
 fess a belief in the doctrine of eternal punishment, 
 while we really believe it is false, than honestly 
 profess a belief of the doctrine of universal salva- 
 tion ! In other words, this objection is, in effect, 
 maintaining that it is safer, under God's government, 
 to be a hypocrite, than an honest man ! 
 
 3. This objection involves consequences in an- 
 other direction, which the objector himself will not 
 admit. It is admitted on all hands, among Protes- 
 tants, that a man may be saved if he is truly pious, 
 whatever may be his religious belief. " But," says 
 the Papist, " the whole Catholic Church, amounting 
 to the larger part of the civilized world, hath ever 
 held, and now holds, that no man who dies out of 
 her communion, however deep and fervent his piety, 
 can possibly be saved. Now admitting that the 
 Catholic church may be wrong, no man has any- 
 thing to fear from entering her ample bosom, and 
 living piously there ; for Papist though he be, he 
 will be saved ; but if she is right, the man who 
 rejects her, loses everything beyond remedy. Hell 
 is his everlasting portion." Does not prudence, 
 then, demand that we should all become Papists, 
 if the objection under consideration has any force ? 
 
 From what has already been said, it will be seen 
 that the reason of the thing shows, that it is just as 
 safe to believe Universalism, as endless misery. I 
 shall now show that it is so, from the Scripture 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 33 
 
 representations of the matter. The argument from 
 this source will be what logicians call the argumen- 
 tum ad hominem, that is, an argument drawn from 
 the admitted premises of an opponent. What I 
 mean is, that I shall admit, for the sake of the 
 argument, the objector's interpretations of the texts 
 I shall quote, so far as their application is concerned, 
 and then show, from these very texts, that the 
 believer in endless misery is no more safe, if his 
 own doctrine is true, than he who believes Univer- 
 salism, so far as their eternal states are concerned. 
 
 Those who believe the doctrine of endless misery, 
 generally maintain, that there is to be a day of 
 general judgment, when every man is to be tried, 
 and acquitted or condemned, according to a certain 
 rule, and that this decision fixes the condition of the 
 soul for eternity. This belief is founded upon that 
 class of texts, which speak of Christ's coming to 
 judge the world, in the last day. Admit there is 
 to be such a judgment, and that by its decisions 
 man's destiny is fixed for eternity, and the question 
 arises, — What is the ground upon which the deci- 
 sion is made ? In other words, — For what is one 
 class to be acquitted ; and, For what are the others 
 to be condemned ? 
 
 To satisfy our minds upon this point, it is only 
 necessary' for us to examine the descriptions of 
 what is supposed to be the great day of final 
 account — the general and final judgment, found in 
 
34 universalist's assistant. 
 
 the Scriptures. How do they represent the matter ? 
 I will take the following passage as a distinguished 
 example. 
 
 " When the Son of man shall come in his glory, 
 and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit 
 upon the throne of his glory ; and before him shall 
 be gathered all nations ; and he shall separate them 
 one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep 
 from the goats ; and he shall set the sheep on the 
 right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall 
 the king say unto them on his right hand, come ye 
 blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared 
 for you from the foundation of the world. For I 
 was an hungered, and ye gave me meat ; I was 
 thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I was a stranger, 
 and ye took me in ; naked, and ye clothed me ; I 
 was sick, and ye visited me ; I was in prison, and 
 ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous 
 answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an 
 hungered, and fed thee ! or thirsty, and gave thee 
 drink ! When saw we thee a stranger, and took 
 thee in ! or naked, and clothed thee ! Or when 
 saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee ! 
 And the king shall answer and say unto them, 
 Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done 
 it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye 
 have done it unto me." * 
 
 From this it will be perceived, that these persons 
 
 * Matt. 25 : 31—40. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 35 
 
 were not approved, or pronounced righteous, merely 
 because they believed one doctrine or another. 
 Their belief is not named or called in question in 
 any way. The king does not say, come unto me, 
 ye blessed of my Father, because ye have believed 
 the system of doctrines denominated evangelical or 
 un evangelical. Nor did he pronounce them his 
 friends and blessed, because they belonged to the 
 Catholic, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Congregation- 
 alism Baptist, Methodist, Unitarian, Universalist or 
 any other church whatever. The entire proceeding 
 in this case, was predicated upon what the individ- 
 uals really were as men, in their doings. They 
 were commended and received into favor, on ac- 
 count of their acts of practical goodness — their acts 
 of kindness and benevolence toward the suffering 
 of their race, which was regarded and treated as if 
 done to the Judge himself. 
 
 I ask, then, is not the individual who sustains the 
 character represented in this description of the judg- 
 ment, perfectly safe, whatever may be his specula- 
 tive belief even if this decision fixes his final and 
 everlasting condition ? Is not the Universalist who 
 sustains the character therein described, just as 
 safe as the believer in endless misery ? It is even 
 so ; for it is their works, their actual doings, the 
 character they form, not their belief which secures 
 the approbation of the Judge. Why, then, is it not 
 just as safe for pious and good men to embrace 
 
36 universalist's assistant. 
 
 Universalism, as any other ism, so far as their eter- 
 nal interests are concerned ? I cannot see. 
 
 Let us now see why those on the other hand 
 were condemned. " Then shall he also say unto 
 them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, 
 into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his 
 angels ; for I was an hungered, and ye gave me no 
 meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink ; I 
 was a stranger, and ye took me not in ; naked, and 
 ye clothed me not ; sick and in prison, and ye vis- 
 ited me not. Then shall they also answer him, 
 saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or 
 athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, 
 and did not minister unto thee ? Then shall he 
 answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, in- 
 asmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of 
 these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go 
 away into everlasting punishment ; but the righte- 
 ous into life eternal."^ 
 
 Hence it will be seen, that these persons were 
 condemned upon precisely the same principle, that 
 the others were approved. They were not con- 
 demned on account of their belief- — not because their 
 belief was wrong — not because they believed too 
 much or too little; but for their deeds; for neglect- 
 ing or refusing to perform the common duties of 
 life — the duties of kindness, benevolence and char- 
 ity. The misfortunes, calamities and sufferings of 
 
 * Matt 25: 41—46. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 37 
 
 their kind, had not excited their commiseration, or 
 moved them to acts calculated to afford relief to the 
 suffering. In a word, they were condemned, be- 
 cause they had been selfish, unfeeling, unpitying. 
 
 There are one or two things in this description of 
 the judgment, to which I wish to call the especial 
 attention of the reader, although a digression from 
 my main design. Their importance must be my 
 apology. 
 
 It will be observed, that one class is approved and 
 blessed because they had done certain deeds, and 
 the other condemned because they had not done 
 them. Now these deeds are mentioned, merely to 
 present to our minds, in a stronger light, the char- 
 acters of these two classes of men. It was not so 
 much for the deeds done by one class, that they 
 were approved and blessed, and the deeds neglected 
 to be done by the other, that they were condemned, 
 as for the characters they sustained, of which the 
 deeds done or neglected are the representatives. On 
 no other supposition can we explain the circum- 
 stance, that those who were condemned, are charged 
 with no positive crimes, no malicious or positively 
 wicked feelings, but simply with a neglect of duty, 
 without any reference to the motives or feelings 
 which dictated them. 
 
 When a judgment is to be passed upon men's 
 actions merely, the motives, feelings and principles 
 which actuated the individual, are always to be taken 
 4 
 
38 universalist's assistant. 
 
 into the account ; but when a man's character is the 
 subject of inquiry, not only his positive doings, but 
 his neglects, are good evidence in the case, espe- 
 cially his habitual neglects. Indeed, these are more 
 sure and positive testimony as to what an individu- 
 al's character is, than any individual acts of positive 
 wrong would be ; for individual deeds of positive 
 wickedness, might be the effect of powerful tempta- 
 tion, or strongly excited passion, while there is no 
 settled depravity of heart ; but habitual neglect of 
 the common duties of life, such as are named in the 
 Scripture just quoted, is the cool, deliberate and 
 unprovoked work of an all-devouring selfishness, 
 which cares not what becomes of the rest of the 
 world, or how much it may suffer, if so be, that it 
 is not disturbed in its enjoyments. Such neglects 
 give the stamp of certainty to a man's character, as 
 no acts of positive wrong could do ; for in such acts 
 evidence is afforded, as to the feelings and princi- 
 ples at the time of their perpetration only ; but such 
 neglect fixes the seal of reprobation upon the indi- 
 vidual, not merely for the moment, but upon his 
 character. It demonstrates what he is uniformly 
 and unvaryingly, as a man. 
 
 Another thing that we should observe, in this 
 account, is the kind of character so distinctly brought 
 out, as the ground of man's acceptance or rejection 
 with God. It is what is and ever has been too 
 lightly esteemed by the most of Christians ; so little 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 39 
 
 has it been valued, that some have even sneered at it, 
 as mere human goodness, or natural amiability of 
 character. It is that simple and unostentatious 
 goodness of heart, which prompts men to spontane- 
 ous acts of kindness and charity ; to seek to pro- 
 mote the good and happiness and relieve the dis- 
 tresses of those around them, without once thinking 
 there is any peculiar merit therein. Hence, when 
 those who were approved and blessed, were told why, 
 they were surprised. They did not know, that 
 they had done any such deeds. So with those who 
 were condemned; they were equally ignorant of 
 their neglect. Thus the truth is illustrated, that it 
 is those acts about which men think the least, that 
 are the truest index of the character, and which con- 
 tribute the most to its formation. So also the fact 
 is exhibited in a striking light, that what is done or 
 neglected to be done to our fellow-men, is regarded 
 and treated by the Almighty, as if done to himself. 
 The same general character pervades and distin- 
 guishes all the descriptions of the judgment, con- 
 tained in the Scriptures. It nowhere proceeds on 
 the ground of a man's belief; but always on his 
 conduct, considered as the representative of his 
 character. The inquiry is not, whether he is 
 orthodox or heterodox ; but whether he is good. It 
 is not asked how many have been his prayers and 
 religious performances ; ^ but whether he is pos- 
 
 * I would not be understood by this to imply, that prayers 
 
40 universalist's assistant. 
 
 sessed of those pure principles, and that sympathy 
 with his kind which lead him to spontaneous acts of 
 kindness and benevolence. 
 
 As a further confirmation of this position, the fol- 
 lowing texts are adduced. " For the Son of man 
 shall come in the glory of his Father, with his 
 angels; and then shall he reward every man accord- 
 ing to his works"* " Behold I come quickly; and 
 my reward is with me, to give to every man accord- 
 ing as his work shall be Blessed 
 
 are they that do his commandments, that they may 
 have a right to the tree of life, and may enter in 
 through the gates into the city."t "Marvel not 
 at this ; for the hour is coming in the which all 
 that are in their graves, shall hear his voice, and 
 shall come forth ; they that have done good, unto 
 the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, 
 unto the resurrection of damnation." % 
 
 The parable of the rich man and Lazarus,^ may 
 serve as a further illustration of my position. The 
 rich man was not sent to hell to lift up his eyes in 
 torment for his heresy, nor was Lazarus placed in 
 Abraham's bosom on account of his orthodoxy. 
 
 and religious observances are of no consequence, or that 
 they may be neglected without peril. All I mean to say is, 
 that they are of no value as ends. But as means, I regard 
 them as of great importance. As such, they are indispensa- 
 ble to the attainment of the highest Christian excellence. 
 
 * Matt. 16 : 27. t Rev. 22 : 12, 14. 
 
 % John 5 : 28, 29. § Luke 16 : 19—31. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 41 
 
 The only thing brought against the rich man, was 
 his want of a proper degree of attention to the 
 wants and necessities of the poor and suffering at 
 his gate. He was so entirely absorbed in securing 
 his own selfish gratification, that he had no thoughts 
 or attention to bestow upon the poor and suffering 
 around him. His very dogs were more humane, 
 and manifested a kindlier interest in the sufferings 
 of his race, than their master. 
 
 From what has been said, it is manifest, that 
 admitting these texts refer to a final judgment, and 
 the eternal condition of men in tKe world to come, 
 their respective states and conditions do not depend 
 upon what they have honestly believed or disbe- 
 lieved; but entirely upon what they are — upon 
 what they have done as an exponent of what is 
 their characters. In order, then, to be safe, or on 
 the safe side, what must we do ? Must we believe 
 certain doctrines, subscribe to certain creeds, or join 
 certain churches ? Not at all. In this judgment, 
 sects and parties are unknown, as well as creeds 
 and dogmas of belief. Doctrinal belief is never 
 called in question. The only inquiry in regard to 
 every individual is — " What have you done ? How 
 have you lived ? Have you been ready to minister 
 to the wants and necessities of the needy and suffer- 
 ing, as your circumstances would permit ? In other 
 words, have you an amiable and kind heart, a pure, 
 
 benevolent and good character V' 
 
 4# 
 
42 universalist's assistant. 
 
 What, then, is the conclusion of the whole matter ? 
 Plainly, that a Universalist with these qualifications, 
 is precisely as safe as a believer in endless misery, 
 admitting that doctrine true, and the latter without 
 those characteristics, is as unsafe as the Universal- 
 ist. There is no difference. Where, then, is the 
 safe side or the two chances of the believer in the 
 doctrine of endless punishment ? and where the 
 danger of believing in Universalism, if these things 
 are true ? The truth is, be the views of Universal- 
 ists true or false, they are just as safe as those who 
 reject these views, so far as their final and eternal 
 state and condition is concerned, if they have as 
 good hearts and as pure and unblemished characters, 
 of which their habitual doings and neglects must be 
 the witnesses. The one has not the slightest advan- 
 tage over the other, in this respect. 
 
 It is a common remark of the candid among 
 those who do not believe Universalism, that a man 
 who really believes this doctrine, must be one of the 
 happiest men in the world. Now if this witness is 
 true, and the Universalist who is an honest and 
 true man — a man who fears God and works right- 
 eousness, is as safe, so far as his final state is con- 
 cerned, as those who reject his views, admitting 
 the doctrine of endless misery true, has he not a 
 decided advantage over the believers in the latter 
 doctrine, so far, at least, as his present happiness is 
 concerned? Instead, therefore, of common pru- 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 43 
 
 dence requiring men to reject Universalism at once, 
 does it not demand, that so far as relates to their 
 present happiness, they should eschew the opposite ? 
 Does it not demand, that men should endeavor to 
 convince their minds, that Universalism is true, let 
 the fact be as it may, rather than fear to receive it, 
 or reject it without examination ? It surely is so. 
 
 SECTION II. THE SAFEST SIDE. 
 
 In the last section, it was my object to show, that 
 even admitting the doctrine of endless suffering 
 true, the Universalist is just as safe, other things 
 being equal, as the believer of that doctrine. 
 
 Let it not be inferred, from this, that belief is to 
 be regarded as a matter of small importance. It is 
 of the very highest importance ; for it is the founda- 
 tion of all correct moral action ; it is what distin- 
 guishes the Christian from the Infidel ; and it exerts 
 a great and abiding influence upon men's feelings, 
 dispositions, principles and conduct. The influence 
 it exerts upon any individual's character, must 
 depend upon the prominence it holds in his mind. 
 If it absorbs all the powers and faculties of his 
 soul, it will become a ruling principle within him, 
 and his character will become an exact embody- 
 ment of his inward faith. But however loosely a 
 
44 tjniversalist's assistant. 
 
 man may hold his belief, it will exert some influ- 
 ence in the formation of his character, either for 
 good or for evil. I know, indeed, that few men 
 who adopt a good faith, ever become so good as 
 their faith is ; and equally true is it, that few men 
 professing a bad faith, become as bad as their creed is. 
 The good influences of society, and the redeeming 
 qualities of human nature, hold them back, so that 
 they are afraid or ashamed to do as bad as is the 
 promptings of their unhallowed faith. But in spite 
 of all internal and external influences, belief will do 
 much in giving a determination to human character 
 — vastly more than most persons imagine. A good 
 faith contributes to the formation of a good char- 
 acter ; and a bad faith will tend to form a bad char- 
 acter, however its influence may be modified by 
 public sentiment, and the individual's sense of pro- 
 priety. Hence that belief must be the safest, which 
 has the strongest and most powerful tendency to 
 secure the formation of such a character, as the 
 gospel demands ; and it is my purpose to show that 
 Universalism is that belief. 
 
 The Saviour has reduced the whole of human 
 duty to two requirements, which are the original 
 elements of all correct moral action. " Thou shalt 
 love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with 
 all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the 
 first and great commandment. And the second is 
 like unto it ; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 45 
 
 self. On these two commandments hang all the 
 law and the prophets."^ 
 
 These are the principles from which must flow 
 those good works, that secure the approbation of 
 Heaven. And the man who is governed in all his 
 ways by these principles, is perfectly safe, for time, 
 and for eternity, be the doctrine of eternal punish- 
 ment true or false. It can make no difference. 
 Nor can it make any difference whether he believes 
 or disbelieves it, if he really sustains such a char- 
 acter. The only difference it can make with any 
 person, is its favorable or unfavorable tendencies 
 upon the character. Which of the two doctrines 
 under consideration, has the greatest tendency to 
 form the character required by the gospel ? 
 
 In reply, I remark, that it is a law founded in the 
 nature and constitution of things, that like shall 
 produce like. It is a law that obtains in the moral 
 as well as in the physical world. Love will beget 
 love, and hatred will beget hatred. Hence the pos- 
 session of such affections and principles as are 
 demanded by the Saviour, must greatly depend upon 
 the views that are entertained of the Divine charac- 
 ter, as unfolded in the plans and purposes of God, 
 and the nature of man. Hence it is necessary that 
 we discover something lovely in an object or an 
 individual, that our affections may be secured. 
 That we may love God, we must see something in 
 
 * Matt. 22: 37—39. 
 
46 universalist's assistant. 
 
 his character, as manifested in his plans, purpo- 
 ses and works, which renders him lovely. So 
 in regard to man. We must be able to discover 
 something in him, as the workmanship of God, 
 that can claim our attachment, or we cannot love 
 our neighbor. Consequently the doctrine that pre- 
 sents the most that is lovely in the Divine character, 
 and the most attractive views of human nature, 
 must be the safest doctrine to be received by men, 
 even admitting eternal consequences are attached 
 to our doings. Which of the two doctrines under 
 consideration does this ? 
 
 Before we can return an answer to this question, 
 it is necessary for us to take a view of the character 
 which each ascribes to the Deity. I will take the 
 doctrine of eternal punishment first, and will pre- 
 sent the matter in the language of a believer of this 
 terrible doctrine. " The God that holds you over 
 the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or som e 
 loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is 
 dreadfully provoked ; his wrath towards you, burns 
 like fire ; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing 
 else, but to be cast into the fire ; he is of purer eyes 
 than to bear to have you in his sight ; you are 
 ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, 
 than the most hateful and venomous serpent is in 
 
 ours." ^ 
 
 If he eternally hates you, he will act in his 
 * Edwards' Works, Vol. 7 3 p. 496. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 47 
 
 dealings with you, as one that hates you with mere 
 hatred, without any love or pity. The proper 
 tendency and aim of hatred is, the misery of the 
 object hated ; misery and nothing else. So that 
 you may expect God will make you miserable, and 
 that you will not be spared ; for sparing is not the 
 effect of hatred, but of pity and mercy, which is 
 quite a different thing from enmity." ^ 
 
 Such is the representation of the Divine character 
 by the doctrine of endless misery, and is there any- 
 thing in it that is lovely? Is it a representation 
 calculated to excite our admiration, or call forth our 
 affections ? Surely not. But on the other hand, it 
 is revolting to the very last degree, in the view of 
 every pure and good mind and heart. Men may 
 fear to express it, or even confess the truth to their 
 own minds ; but they can have no other feelings 
 than those of dislike and abhorrence of such a 
 character. Such views cannot excite reverence, 
 gratitude and love in any soul, however it may 
 paralyze it with terror. All the dark and appalling 
 views of God's character, presented by this terrible 
 doctrine, can do, is to petrify with terror, and fill 
 men's minds with amazement, and their hearts 
 with dread, to subdue the soul, fasten upon it the 
 chains of slavery, and extort from the individual, a 
 pretence, a profession of love, to escape impending 
 vengeance, but it will be all pretence. The feeling 
 
 * Edwards' Works, Vol. 7, p. 201. 
 
48 UNIVERSALISt's ASSISTANT. 
 
 cannot be there. As well might they be called 
 upon to love the hateful hyena, whose hideous jaws 
 are besmeared with a brother's blood ? 
 
 Beside this, if like begets like, what effect must 
 the contemplation of such a character have upon 
 the individual that worships it ? Must it not tend 
 to form the same character in him ? Will it not 
 lead to the cultivation of the same temper and dis- 
 positions as are exhibited in his ideal of perfection, 
 which is always embodied in the object of worship ? 
 The history of the world shows that it is so.^ Let 
 any man copy, in the temper of his mind and the 
 feelings of his heart, the character ascribed to God, 
 by the doctrine of endless misery, in the above 
 extracts, and carry them out in his dealings and 
 intercourse with mankind, so far as his capabilities 
 and circumstances will permit, and would it be safe 
 either for the individual or the community ? 
 
 The religious world once undertook to copy the 
 example of the Almighty, as he is represented by 
 this doctrine, and it gave birth to the Inquisition, 
 that most infernal of all the engines of mischief 
 ever invented by man. And in so far as men have 
 ever attempted to carry the principles and spirit of 
 this doctrine into their intercourse with each other 
 and the government of society, they have brought 
 misery, degradation and ruin upon the world, and 
 drenched the earth in blood. Is the belief of such 
 
 * Universalist Quarterly, Vol. 1., p. 256. Art. 24. 
 
MICELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 49 
 
 a doctrine safe ? It cannot be ; for if the evil, cruel 
 and diabolical things that have grown out of its 
 belief, and the attempts of men to carry its princi- 
 ples into practice in human society, are subject to 
 the same reprobation as other evil deeds, and the 
 doctrine itself proves true, no men are more cer- 
 tainly sealed victims of eternal torments, than vast 
 multitudes of its most sincere believers and staunch 
 defenders, and that, too, on account of endeavoring to 
 practise in conformity with their faith ! What can 
 be more unsafe, than the belief of such a doctrine \ 
 Surely nothing ; for it not only interposes an insu- 
 perable barrier against complying with the first great 
 command, but leads men to form characters, which 
 must secure their condemnation ! 
 
 Equally unfortunate are the tendencies of this 
 doctrine, in relation to the second great command- 
 ment. It presents the most dark and repulsive 
 views of human nature. It describes men as " ut- 
 terly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all 
 g-ood, and Avholly inclined to all evil,"^ so that 
 ait hough they " may have spoken the language of 
 kinJness to their friends, given useful instruction to 
 their children, salutary advice to their neighbors ; ' ? 
 although they " may have fed the hungry, clothed 
 the naked, and attended, with decency, the public 
 
 # Cambridge and Saybrook Platform, Confession of Faith r 
 ch. 6, § 4. 
 
50 universalist's assistant. 
 
 worship of God, these same actions are all sinful ;" 
 so that " every thought, every train of reasoning, 
 every conclusion, every imagination of the heart, 
 and every purpose of the understanding, has been 
 evil, and only evil, and that continually."^ This 
 while they are unre generate. 
 
 Let any man entertain such views of his race, 
 and what must be the effect upon his mind and 
 feelings ? Must it not be to make him distrust all 
 men ; to make him regard all goodness and virtue 
 as shallow and insincere, unless accompanied with 
 some sectarian badge ; to make him narrow and 
 exclusive in his views and feelings ; and to harden 
 his heart against his race ? How can any man, who 
 regards the great mass of mankind utterly desti 
 tute of all goodness, the enemies of God and all 
 good, from their very natures, however aimable in 
 their external conduct, and eminently virtuous in 
 all their ways; who regards them as fiends in 
 human shape ; minions of satan, clothed in gar- 
 ments of light, have any love for them ? He surely 
 ought not to love them. It is a virtue to hate man- 
 kind, as one would satan himself, if such is their 
 character. So that this doctrine interposes a pow- 
 erful barrier against a compliance with the second 
 great commandment. 
 
 There is still another way in which this doctrine 
 
 * National Preacher. Vol. A, p. 222. No. for August, 
 
 1829. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 51 
 
 operates against the formation of such a character, 
 as the gospel demands. It describes all the demands 
 and duties of religion, so far as relates to their 
 character in the sight of God, in such dark and 
 dubious terms, that no human understanding can 
 apprehend them. It thickly spreads darkness and 
 obscurity over the whole duty of man, and then 
 calls upon him to engage in its performance, under 
 the penalty of everlasting destruction ! It hedges 
 up the way of life with impenetrable darkness, and 
 then calls upon men to escape from impending 
 vengeance ! If they complain that they cannot un- 
 derstand its directions, nor see the way it describes, 
 it mocks them with the declaration, that they are 
 not expected to see or understand, because their 
 spiritual eyes have not been opened, and their 
 understandings are yet carnal ! In other words, it 
 demands of men that they shall do, without under- 
 standing, and walk, with a firm and undeviating 
 step, without seeing! Thus does it fill men's 
 minds with hesitancy and doubt. They fear to go 
 forward, lest they should go wrong ; to go back- 
 ward, lest they should stumble ; to go to the right 
 hand, lest they should enter the wrong path ; and 
 to go to the left, lest they should fall under the gui- 
 dance of an evil spirit. Thus men are kept in 
 suspense, waiting for they know not what, or make 
 a desperate plunge into the sea of passion and sin, 
 trusting to some miracle to rescue and save them, 
 
52 
 
 instead of using their own powers to work out their 
 own salvation with fear and trembling". Is the 
 belief of such a doctrine safe? Nay, instead of 
 being safe, it is perilous to men's souls, and should 
 be avoided as the pestilence that walketh in dark- 
 ness and wasteth at noon-day. 
 
 Let us now look at Universalism, and see if it 
 has any better tendency. It clothes the divine 
 character in all the beauty and excellence of a 
 father's love. It echoes the voice of nature and 
 revelation, in proclaiming that God is good unto all, 
 and his tender mercies over all his works ;* that 
 as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities his 
 erring offspring ;t that he is kind to the unthankful 
 and the evil ;t that he doth not afflict willingly nor 
 grieve the children of men ;§ and that all the suf- 
 ferings he sends upon men, are sent that they may 
 become partakers in his holiness. II 
 
 Now, what can be better calculated to attract and 
 secure the affections of rational beings, than such a 
 character as this, and thus secure obedience to the 
 first great command ? It is in perfect conformity 
 with our highest ideas of excellence. It is not an 
 effeminate kindness which yields the right and the 
 true to its own weakness ; but that kindness which 
 is tempered with the dignity and energy of truth 
 and right ; which, while it pities and relieves, is 
 
 * Ps. 145 : 9. t Ps. 103 : 13. f Luke 6 : 35. 
 
 <^Lam. 3: 33. II Heb. 10: 12. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 53 
 
 firm and unyielding in its attachments to justice 
 and rectitude. If such a character will not call 
 forth the admiration, the gratitude, the reverence, 
 and the love of rational beings, nothing can. And 
 then, if like begets like, how perfectly is it adapted 
 to the formation of precisely such a character in 
 man, as the gospel demands ! It is itself the per- 
 fection of what the religion of Jesus designs to 
 make man ; and if it begets its own image in the 
 human soul, man will be precisely what the Scrip- 
 tures represent as securing God's approbation. 
 
 And then, in regard to man, Universalism teaches 
 such views of his nature, as are calculated to secure 
 a compliance with the second great commandment. 
 Like the Scriptures, it represents that all men are 
 made of one blood,^ and have the same Father ;t 
 that all have the same germ of immortality, destin- 
 ed to bloom in unfading beauty ;t that all are fed 
 by the same munificent hand ;§ upheld by the same 
 kind providence ;ll dependent upon the same good- 
 ness both for time and eternity ;1F that all are des- 
 tined to the same final home, and the participation 
 of the same joys forever. ^ It calls upon men to 
 love God, because he first loves them ;tt to love 
 mankind, because he loves them, and sent his son 
 to die for their redemption ;$$ and because " there 
 
 * Acts 17 : 26. + Mai. 2 : 10. %1 Tim. 4 : 10. 
 § Acts 17 : 25. || Ps. 145 : 14. T[ Tit. 3 : 5. 
 **Eccl. 2: 14. ft 1 John 4: 19. 
 
 # 1 Thes. 5 : 10. 2 Cor. 5 : 14. 
 
 5# 
 
54 universalist's assistant. 
 
 is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repent- 
 eth, than over ninety and nine just persons, who 
 need no repentance."^ 
 
 If we look upon our race in such a light as this, 
 we can discover something in every individual, 
 however much it may be obscured by sin, worthy 
 of our affections. However much the fine gold 
 may become dimmed, or deeply it may be buried 
 in earth or dross, it is gold still. Its nature remains 
 unchanged. With such views, whenever we see the 
 form of a man, however much it may be marred and 
 disfigured by intemperance and sin, we know the 
 principles and elements of a man are still there. 
 We know he has a nature like our own, susceptible 
 of the same improvement and elevation. We know 
 he is a brother, a child of the same Father. He 
 has fallen among robbers, who have stripped him 
 of his dignity and glory, and left him half dead. 
 Only let him be washed and cleansed, and his 
 wounds and bruises healed, and he will again stand 
 forth a man, made in God's own image. 
 
 What can be better calculated to secure obedi- 
 ence to the second great commandment, than such 
 views as these ? What can be better calculated to 
 awaken an interest in men for each other, and 
 secure those kind and generous sympathies, de- 
 manded by the Saviour ? How can any man 
 entertain such views, if they are active principles 
 
 * Luke 15 : 7. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 55 
 
 in his soul, without being inspired with new interest 
 in his race, and being led to feed the hungry, 
 clothe the naked, and visit the sick and imprisoned ? 
 It is impossible. And these are the very character- 
 istics for which men are approved and blessed, by 
 our religion, and for the want of which they are 
 condemned and punished. 
 
 And now I put the question to every serious and 
 reflecting mind — which of these doctrines, in your 
 sober and candid judgment, is the best calculated 
 to form such a character as the gospel demands ; 
 the doctrine of endless misery, with its appalling 
 views of God's character, and its dark and repulsive 
 views of human nature, or Universalism, with its 
 high conceptions of the Divine character, so congenial 
 with our highest notions and most exalted conceptions 
 of greatness and goodness, and its interesting and 
 lovely representations of man's nature ? Which 
 addresses itself the most strongly to our reason and 
 conscience, and is the best adapted to call forth 
 those feelings, and induce the formation of that 
 character, which the Bible demands ? Which is 
 the best adapted to the production of those amiable 
 and kind sentiments and feelings required of the 
 Christian, so far as it may exert any influence over 
 human character? 
 
 There can be but one answer from any intelli- 
 gent, reflecting and candid person. Such a person 
 must not only see, but feel, that Universalism, so far 
 
56 universalist's assistant. 
 
 as it exerts any influence over the minds, hearts 
 and lives of men, is the best calculated to form that 
 generous, disinterested and amiable character Chris- 
 tianity requires. This position might be verified 
 by an appeal to facts, as they lie about us in society. 
 But it is unnecessary. 
 
 Suppose we admit then, for the sake of the argu- 
 ment, that men's eternal state will be determined 
 by the character they form in this life, and which 
 they are found to sustain at the judgment, and that 
 such a character is necessary to secure the approba- 
 tion and blessing of the Most High, as is described 
 in the texts quoted on a previous page ; which 
 doctrine is the safest to believe, were belief a matter 
 of choice ? Plainly and obviously Universalism. 
 Why ? Simply because it has the most powerful 
 tendency to secure those virtues which Heaven 
 approves and blesses. 
 
 With all this before us, we must conclude that 
 the doctrine of endless misery is an exceedingly 
 unsafe doctrine to be believed, even if it is true ; 
 for it not only brings ruin upon men's moral inter- 
 ests, and destruction to their happiness here, but by 
 its unfavorable influences, jeopardizes their eternal 
 happiness hereafter. 
 
 The truth is, so far as belief is concerned, man's 
 only safety lies in his seeking to attain those views 
 of the Divine character, and of human nature, cal- 
 culated to exert the most healthful moral influences 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 57 
 
 over his mind and heart. And I think it has been 
 shown, that Universalism is the belief, which affords 
 these influences, in a degree far above its opposite^ 
 leaving the question of its truth unsettled. If such 
 be the case, it must be the safest to adopt, even 
 though it prove false. But to suppose a doctrine 
 capable of exerting such an influence false, is a very- 
 great absurdity. It would be maintaining, that the 
 influence of falsehood, is better than that of truth. 
 The fact is, the very circumstance, that Universal- 
 ism has this superior moral tendency, is a very 
 powerful argument for its truth. 
 
 In the light of all this, I submit to the reader to 
 determine how much truth there is in the following 
 remarks : — " If Universalists are in the right, we 
 who believe in a doctrine very different from theirs, 
 are nevertheless just as safe as they. We need not 
 concern ourselves to examine whether we are in 
 the right or in the wrong as to opinion, since there 
 can be no difference in the result." ^ 
 
 * Stuart's Exeget. Ess., p. 151 — 2. It is truly humiliat- 
 ing to see such remarks as these, from such a source ; for 
 it betrays a state of mind, little in accordance with what we 
 have a right to expect. 
 
58 universalist's assistant. 
 
 SECTION III. — CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES INCOMPETENT 
 TEACHERS. 
 
 " I fear to embrace the doctrine of universal salvation, 
 because it would oblige me to regard Christ and his Apos- 
 tles as incompetent or dishonest teachers of religion, and 
 the Bible itself as fitted and designed to lead men into 
 error.* 
 
 This objection is founded upon the idea, " that 
 the Christian Scriptures were written for the 
 express purpose of teaching the salvation of all 
 men;t "that, by himself or his apostles, Jesus 
 Christ opposed every essential religious error of his 
 age and country, in the most explicit, direct and 
 positive terms ;"t and consequently, " the doctrine 
 of universal salvation, if it were true, being a doc- 
 trine never before heard of, he would have formally, 
 fully, and repeatedly announced, explained, and 
 enforced it."§ 
 
 Now the idea here set forth, is most manifestly 
 false, and is one which no well-informed, serious 
 and candid mind ever entertained, among the 
 believers of Universalism. Had it have been the 
 purpose of the writers of the New Testament, to 
 have explained and enforced a system of dogmatic 
 theology, no one can doubt, that every point would 
 
 * Tract, No. 224, p. 2. fDo. p. 3. 
 
 % Royce's Lectures, p. 34. § Do. p. 35. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 59 
 
 have been so clearly defined and unequivocally 
 expressed, that there should have been no room for 
 mistake, among serious and candid people. Had 
 such have been their design, there would have been 
 as little room for misapprehension as to the doc- 
 trines taught in the Bible, as there is in reference 
 to those contained in the Westminster Catechism, 
 or the Cambridge and Saybrook Platform. But it 
 is not so. It is not true either that Christ or the 
 apostles directly opposed u every essential religious 
 error of his age and country ;" or that the New- 
 Testament was " written for the express purpose of 
 teaching the salvation of all men," nor indeed any 
 other one doctrine. They had higher aims and 
 ends in view, than to establish a dry and barren 
 system of dogmatic theology — to teach men how 
 they might attain their own salvation. 
 
 The truth is, there were many errors which pre- 
 vailed in the age and country in which Jesus and 
 his apostles lived, and very serious ones too, even 
 in theology, with which they have not meddled. 
 I will name but one — the doctrine of man's exist- 
 ence after the dissolution of the material body — 
 the manner of attaining it. The common doctrine 
 of the Jews of those times, who believed in future 
 existence at all, was that of the transmigration of 
 souls. Hence an eminent writer says, " that this- 
 Pythagorian dogma was become pretty general 
 among the Jews, appears from some passages in 
 
60 universalist's assistant. 
 
 the gospels."^ That this was an error, no one in 
 a Christian land doubts, and what was the course 
 of Christ and his apostles in reference to it ? Did 
 they oppose it in direct and explicit terms, even in 
 a single instance ? No. So far from correcting 
 this error, they adopted the very same wordt to 
 represent a future existence for man, as was com- 
 monly used by the Jews, for this purpose. Indeed, 
 one apostle goes so far as to declare — " I am a 
 Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, of the hope of the 
 resurrection] of the dead I am called in question."! 
 " And have hope toward God, which they them- 
 selves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection] 
 of the dead, both of the just and unjust. "§ Why 
 this course, in regard to this error, when Jesus cor- 
 rected another errorll held in connexion with the 
 doctrine of future existence ? Shall we infer from 
 this, that " Christ and his apostles were incompe- 
 tent or dishonest teachers of religion, and the Bible 
 itself fitted and designed to lead men into error ? " 
 
 # Campbell's Four Gospels, Prelim. Dissertations, Dis. 
 VI., Pt. 2, § 19. See also Dr. A. Clarke's Com. on John 9 : 
 2. Also Whitby, Barnes, and Livermore in loco. 
 
 f ^Aruoraoiq " denotes simply, being raised from inactivity 
 to action, or from obscurity to eminence, or a return to 
 such a state, after an interruption. ... In this view, 
 when applied to the dead, the word denotes, properly, no 
 more than a renewal of life, to them, in whatever manner 
 this may happen." — Campbell's Note on Malt. 22 : 23. 
 
 X Acts 23: 6. § Do. 24: 15. 
 
 || That is, the idea that the same relations exist in a 
 future state as in this. Matt. 22 : 30. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 61 
 
 The fact is, the Bible was not written for the 
 express purpose of teaching Universalis m or any 
 other ism; but to inculcate great and universal 
 principles^ — principles which lay at the foundation 
 of all theoretical religious truth; to renovate and 
 correct the spirit and tendencies of that age ; to 
 explain the way of salvation ; and to introduce men 
 into the kingdom of heaven. Hence they left all 
 errors to be corrected by the silent influences of 
 these great principles, except such as interposed a 
 barrier to the reception of these principles, and the 
 attainment of those great ends. Hence many and 
 very great errors were permitted to pass unnoticed 
 by them.t 
 
 Making out a system of belief from the Bible, is 
 precisely like an attempt to determine an individ- 
 ual's belief, upon all points in theology, from a vol- 
 ume made up of letters, poetry, biography, sketches 
 of discourses, and conversations on practical and 
 experimental religion. Here and there we shall 
 find his views expressed upon some one or more 
 
 # " Jesus seized those fundamental principles which were 
 current among his countrymen, discarded everything which 
 had merely a local, civil or national reference ; selected the 
 purely moral, refined and elevated it to its true dignity, and 
 rendered it complete by supplying its deficiencies." — Hug's 
 Intro, to N. T., p. 11. Andover, 1836. 
 
 f Among these may be named demoniacal possessions, 
 and the supernatural influences of Python, a heathen god. 
 Acts 16 : 16, where a girl is said to be possessed with 
 nvsiifia IIi&woc, a spirit of Python. 
 
 6 
 
62 universalist's assistant. 
 
 doctrinal point, as the foundation or stimulant to 
 some duty, or to correct the error of some one with 
 whom he might be conversing. By picking out 
 and bringing together these scattered fragments, we 
 may be able to make out his system of theology. 
 So with the Bible. A system of doctrines is 
 nowhere formally stated and discussed. Hence the 
 great diversity of opinions for which the Bible is 
 made responsible, while all are equally honest. 
 One man sees one part, and another a different part. 
 One individual looks at a statement from one point 
 of view, and another views the same thing from a 
 different position, and consequently comes to a dif- 
 ferent, and it may be a widely different, conclusion. 
 
 From the statements and reasoning already pre- 
 sented, it is sufficiently manifest, that the idea upon 
 which the objection is founded, is incorrect, and of 
 course the objection is without force, and we might 
 leave it here ; but there are several other consider- 
 ations, which I wish to have observed ; and to this 
 end all that has been said may pass as irrelevant. 
 
 1. This objection lies with far greater force 
 against Christianity itself than it does against 
 Universalism. 
 
 Let any one take the Old Testament and read 
 the representations of the character and dignity of 
 the promised Messiah, as portrayed by the Hebrew 
 bards, by whom he is represented as a great king, 
 and a mighty conqueror, going forth and subduing 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 63 
 
 nations and kingdoms, and bringing them under 
 his dominion. With these glowing descriptions 
 before him, let him look at the individual who 
 came among the Jews, claiming to be the Messiah, 
 and which we Christians believe to be such, as he 
 is represented by his own friends ; and what is 
 there in his appearance or doings, to answer to 
 those glowing descriptions ? He had no hereditary 
 titles, power or authority. He was a humble 
 mechanic, clad in the common apparel of his pro- 
 fession, and wandering about his native country, 
 attended by a few individuals, as humble in their 
 pretensions as himself, called from the publican's 
 seat, and their fishing nets, without a place where 
 to lay their heads ! Instead of being surrounded 
 with the pomp and splendor of courts, and engaged 
 in raising and appointing armies, he was dining at 
 the publican's table, or standing on a vessel's deck, 
 surrounded with the degraded and outcast of society, 
 instructing their ignorance, healing their diseases, 
 reclaiming them from their vices, and telling them 
 to go and sin no more ; comforting the afflicted, 
 encouraging the desponding, and restoring the 
 maniac to soundness of mind, while he hurled the 
 most terrible denunciations at those who were sup- 
 posed to be the only suitable associates of so distin- 
 guished a personage. We can hardly conceive of 
 a character more entirely opposite to that described 
 by the prophets, when those descriptions are taken 
 
64 universalist's assistant. 
 
 literally, than was that of Jesus. Might not a 
 pious Jew, with his hands upon the books of the 
 prophets, exclaim with far greater force and pro- 
 priety, " I fear to believe this man the Messiah, 
 because it would oblige me to regard Moses and 
 the prophets, as incompetent or dishonest teachers 
 of religion, and the Bible itself as fitted and 
 designed to lead men into error ? " It is even so ; 
 and this was the very ground, upon which the 
 Jews rejected Jesus. Let the objector see to it, 
 that he does not fall into the same condemnation ! 
 
 2. This objection lays with far greater force 
 against some of the distinguishing features of 
 Protestantism, than it does against Universalis??!. 
 
 I will notice but one instance, and that is the 
 doctrine, that the elements used in the Lord's Sup- 
 per, by consecration, are transmuted into the real, 
 veritable, bona fide flesh and blood of Jesus. The 
 following language certainly comes much nearer 
 expressing this idea in unequivocal terms, than any- 
 thing in the Bible does the doctrine of endless 
 misery. " Jesus took bread, and blessed, and 
 brake it, and gave it to them, and said, Take, eat ; 
 this is my body. And he took the cup, and when 
 he had given thanks, he gave it to them ; and they 
 all drank of it. And he said unto them, this is my 
 blood of the New Testament, which is shed for 
 many."^ " Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, 
 
 * Mark 14 : 22, 25. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 65 
 
 verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of 
 the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no 
 life in you."^ With such language as this before 
 him, may not the Catholic, with his hands upon 
 the Gospels, exclaim — " I fear to embrace Protest- 
 antism, because it would oblige me to regard Christ 
 and his apostles as incompetent or dishonest teach- 
 ers of religion, and the Bible itself fitted and 
 designed to lead men into error?" Most assuredly 
 he might ; and that too, with much more propriety 
 than the objection under consideration was uttered. 
 Thus it will be seen, that admitting all the objec- 
 tion assumes, it is without force, because it proves 
 more than those wbo urge it will admit. The 
 truth is, it is no objection to any doctrine, that men 
 have heretofore failed to discover it. The true 
 question is not, whether men have failed to dis- 
 cover any fact in times past, but whether it now can 
 be proved to be a fact. The learned and the un- 
 learned, the wise and the ignorant, the philosopher 
 and the plough-boy, the sage and the savage, had 
 seen apples fall to the ground for near six thousand 
 years, and yet not one of them ever read in that 
 simple phenomenon, the great law of gravitation. 
 But their blindness to so obvious a thing, does not 
 weigh much against the discovery of Newton. So 
 men have read and studied the Scriptures for many 
 centuries ; but it would be nothing marvellous, if 
 
 * John 6 : 53. 
 6* 
 
66 
 
 they have not yet discovered all the truth they con- 
 tain ; nor is it any objection to any new truth, men 
 may imagine they discover, that it has not been 
 seen before. The true question is — Is it sustained 
 by competent and miimpeachable testimony ? 
 
 So in regard to Universalism. It is no objection 
 to its truth, that so few, comparatively, have dis- 
 covered it ; or that Universalists have been men of 
 inferior learning, talents and piety ; for it is some- 
 times the case, and it may be so in ours, that " God 
 hath chosen the foolish things of the world, to con- 
 found the wise ; and the weak things of the world 
 to confound the things which are mighty ; and the 
 base things of the world, and things which are 
 despised, and things which are not, to bring to 
 naught things that are ; that no flesh should glory 
 in his presence ; "^ and that, as in another case, 
 " not many w T ise men after the flesh, not many 
 mighty, not many noble are called."! Still, to 
 show that Universalists are not quite so contempt- 
 ible, ignorant and obscure as they are sometimes 
 represented, I may be pardoned if I name a 
 few both in the past and the present ; such as 
 Clemens Alexandrinus and Origen, two of the 
 most influential and learned men among the early 
 Christians. They were teachers in the Alexan- 
 drian school, and stood at its head. This school, 
 which was the most celebrated and exerted more 
 
 * 1 Cor. 1 : 27—29. f Do- 1 : 26. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 67 
 
 than any other, was distinguished, among other 
 things, ( for its Universalism.^ In more modern 
 times, I may name Bishop Newton, Archbishop 
 Tillotson, Dr. Jebb, Dr. Priestley, John Frederic 
 Oberlin, Elhanan Winchester, Dr. Rush, and others 
 too numerous to mention. To say nothing of those 
 in our own country, who hold this doctrine ; it is 
 admitted even at Andover, that in Germany, " it 
 has been fashionable among the more popular Ger- 
 man divines to disbelieve" the doctrine of eternal 
 punishment ; and that even Tholuc himself, whom 
 they have labored so hard to clear of all suspicion 
 of heresy upon this subject, " says even of the 
 evangelical theologians, a good number of them 
 cherish a hope of a final conversion of all men."^ 
 Are all these men persons of inferior talents, learn- 
 ing and piety ? Nay, they are among the most emi- 
 nent men, the religious world has ever produced.^ 
 
 *Giesler's Eccl. Hist., Period 1, Div. Ill, Chap. 3, § 60 
 and 61. 
 
 t German Selections, p. 217. 
 
 X Dr. Murdock says of Origen : " Against the more 
 learned pagans and the heretics of those times, he was 
 a champion who had no equal ; he was also considered a 
 devout Christian, and was, beyond question, the first biblical 
 scholar of the age. His winning eloquence, his great learn- 
 ing, his amiable temper, his reputation for sincere and ardent 
 piety, gave him immense influence, especially among the 
 higher classes in society. No man. since the apostles, had 
 been more indefatigable, and no one had done more to dif- 
 fuse knowledge and make the Christian community intelli- 
 gent, united, and respectable in the view of mankind." — 
 Translation of Mosheim's Eccl. Hist., Vol. 1. pp. 204—6, Note 
 9. New Have?i, 1832. 
 
68 universalist's assistant. 
 
 That Universalism has not been more generally 
 received in the Christian Church, or that we hear 
 so little of it from the sixth century until the Re- 
 formation in the sixteenth century, is not very won- 
 derful ; and it is to be attributed to very different 
 causes, than that of the want of testimony in its 
 favor in the Scriptures. During this period, which 
 has been justly termed " the dark ages," the theol- 
 ogy of the church was drawn from any source, 
 but the Bible; for hardly one in a thousand of her 
 clergy, ever saw a copy of the Scriptures, and if 
 they had, it was of no use to them, because they 
 could not read a word in them, such was their 
 deplorable ignorance. Beside, every one who dared 
 to depart from the received doctrines, was sure to 
 be hunted down, and his voice silenced by fire and 
 sword. Still, that Universalism had its advocates 
 even in these days of darkness, and this period 
 of the reign of terror and sin, is sufficiently mani- 
 fest from the proceedings of ecclesiastical councils 
 at different periods.^ 
 
 If there is anything strange about the matter, it 
 is that Universalism has had so many advocates as 
 it has. The fact is, the vices, the passions and the 
 selfish interests of the world, are, and ever have 
 been, and ever will be arrayed against this doctrine ; 
 and humiliating as may be the fact, nevertheless, a 
 
 * Ancient History of Universalism, p> 301, et seq. Ap- 
 pendix. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 69 
 
 fact it is, that comparatively few persons have the 
 moral courage to rise up in rebellion to public 
 opinion, and jeopardize their reputations, their for- 
 tunes, their lives — their all, by an avowal of an 
 obnoxious truth. Most men had rather remain 
 moored amid the fogs of error, however pestilential 
 they may be, than to launch forth upon the sea of 
 inquiry, even with the Bible for a chart and com- 
 pass. And this disposition is but too much encour- 
 aged, by not a few, who hold the responsible office 
 of religious teachers. 
 
 That it is such influences, not the plainness with 
 which its opposite is revealed in the Scriptures, that 
 has prevented the more general diffusion and adop- 
 tion of Universalism, is manifest from the actual 
 history of the matter. In the earlier ages of the 
 church, while the Scriptures were freely circulated 
 among the people, and generally read and studied 
 by the clergy, Universalism showed itself, and at 
 the period when the greatest attention was paid to 
 this matter, and there were the greatest number of 
 biblical scholars and critics, then it prevailed the 
 most widely, and numbered among its advocates the 
 most eminent and distinguished scholars in the 
 church. But when less attention was given to the 
 study of the Scriptures, and Christians gave them- 
 selves to strife and contention, Universalism began 
 to decline ; and just in proportion to the neglect of 
 the Bible, and the departure of the church from the 
 
70 universalist's assistant. 
 
 spirit of Christ, did Universalism disappear, until, 
 when the Bible was entirely abandoned, and the 
 church given up to ignorance, stupidity and sin, it 
 totally disappeared, amid the worse than Egyptian 
 darkness that prevailed. 
 
 When the reformation in the sixteenth century 
 broke out, and men were once more admitted to the 
 sacred pages, to read and understand them accord- 
 ing to the dictates of their own judgments, immedi- 
 ately believers and advocates of Universalism, 
 sprang up in all directions. And just in proportion 
 to the degree of attention given to the study of the 
 Bible in every period since, has this doctrine pre- 
 vailed. As the one has advanced and receded, so 
 has the other, until the present time, distinguished 
 above all others, for its wonderful activity of mind, 
 its freedom of inquiry, and its diligent, patient and 
 laborious research, and now a greater proportion of 
 professing Christians entertain this doctrine, than 
 at any period since the days of Origen. With 
 those who hail under the name of Universalists, 
 may be reckoned almost the entire Unitarian denom- 
 ination, both in this country and Europe, together 
 with immense numbers of the members of all the 
 various Protestant sects, as believers in this beauti- 
 ful doctrine. 
 
 The same fact appears, when we compare dif- 
 ferent countries with each other, and one section of 
 the same country with another. For example ; 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 71 
 
 take Germany, which has been well pronounced a 
 land of scholars, and where biblical science has 
 received more attention, than anywhere else under 
 heaven, and there Universalism prevails more 
 widely and enrolls more eminent names among its 
 friends than in any other country. Then take the 
 United States, which undoubtedly stands next to 
 Germany in its activity of mind, the diligent indus- 
 try and perseverance of its scholars, and the freedom 
 of inquiry, and the attention to religious subjects, 
 and the same phenomenon appears. A comparison 
 of the different sections of this country, will afford 
 evidence to the same point. A comparison of New 
 England, where the greatest attention has been 
 paid to the reading and study of the Scriptures of 
 any section, with the Middle and Western States, 
 and of all these with the Southern States, goes 
 to establish my position ; for in the first named 
 section, are the greatest numbers of Universal- 
 ists, in proportion to the population ; in the next, 
 where there is and ever has been less attention to 
 religious inquiry, the number is less who embrace 
 this doctrine ; and in the last, where there is little 
 or no attention to these matters, there is an absolute 
 dearth of Universalism. It might also be remarked, 
 that the prevalence of this doctrine, bears a singular 
 and striking proportion, to the degree of purity and 
 elevation in public morals. Where public morals 
 are the most pure and elevated, and the most intel- 
 
72 universalist's ASSISTANT, i 
 
 lectual cultivation exists, there Universalism prevails 
 the most widely; and where there is the most 
 ignorance, and public morals the most debased, 
 there it is almost, if not entirely, shut out. 
 
 Now if there is such an entire absence of proof 
 in favor of Universalism in the Bible, that the man 
 who embraces it, " must regard Christ and his 
 apostles as incompetent or dishonest teachers of 
 religion, and the Bible itself as fitted and designed 
 to lead men into error," how are we to explain 
 these undeniable and palpable facts ? Why is it, 
 that Universalism has ever had a prevalence, just 
 in proportion to the degree of attention given to the 
 study of the Scriptures, the elevation of public 
 morals, and the freedom of inquiry and toleration 
 enjoyed ? How happens it, that some of the most 
 distinguished men, profound scholars, eminent bibli- 
 cal critics, and deeply religious and devout Chris- 
 tians, in every age and country, where any tolerable 
 degree of interest exists in religious inquiry, and 
 freedom and toleration is indulged and allowed, 
 have been and now are Universalists ? This is a 
 problem I shall leave those who make the objection 
 under consideration, to solve. 
 
 And beside, why are those who now believe the 
 doctrine of endless punishment so much afraid of 
 having people hear Universalism discussed, if it so 
 manifestly unscriptural ? Do not the following 
 remarks upon the Reformation explain it ? " As to 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 73 
 
 the majority of those whose souls were terrified at 
 the thought of relinquishing a wonted and revered 
 conviction, they no longer had it the moment they 
 feared they should lose it. That they believed they 
 had, and maintained the pretension, made the case 
 no better; for the deception could not last long." ^ 
 
 SECTION IV. WHY DID THE PREACHING OF CHRIST 
 
 AND THE APOSTLES ALARM THE FEARS AND 
 AWAKEN THE ENMITY OF WICKED MEN? 
 
 " If Christ and his Apostles believed and taught the salva- 
 tion of all men, it seems impossible to account for the fact, 
 that their preaching so much alarmed the fears and awa- 
 kened the enmity of wicked men."| 
 
 It is unquestioned and unquestionable, that such 
 an effect was produced, by the preaching of Christ 
 and his Apostles. And when it is asked, " Were 
 any such effects ever known to be produced by the 
 preaching of Universalists ? "t lam constrained to 
 answer in the affirmative. So when it is asked, 
 " Did you ever know any wicked man, any profane 
 swearer, Sabbath-breaker, drunkard, infidel, or de- 
 spiser of sacred things, displeased at hearing this 
 doctrine ? I must answer, only in a few instances, 
 and that when they were raging with passion 
 against some fellow-creature. At other times, when 
 
 * Biblical Repository, Vol. 9., p. 340, April, 1837. 
 f Tract 224, p. 5. $ Tract 224, p. 6. 
 
 7 
 
74 universalist's assistant. 
 
 the better principles and feelings of human nature 
 predominate, they are always pleased with the idea 
 this doctrine presents. Indeed, I cannot conceive 
 how any mind, under the dominion of pure, benevo- 
 lent and generous principles and feelings, can be 
 any other than pleased with it. It is only those 
 raging with passion against some one, the sour- 
 hearted, selfish, malicious and hating bigot, that can 
 be offended with the doctrine. It harmonizes with 
 the highest and holiest impulses of all other hearts ; 
 and of this its friends and believers have great reason 
 to be proud. It is its honor and glory. 
 
 I know, indeed, that arguing the single point of the 
 salvation of all men, is not peculiarly calculated to 
 convict men of sin and bring them to repentance. But 
 this is no truer of Universalism, than it is of every 
 other ism under heaven. Every sect holds more or 
 less doctrines, the inculcation and defence of which, 
 cannot, from the very nature of the case, secure any 
 of these effects, however important and salutary they 
 may be, when taken in connexion with the system 
 they hold. For example, take the system of the ob- 
 jector, which includes the doctrines of the trinity, 
 vicarious atonement, total native depravity, and the 
 final perseverance of the saints, and I ask what salu- 
 tary moral influence is their inculcation and defence 
 calculated to produce ? Who ever heard of any com- 
 punctions of conscience being produced ; any sense 
 of guilt and shame excited ; any awakening of the 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 75 
 
 moral senses to be secured ; any harrowing up of the 
 soul with remorse and fear ; or the formation of any- 
 holy resolves, in a wicked man, or any sinner led to 
 repentance, by arguing any of these doctrines ? No 
 one will pretend this. Hence, if this circumstance 
 is anything against Universalism, or goes to show, 
 that it is inconsistent with the teachings of Christ 
 and his Apostles, it proves the same thing in regard 
 to a misnamed Orthodoxy. 
 
 The objection under consideration proceeds upon 
 the presumption, that the Universalist pulpit has, 
 and can have, no other employment, than arguing 
 the solitary doctrine of universal salvation ; a pre- 
 sumption that is utterly unfounded and false. That 
 the ministry of this denomination may have given 
 an undue share of attention to the inculcation and 
 defence of this one idea, I am not disposed to deny. 
 But I do deny, that they have sinned any more, in 
 this respect, than their contemporaries of other sects. 
 To represent that they are limited, in their pulpit 
 ministrations, to one point of doctrine, or that, be- 
 cause they may have given an undue degree of time 
 and attention to the proof of their distinguishing 
 article of belief, nothing else is heard from them, is 
 as unjust, false and, slanderous a representation, as it 
 would be to describe the ministrations of the Baptist 
 pulpit as limited to the defence of immersion alone as 
 baptism; or those of the Pedo-Baptists, as given 
 merely to the defence of infant baptism. This 
 
76 universalist's assistant. 
 
 would be as true of these last cases, as is the intima- 
 tion in regard to the former. All of them, at times, 
 have erred in the course they have pursued. They 
 have proclaimed their peculiarities, to the neglect 
 of the weightier matters of the law, "judgment, 
 mercy and faith." And if these last are excusable for 
 their error, in reference to mere non-essentials, surely 
 TJniversalists ought to be, for their mistakes, when 
 the matter involved, relates to man's eternal destiny, 
 the essential character of the eternal God, and funda- 
 mentally affects the whole system of theology. 
 
 In regard to the actual effects produced by the 
 Universalist pulpit, I must say, and upon this mat- 
 ter I can speak advisedly, that no pulpits in the land 
 more frequently displease the profane swearer, the 
 Sabbath-breaker, the drunkard, the infidel, and the 
 despiser of sacred things, than those of this denomi- 
 nation. No pulpits speak out more distinctly, boldly 
 and fearlessly against these and all other vices. I 
 can truly say, I have heard some of the most 
 pointed, faithful and earnest rebukes of the preva- 
 lent vices of society, from the ministers of this faith, 
 to which I have ever listened. And no ministers 
 are more frequently made to suffer in their reputa- 
 tions and interests, from the malicious slanders, 
 abuse and falsehoods of the unprincipled and wicked, 
 or pursued with more unrelenting fury and persever- 
 ance, by the profane swearer, the Sabbath-breaker, 
 the drunkard, the infidel, and the despisers of sacred 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 77 
 
 things, and all whose hearts are fully set on doing 
 evil. They stand between two fires, — that of these 
 characters, and that of the sanctimonious and bigoted 
 hypocrite, 
 
 " Who steals the livery of the court of heaven, 
 To serve the devil in." 
 
 It is true, that " Christ rarely preached a sermon, 
 which did not excite uneasiness in the minds of sin- 
 ners, and send them away dissatisfied and murmur- 
 ing against the preacher. The same is true of the 
 apostles." ^ " But who were the wicked men whose 
 fears and enmity were excited ? Who were these 
 sinners who went away dissatisfied and murmur- 
 ing?"! It was not " the worldly and gay, the im- 
 penitent and prayerless;"* but the professedly reli- 
 gious, praying, Sabbath-keeping people, whom he 
 compared to whited sepulchres, whose outward ap- 
 pearance was beautiful, while within they were full 
 of hypocrisy and iniquity ;§ pious rulers and Phari- 
 sees, who thought themselves righteous and despised 
 others.il It was such persons as these, whom Jesus 
 told, " the publicans and harlots go into the kingdom 
 of God before you ;"1T men thoroughly bent upon 
 doing evil, who were offended at the preaching of 
 Christ and his apostles, and persecuted them from 
 city to city. But it was not so with the multitude 
 
 * Tract 224, p. 5. f Reply to Tract 224, p. 13. 
 
 % Tract 224, p. 6. § Matt. 23 : 27. 
 
 || Luke 18: 9. f Matt. 21: 31. 
 
 7^ 
 
78 universalist's assistant. 
 
 that sinned through ignorance,^ for " the common 
 people heard him gladly,"! and wondered at the 
 gracious words that he uttered. X Those who were 
 pronounced " cursed," § publicans and sinners, II and 
 the like, were never offended at his preaching, al- 
 though he rebuked their sins in the most plain and 
 affectionate, and earnest manner. Such persons were 
 his principal friends and patrons. Hence he was 
 denounced as the friend of publicans and sinners ; 
 sneered and scoffed at as a Sabbath-breaker ; 1!" 
 
 # There are some persons who are vicious and depraved, 
 that are disposed to think, because the denunciations of 
 Christ are levelled against hypocritical sinners, that a man is 
 quite excusable for his abominations, if they are committed 
 openly and above-board, without any attempt to conceal 
 them, under a mask of goodness. So also there are those 
 who seem to think a minister must not preach in a way that 
 will give offence to any open, undisguised and shameless 
 sinner, no matter how degraded • and that he is utterly un- 
 pardonable in so doing, because publicans and sinners did 
 not become offended at Christ's preaching. But both are 
 sadly deceived. If a man wilfully and knowingly lives in 
 habits of vice and wrong, he is equally guilty, whether he 
 commits his deeds of wickedness in the face of heaven and 
 earth, with a shameless impudence and indifference to all 
 consequences, or endeavors to conceal them under a mask 
 of goodness and virtue. In truth, the former shows a deeper 
 depravity than the latter. Beside, no mortal can rebuke 
 and expose a vice, even with an angel's voice of sweetness 
 and love, without offending those whose hearts are fully set 
 upon doing evil ; while ignorant offenders will take no of- 
 fence. And this is the precise reason for the different course 
 pursued toward, and the treatment Christ received from, the 
 Pharisees and publicans and sinners. 
 
 fMark 12: 37. % Luke 4 : 22. 
 
 § John 7: 49. || Matt. 9 : 11. 
 
 IT Mark 2: 27. Luke 13: 14. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 79 
 
 a glutton and a wine-bibber;^ and rejected as a 
 blasphemer,! a deceiver of the people^ on whom 
 none of the rulers or the Pharisees had believed. § 
 It was such persons as these who were the most 
 offended at the preaching of Christ, expressed the 
 " deepest abhorrence " II of him, and finally pro- 
 cured his death. They were offended because he 
 would not permit them to go on in their sins undis- 
 turbed by exposure and rebuke ; and this result will 
 always follow such a course, upon all whose hearts 
 are fully set upon doing evil, regardless of all conse- 
 quences, whether they be open, undisguised and 
 shameless, or hypocritical sinners, be the teacher a 
 Universalist or anything else. 
 
 *Matt. 11: 19. Luke 7 : 34. 
 
 t Matt. 9:3. | Matt. 27 : 63. John 7 : 12. 
 
 $ John 7 : 48. || Tract 224, p. 7. 
 
so 
 
 SECTION V. TTNIVERSALISM INCONSISTENT WITH THE 
 
 CHARACTER OF GOD AS A REWARDER. 
 
 " The doctrine of universal salvation is inconsistent with 
 the character of God as a rewarder, and with the great truth, 
 
 that men are now in a state of probation If Univer- 
 
 salism is true, God is not a righteous moral governor ; he 
 makes no public and visible distinction between those who 
 serve him, and those who serve hi m not ; but is an indif- 
 ferent spectator of the conduct of men ; neither loving holi- 
 ness nor hating sin ; neither rewarding the righteous, nor 
 punishing the wicked." # 
 
 The main positions here stated, as well as the 
 collateral ideas involved, must strike every well- 
 disciplined mind, as both singular and extraordinary. 
 It is, in effect, maintaining that there is no such 
 thing as rewards and punishments, under the Divine 
 government, unless they are infinite in measure 
 and endless in duration ; for the precise difference 
 between the believer in endless punishment and the 
 TJniversalist, is simply in relation to the character, 
 objects and duration of the rewards and punish- 
 ments for men's doings in this life — the Univer- 
 salist maintaining, that they are means and of 
 course limited, so far, at least, as individual actions 
 are concerned, or the aggregate of any number are 
 concerned ; while the believer in the doctrine of 
 endless misery holds them to be ends and unlimited 
 in duration. The position is as if one should 
 
 * Tract 224, pp. 10, 11. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 81 
 
 maintain, that all the penalties attached to the penal 
 code of a statute, were no punishments for crime, 
 except such as are capital; than which a greater 
 absurdity could not be maintained. 
 
 So in regard to the matter of probation, which 
 I suppose means trial, I have but a few words to 
 say. If I understand this doctrine as commonly 
 held, I regard it as equally inconsistent with the 
 Bible as with Universalism. I cannot regard this 
 as a state, where men are neither rewarded or pun- 
 ished, and the next one where there is nothing but 
 rewards and punishments. As for this state, it is 
 not so, if the Bible is true, or any reliance is to be 
 placed upon human observation and experience; 
 and surely it will be difficult to make out, from the 
 Scriptures or otherwise, that the future is purely 
 and solely a state of rewards and punishments, for 
 human doings in this world. I have been accus- 
 tomed to think, and certainly the most obvious 
 appearance upon the face of the Scriptures, and the 
 actual state of things as presented to human experi- 
 ence and observation, confirm the impression, — that 
 this state of existence is quite as much a condition 
 of discipline as of trial; for most assuredly, men 
 are in some degree at least, if not fully, rewarded 
 and punished here for their doings. And in regard 
 to a future state, it may w T ell be asked, if it is 
 entirely a state of retribution upon the present, how 
 and when are men to be rewarded and punished for 
 
S2 uni verbalist's assistant. 
 
 their doings in that state ? for I suppose they will 
 be active beings there, as well as here. For one, 
 although I can understand how men may be 
 rewarded and punished in the future life, and thus 
 that life be a retribution upon the present, so that 
 they may be rewarded according to their works 
 done here, I cannot understand how it can be so, 
 when man's whole existence is taken into the ac- 
 count, upon the supposition that this retribution is 
 endless. For there is the whole of their doings 
 through that endless retribution, for which no retri- 
 bution is provided,^ unless, indeed, we suppose the 
 human soul in the world of spirits, is converted 
 into a thing as passive and inert as the stones in 
 the fields, or the clods of the valley. This I am 
 not aware that any one will admit. 
 
 The truth is, no state into which a human being 
 
 * " There is no way by which this conclusion can be 
 evaded, but by supposing, that men and devils in hell are 
 incapable of sinning, or that the sins which tl ey commit 
 there, do not incur any additional punishment. But neither 
 of these positions can be maintained. That men whose 
 nature is sinful, and who by long custom have formed invet- 
 erate habits of sinning, when removed to another world, 
 should cease to commit sin, is an unreasonable supposition ; 
 and to suppose that sin, in a future state, does not incur the 
 curse of the law or the displeasure of God, is equally unrea- 
 sonable. God, from the holiness of his nature, must hate 
 sin wherever it appears, and he always acts agreeably to 
 his nature. To suppose men in hell divested of their moral 
 agency, would be to suppose them in such a condition, as 
 scarcely to be capable of suffering for their sins." Tract 
 against Universalism, American Tract No. 350, p. 5. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 83 
 
 can be transferred, can be simply and solely a 
 state of retribution upon a past state, so long as 
 man is an active and a morally accountable being ; 
 because, in such a case, he must be every moment, 
 the subject of praise or blame, of reward or punish- 
 ment, neither of which can he receive for his 
 doings in a purely retributory state, which looks 
 only to the past, if that state is of endless duration. 
 And if man is not a morally accountable being in 
 any state, he is not susceptible of reward or pun- 
 ishment, either for the past or the present, in that 
 state. So that, if the common doctrine of probation 
 is admitted, it "is inconsistent with the character 
 of God as a rewarder," so far as relates to the future 
 state, at least ; and he " is an indifferent spectator of 
 the conduct of men ; neither loving holiness nor 
 hating sin ; neither rewarding the righteous, nor 
 punishing the wicked." 
 
 But could it be made out, that God is a rewarder 
 of men, in any sense, upon the hypothesis of end- 
 less punishment, it cannot be maintained for a mo- 
 ment, that he is an equitable rewarder of them ; 
 for to say nothing of the infinite disproportion 
 between finite sins and an infinite punishment, 
 there is great inequality, when viewed in its indi- 
 vidual relations and bearings. There are all possi- 
 ble grades of character among men, varying from 
 the worst to the best. And yet, according to the 
 doctrine in question, mankind are to be divided 
 
84 universalist's assistant. 
 
 into two and only two classes, the one to be infinitely 
 and endlessly rewarded, and the other infinitely 
 and endlessly punished. In other words, those 
 who have scarcely virtue enough to keep them out 
 of hell, and those who have climbed to the highest 
 point of excellence, are to be rewarded precisely 
 alike ; and that the man who has almost goodness 
 enough to secure his admittance into heaven, and 
 the blood-stained pirate and murderer are to share 
 the same eternal state ! This is truly such equity 
 as the world knoweth not of ! 
 
 The true state of the case, I take to be, that every 
 state in which the human soul will ever exist, is a 
 state of retribution, both on the present and the 
 past, if past there is. An intimate relation subsists 
 between the present and all the past. By our 
 present, we make our future ; and our future will 
 be a retribution upon our past, no matter whether 
 we are in this world or that which is to come ; and 
 at the same time it will be, in a very important 
 sense, a retribution upon that present. In other 
 words, our doings and their consequences go hand 
 in hand, and at the same time reach back, and 
 take hold of the past, as a cause, and forward, and 
 take hold of the future in their consequences. 
 
So 
 
 MERCY. 
 
 " It denies the mercy of God. and sinks the grace of the 
 gospel into an empty parade of high sounding words. It is 
 asserted by Universalists, that the * wicked receive a pun- 
 ishment proportioned to their crimes;' 'that all the hell 
 there, is inevitably certain to the wicked ;' that their suffer- 
 ings l ever will be in exact ratio to the measure and magni- 
 tude of sin.' " # 
 
 If Universalists err in maintaining such a doc- 
 trine as this, they certainly have very respectable 
 authority for it, for surely, no doctrine stands 
 out with greater distinctness and prominence, or is 
 insisted on with greater emphasis, in the Scrip- 
 tures, and particularly in the New Testament, than 
 that men are to be rewarded according to their 
 works. Its language is — " For the Son of man 
 shall come in the glory of his Father, with his 
 angels, and then he shall reward every man accord- 
 ing to his works" 't "But he that doeth wrong 
 shall receive for the wrong which he hath done; 
 and th-re is no respect of persons "X So that, if 
 Universalism is to be condemned for maintaining 
 such an idea, the Bible must share the same fate 
 
 * Tract 224, p. 49. 
 
 t Matt. 16 : 27. Rom. 2 : 6. Rev. 20 : 13 : 22 : 12. 
 
 % Col. 3 : 25. 
 
 8 
 
86 universalist's assistant. 
 
 In such company, Universalists are content to stand 
 or fall. 
 
 Beside, it may be remarked, that this objection is 
 the directly opposite of another one, we sometimes 
 hear from the same quarter, viz., "that a God all 
 mercy, is a God unjust;" and here we have it, " a 
 God all justice, is a God unmerciful. " Now both 
 these objections originate from viewing the same 
 idea from different positions, and under different 
 aspects, and are founded upon the mistaken notion, 
 that justice and mercy are two opposite and antago- 
 nistic^! principles, which cannot harmonize in the 
 same person or being. And yet, the Bible every- 
 where maintains, that God is just and at the same 
 time merciful. 
 
 I am free to confess, that if Universalists held 
 with the objector, that punishment is merely and 
 solely vindicatory, if not vindictive, that it is an end; 
 and that a specific amount of punishment is to be 
 inflicted for sin, and that too, without any reference 
 to the good of the offender, this objection would be 
 invested with great force and power. But believ- 
 ing as Universalists do, that punishment is a means 
 in the hands of God, by which he aims to promote 
 human good, and even that of the transgressor 
 himself; that all divine retribution is parental in its 
 character ; that every man deserves and will receive 
 so much, and so much punishment only, as will 
 secure the great ends of all righteous retribution ; 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 87 
 
 that the duration and the severity of that punishment, 
 which each individual will receive, depends not so 
 much upon the specific amount of wrong that he may- 
 have committed, as upon the depravity and perversity 
 of his heart, and the perseverance with which he 
 resists the demands of God's law, this objection is 
 divested of all its force, and falls most harmless to 
 the ground. Every candid and fair-minded man 
 must see, that, under such a view, there is nothing 
 unmerciful in causing men to suffer precisely accord- 
 ing to their works, more than there is in an earthly 
 parent's firmly subjecting his wayward and stubborn 
 child to a system of discipline, of which punishment 
 constitutes a part, until his stubbornness is subdued, 
 and he is reclaimed from his waywardness. Ac- 
 cording to this view, justice and mercy act in per- 
 fect harmony, and both conspire to the same great 
 end, — the highest and best good of all souls. And 
 hence we read — " Mercy and truth are met toge- 
 ther; righteousness and peace have kissed each 
 other." *" " Also unto thee, Lord, belongeth 
 mercy ; for thou renderest to every man according 
 to his work"f 
 
 *Ps. 85: 10. tB°- 6 2: 12, 
 
88 universalist's assistant. 
 
 SECTION VII. GOD TREATS THE RIGHTEOUS WORSE 
 
 THAN THE WICKED. 
 
 " Umversalism represents God as often treating wicked 
 men far better than he does the righteous. The wicked, it 
 is said, do "not live out half their days." They die in the 
 midst of their pilgrimage, and are taken directly to heaven ; 
 whilst the righteous are left to linger out, in this vale of 
 tears, the full term of their earthly being, and arrive late at 
 the kingdom of heaven." # 
 
 This objection is illustrated by a reference to 
 several examples. It is said, " On this principle, 
 how much more highly favored were the antedilu- 
 vians than Noah ! . . . . Lot, too, would have fared 
 far better than he did, had he have been as wicked 
 
 as the Sodomites How unfortunate was it 
 
 for Moses, that he belonged to the people of God, 
 rather than the Egyptians ! . . . . How much hap- 
 pier was Judas than the other apostles !"t 
 
 This objection is founded upon an entire mis- 
 representation of Universalism, as may be seen by a 
 reference to the explanation on a previous page.t 
 It proceeds upon the supposition, that Universalism 
 is the belief that all men enter a state of perfect feli- 
 city immediately after the death of the body. But 
 it is not so. Universalism is the belief that all men 
 will become righteous, and in consequence happy. 
 I know, indeed, that some Universalists hold to that 
 idea ; but it makes no part of Universalism. It is a 
 
 * Tract 221. pp. 49—50. f Ibid. % PP- 8—13. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 89 
 
 mere adjunct, an incidental idea, an occasional and 
 unnecessary appendage. 
 
 With this correction, I might let the objection 
 drop ; but for the sake of the argument, I am willing 
 to accept the objection as stated by the author, in its 
 fullest force, and then I remark, 
 
 1. That most men of intelligence and virtue are 
 in the habit of regarding this world as rather a plea- 
 sant dwelling-place to the virtuous and good, not- 
 withstanding its labors, crosses and trials, instead of 
 being so dark, dismal and wretched a place, that to 
 live in it is a curse. With all its discomforts and 
 offensive things, it is a state where the good enjoy 
 vastly more than they suffer ; and hence they are 
 willing to remain here all their appointed days, and 
 that, too, without regarding it a very severe punish- 
 ment, even in the most unfavorable cases. At any 
 rate, such people generally prefer to remain here the 
 full measure of their days, rather than be hurried 
 away by drowning, burning or hanging. Indeed, 
 most sober and rational men regard the- amount of 
 happiness allotted to man and all other creatures, in 
 this world, as so much overbalancing the misery they 
 are necessitated to suffer, that it affords a very deci- 
 sive testimony for divine goodness, even considered 
 irrespective of another state. 
 
 2. I remark, that the whole point and force of 
 this objection lies in the implied idea, that if a man 
 is sure of going immediately to heaven at death , it 
 
90 universalist's assistant. 
 
 is desirable, so far as the individual himself is con- 
 cerned, that he should be cut off from the earth as 
 soon as possible, and so sent the earlier to heaven ! 
 that the man who should shoot, hang, drown or 
 burn such an individual, would perform for him a 
 most benevolent deed ! Hence, the following extra- 
 ordinary language is put into the mouth of one of 
 the most bloody pirates that ever swung into heaven 
 by a halter.^ " I devoted my life to the simple and 
 benevolent business of aiding my brethren, my kins- 
 men according to the flesh, up to paradise, by the 
 quickest and gentlest means ! "t 
 
 Now it is maintained, that all true Christians are 
 sure of going to heaven as soon as they are divested 
 of this mortal body. This, I suppose, will be admit- 
 ted on all hands. At any rate, it is very strenuously 
 held to by those who urge the objection under con- 
 sideration against Universalism. If, therefore, there 
 is any force in this objection, it would be a blessing 
 to such persons, should the government put them, as 
 soon as they become Christians, into the hands of a 
 public executioner, to be shot, hanged, drowned or 
 
 # Allusion is here had to the noted Gibbs, and to the cir- 
 cumstance of his being attended upon the gallows by a 
 number of clergymen, who gave him and those who 
 witnessed his execution, if my memory serves me right, the 
 assurance, that they believed him fully prepared for heaven, 
 into which they believed he would immediately enter ! This 
 is a common occurrence, if it was not so in that case. And 
 yet these same men can hold up their hand in pious horror at 
 Universalism, and denounce it as licentious in its tendency ! ! 
 
 t Tract 362, p. 8. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 91 
 
 burned, that they might the sooner get to heaven I 
 or should the Almighty send a flood and drown, or 
 his thunder-bolts and blast them, and so take them 
 home to himself ! This is a way of blessing Chris- 
 tians, I am inclined to think, which would not be so 
 much coveted by most people, as greatly to multiply 
 the converts to Christianity; for I apprehend the 
 greater part of our race are so stupid, that it would 
 be very difficult to convince them, that it is a greater 
 blessing to die an early and violent death — to be 
 thrust out of the world by the hands of the public 
 executioner or the visitations of the Almighty, even 
 if they do get to heaven a little earlier, than to live 
 l v o a good old age, die a natural death, in their own 
 beds, surrounded by their friends, and in peace and 
 hope, although it may bring them late to heaven ! 
 
 Thus it will be seen, that this objection lies as 
 much against every system of faith which maintains 
 that any man will exist and be happy immediately 
 after death, as against Universalism ; and more so 
 against those systems of belief which represent the 
 path of the sinner, in this life, as strown with flowers, 
 while that of the just is hedged up with thorns. If 
 the good man has so painful a path to tread ; if his 
 joys are so few and his trials so many, that he 
 would have no inducement to struggle against 
 temptation and sin; to practise the self-denial re- 
 quired ; and to perform the great duties of life, but 
 for the assurance of eternal blessedness as his re- 
 
92 universalist's assistant. 
 
 ward ; and if after all rue may fall from grace and 
 perish everlastingly, what more benevolent deed 
 could be done, than to hasten them out of this miser- 
 able world as soon as they are in grace ? And then 
 how unmerciful is the Almighty, to doom them to 
 such a fate, instead of taking them home to heaven ! 
 3. We will now present a few examples from the 
 Scriptures, as an offset to those named by the objec- 
 tor. " How much better did the Jews treat our 
 Saviour and his followers, than their own children ! 
 Those, they sent early to heaven ; these, they left 
 to the intolerable curse of a long life! Herod 
 showed a striking partiality towards the innocent 
 babes of Bethlehem, by taking them off to heaven at 
 one fell swoop, while their less indulgent mothers 
 would have detained them upon earth," * to drag 
 out a miserable existence, and perhaps, go to hell at 
 last! 
 
 SECTION VIII. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FOR- 
 GIVENESS. 
 
 " It is manifest that, upon this scheme, sinners can neither 
 receive forgiveness through the blood of Christ, nor in any 
 other way ; for having suffered the proper penalty of the 
 law, they have a right to deliverance on the footing of 
 justice, "t 
 
 This objection lies not merely against Univer- 
 salism, but against every view of the divine govern- 
 
 * Reply to Dr. Hawes. p. 71. f Tract 362, p. 4. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 93 
 
 ment, which maintains that the subjects of salva- 
 tion are anywhere to be punished for their sins. 
 For, if the infliction of punishment for sin, when 
 applied to the subjects of salvation, is inconsistent 
 with the doctrine of salvation by grace, then all such 
 persons are exempted from all liability to punish- 
 ment, however numerous and detestable their crimes, 
 no matter whether the number saved be few or 
 many. So that the objector must either give up this 
 objection, or maintain that some sinners are in no 
 danger of being punished for their sins. 
 
 The objection is founded, also, in entirely wrong 
 conceptions of the views of Universalists, relative to 
 the nature of punishment. It is based upon the 
 idea that punishment, under the divine government, 
 is merely vindicatory if not vindictive ; that a specific 
 amount of punishment is inflicted for a specific 
 amount of wrong doing ; that they regard punish- 
 ment as merely and solely retrospective, only with 
 an eye to the past, or as inflicted for no other reason 
 than that the individual has sinned. It is only on 
 this supposition, that the declaration could be made ; 
 that after " having suffered the proper penalty of the 
 law, they have a right to deliverance on the footing 
 of justice." 
 
 I need tell no one who is tolerably acquainted 
 with the views of Universalists, that they entertain 
 no such opinions. As has once before been re- 
 
94 universalist's assistant. 
 
 marked,^ they do not believe that a specific amount 
 of punishment is due for a specific amount of wrong 
 and sin ; but that every man deserves and that he 
 will be punished until he reforms, and that when re- 
 formation is secured, each and every individual has 
 been punished according to his deeds, however di- 
 verse the specific proportions, between the evil done 
 and the misery suffered; for they regard all just 
 and equitable punishment, under the moral govern- 
 ment of God, as prospective — not looking so much 
 at what is passed, as to what is to come ; not inflict- 
 ing pain so much because the individual has done 
 wrong and sinned, as to prevent his doing so any 
 more. It is one part of that great system of means 
 which God has ordained, to reclaim the wayward 
 children of men ; but it is not the principal or the 
 most efficient means of attaining this end. Of itself, 
 it could not reclaim a single soul. It is only by its 
 being attended by the grace of God, as manifested 
 in the life, sufferings, death and resurrection of Jesus 
 Christ, that punishment becomes an agent in the 
 redemption and salvation of men. Without this, it 
 might serve only to irritate, harden and render the 
 individual more* reckless and desperate in the way 
 of sin and iniquity. 
 
 But while punishment is prospective, and looks 
 mainly to the future for its object, pardon or for- 
 giveness is mainly retrospective, and is granted 
 
 *In tnis work, above, pp. 86 — 7. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 95 
 
 only on repentance. And the necessity of it lies 
 in the circumstance, that although we may have 
 been punished for our sins, and been exercised with 
 the most deep and pungent sorrow for them, and 
 most thoroughly reformed, yet all this does not 
 make amends for the mischief our wrong acts may 
 have done, nor remove the guilt we have incurred, 
 from our souls. It is the office of pardon or forgive- 
 ness to accomplish this work, and place us before 
 God as though we had never sinned, and as free 
 from feelings of guilt, that we may begin the world 
 anew, with new aims and object, new purposes and 
 pursuits, and in a new course of life. Thus do 
 punishment and forgiveness harmonize ; thus it is, 
 that all the world is guilty before God ; and thus 
 that no man can claim the blessedness of heaven, 
 as a matter of right, a demand of justice. These 
 principles apply to all worlds under the government 
 of the Infinite Father ; as truly to the present as 
 the future, and to the future as to the present ; for 
 the laws of the Almighty are immutable and 
 eternal. They are " without variableness or the 
 shadow of turning," like his own nature. 
 
D6 universalist's assistant. 
 
 SECTION IX. THE NECESSITY OF REPENTANCE. 
 
 " Upon the supposition that this doctrine is true, repent- 
 ance is useless ; there is no need of religion of any kind j 
 no connexion exists between religion and salvation." * 
 
 There is a recklessness of truth and a disregard 
 of common sense, as well as of the repeated, asser- 
 tions of Universalists, about this objection, which 
 hardly entitle it to a serious consideration. Still, it 
 is so common an objection, and urged with such a 
 wonderful pertinacity, from all quarters, and em- 
 braces so wide a range of subjects, that it may not 
 be passed in silence, lest it should be supposed that 
 it is unanswerable. It is an objection which not 
 only applies to religion itself, but to all its applian- 
 ces. It assumes, that if the doctrine of universal 
 salvation is true, religion itself, worship, and all the 
 rites and forms of religion are rendered entirely 
 unnecessary, and utterly useless. In reply to this 
 I remark, 
 
 1. That this objection is founded in the idea, that 
 the number saved will render the means of salvation 
 unnecessary. But I would like to know by what 
 process of logic this is made out. How is it pos- 
 sible that the relative necessity of the use of the 
 means of salvation, can be affected by the number 
 to be saved ? If certain means are necessary to 
 
 * Tract 350, pp. 22, 23. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 97 
 
 effect the salvation of one man, are they not equally- 
 necessary to secure that of all other men ; and 
 if these means will attain salvation for one man, 
 why will they not secure it for all men ? So if 
 religion and all its appliances are necessary to the 
 attainment of one man's salvation, and they will 
 secure it for him, why are they not equally neces- 
 sary, and why may they not secure the salvation 
 of every other man ? It surely is so ; and hence, 
 whether there is but one man to be saved, or the 
 whole race, cannot have any bearing upon the neces- 
 sity of means and the use of those means, for the 
 attainment of that end. 
 
 2. I remark, that this objection proceeds upon 
 the assumption, that Universalists are so ignorant 
 and stupid, as to deny all relation between means 
 and ends, cause and effect. But I need not tell any 
 man of a moderate share of intelligence, and who 
 has taken any pains to inform himself, that they 
 are not quite so foolish as this, and with their writ- 
 ings before him, it must have required an unusual 
 share of impudence, and a most reckless hardihood 
 in any man, to have deliberately written such a par- 
 agraph as that at the head of this section ; for 
 everywhere, in their books, must he have seen, 
 that no writers ever kept more distinctly in view 
 cause and effect, or more strenuously contended 
 for the most intimate relation between means and 
 
 ends. 
 
 9 
 
98 • universalist's assistant. 
 
 The fact is, Universalists believe as much in 
 the necessity of the use of means to secure salva- 
 tion, as any other people. They regard faith and 
 repentance as indispensable to its attainment, and 
 as fully believe no man can be saved without their 
 exercise, as any persons possibly can. No men are 
 more thoroughly persuaded that no flesh can be 
 saved, nor a single soul exalted to heaven, with- 
 out the use of the appropriate means furnished by 
 divine grace — the use of religion and all its appli- 
 ances — the exercise of faith and repentance, the 
 fruit of religion, than are all serious and reflecting 
 Universalists. Were this not the case, why should 
 they erect churches at so great cost, and sometimes 
 sacrifice of time and means, maintain the preaching 
 of the word and all the ordinances of religion in 
 those churches, and endow and maintain Sabbath 
 Schools ? Their very doings, known and read of 
 all men, are proof enough, in the absence of all 
 other, that they so regard the matter. 
 
 I know, indeed, that men of shallow brains and 
 corrupt hearts may, and undoubtedly have perverted 
 and abused this doctrine, to its disgrace and scandal, 
 and their own destruction, as they have every other 
 good thing. But Universalists are not alone in being 
 cursed and scourged with such hangers-on, nor with 
 having a peculiarity of their faith held in unrigh- 
 teousness, or used for base and unworthy purposes, 
 as the writings and experience of all sects prove. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. • 99 
 
 The precise difference between those who hold to 
 a numerically limited, and those who believe in uni- 
 versal salvation, is, that these last believe, that the 
 means of salvation ordained of Heaven, shall be 
 universally efficient, while the former hold they 
 will be but partially so. In other words, Univer- 
 salists believe, that it is by all men being led to the 
 exercise of faith and repentance, through the influ- 
 ence of religion, the sanctification of their hearts 
 and lives, and the pardon obtained through Jesus 
 Christ, that all souls are to be saved and exalted to 
 everlasting blessedness. They hold that the means 
 which will redeem, save, and render eternally happy 
 one soul, will redeem, save, and render everlastingly 
 blessed all souls. 
 
 But was it, as some Universalists hold, that there 
 is no connexion between the present conduct of men 
 and their future condition, still religion would be of 
 great consequence to mankind. Even blot out the 
 idea of a future existence, and suppose this world 
 is the ultima thule, the utmost bound of human ex- 
 istence ; that the dissolution of the mortal body 
 is the utter and everlasting extinction of the en- 
 tire man, of the me, as the Transcendentalists 
 would say, and is religion of no value or impor- 
 tance to man ? However much such views may 
 lessen its value and importance, I maintain, it is 
 of immense value for the promotion of the present 
 interests and happiness of mankind, both in their 
 
100 universalist's assistant. 
 
 individual and social relations, in this world. To 
 maintain, that all the value and importance of reli- 
 gion consists in its affording the means of escape 
 from the flames of hell, is to degrade it quite as 
 much as to maintain, that it will exert no influence 
 extending beyond this short life, this preface, this 
 introduction to our being. The former converts 
 religion into a mere article of merchandize, while 
 the latter, if the worst is said of it that can be, 
 merely ascribes to it an influence much more lim- 
 ited than it really exerts. 
 
 Our view is neither the one nor the other of 
 these. I cannot regard religion, or the exercise of 
 faith and repentance, or the observance of its rites 
 and forms, a mere device to escape everlasting per- 
 dition. This is a low and unworthy view of its 
 nature and objects. Nor can I consider it as exert- 
 ing so narrow and limited an influence as some 
 imagine, although I should agree with them, as to 
 the nature, character and the objects of that influ- 
 ence, so far as they extend. But they confine them 
 within too narrow limits — limits which greatly di- 
 minish the necessity and importance of the exercise 
 of faith and repentance, and the observance of the 
 rites and forms of religion. My view is that all 
 these things contribute to the formation of character, 
 and that the character we form here will determine 
 our condition upon our entrance into the world of 
 spirits ; which condition can be changed only by a 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 101 
 
 change of the character. It is that ultimate result of 
 the habits of thought, feeling and action upon the 
 soul itself, which we call character, not the external 
 circumstances of the individual, that determines the 
 essential happiness or misery of every human being, 
 no matter where they are — whether in this world 
 or in the future. 
 
 SECTION X. UNIVERSALISM NOT NEEDED BY THE 
 
 TRUE CHRISTIAN. 
 
 " It cannot be concealed, and perhaps will not be denied, 
 that the primary motive which has led men to Universalism, 
 is the desire of removing from the minds of worldly or 
 wicked men, the dreadful apprehension of endless torments. 
 I say worldly and wicked men, for the true Christian does 
 not need this doctrine for his consolation. He is safe with- 
 out it."* 
 
 " The wicked and worldly" are a class of persons, 
 who concern themselves very little about any reli- 
 gious views whatever. All they suffer from fear, 
 arising out of any religious theories or doctrines, or 
 enjoy either, is exceedingly small indeed. Their 
 minds are too much absorbed in the outward and 
 material, in the gratification of their physical appe- 
 tites and passions, to think or care much about 
 
 * Tract 350, p. 7. Lee on Universalism, p. 298. 
 9* 
 
102 universalist's assistant. 
 
 doctrines or articles of belief, or even what may 
 await them hereafter. Such men are disturbed just 
 as little by the doctrine of endless misery, as they 
 are comforted by that of universal salvation. Gal- 
 lio like, they care for none of these things, neither 
 are they moved by them. This is manifest, from the 
 circumstance before stated,^ that the more wicked a 
 community is, the less does Universalism prevail ; 
 and also from the fact that all the most horrible 
 pirates and murderers that have disgraced and out- 
 raged humanity, and scourged human society, with 
 whose history I am acquainted, were born and 
 educated, and remained undoubting believers in end- 
 less misery, all their lives long, not doubting, when 
 at last they were brought upon the scaffold, that the 
 halter would as surely hasten their entrance into 
 heaven, on an equality with the holy apostles and 
 prophets, and the spirits of just men made perfect, 
 as it would their exit out of this world ; and this too, 
 while they had as little doubt, that myriads of their 
 race, who lead blameless and even useful lives, who 
 speak the language of kindness to their friends ; 
 who give useful instruction to their children, and 
 salutary advice to their neighbors ; who " have fed 
 the hungry, and clothed the naked, and attended, 
 with decency, the public worship of God,"t would 
 surely be eternally damned ! And the most melan- 
 
 *p. 63. 
 
 \ National Preach., Vol. iv., p. 222 ; No. for Aug:.. 1829 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 103 
 
 choly consideration of all is, that clergymen can be 
 found, who can and will stand on the scaffold, and 
 encourage them in such a delusion, and publish it to 
 the world, as they have ! What need have such 
 men of Universalism to save them from fear ? Pro- 
 vision is made for them in its opposite, in a far more 
 ample degree, than Universalism dares to promise. 
 Few of its preachers could be found, who would 
 stand upon the scaffold, beside a monster so defiled 
 with sin and crime, that the loathing earth would no 
 longer endure his presence, and encourage him to 
 think, however deep and sincere his repentance, that 
 the eternal world will open upon his soul with as 
 bright glories and as high enjojnnents, as upon that 
 of the martyred Stephen or the sainted John ; or tell 
 the motley crew, assembled to witness his execution, 
 that he so believed. Universalism has no such 
 comforts for those who have devoted their lives to 
 vice and crime, and the commission of the foulest 
 abominations, when about to be thrust out of the 
 world by the executioner's hand ; while it refuses 
 the hope of future bliss to those who lead virtuous, 
 good and useful lives, and at last, in a good old age, 
 close their earthly pilgrimage, in their own beds, 
 surrounded by their families and friends ! 
 
 And then, in regard to the statement that " the 
 true Christian does not need this doctrine for his 
 consolation," I do not know but it may be so. If it 
 is thus, I would like to know how many among the 
 
104 
 
 believers in endless misery would be found true 
 Christians, when brought to this test. What are the 
 facts ? Do we not on all hands hear the confession, 
 from those persons, that they are constantly haunted 
 with doubts and fears as to what may be their con- 
 dition in another world ; and do not much the larger 
 portion of the believers in this terrible doctrine, 
 rather yield themselves up to fate, with a vague and 
 indefinite hope that God will treat them kindly after 
 their bodies die, than have a firm and unwavering 
 faith in future bliss, that triumphs in the hour of 
 mortal dissolution ? If such is not the fact, how are 
 we to explain the circumstance, that it has come to be 
 a doctrine of these people, that doubts and fears con- 
 cerning our future prospects are an evidence of oui 
 piety ? Why are individuals told, as I know they 
 have been, that they have good reason to doubt the 
 genuineness of their piety, because such was the 
 strength of their faith, that they were not troubled 
 with doubts and fears V& 
 
 Beside, " true Christians" are not so superlatively 
 selfish, as to care nothing about the fate of others, if 
 so be, that they are safe themselves. Such persons 
 feel as deep an interest in the salvation of other 
 men, as they do in their own ; for they love their 
 
 * "But, lately, the very absence of doubt has caused me 
 to doubt ; for if I were a child of God, how should I be free 
 from those doubts which trouble his children?" Life of 
 Payson, p. 54, American Tract Soc. Ed. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 105 
 
 neighbor as themselves. No " true Christian" can 
 be satisfied with a hope merely for himself. He 
 wants a hope for others, to give him all the " conso- 
 lation " he needs ; yea, for everybody. When a true 
 Christian, who believes the doctrine u of endless tor- 
 ments," looks about upon his fellow-men, and sees 
 how many, even of his cherished friends, and may 
 be his own dearest children, there are, for whom he 
 can indulge no hope, according to his received faith, 
 what anxiety and fear seizes upon his mind, upon 
 their account, if not on his own ! What bitterness 
 of soul is caused to the purest and best of those 
 among the believers of this fearful doctrine, on ac- 
 count of the want of a hope, that will encircle in its 
 embrace all their kindred and friends ! Can it be 
 said then, in truth, of Universalism, that " the true 
 Christian does not want this doctrine for his con- 
 solation," although " he is safe without it ? " If he 
 is safe without it, others, and may be his best 
 friends, and his own children, are not. 
 
 The truth is, it is not the wicked and the worldly, 
 but the most serious minded, the purest and best men, 
 who suffer the most from the belief of the doctrine of 
 " eternal torments ;" and the more serious, thought- 
 ful, devout and tender-hearted he is ; or, in other 
 words, the more truly Christian his soul becomes, 
 the more will this awful idea harass and torment his 
 mind. 
 
106 universalist's assistant. 
 
 SECTION XI. TJNIVERSALISM PLEASING TO THE CAR- 
 NAL HEART. 
 
 The doctrine of universal salvation is calculated to 
 " please and gratify the desires of the natural heart." 
 
 The natural heart is a, heart that is as God made 
 it, before it has become Hardened and corrupted by- 
 error, passion and sin. That such a heart, all full 
 of benevolence and kindness, would be pleased with 
 the idea of the final return of all souls to God and 
 the enjoyments of heaven, I cannot doubt; nor do I 
 regard it as a very serious objection to any doctrine, 
 that it is agreeable to the desires of such a heart. I 
 know, indeed, all men are destitute of such hearts, 
 until their souls are renovated by the sanctifying 
 power of the gospel of Christ. Their minds may 
 perceive the beauty of this idea, in an unregenerate 
 state, while their hearts are estranged from God, and 
 under the perverting and stupefying power of sin ; 
 but they cannot feel how excellent it is, until they 
 have been converted and become like little children. 
 Then, when the individual looks about him, and 
 sees how much sin and misery there is in the world, 
 it is a delight to his heart to hope and believe, that 
 a time will come, when all this misery, and the sin 
 which is its cause, shall come to an end, and those 
 held in its slavery, brought into the glorious liberty 
 of the sons of God, and every heart attuned in har- 
 mony with the great Heart of the universe. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 107 
 
 I am aware, however, that this is not what is 
 meant by the phrase " natural heart" in the objection 
 under consideration. I know it is intended to con- 
 vey the same idea as the apostle does by the phrase 
 "carnal mind." What sort of a mind is this? 
 This can be determined the best from the works it 
 does, which we will let the same apostle describe. 
 " Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 
 idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, 
 wrath, strife, seditions, divisions, envyings, mur- 
 ders, drunkenness, re vilings, and suchlike."^ It 
 is the opposite of the spiritual mind, whose fruits 
 are " love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, 
 goodness, faith, meekness, temperance."! 
 
 Such, then, is the carnal mind. It is a mind 
 under the control of unworthy and corrupt principles 
 and feelings Does Universalism coincide with the 
 views and feelings of an individual in such a state 
 of mind? To answer this question there is no 
 necessity of going into any long process of reason- 
 ing. Universalism has already been defined, X and 
 in view of that definition, we may appeal directly to 
 facts. Does not the fact, that the more ignorant and 
 depraved any community is, the less Universalism 
 prevails,^ have a strong bearing upon this point? 
 Does not this circumstance go to prove, most conclu- 
 
 * Gal. 5 : 19—21. f Gal. 5 : 22, 23. 
 
 if pp. 8— 13. § See p. 63. 
 
108 universalist's assistant. 
 
 sively, that Universalism does not harmonize with 
 the desires and feelings of the carnal heart ? If it is 
 not so, how happens it, that the greatest success at- 
 tends the efforts to extend this doctrine, in the most 
 enlightened and virtuous communities, and the least, 
 yea that all efforts are nearly abortive, in communi- 
 ties of a different character ? 
 
 Beside this, go to the proud, the haughty, the 
 tyrannical, the malicious and the hating, and preach 
 Universalism to them ; tell them that God is as well 
 disposed toward those they despise, contemn, hate 
 and trample upon, and that Christ has done as much 
 for their salvation, and that they will be brought 
 down to a level, and perhaps thrust below these per- 
 sons, in the world to come, and will it please and 
 gratify their hearts? Go to an individual whose 
 soul is in a storm of passion, and preach to him that 
 the object of his rage is his brother, and destined to 
 the realms of everlasting blessedness, and will the 
 idea harmonize with the feelings of his heart ? Not 
 at all. The desire of his heart will be to hurl the 
 thunder-bolts of heaven at those with whom he is 
 offended. Hence, how often do we hear the remark, 
 " Were it not for such and such men, I should be a 
 Universalist ! There ought to be a hell for such 
 men ; and if they are going to heaven, I do not wish 
 to go there ! " When in fact the persons concern- 
 ing whom the remarks are made, are really better 
 men than the individual who makes them. Upon 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSHERED. 109 
 
 this point we might fairly turn the tables upon those 
 who believe the doctrine of endless misery. That 
 fearful doctrine perfectly harmonizes with the feel- 
 ings and wishes of a man burning with wrath and 
 vengeance. And hence, when an individual be- 
 comes angry with any one, he at once falls to curs- 
 ing and damning him to hell, or, in the language of 
 Rev. Mr. McClure, " They (Universalists) commonly 
 swear Orthodox oaths. Of this fact everybody is 
 aware. Let them get angry, and you hear nothing 
 but hell, and the devil, and damnation."^ 
 
 SECTION XII. A UNIVERSALIST MEETING IN A NEW 
 
 PLACE. 
 
 "Who are they that usually compose the audience of a 
 Universalist preacher ? Are they the most sober and intel- 
 ligent part of the community ? . . . . Are they not rather 
 those whom the Bible would designate as wicked, prayer- 
 less, impenitent, irreligious persons ; those who make a 
 mock of experimental religion, and habitually neglect the 
 duties of practical piety ? " f 
 
 If this is applied to the established congregations 
 of the Universalist denomination, a fouler and more 
 
 # Lectures on TJniversalism, Lecture 2, first Edition. In 
 his second edition he struck out this confession, so full of 
 truth, because so much to the discredit of his own theology, 
 and in honor of TJniversalism ; for it is an admission that a 
 Universalist cannot swear consistently with his faith. 
 
 t Tract 224, p. 54-5, and p. 7, et seq. 
 
 10 
 
no 
 
 malicious and slanderous libel could not be uttered, 
 than is implied in these questions, and the state- 
 ments to which they refer. For respectability, 
 intelligence, and virtue, their congregations will not 
 suffer, when compared with any of those professing 
 the doctrine of endless punishment. But if these 
 questions relate merely to the congregations which 
 come together \he first time a Universalist preacher 
 makes his appearance in a place, and particularly in 
 a large town, I am free to confess the implication 
 contains considerable truth, though not fully cor- 
 rect. And the question arises — Why is it so ? 
 How does it happen ? I do not hesitate to charge 
 it all upon the unrighteous representations made of 
 Universalism, by those who oppose it. This I will 
 now attempt to show. 
 
 In the first place, I remark negatively, that these 
 deists, profane swearers, neglecters of public wor- 
 ship, violators of the Sabbath, lewd, intemperate 
 and loose persons, who come together to listen to 
 the first promulgation of Universalism in a place, 
 cannot be influenced by the ideas of the doctrine, as 
 understood and promulgated by its believers, because 
 they have had no opportunity to become acquainted 
 with it, from this source. % Whence, then, did they 
 derive their notions about this doctrine, which they 
 construe into a justification of their vile and unprin- 
 cipled course of conduct ? There is but one source 
 from which they could possibly have derived their 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. Ill 
 
 notions of it, from the very circumstances of the 
 case, and that is, from its enemies, in the occasional 
 warnings against it, and the descriptions of its 
 dreadful character, from pulpits opposed to it, and 
 from tracts and books, written more for the purpose 
 of bringing odium upon, than confuting it. 
 
 Now, I maintain, that these shameless caricatures 
 of Universalism, are just what is calculated to please 
 and gratify the vilest of mankind ; to encourage 
 them to continue in their sins ; and lead them to 
 expect a Universalist meeting, to be a grand rally 
 of the kingdom of Satan. Just look at the way in 
 which it is represented. People are told that Uni- 
 versalists preach that the foulest whelp of sin, the 
 moment he dies, will go right into heaven, without 
 the slightest change of character, all reeking with 
 the pollutions of sin and iniquity, direct from the 
 filthiest and most abominable stews of the realm of 
 sin, to be the companions of holy apostles, and 
 prophets, and the spirits of just men made perfect; 
 that it will make no difference what men do, if they 
 only contrive to keep out of the hands of the civil 
 authority; and finally, that the sinner is just as 
 well off, if not much better, than the righteous. 
 And sometimes it is recommended to men, if they 
 believe Universalism, that they plunge into all 
 manner of sin ; that they run riot with iniquity, and 
 when tired of this dignified and worthy amusement, 
 to hasten their entrance into paradise, with the use 
 
112 universalist's assistant. 
 
 of the pistol, the halter, the water, or by poison in 
 some form. 
 
 What could be more pleasing to the vilest, most 
 shameless and debauched of mankind, whose hearts 
 are fully set upon doing evil, than such notions ? 
 and what more alarming to the friends of good order, 
 sobriety, morality and religion ? Such sentiments 
 most undoubtedly strengthen the hands of the 
 wicked, and make sad the hearts of the righteous. 
 Hence, in all places where little or nothing is 
 known of Universalism, except from its enemies, all 
 the most worthless and abandoned men in the com- 
 munity, swear they are Universalists ; and if an 
 appointment happens to be made in the place, they 
 are in ecstacies, fully anticipating, that they shall be 
 confirmed and strengthened in the unhallowed 
 views they have of Universalism, and thus be 
 encouraged in their course of rain and death. And 
 the minister, ignorant of the actual state of things, 
 may be instrumental, in some degree, of confirming 
 these impressions, by devoting all his energies to 
 proving the single point of universal salvation. 
 But who is responsible for all this mischief? J 
 answer, its enemies. 
 
 That such is the case, # is fully proved by the 
 fact, that if, in process of time, a Universalist min- 
 ister should be settled in that same place, where all 
 the dens of sin were filled with rejoicing at the 
 idea of having a Universalist meeting, these same 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 113 
 
 persons will soon change their tune, and instead of 
 being constant, punctual and zealous patrons, sup- 
 porters and attendants of the meetings, their zeal 
 will begin to cool ; they will begin to be only occa- 
 sional attendants, and finally abandon the meeting 
 altogether, muttering that it is not what they ex- 
 pected, or swearing outright, that " this Universalist 
 
 minister is worse than the Orthodox ! " 
 
 With these startling facts before us, I ask, who is 
 responsible for this temporary encouragement, given 
 to these miserable persons, in their course of sin and 
 iniquity, and which would have been permanent, 
 but for an opportunity being presented to the 
 believers of Universalism, to speak for themselves ? 
 Not its friends surely ; for as soon as they secured 
 a fair opportunity to be heard, these delusions were 
 soon dispelled. But it is chargeable entirely to its 
 enemies ; and this wretched delusion would have 
 remained upon the minds of these miserable sinners, 
 and they have derived encouragement from what 
 they supposed to be Universalism, until the light 
 of the eternal world dawned upon their souls, if its 
 friends and believers had not have secured the 
 opportunity of dissipating it. And this is undoubt- 
 edly the case, in multitudes of places, where the 
 enemies of Universalism hold undisturbed dominion. 
 Multitudes of persons are sent blindfold to per- 
 dition, from such places, by the misrepresentations 
 and caricatures of this doctrine. 
 10* 
 
114 universalist's assistant. 
 
 Could I reach the ears of those ministers, who 
 indulge in these misrepresentations of Universalism, 
 I would tell them, they are not only incurring the 
 guilt of slander, by pursuing such a course and 
 indulging in this kind of opposition ; but perverting 
 and corrupting public morals, by strengthening the 
 hands of the wicked, and giving them encourage- 
 ment and comfort in their sins. And I would beg 
 of them to entirely change the character of their 
 opposition, if not from the fear of God, from regard 
 to man and the morals of society. If they do not, 
 sure I am, that the light of eternity will make sad 
 revelations to their souls, and they will have a fear- 
 ful account to render, at the bar of the Almighty. 
 
115 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE ORIGINAL WORDS RENDERED EVERLASTING, 
 ETERNAL, ETC., CONSIDERED AS AN OBJEC- 
 TION TO UNIVERSALISM. 
 
 SECTION I. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 
 
 In this and the subsequent chapters, I shall exam- 
 ine the objection urged against Universalism, drawn 
 from the Scriptures, and founded upon the use of the 
 words rendered everlasting, eternal, etc., and those 
 translated hell, grave, etc., in our common version 
 of the Bible. It will be my aim not only to meet 
 the arguments, by which the popular interpretation 
 of them, is attempted to be sustained, but to show 
 affirmatively, the meaning we should attach to them, 
 as used in the Scriptures. 
 
 I am aware that this is a subject, which involves 
 much learned inquiry, and relates to languages with 
 which few of my readers are acquainted, or even the 
 alphabet of which they can read. These are very 
 serious obstacles in the way of making the subject 
 intelligible to common readers, and enabling them 
 to perceive the full force of all the arguments that 
 will be used. But I shall endeavor to keep the text 
 as free from Hebrew, Greek and Latin words, as the 
 
116 universalist's assistant. 
 
 nature of the subject will admit, and throw as many 
 of the quotations, I shall find it necessary to make, 
 in these languages, into notes in the margin, as pos- 
 sible, putting only the translation in the text. In 
 this way, I hope to free my remarks from much of 
 the obscurity, to common minds, which invariably 
 attaches to a discussion, when there is a frequent 
 recurrence of words in a foreign language. 
 
 My remarks will be confined to the original 
 words, rather than to the English rendering of them, 
 because the controversy is only in relation to those, 
 and the correctness of the English translation of 
 them. Had the Scriptures have been written at this 
 day, and in the English language, there could have 
 been no controversy in relation to the meaning of 
 those passages, where these terms occur ; for the 
 English words have a well defined and universally 
 admitted meaning. But it is not so with regard to 
 the original Scriptures. They were written in a re- 
 mote country and period of the world's history, amid 
 circumstances, scenery, manners, customs and habits 
 of thought, modes of expression, and in languages 
 widely different, in almost every respect, from our 
 own. Hence the necessity of philology and inter- 
 pretation, upon the correct use of which, the verity 
 and accuracy of all translations do and must depend, 
 as all scholars know full well. 
 
 I know, indeed, there is a disposition in a certain 
 class of minds, to regard all questions as to the cor- 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 117 
 
 rectness of the translation of any words or phrases, 
 in our common version of the Scriptures, as tamper- 
 ing with the Bible itself ; and I regret to say, that 
 too many may be found, who ought to know better, 
 if they do not, that are willing, and actually do allow 
 themselves to foster this prejudice. But it should 
 ever be borne in mind, by all persons, that all trans- 
 lations of the Scriptures, are but the fallible judg- 
 ment of fallible ??ien, as to the meaning of the 
 original ; and of course that their translation is the 
 legitimate subject of criticism. A translation of the 
 Scriptures has and can have, from the very nature 
 of things, no other authority than is imparted to it 
 by the abilities, attainments and character of the 
 translator or translators^ and their fitness for the 
 work. And the accuracy and fidelity of a transla- 
 tion can be determined, only by an actual compari- 
 son with the original, about the precise meaning of 
 which, in many instances, the most impartial, can- 
 did and thoroughly qualified may honestly diner. 
 
 The subjects I propose to discuss, in the following 
 pages, are those upon which much has been writ- 
 ten upon both sides ; and much which the authors 
 never thought of, as having a theological bearing, 
 but as mere matters of criticism. Hence it will not 
 be my aim, nor shall I pretend to present anything 
 particularly new or original, upon these subjects. I 
 shall aim only to collect, in as brief a space as pos- 
 sible, all the information I can command, in relation 
 
118 
 
 to them, and present the matter in my own way. 
 The only merit that will be claimed for this compi- 
 lation, for it will be little else, is diligence and 
 faithfulness in collecting the materials, and candor 
 and impartiality in presenting them. If this is 
 secured, I shall attain the height of my ambition, 
 and doubtless render a service to my fellow-Chris- 
 tians. With the hope that such may be the result, 
 the matter is presented to the consideration of all 
 candid and intelligent Christians. 
 
 SECTION II. ADMISSIONS 07 THOSE OPPOSED TO TJNI- 
 
 VERSALiSM. 
 
 It is admitted on all hands, that the words aibn 
 and aibnios* are " sometimes used to signify a lim- 
 ited duration."! This being the case, of course, 
 these terms cannot, of themselves, in all cases, 
 express an endless duration, nor, indeed, can they 
 
 * The first of these words, auov, is a noun, and the other, 
 aidjviog, is an adjective derived from auov. In this discus- 
 sion I shall consider these words together, as the same, 
 because they evidently bear the same general meaning, 
 from their near affinity to each other. In quoting texts, I 
 shall make no distinctions, in regard to these words, as a 
 general thing. I wish also here to state once for all, that 
 when it is necessary to use Greek or Hebrew words in the 
 text, I shall put them in English letters, and thus confine 
 Hebrew and Greek characters entirely to the notes. I do 
 this, that the subject may be the more intelligible to the 
 mere English reader. 
 
 t Tract 224 ? p. 16. 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 119 
 
 do this in any case, if this admission is correct. 
 This sense must be imparted to those terms from 
 the subject to which it is applied, or something in 
 connexion with it, if they bear this sense at all. 
 This seems to be a natural inference from the ad- 
 mission made. But it is not so regarded by the 
 objector. 
 
 Hence the following rule is laid down by which 
 to determine their meaning in such cases as the 
 admission is founded upon. " When the word 
 aibnios is applied to hills and mountains, as it 
 sometimes is in the Bible, we know, from the 
 nature of the case, that it has a limited meaning; 
 but when applied to things which in their nature 
 are capable of an endless duration, and there is 
 nothing in the connexion to limit its meaning, we 
 are bound to understand it in its unlimited sense. "^ 
 
 Although this rule is framed with an especial 
 reference to the case in hand, and quite as much to 
 favor the views of the objector as the facts in the 
 case will warrant, still it will be seen, after all, that 
 he is compelled to admit the principle Universalists 
 contend for, much as he has endeavored to cover it 
 up, by the unnecessary multiplication of words. 
 He admits that the extent of the duration expressed 
 by these terms, is to be determined in each individ- 
 ual case, by the subject to which they are applied 
 and the connexion in which they occur. Even in 
 
 * Tract 224, p. 17. 
 
120 universalist's assistant. 
 
 those cases where he would seem to pronounce, 
 a priori, that they express an endless duration, he 
 admits it may be necessary to examine " the con- 
 nexion" before the matter can fairly be put to rest, 
 or authoritatively determined. 
 
 Thus, while the objector would seem to deny the 
 position claimed by the Universalist, he, in effect, 
 admits it ; and this admission is all that is needed 
 to make out his case, so far as these terms are 
 applied to punishment. For with this admission, 
 upon all fair logical principles, he has a right to 
 assume, that these terms express only a limited 
 duration, when applied to punishment, until it is 
 shown, that there is something in the nature of 
 punishment, or in the connexions where they are 
 used, which make it necessary that they should be 
 taken in the sense of endless. This is the affirma- 
 tive position, which is always the side to be proved. 
 It is always illogical and unfair to require any one 
 to prove a negative, though it sometimes becomes 
 necessary. 
 
 Thus it will be seen, that the whole matter of 
 the duration of punishment, so far as these words 
 are concerned, might be safely rested upon these 
 admissions. But there are other arguments by 
 which it is attempted to fix upon these terms, the 
 sense of " absolute eternity." Many of these are 
 exceedingly plausible to a mere English reader, 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 121 
 
 and those who have never gone into a thorough 
 investigation of the matter, and they will now claim 
 our serious and deliberate attention and consid- 
 eration. 
 
 SECTION III. THE ARGUMENTS, BY WHICH IT IS AT- 
 TEMPTED TO FIX UPON THE TERMS AION AND 
 AIONIOS THE SENSE OF ENDLESS DURATION, CON- 
 SIDERED, 
 
 " 1. These terms do, in their original and proper sense, 
 denote duration without end. This is evident from their 
 derivation; being formed of the two Greek words, aei and 
 on ; which properly signify always existing." * 
 
 Now the truth is, there is no such agreement 
 among grammarians and lexicographers, in regard 
 to the derivation of these terms, as the above state- 
 ment implies ; for beside the derivation there named, 
 two others have been suggested, if not maintained. 
 Sir. Goodwin, a ripe and accurate scholar, says, " It 
 is not necessary to form axon by a composition of 
 aei and on. It may arise much more naturally and 
 more in the common order of things, from the verb 
 aio.i It need only be its present active participle 
 converted into a substantive, according to a common 
 usage of the Greek language." t " Its proper force, 
 
 * Tract 224, pp' 16, 17. f *'*»■ 
 
 $ Christian Examiner, No. for March, 1831, Art. 4, p. 42, 
 
 11 
 
122 universalist's assistant. 
 
 in reference to duration, seems to be more that of 
 uninterrupted duration than otherwise ; a term of 
 which the duration is continuous, so long as it lasts, 
 but which may be completed and finished ; as age, 
 dispensation, smculum, in a general sense." * It 
 has been suggested from another source, though 
 not one entitled to so much reliance, that it is 
 " derived from aia,\ a poetical word meaning the 
 earth or world, and on X as a participle of eimi$ to 
 exist." II Even Prof. Stuart admits these terms 
 have a " meaning sometimes attached" to them, 
 which plainly shows them to have been derived 
 from aio,% which he very summarily pronounces 
 "a mistaken derivation." ^ But were it com- 
 pounded as the objector maintains, the inference he 
 draws, is by no means a necessary inference ; for 
 then " the original root is the verb #5, ft which 
 signifies to breathe" 14 Beside, the sense of words 
 depends more upon usage than upon their deriva- 
 tion ; for this often gives a meaning to words, 
 which bears not the slightest affinity to what might 
 be expected, from the derivation.^ 
 
 * Christian Examiner, No. for March, 1831, p. 42. 
 
 fata. I on'. §tfyti; || James Hall. % iit*. 
 
 ## Exegetical Essays, p. 15. Also a reply, in Christian 
 Examiner, for March, 1831, p. 31, et seq. 
 
 ft a ■•'. tt Christian Examiner, No. for March, 1831, p. 43. 
 
 <j§ " Etymology is not conclusive evidence of the meaning 
 
 of words It does not afford that positive evidence, 
 
 which would justify us in affirming with certainty, this or 
 that to have been the indisputable meaning of any particu- 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 123 
 
 " 2. Christ and his apostles, if they meant to be under- 
 stood, must have used the terms in question, according to 
 their known and established signification at the time they 
 spoke and wrote. Now Josephus informs lis, that the Jews 
 of our Saviour's time, especially the Essenes and the 
 Pharisees, the two leading sects among them, held the doc- 
 trine of the endless punishment of the wicked."* 
 
 That these two leading sects among the Jews 
 believed the doctrine of eternal punishment, must 
 be admitted by all who have given any attention to 
 the subject. It will also be admitted, by all candid 
 and fair-minded men, that Christ and his apostles 
 " must have used the terms in question, according 
 to their known and established signification, at the 
 time," if they wished to be understood. And the 
 very point to be settled is, whether they used these 
 terms to express an endless duration, and applied 
 them to the future punishment of the wicked. If 
 there is any evidence to prove this point, it yet 
 remains to be adduced. 
 
 lar term. Words change their meaning; oftentimes so 
 much in the course of a few generations, that the etymo- 
 logical sense of a term may have been the true one among 
 writers of one age, while among those a century or two 
 later, it may sustain a very different import. After etymol- 
 ogy has borne its witness, we must next appeal to those 
 other evidences in the case, which are more important and 
 more decisive than this." Christ. Examiner, No. for March, 
 1831, p. 44. 
 
 " Nouns derived from verbs, and verbs from nouns, do, 
 by usage, often acquire a sense entirely diverse from what 
 their etymology would indicate. TJsus et jus et norma 
 loquen&iP Stuart's Exeget. Ess., Appendix, p. 155. 
 
 * Tract 224, p. 17. 
 
124 universalist's assistant. 
 
 So far as I have the means of learning the facts, 
 they go to establish the directly opposite position. 
 It is said of Philo, an Egyptian Jew of the time of 
 Christ, and a believer in endless misery — " His 
 favorite epithet for eternal, or endless, is aidios ; ^ 
 which, with some other words signifying immortal, 
 interminable, etc., he applies to future misery. So 
 far as we have observed, aionios is never so ap- 
 plied."! Josephus, in describing the doctrine of the 
 Pharisees, says — They believed " the souls of the 
 bad are allotted, aidios ergmos,X to an eternal prison, 
 and punished with aidios timoria, eternal retribu- 
 tion" In describing the doctrine of the Essenes, 
 Josephus says, they believed " the souls of the bad 
 are sent to a dark and tempestuous cavern, full of 
 adialeiptos timoria,^ incessant punishment " II 
 
 Now this is a very different phraseology from 
 that adopted by Christ and his apostles, in reference 
 to the punishment of the wicked. Not an instance 
 can be pointed out in the New Testament, where 
 they adopt any such phraseology, or anything 
 kindred to it. The Saviour, in speaking of the 
 punishment of the wicked, uniformly adopts the 
 phrases, kolasin aionion,^ or aibniou krisebs,** 
 " eternal punishment," or " eternal damnation," as 
 
 # aidio$ . f Universalist Expositor, Vol. 3, p. 446. 
 
 if ai'diog tiQyubc. § adialsmTOQ r^iujQia. 
 
 f| Universalist Expositor, Vol. 3, p. 437. 
 If xolaoir aicbviov, Matt. 25 : 46. 
 ** aiwriov XQtOtwg, Mark 3 : 29. 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 125 
 
 translated in our common version. Thus it will be 
 seen, that Jewish writers of the time of our Saviour, 
 in describing the duration of the punishment of the 
 wicked, which they believed to be endless, used 
 very different phraseology from him, to describe it, 
 so far as single terms are concerned, to say nothing 
 of their amplification of the idea, and the collateral 
 associations. They call punishment, aidios, or 
 adialeiptos timbria,* while the Saviour calls it 
 aibnios krisis, or kolasis aibnios, and the apostles, 
 olethros amnios, everlasting destruction^ and puros 
 aibnios, eternal fire. X 
 
 Hence, in speaking upon this subject, in refer- 
 ence to the Jews, both of Egypt and Palestine, it 
 has been said — " It is important to observe, that in 
 neither country do we find- it connected with the 
 peculiar representations, or expressed in the peculiar 
 
 # In addition to what is in the text relative to Jewish 
 phraseology, I have been furnished with the following by 
 Rev. H. Ballou, 2d, D. D. " Philo applied words to punish- 
 ment which mean immortal, interminable. These words are 
 aduvaroq and areXsvTijroc. At least, I find in his Tract De 
 Prcemiis and Poenis, Tom. ii., pp. 419, 420, of Mangey's 
 Edition, the following sentence concerning the wicked ; — 
 tijv ajTo$v)' i ay.ovTct ctsi, xal tqottov lira SavaTov adurarov 
 rx.ousirwv kdl aTsXsvnjrov, to live always dying, and to undergo 
 
 as it were an immortal and interminable death He 
 
 sometimes uses aiwvioc in a temporal sense ; and once at 
 least aiwvios xoXaaiq for the injury which an offended 
 neighbor will pursue us with, if we incur his hatred. Frag- 
 menta, Tom. ii., p. 667." 
 
 f 2 Thess. 1 : 9. oXs&oov aluviov. 
 
 % Jllde 7. nvQoc ctiuiviov* 
 
126 universalist's assistant. 
 
 phraseology, which distinguishes the controverted 
 texts in the New Testament. With many of these 
 passages, it has no coincidence ; so that it would 
 not be suggested by their language. On the con- 
 trary, we have seen, in a former period, that the 
 larger part of the expressions in question were then 
 habitually applied by the Jews, to the judgments 
 and afflictions of this world. What we have said 
 
 of Philo, may be repeated of Josephus 
 
 Aidios is the word which he commonly uses for 
 eternal. Aibnios frequently occurs ; and he gen- 
 erally applies it to the affairs of the present life. 
 Thus, he speaks of the everlasting* name which 
 the patriarchs left behind them , of the everlasting 
 glory of the Jewish nation and heroes ; of the ever- 
 lasting reputation of Herod; of the everlasting 
 memorial which he erected ; of the everlasting wor- 
 ship in the temple of Jerusalem ; of the everlasting 
 imprisonment to which John, the tyrant, was con- 
 demned by the Romans, etc."t 
 
 Thus it will be seen, that Christ and his apostles 
 have not used the current phraseology of their time, 
 in reference to the duration of punishment, if we 
 are to regard the writings of their cotemporaries as 
 any evidence in the case. On the other hand, they 
 have adopted terms to express its duration, which 
 their cotemporaries, in common with the Old Tes- 
 tament Scriptures, commonly applied to earthly 
 
 * almviog. t Universalist Expositor, Vol. 3, p. 440. 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 127 
 
 glory, the punishment which men inflict upon each 
 other, and things of a temporal character. What 
 is the natural and obvious inference from these 
 facts, if they are to be regarded as evidence in the 
 case, anyway ? Is it not plainly, that Christ and 
 his apostles could not have entertained the com- 
 monly received views upon this subject ? If they 
 had, is it supposable that they would have neg- 
 lected to have used the commonly received phrase- 
 ology in relation to it, and adopted that which, as 
 commonly used by their cotemporaries and their 
 Scriptures, was calculated to convey a very different 
 idea, as they have ? No one can question this ; for 
 it would be to impeach their ingenuousness, if not 
 their honesty. 
 
 " 3. In the Bible, the word aionios is applied to the future 
 happiness of the righteous, and the future misery of the 
 wicked in the same connexion."* 
 
 There is but one example of this, in the whole 
 Bible, and that is the following — " These shall go 
 away into everlasting punishment, but the righte- 
 ous into life eternal ."t And in this case, the objec- 
 tor assumes for an undisputed truth, what certainly 
 needs to be proved ; viz., that this text is used with 
 an exclusive reference to the condition of men in 
 the future world. This is denied, and the proof 
 demanded. It is denied that it is intended to de- 
 scribe merely and solely the duration of the life of 
 
 * Traot 224, p. 18. t Matt. 25 : 46. 
 
128 universalist's assistant. 
 
 the righteous, or the punishment of the wicked, in 
 the world of spirits alone, I believe it relates just 
 as truly to the righteous and the wicked in this 
 world, as in the next, and to those in the world to 
 come, as to those in this present ivorld. I believe 
 the design of this text is, to describe the general 
 principles by which the Divine government is regu- 
 lated, in its dealings with mankind ; and that what 
 is meant to be expressed by it is, that it is an 
 immutable law of God's government, that there is 
 an inseparable connexion between goodness and 
 happiness, and wickedness and misery. If this be 
 a law of the moral government of God, it must 
 prevail wherever this government is established. If 
 it is said, this text does not unequivocally say this ; 
 I reply, neither does this text or its context unequiv- 
 ocally affirm the contrary, nor indeed, to our mind 
 at least, imply anything of this kind. In defence 
 of the view just expressed, it may be remarked ; 
 
 1. That the word life, as applied to the righte- 
 ous in the New Testament, and in this text among 
 the rest, cannot mean mere existence, because the 
 bad as well as the good possess this in the future, 
 as well as the present world ; for there is to be a 
 resurrection* both of the just and the unjust.t It 
 
 # avaOTctoiv fusZlstv toso&ai vsxqrov, will be a future life of 
 the dead. Dr. Campbell's Note on Matt. 22 : 23. Also, 
 Prel. Diss. D. 6., p. 2, § 19. f Ac *s 24 : 15. 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 129 
 
 must refer to the moral condition of the individual ; 
 to the state of his mind and heart, as a source of 
 happiness or enjoyment. But this peculiar some- 
 thing which the righteous possess, is not possessed by 
 the bad, as we read — " He that believeth on the Son 
 hath everlasting life ; and he that believeth not the 
 Son shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth 
 on him."^ Thus it is seen, that the term aionios 
 is used to describe this life, this state of the mind 
 and heart in a good man. Does it, or can it, in 
 such a connexion, mean an endless duration ? 
 
 The answer to this question must depend upon 
 the answer to another question ; viz., On what does 
 the perpetuity of this state of the mind and heart, 
 or the happiness flowing therefrom, depend ? Does 
 it depend upon the nature of the life, or upon cer- 
 tain contingent circumstances ? I think all persons 
 who will reflect upon the subject a few moments, 
 must see, that its perpetuity depends entirely upon 
 one circumstance ; viz., whether the individual con- 
 tinues without end, to sustain the character which 
 is the cause of this life or enjoyment. To make 
 my idea more plain, I will suppose a case. 
 
 Here is a man who is intemperate, profane, 
 ungodly. In the providence of God, he is awak- 
 ened to a becoming sense of his guilty and lost 
 condition. He becomes a penitent, reforms of his 
 vicious practices, and enters upon a life of piety 
 
 * John 3: 36. 
 
130 universalist's assistant. 
 
 and virtue. He becomes a true believer ; an entire 
 change is effected in his character ; and the whcle 
 current of his thoughts and feelings takes a new 
 direction, and he lives with new aims and purposes. 
 He becomes " a new creature ;" " old things have 
 passed away," and " all things become new."* 
 In consequence, he enters into everlasting life ; for 
 " he that belie veth on the Son hath everlasting 
 life;" he " is passed from death unto life."t Such 
 is his state and condition when he becomes a 
 believer, no matter whether that be early or late, or 
 where he is. Now how long will he remain in this 
 state ? How long will this life last, in his soul ? 
 Without end? Nay, we cannot affirm this uncon- 
 ditionally. It will be so if he continues to sustain 
 the character which gives birth to it in his soul, 
 without end. Hence the true answer to this ques- 
 tion is — He will remain in this state and condition, 
 just so long as he continues to maintain this char- 
 acter, and no longer. If, as has too often been the 
 case, he falls and again becomes a profane, intem- 
 perate, and ungodly man, where is this life then ? 
 Does it still exist in his soul ? Does he still possess 
 that peace of soul which passeth all understanding ? 
 Most certainly not. His life, as a believer, has 
 come to an end, and he is again in that state of 
 mind and heart, which is denominated, in the Scrip- 
 tures, u the gall of bitterness, and the bonds of 
 
 * 2 Cor. 5 : 17. f John 5 : 24. 1 John 3 : H. 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 131 
 
 iniquity," death, damnation, etc. — terms indicative 
 not only of an absence of enjoyment, but a state of 
 positive and continuous suffering.^ 
 
 Such being the state of the case, it is manifest, 
 that the duration of this life depends, not upon its 
 nature, but upon the contingent circumstance, 
 whether the individual remains permanently in 
 that moral and religious condition of mind' and 
 heart, which gives birth to it in his soul. This is 
 just as true of the future as of the present state ; 
 for men can no more be happy in the future world 
 without being good, than they can in the present. 
 This being the case, no term meaning a strictly 
 endless duration could properly be connected with 
 the word life, when used in the sense it is in the 
 text under consideration. 
 
 2. This view of the matter may be further con- 
 firmed and established by the fact, that everywhere 
 in the Scriptures, men are represented as being 
 eligible to the enjoyments of this life, at the time 
 when and the place where they become believers. 
 And as men may become believers in this world, 
 they may possess this life here. Hence we read — 
 " He that heareth my word, and belie veth on him 
 that sent me, hath everlasting life ; and shall not 
 come into condemnation ; but is passed from death 
 unto life."t The phrase everlasting life, and the 
 single term life, as used in this text, cannot refer' 
 
 * Ezek. 18 : I, 32. t John 5 : 24. 
 
132 universalist's assistant. 
 
 exclusively to another state, unless men can become 
 believers only in the future world ; for men are to 
 come into the possession of it, or pass into it when 
 they become believers, and as a consequence of 
 their believing. 
 
 With these facts before them, what intelligent 
 and reflecting mind can regard the phrase everlast- 
 ing life as referring exclusively to men's condition 
 in the world of spirits only ? Surely such persons 
 must see, that it applies to men's state and condition 
 in this life, just as truly as in the next. So also 
 they must see, in view of what has been said, that 
 the use of aionios in connexion with the term life, 
 is no proof of the endless continuance of that life, 
 in any individual's soul ; because the duration of it 
 depends upon the permanency of the cause, or the 
 duration of his goodness. The fact of a man's 
 being in the enjoyment of this life to-day, is no 
 evidence, though a presumption in favor of such an 
 expectation, that he will be in its enjoyment to-mor- 
 row ; because we do not know but that to-morrow 
 he will abandon his integrity and virtue, and plunge 
 into sin, and so become involved in condemnation 
 and death. In other words, we cannot invest that 
 with the character of a positive certainty, which 
 from its very nature is contingent. 
 
 Such being the state of the case in regard to the 
 use of the term aionios in connexion with the life 
 of the righteous, I ask in the language of the ob- 
 jector — " Is it credible, that the inspired writers 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 133 
 
 should use the same word, in the same sentence, 
 and in reference to the same general subject, in 
 totally different senses ?"* This will hardly be 
 pretended ; and of course this term, when applied 
 to the punishment of the wicked, affords just as 
 little evidence of its endless continuance, as it does 
 when applied to the life of the righteous. Both 
 rest precisely upon the same footing, and in neither 
 case, does this term afford the slightest evidence as 
 to their duration, whether it be longer or shorter. 
 This is a contingent matter. 
 
 " 4. The term aimiios is uniformly used in the Scriptures, 
 to denote the longest possible duration of which the subject 
 to which they are applied, is capable."! 
 
 That this statement is entirely incorrect, only a 
 few instances need be cited from the Scriptures, to 
 demonstrate. These I will present in the language 
 of another. " The land of Canaan is often said to 
 be given to the seed of Abraham for an " everlast- 
 ing possession ; yet that everlasting possession 
 ceased ages ago, notwithstanding both the subjects, 
 viz., the land itself, and the descendants of Abra- 
 ham, were capable of a much longer duration ;" as 
 
 # Tract 224, p. 18. From what has been said, we infer, 
 that the mere use of the word aiconog in Matt. 25 : 46, 
 does not necessarily imply the positive eternity, either of 
 the happiness of the good, or the misery of the wicked, 
 after judgment." — Chris. Exam., Vol. 5, p. 446, No. for Nov. 
 and Dec. 1828. 
 
 f Tract 224, p. 18. 
 12 
 
134 UNIVERSALIST ? S ASSISTANT. 
 
 we happen to know, from their having actually en- 
 dured to the present time. So likewise, when 
 Jonah remained in the depths of the sea, though it 
 was only for three days and three nights, he says, 
 " the earth with her bars was about me forever." 
 Here the term forever denotes about seventy hours ; 
 though the subjects to which it was applied, viz , 
 the earth and Jonah, had a much longer duration."^ 
 Other instances might be produced, going to show 
 the utter falsity of the declaration under considera- 
 tion ; but it is quite unnecessary, as those already 
 presented, demonstrate its incorrectness, and over- 
 turn this position, designed to show that the term 
 aionios, " when* applied to things in a future world, 
 to the rewards of the righteous and the punishment 
 of the wicked, must denote absolute eternity."! 
 
 In addition to all this, to confirm the meaning of 
 " absolute eternity," attempted to be fixed upon the 
 term aibnios in certain connexions, an appeal is 
 sometimes made to the New Testament usage. 
 Upon this issue the whole might be safely rested ; 
 for take Prof. Stuart's enumeration and classifica- 
 tion of the passages where this term is used, and 
 usage is entirely against the sense of " absolute 
 eternity." He says, " It appears from the above 
 representation, that there are sixty-six cases in 
 
 * Letters to Dr. Hawes, p. 33. 
 f Tract 224, p. 18. 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 135 
 
 which aibnios is employed in the New Testament. 
 Of these fifty-one are used in relation to the happi- 
 ness of the righteous ; two, in relation to God or his 
 glory ; six are of a miscellaneous nature ; and seven 
 relate to the subject of future punishment."^ Now, 
 bearing in mind the fact, that it has been already 
 shown,! that the term cannot mean " absolute 
 eternity," when applied to the happiness of the 
 righteous, from the very nature of the subject, which 
 way does usage look, with the above enumeration 
 and classification before us ? Fifty-one, out of the 
 sixty-six cases, are at once referred to the class 
 meaning an indefinite duration ; and then the seven 
 relating to the punishment of the wicked, must be 
 placed in the same category, leaving only eight to 
 bear the sense of endless, if the whole are given up, 
 which no one will claim, who has any acquaintance 
 with the subject. This surely is not making opt 
 much of a case in favor of " absolute eternity," as 
 the sense of aibnios, on the score of usage. 
 
 Such is my reply to the arguments by which the 
 sense of " absolute eternity" is attempted to be fixed 
 upon the terms aibn and aibnios — for what is true 
 of one is true also of the other. X Of the sufficiency 
 of the reply that has been given, the reader must 
 
 *Exegetical Essays, p. 46. f See pp. 123—127. 
 
 % The only exception to this remark is, that at6>v is used 
 much more frequently (112 times, if I have counted cor- 
 rectly) in the New Testament, than aicbvios. 
 
136 universalist's assistant. 
 
 judge. It is laid before him as an impartial juror, 
 to determine the matter in the fear of God. 
 
 SECTION IV. ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS TO SHOW 
 
 THE TERMS AION AND AMNIOS DO NOT MEAN 
 " AESOLUTE ETERNITY.' 
 
 In the preceding sections many facts have been 
 stated to meet the arguments therein noticed, de- 
 signed to fix upon these terms the sense of endless 
 duration. But there are many more facts and con- 
 siderations bearing upon the same point, which could 
 not properly be arranged uuder any of the divisions 
 of those sections. These I now propose to gather 
 up and present to the reader. 
 
 1. Statements of Lexicons. 
 Modern lexicons need not be appealed to, as they 
 all agree in assigning endless or eternity as one of 
 the meanings of these terms. Mr. Goodwin^ says, 
 
 # I wish to say, in this place, that I am greatly indebted 
 to the labors of this most laborious student and thorough 
 scholar for very many of the facts and suggestions contained 
 in this chapter ; and any one who may wish to see the ex- 
 hibition of facts upon which the statements quoted from him, 
 are founded, is referred to a series of articles published in 
 the Christian Examiner, commencing in the No. for Nov. 
 and Dec, 1828, and ending in the No. for May, 1833. In 
 relation to these articles, I think all who will carefully study 
 them, will say with the editors of that paper : — " We ac- 
 knowledge ourselves indebted to them for much information, 
 and are convinced that their author has thrown a light upon 
 the words in question, which will hereafter be gratefully ac- 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 137 
 
 " Hesychius, a lexicographer of either the fourth or 
 sixth century, is the oldest to which I have had ac- 
 cess. His definition of aibn is very short, and 
 makes no allusion whatever to any sense of eternity 
 in this word." " I next appeal to Pharoninus, a 
 lexicographer of the sixteenth century. . . . His 
 authority, I trust, will be admitted as good, for it is 
 very frequently quoted by the later writers, as that 
 in which they place confidence. He gives a descrip- 
 tion of the meanings of aion at great length. I 
 make the following extract. "Aion is life, femi- 
 ninely. Homer, " thyself shall be dispoiled of dear 
 existence; from ab,^ to breathe ; and the spirit is 
 breath. . . . and we, also, call the inspiring the 
 
 living aion is, also, the eternal and endless, 
 
 as it seems to the theologian."! Here, I strongly 
 suspect, is the true secret brought to light, of the 
 origin of the sense of eternity in aibn. The theolo- 
 gian first thought he perceived it, or else he placed 
 it there. And the theologian will probably retain 
 it there longer than any one else. Hence it is, that 
 
 1 knowledged by those who shall seek to discover their mean- 
 ing, and which cannot excusably be disregarded by any bibli- 
 cal student.*' An important service would be rendered the 
 Universalist ministry, if these articles should be issued in a 
 book, edited by some competent person. Its value might be 
 . increased by extending the inquiry still farther. 
 
 # UO). 
 
 f u AlvtV) >/ lojij ^tjXvy.ojg. Outjoog, Avrog Si (fl^rjc aitovog 
 
 autodslg. Tlaoa to ubiv tivUiv. y.at ar^ia, to nvevpa 
 
 xal HiTirovv dt rov lowto. ipa^ilv . . . aicor. y.al 6 a'idiog y.ai «T«- 
 ksvrtjroc } iog Tut QzoXoyai doxti." 
 
 ' 12* ' 
 
138 UNIVERSALIST'S ASSISTANT. 
 
 those lexicographers who assign eternity as one of 
 the meanings of aion, uniformly appeal for proofs to 
 either theological, Hebrew, or Rabbinical Greek, or 
 some species of Greek subsequent to the age of the 
 Seventy, if not subsequent to the age of the Apostles, 
 so far as I can ascertain. I do not know of an in- 
 stance, in which any lexicographer has produced 
 the usage of ancient classical Greek, in evidence 
 that axon means eternity. I do not believe he could 
 find a case to this purpose there. "^ 
 
 2. Classical usage. 
 Mr. Goodwin says, in regard to the sense of 
 eternity in aion, " Ancient classical Greek rejects it 
 altogether. "t " In the Iliad and Odyssey, awn oc- 
 curs thirteen times only as a noun."t " I notice in 
 Hesiod only two instances of aion."§ " This is 
 certain ; — mean what it may, aion in Homer and 
 Hesiod never means eternity ."§ It may here be 
 remarked, that these are two of the oldest Greek 
 writings in existence. Their authors lived near a 
 thousand years before the commencement of our 
 era. " In iEschylus I notice nineteen instances of 
 aion."§ " I believe no one will suspect that 
 iEschylus ever imagined a sense of eternity to be- 
 long to aion.^W He lived and wrote about 500 
 years before Christ. " In Pindar's Odes, not in- 
 
 * Christ. Exam. No. for March, 1831, pp. 46— 4S. 
 
 t Do., p. 48. t Do., p. 53. § Do., p. 56. || Do. p. 59. 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 139 
 
 eluding the Fragments, I notice thirteen instances 
 of aibn."* He lived and wrote about 495 B. C. 
 " In Sophocles I notice nine instances of aion."t 
 "•Among the examined works of Aristotle, aibn oc- 
 curs five times in the treatise de Mundo, twice in 
 the fourteen books of Metaphysics ■, and five times in 
 the treatise de Ccdo" These twelve are the only- 
 instances in the examined works. "$ " It will be 
 observed, that in every instance, there is a sense of 
 secrecy of the nature and indefiniteness of the dura- 
 tion of the existence expressed by this word, but in 
 no case a sense of positive eternity "§ " He con- 
 siders aibn to signify, in strict propriety, a thing com- 
 pleted, so as to be permanent, or enduring as long as 
 its nature admits. He means to say, that a thing 
 completed according to its nature, is called aibn an 
 existence, on account of its existing permanently or 
 enduringly ; the period of its permanency, or endur- 
 ing, being conformed to its nature."ll " As certainly 
 as human life is not eternal, so certainly aibn 
 did not contain the meaning of eternity. "IT " In 
 Euripides, I notice thirty-two instances of aibn, 
 either separate or in composition."^^ I have been 
 thus particular in these statements, that the reader 
 may see the extent to which the examination has 
 been carried, and the grounds upon which the 
 
 * Christ. Exam., No. for March, 1831, p. 59. }T)o., p. 61. 
 (Do., No. for May, 1831, p. 167. § Do., p. 170. 
 || Do., p. 174. If Do., p. 177. * * Do., p. 179. 
 
140 universalist's assistant. ' 
 
 following conclusion is based. " The instances pro- 
 duced show plainly, that aibn, in these writers, never 
 express positive eternity ; in some few cases it may 
 signify a term of duration ; but more commonly, it 
 expresses either simply existence, or the person 
 existing ; and in many cases, the vital principle, or 
 life, or the living spirit itself."^ 
 
 This author also adds : " I have said nothing con- 
 cerning the adjective aibnios, for the single reason, 
 that it does not occur in any instance in any of the 
 Greek works within the present examination. Did 
 I not know that it is to be found in Plato, I should 
 be almost ready to believe that it did not exist in 
 ancient Greek at all. I have had no opportunity to 
 consult the works of Plato to any extent, and can 
 therefore say nothing of the frequency or infrequency, 
 with which this adjective occurs therein. But I 
 will venture the present opinion, that aibnios was 
 coined by the early translators of the Pentateuch, as 
 a proper representative of the adjective olami, and 
 is entirely of Hebrew-Greek origin. ... In the 
 entire absence of aibnios from ancient Greek, within 
 the present examination, it will not be thought un- 
 justifiable to entertain the above opinion as to its 
 origin, until further examination shall prove the 
 opposite ;t and it must be presumed, that it follows 
 
 * Christ. Exam., No. for May, 1831, p. 184. f fcVte 
 
 X A further examination of Plato by this author only con- 
 firmed this conclusion, as may be seen in the work so often 
 named, Nos. for March and May, 1832, pp. 99—105. 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 141 
 
 the general track of aion, in its meanings and 
 shades of meanings, with the exception of those 
 meanings of a noun, which cannot be imparted to 
 an adjective, and those which it is known this noun 
 never did impart to this adjective."^ Thus much in 
 regard to classical usage, and the inference to be 
 drawn from it. 
 
 3. Scripture usage. 
 
 The scriptures are written in two different lan- 
 guages, the Hebrew and the Greek ; but we have 
 the whole Bible in Greek ; the Old Testament being 
 a translation made, about 286 years before Christ,! 
 by a number of learned men in Alexandria in 
 Egypt. t This is called the Septuagint version. I 
 shall confine the examples to the Greek, because 
 it is agreed on all hands, that the Greek words aibn 
 and aibnios correspond entirely to the Hebrew olam, 
 in sense, which " expression is never used in the 
 Old Testament to denote an absolute eternity. "§ 
 
 In order that the matter may be presented to the 
 mere English reader in the more striking light, and 
 
 * Christ. Exam., No. for May, 1831, pp. 186—7. 
 
 t This is probably the date only of the translation of the 
 Pentateuch, while the translation of the remaining portion 
 of the Old Testament was made by diiferent individuals, at 
 different and later times. Jahn's Introduction to the 0. T., 
 p. 52, Andover, 1827. 
 
 $ Home's Intro., Vol. 2., p. 163., et seq. 
 
 § Noyes' Translation of the Heb. Prophets, Note on 
 Micah 5 : 2. 
 
142 universalist's assistant. 
 
 enable him the more clearly to perceive the absurdity 
 of maintaining that these terms properly denote 
 "absolute eternity," I will translate them by the 
 words eternity and eternal. "When a translation 
 of axon and aibnios, they will be put in small 
 capitals ; and to prevent, as much as possible, the 
 introduction of Greek words into the text, the trans- 
 lation only will be given, and when there is a 
 variation in the phraseology, the Greek will be given 
 in the margin. 
 
 1. In the following instances these terms are 
 used in reference to things which have already 
 come to an end. " I will give unto thee, and thy 
 seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, 
 all the land of Canaan,ybr an eternal possession."* 
 " And thou shait anoint them as thou didst their 
 father, that they may minister unto me in the 
 priest's office ; for their anointing shall surely be a 
 priesthood through the eternity."! "Then his 
 master shall bring him to the door, or unto the 
 door-posts, and his master shall bore his ear through 
 with an awl, and he shall serve him through the 
 
 ETERNITY." X 
 
 " The waters compassed me about — even to the soul ; 
 The weeds were wrapped about my head. 
 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains ; 
 The earth with her bars was about me eternally." § 
 
 # Gen. 17 : 8 ; dg xaraa/soiv aiwvtov. Also, Gen. 13 : 15 
 f Exod. 40 : 15. e?g rov atwva, which is explained by tig 
 Tug ytvtag avro>v. 
 
 X Exod. 21 : 6. tig rov aiwva. 
 § Jonah 2 : 6. aiaivioi. 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 143 
 
 A multitude of other texts might be added to these, 
 equally striking, to show these terms are used with 
 reference to things which have come to an end ; but 
 these must suffice. 
 
 2. The term aibn is repeated in the following 
 instances. " To whom be the glory during the 
 eternities even to the eternities."^ " Unto him 
 be glory in the church by Jesus Christ, through 
 all the ages, the eternity and the eternities."! 
 " Now unto God and our Father be glory through 
 the eternities even to the eternities."! 
 
 3. In addition to the examples above, the term 
 is used in the plural number in the following 
 instances. "Now all these things happened unto 
 them for ensamples, and they are written for our 
 admonition upon whom the ends of the eternities 
 are come."§ %i That in the eternities coming, he 
 
 # In this and the following examples I give the Greek as 
 near a verbal rendering into English as is possible, accept- 
 ing the definition of eternity as the legitimate meaning of 
 aibn ; and this is done for the purpose of showing to the 
 mere English reader something of the aspect of things, as 
 presented to the mind of a scholar. The real meaning, I 
 take to be this, taking the first text as an example. " To 
 whom be the glory slg rovg alwvag rwv aicbvwv, through all 
 the ages y or more literally, from age to age. Gal. 1:5. And 
 so of the rest. 
 
 f sig TTocOag rag ysvsag tov alcSvog rcov atoivwr^ through all 
 generations from age to age. 
 
 % Phil. 4 : 20. Greek the same as in Gal. 1:5. See also 
 1 Tim. 1: 17. Heb. 1: 8. Eph. 3: 21. 2 Tim. 4: 18. 
 Heb. 13 : 21. 1 Peter 4 : 11. Rev. 1:6; 4:9; 5 : 13, 14 ; 
 7: 21; 14: 11; 15: 7; 20: 10. 
 
 § 1 Cor. 10 : 11. ru ti'^.tj Tf5v alcovojv xartjrrriasv, the end 
 of the ages are come. 
 
144 uni verbalist's assistant. 
 
 might show the exceeding riches of his grace. "^ 
 " The mystery which hath been hid from the eter- 
 nities and from the generations.^ 
 
 4. Beside the example above, the end of the 
 axon is spoken of as follows ; — " But now once in 
 the end of the eternities, hath he appeared to put 
 away sin by the sacrifice of himself. "J " The har- 
 vest is the end of the eternity. ' ? § " So shall it be 
 in the end of this eternity.'II " Tell us, when 
 shall these things be ? and what the sign of thy 
 coming, and of the end of the eternity ? "IT 
 
 5. In the following texts, times are spoken of beyond 
 the axon. " The Lord shall reign to the eternity, 
 and during the eternity, and longer." ^ " And 
 they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of 
 the firmament ; and they that turn many to right- 
 eousness, as the stars through the eternities, and 
 
 # Eph. 2 : 7. tv Totg alwoi rotq intoxouhoig, * n ^ e a S es 
 coming. 
 
 f Col. 1 : 26. anb tcov aiwvwv xal anb iwv y sv tcov y from the 
 ages and the generations. 
 
 \ Heb. 9 : 26. inl owreXsla rd>v aiavtovj in the conclusion 
 of the ages. 
 
 § Matt. 13 : 39. cvvrtltiti tov aicorog tOTir, is the conclu- 
 sion of the age. 
 
 || Matt. 13 : 40. h rr, ovvTsAsicc tov aiJovog tov'tov, in the 
 conclusion of this age. 
 
 % Matt. 24 : 4. t/^c owTtXelag tov aionog, conclusion of the 
 age. See Campbell's Four Gospels, Prel. Diss. D. 12 : Pt. 
 
 ** Exod. 15 : 18. xvqioq flaaiZei'uv tov a crura, xal In 1 
 atonct, xal tTi. The Lord shall reign from age to age, and 
 beyond all the ages,i. e., indefinitely in duration. 
 
THE RENDERING OP ORIGINAL WORDS. 145 
 
 longer."* " And we will walk in the name of 
 Jehovah our God through the eternity and be- 
 yond."! 
 
 Such are a few of the examples presented by the 
 Scriptures, of the usage of the term aidn. We 
 have seen that it is used to represent durations 
 which have come to an end ; that it is frequently 
 repeated ; that it is often used in the plural number ; 
 that the end of the periods it describes are often 
 mentioned ; and finally, that times after that de- 
 scribed by this term are mentioned. With all this 
 before us, who can believe, that a word bearing 
 such a usage, could be regarded, by the sacred 
 writers, as expressing " absolute eternity " as its 
 primitive and necessary meaning? It appears to 
 me, no candid man can ; and the farther and more 
 thorough the investigation is pursued, the more 
 entirely must every such mind be satisfied, that such 
 cannot be its meaning. If its strict and proper 
 meaning was " absolute eternity," in the view of 
 these writers, how could they have ever used it in 
 the plural number ? What sense is there in giving 
 
 # Daniel 12 : 3. dg rovg altovag, xal sn, through the ages 
 and beyond them all. 
 
 f Micah 4 : 5. slg rbv aitova, xal tnsxeiva, tfirough the age 
 and beyond it. 
 
 These three examples from the Septuagint, show most 
 conclusively, that aia>v, in the judgment of these transla- 
 tors, did not express an absolute eternity; else why add 
 other words to express a further continuance of the duration 
 than this word itself expresses ? 
 
 13 
 
146 universalist's assistant. 
 
 a plural, to a word, which of itself, means a single 
 period of endless duration ? And then, if the trans- 
 lators of the Old Testament had have regarded this 
 term as, in any case, bearing the sense of endless 
 duration, why have they, as in the examples 
 quoted, not only used the term in the plural num- 
 ber, and then repeated it, but, as if not satisfied 
 with the duration they had expressed, they add 
 terms to express the continuance of time indefinitely, 
 beyond that described by this term ? These surely 
 are singular phenomena to be exhibited by a word 
 of the character the objector would have us believe 
 it sustains. So far as Scripture usage is concerned, 
 it seems to me, that we must come to the same con- 
 clusion we did, in regard to its classical usage ; that 
 it does not express " absolute eternity." 
 
 4. Usage among the Christian Fathers. 
 It is admitted, on all hands, that there were those 
 among the early Christian Fathers, who were be- 
 lievers in universal salvation. The celebrated Origen 
 is among the most distinguished of these men, and 
 not only a noted believer, but defender of this doc- 
 trine. And yet he, with others who believed in 
 the salvation of all men, are said, by those who 
 have examined their existing works, to have called 
 future punishment everlasting, and to describe it 
 as eternal fire or torment.^ " In all his works, 
 
 * Ancient Hist, of Universalism, p. 67. 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 147 
 
 Origen freely uses the expressions everlasting 
 fire, everlasting punishment, etc., without any 
 explanation, such as our modern prepossessions 
 would render necessary, to prevent misunderstand- 
 ing."^ Such are the facts. Now how are we to 
 explain them so as not to conflict with the position, 
 that the original and proper meaning of aionios is 
 absolute eternity ? If these Universalists, who were 
 themselves native Greeks, had have regarded this 
 term as expressing such an idea, they could not 
 have used it in describing a punishment in which 
 they believed ; because they openly and undisguis- 
 edly, not only denied the doctrine of the eternity of 
 future punishment, but maintained that of universal 
 restoration.t 
 
 Now this is a very important circumstance ; for 
 
 # Ancient Hist, of Universalism, p. 114. 
 
 f It might be added, as a fact of some interest, that the 
 doctrine of eternal punishment is not recognized as an 
 article of belief in the church, in the earliest symbol of 
 their faith extant — I mean the document called the " Apos- 
 tles' Creed." I here give a copy of it in English. "I 
 believe in God, the Father Almighty ; and in Jesus Christ, 
 his only begotten Son. our Lord, who was born of the 
 Virgin Mary by the Holy Ghost, was crucified under Pontius 
 Pilate, buried, rose from the dead on the third day, as- 
 cended to the heavens, and sits on the right hand of the 
 Father ; whence he will come, to judge the living and 
 the dead; and in the Holy Spirit; the holy church; the 
 remission of sins ; and the resurrection of the body." This 
 is the common form of it, as it existed in the fourth century, 
 in which it differs some, from more ancient copies. Mur- 
 dochs Mosheim's Eccl. History, Vol. 1, p. 96 ; New Haven, 
 1832. 
 
148 universalist's assistant. 
 
 it not only shows, that they did not consider the 
 term as expressing absolute eternity — and they 
 were, certainly, as competent judges of its proper 
 signification, being native Greeks, as we are at the 
 present day — but it has a direct bearing upon the 
 New Testament usage of the term. We know 
 they were Universalists, and, of course, that they 
 did not understand the term as expressing " abso- 
 lute eternity." And using the term precisely as it 
 is used in the New Testament, which they regarded 
 as an authoritative rule of faith and practice, we 
 know, also, that they must have considered its 
 application to punishment as no evidence of its 
 endless duration. This is further manifest, from 
 the fact, that when the doctrine of universal salva- 
 tion first became a matter of controversy, the Greek 
 writers, who believed in endless misery, never used 
 the circumstance of aibnios being applied to punish- 
 ment, in the Scriptures, as an argument against the 
 doctrine of the Universalists.^ Would they not 
 have done it, had they have regarded the matter in 
 the light in which it now is by the modern opposers 
 of this doctrine ? The application of this term to 
 punishment in the Scriptures, is one of the main 
 pillars by which the doctrine of endless misery is 
 to be supported, in the judgment of its advocates, at 
 the present day. Had the Greek Christians have 
 regarded the term in the same light, they certainly 
 
 * Universalism Illustrated and Defended, p. 210. 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 149 
 
 would not have failed to have urged it as an argu- 
 ment against the Universalists.* This is a strong 
 point. It shows that they did not consider it as 
 meaning absolute eternity as used in the New Testa- 
 ment ; and their judgment, in this matter, is worthy 
 of great confidence, they being native Greeks, and a 
 native is always more competent authority, as to the 
 force and meaning of words in their own language, 
 than any foreigner possibly can be, especially if he 
 belongs to a distant age, and a country where the 
 habits of thought and modes of expression are widely 
 different. 
 
 Such are some of my reasons for thinking the 
 original and proper meaning of the terms aibn and 
 aibnios is not " absolute eternity." I will recapitu- 
 late them. It has been shown, that the several posi- 
 tions assumed, to sustain this meaning, are not war- 
 ranted by the facts in the case ; that the oldest lexi- 
 cons do not give eternal as one of the meanings of 
 aibn; that classical usage is against such an inter- 
 pretation ; that the Jewish usage before, at the time, 
 and immediately subsequent to the advent of the 
 
 # The first instance on record of the circumstance of the 
 term aiwvtog being applied to punishment, in the New Testa- 
 ment, being urged as an argument against Universalism, 
 occurred in the beginning of the fifth century. And this by 
 Augustine, a Latin writer, and the father of what is now 
 called the Calvinistic system of theology. He " was very 
 imperfectly acquainted with the Greek language." Ancient 
 Hist. Univ., p. 252, Boston, 1829. 
 
 13* 
 
150 universalist's assistant. 
 
 Saviour, is against such a construction;^ that 
 Scripture usage is against it ; and that the usage of 
 it by the early Christian Fathers, themselves Greeks, 
 is against it. It appears, also, that while the Phari- 
 sees and Essenes of the Saviour's time, believed the 
 doctrine of endless punishment, and had certain 
 terms and phrases by which they were accustomed 
 to express this doctrine, Christ and his apostles have 
 in no case adopted their phraseology, in speaking 
 of the punishment of the wicked. 
 
 And now I submit it to any candid and fair mind, 
 not utterly blinded by prejudice and preconceived 
 opinions, if he can believe, with this array of facts 
 before him, that these words, in their original and 
 proper signification, mean " absolute eternity ? " 
 And this is the very point to be established, before 
 the simple application of these terms to punishment 
 can have any force as an argument in favor of 
 its " absolute eternity ." It seems to me that a 
 stronger case could not be made out nagatively, 
 than the facts presented make out against this view. 
 It is as near demonstration, as the subject will admit, 
 that such is not its meaning. 
 
 With what has been said herein upon this subject, 
 I would press the question home upon the mind of 
 every believer in the doctrine of the " absolute eter- 
 nity" of punishment, if he can believe, that if this 
 terrible doctrine is Heaven's truth, that the God of 
 
 fSee pp. 118—121, of this work. 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 151 
 
 all grace would have sanctioned the use of so equi- 
 vocal a term, by his spirit, in revealing it to man ? 
 Might we not expect that he would have caused so 
 tremendous a doctrine to have been set forth in the 
 most plain, positive and unequivocal terms ? Had 
 it have been described in such terms as are used by 
 Philo and Josephus, there would have been no room 
 for dispute about the matter. But as it is, the mat- 
 ter is left in the most utter obscurity. Should we 
 not pause and consider, before we presume to charge 
 the Creator with trifling with his creatures in this 
 way, concerning one of the most tremendous subjects 
 that ever claimed the attention of mankind ? 
 
 SECTION V. CONCLUSION. 
 
 In the preceding part of this chapter, I have pre- 
 sented a variety of facts and considerations, going to 
 show that the terms aibn and aibnios do not contain 
 the meaning of " absolute eternity " In conclusion, 
 it may not be amiss to notice the positive side of the 
 question, and some of the objections against the 
 position, that these terms do not mean " duration 
 without end." 
 
 1. I remark, that these words bear quite a variety 
 of senses. Prof. Stuart considers them as used in 
 the Scriptures with something like ten different 
 meanings. So far as our present inquiry is con- 
 
152 
 
 cerned, there are but two senses in which they are 
 used, that are of particular interest. So far as the 
 idea of duration is contained in them, I think they 
 are well defined in the following words ; viz., " On 
 the supposition that aibn, according to the common 
 opinion, is compounded of aei and on, then, if ap- 
 plied to time, it would signify a multitude of periods 
 or times united to each other ;^ duration indefinitely 
 continued. Its proper force, in reference to dura- 
 tion, seems to be more that of uninterrupted dura- 
 tion than otherwise ; a term of which the duration is 
 continuous so long as it lasts, but which may be 
 completed and finished ; as age, dispensation, sa> 
 culum, in a general sense. If applied to breath, it 
 would signify a multitude of breathings, or breath- 
 ing indefinitely extended ; and if applied to simple 
 existence, it would signify existence indefinitely ex- 
 tended ."t 
 
 From this definition, it will be seen, that aibn 
 answers, in meaning, very nearly to the English 
 word ever, when it has reference to duration. The 
 word ever expresses the idea of progression and 
 succession, without defining the duration thereof; 
 as he is ever moving ; that is, he is continually, un- 
 interruptedly in motion ; but it does not describe the 
 length of time he will be in motion. This is entirely 
 indefinite. It may be longer, it may be shorter. 
 
 # " The comprehension of many times or periods." — 
 Phavorinus. 
 t Christ. Exam., No. for March, 1831, p. 42. 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 153 
 
 So it is in reference to the terms in question, when 
 they denote duration at all. The duration is 
 entirely indefinite, depending wholly upon the 
 nature of the subject to which they are applied, 
 or the connexion in which they occur. Hence we 
 find them used to denote widely different periods of 
 time in length, varying from three days to many 
 ages, as they are used in the Scriptures. 
 
 The reader can make the application of this defi- 
 nition to the texts already quoted, for himself, 
 though he will find it necessary to use different 
 English words to express their meaning, in different 
 connexions, because we have no one English word 
 answering precisely and fully to the meaning of the 
 terms aion and aio?iios, though we have several 
 which will fully express the idea in different con- 
 nexions, and as applied to various subjects. Hence, 
 in translating, we are necessitated to use different 
 words in different connexions, and in their applica- 
 tion to different subjects, as a rendering of these 
 terms. I will give an example or two.^ " For 
 their anointing shall surely be a priesthood through 
 the AGE."t " And he shall serve him all the days 
 
 # In these examples I shall put the rendering of aion and 
 aimiios, in small capitals, to save repeating the Greek words. 
 
 f The following remarks of Mr. Locke will show the oc- 
 casion of the use and the idea intended by the rendering of 
 age and ages. " The nation of the Jews were the kingdom 
 and people of God, whilst the law stood. And this kingdom 
 of God, under the Mosaical constitution, was called aiwv 
 ovrog, this age, or as it is commonly translated, this world y 
 
154 universalist's assistant. 
 
 of his life." " To whom be glory from age to 
 age ;" that is continually, " They are written for 
 our admonition upon whom the ends of the age are 
 come." " The Lord shall reign from age to age 
 and beyond the ages;" that is for an indefinite, an 
 undefined period in the future.^ 
 
 2. The other sense to which allusion has been 
 made, is that of spiritual. "When applied to the 
 life of the righteous, I can attach no other sense to 
 
 to which alojv hsorwQ, the present world, or age, here 
 answers. But the kingdom of God, which was to be under 
 the Messiah, wherein the economy and constitution of the 
 Jewish church, and the nation itself, that, in opposition to 
 Christ, adhered to it, was to be laid aside, is in the New 
 Testament called alwv piltov, the world, or age to come" 
 Note on Gal. 1 : 4. 
 
 " Why the times, under the law, were called /oovoi alconot 
 we may find reason in their jubilees, which were auZrsg 
 " secula," or " ages," by which all the time under the law 
 was measured ; and so yoovoi aiaynoi is used, 2 Tim. 1 : 9 
 Tit. 1:2. And so al&vsg are put for the times of the law 
 or the jubilees, Luke 1 : 70, Acts 3 : 21, 1 Cor. 2 : 7, 10 : 11 
 Eph. 3 : 9, Col. 1 : 26, Heb. 9 : 26. And so God is called 
 the rock of aian-wr, of ages, Isr iah 26 : 4, in the same sense 
 that he is called the rock of Israel, Isa. 30: 29, i. e. 
 the strength and support of the Jewish state ; — for it is of 
 the Jews the prophet here speaks. So Exod. 21 : 6, si$ 
 rbv auova signifies not as we translate it, " forever," but " to 
 the jubilee ;" which will appear if we compare Lev. 25 : 39 
 — 41, and Exod. 21 : 2. See " Burtho°'s Christianity, a re- 
 vealed Mystery," pp. 17, IS." Note on Rom. 16 : 25. These 
 are the reasons why we find the Jewish age, or the whole 
 period of the Mosaic dispensation, sometimes spoken of 
 in the singular, and at others in the plural number. For 
 the same reasons, the time of the Messiah is called the age 
 to come, and at others the ages to come. 
 
 * Exod. 40 : 15, 21 : 6, Gal. 1 : 5, 1 Cor. 10 : 11, Exod. 
 15: 18. 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 155 
 
 the term aionios, except that of spiritual. This 
 class of persons go into spiritual life — the enjoy- 
 ment of a hidden, a concealed life ; a life not seen 
 and felt by the world at large. " This meaning, 
 there is good reason to believe, was very ancient, if 
 not the original meaning of the word. It is well 
 known, that ancient philosophers believed in a class 
 of beings, called aioens or ceons ; which were said 
 to be, either mediately or immediately, derivations 
 from the Supreme Divinity, and were entirely 
 spiritual existences. They were all, originally, 
 good ; but some of them had become wicked ; and so 
 the whole class answered to the common modern 
 idea of angels, on the one hand, and devils on the 
 other ; or generally, to what we mean by the word 
 spirits, be they good or evil. The one set were 
 happy, the other unhappy ; but the happiness or un- 
 happiness was wholly of a spiritual nature, consist- 
 ing essentially in the state of each individual's 
 thoughts and feelings, either in union with, or in 
 opposition to the Divine Mind. These beings, as 
 we have remarked, were called ceons, and the word 
 aionios, the adjective of this name, very naturally 
 expresses something having the nature of ceons ; 
 in other words, something spiritual in its kind, 
 be its duration longer or shorter. It signifies 
 something of that nature which belongs to spirits ; 
 designating the kind, or nature of the thing; 
 and showing forth something relating to the inward 
 
156 universalist's' assistant. 
 
 thoughts and feelings in the individual, without pre- 
 cisely marking the period of its continuance ; the 
 Greek word aion, answering to our word spirit, and 
 aionios, to spiritual "^ 
 
 It is not my purpose to go into a defence of the 
 opinion that spiritual is one of the meanings of 
 aionios, as it is used in the New Testament. I 
 merely suggest it, as an individual conviction, after 
 long and patient reflection upon the subject, for the 
 consideration of my readers. A few examples of 
 what seems to be such a usage are here appended. 
 11 Ye know no murderer hath spiritual life abiding 
 in him."t " He that heareth my word, and belie v- 
 eth in him that sent me, hath spiritual life, and 
 shall not come into condemnation ; but is passed 
 from death unto life."t " Who hath loved us and 
 given us spiritual consolation. "§ And so of a 
 multitude of other texts. And whatever may be 
 thought of the critical grounds upon which this in- 
 terpretation is founded, II one thing all can see, and 
 that is, that this interpretation has the advantage of 
 conveying to the mind, in such connexions, an 
 intelligible idea, while the word eternal has no per- 
 
 * Christ. Exam., Vol. 5, pp. 446, 447. 
 
 t John 3:15. % Vo. 6 : 49. § 2 Thess. 2 : 16. 
 
 || See the series of articles in the Christian Examiner so 
 often quoted from in this work, and described on p. 131, 
 where is a very full exhibition of the critical grounds, both 
 classical and scriptural, upon which spiritual is assigned as 
 one of the meanings of au-'»i 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 157 
 
 ceptible meaning. The same idea is applicable to 
 the punishment of the wicked. Their punishment, 
 to a very great extent, is an inward, a hidden one — 
 one of the soul — the thoughts and feelings ; the dura- 
 tion of which must depend upon the mutability or 
 permanency of the character the individual sustains. 
 If the character is changeable, then the duration of 
 the punishment it causes, must be uncertain, indefi~ 
 nite. 
 
 In conclusion, then, I remark, that if the terms 
 aibn and aionios are as indefinite, in regard to dura- 
 tion, when they express this idea at all, as has been 
 shown, as I trust, most satisfactorily, they are, of 
 all imaginable terms, the fittest to be applied to 
 the happiness of the righteous and the misery of 
 the wicked ; for nothing is or can be more uncer- 
 tain, so far as duration is concerned, than the 
 happiness and misery of these individuals. And 
 the reason is, that while it is certain every man will 
 suffer punishment so long as he continues to sin, we 
 cannot tell how long he will remain a sinner. As 
 is his character to-day, so will be his condition ; 
 but what will be his character to-morrow, no one 
 can tell. If to-day he is a sinner, to-morrow, he 
 may reform and become a saint, and so vice versa; 
 and with his change of character, there will come 
 a corresponding change in his state and condition. 
 
 I will now notice one or two objections, which 
 have been urged against the view that has been 
 14 
 
158 universalist's assistant. 
 
 presented of the meaning of the terms in question, 
 though they are, in effect, met in the facts already- 
 stated. 
 
 1. If these terms do not express an endless dura- 
 tion, there are none in the language that do. This 
 is a mistake. "Aionios is a word of sparing occur- 
 rence among ancient classical Greek writers ; nor 
 is it, by any means, the common term employed by 
 them to signify eternal. On the contrary, they 
 much more frequently make use of aidios, aei on, 
 or some similar mode of speech, for this purpose. . . 
 To me it appears that the Seventy, by choosing 
 aionios to represent olam, testify, that they did not 
 understand" the Hebrew word to signify eternal. 
 Had they so understood it, they would certainly 
 have translated it by some more decisive word ; 
 some term, which, like aidios, is more commonly 
 employed in Greek, to signify that which has nei- 
 ther beginning nor end."^ The same word is used 
 to express endless duration by Philo Judseus, with 
 athanatos and ateleutos, and also by Josephus. 
 These are also found in the Scriptures in several 
 instances, with akatalutos and aphtharsiaA Thus, 
 it will be seen, there is no want of terms in the lan- 
 guage, to express absolute eternity, without using 
 axon or aionios at all. 
 
 * Christian Exam., No. for Sept. 1830. pp. 25, 26. 
 fRom. 1: 20. Jude G. Heb. 7: 16. Rom. 1:7. 2 
 Tim. 1 : 10. 
 
THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 159 
 
 2. It has been said, if these terms are given up as 
 expressing absolute eternity, we cannot prove from 
 the Scriptures, that the human soul will exist or 
 the righteous be happy without end. This is also a 
 mistake. The word commonly used to describe the 
 duration of human existence in the world of spirits, 
 is aphtharsia,^ immortality or indestructible exist- 
 ence, which is a much more decisive term to express 
 endless duration, than aibn or aibniosA So in regard 
 to the duration of the happiness of the righteous ; the 
 truth is, we need no term to describe its duration. 
 It is one of the laws of God, as fixed and immuta- 
 ble as the throne of the Almighty itself, that vice 
 and misery, and virtue and happiness, are insepar- 
 ably united ; that they are coexistent and coexten- 
 sive ; and that they will remain so as long as the 
 human soul exists. The righteous will remain 
 happy as long as the human soul exists ; but the 
 individual only so long as he is righteous. And 
 so with the wicked ; they will be punished as long 
 as they exist in any world ; but the individual only 
 so long as he remains wicked. All depends upon 
 this circumstance, as to the duration of any man's 
 happiness or misery. Every man will be happy or 
 miserable just so long as he is good or bad ; and 
 his state and condition will ever vary, in regard to 
 happiness or misery, precisely as his character 
 varies, in reference to goodness or badness. 
 
 * iap&aQOta. j2 Tim. 1 : 10. 1 Cor. 15: 53. 
 
160 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL, COMMONLY REN- 
 DERED GRAVE AND HELL, CONSIDERED AS 
 AN OBJECTION TO UNIVERSALISM. 
 
 SECTION I. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 
 
 In times past, very much has been thought and 
 attempted to be made out of the use of the word 
 hell, in the Scriptures, without any reference to the 
 original so rendered, as an argument against Uni- 
 versalism. It was thought, when a text was pro- 
 duced which represents the wicked as cast into hell, 
 it was a sufficient refutation of this heresy, and a 
 perfect demonstration of the truth of the doctrine 
 of endless punishment. But that day has passed 
 away; and now the inquiry is — Do the English 
 words fairly represent the idea, intended by the 
 original ? This state of things has put a new face 
 upon the controversy. The discussion has been 
 transferred from the English translation, to the 
 words used in the original Scriptures, where it 
 rightfully belongs, although attended with many 
 inconveniences in managing a popular discussion. 
 
 In the original Scriptures, there are three words 
 translated hell, in our common version of the Bible ; 
 skeol, Hades and Gehenna. In one instance there 
 
THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL. 161 
 
 occurs a verb, which is in effect the same as the 
 use of a fourth word, Tartarus.* But while per- 
 sons are frequently represented as going to these 
 places, no term is ever connected with them, calcu- 
 lated to convey the impression that their continuance 
 in it, is to be duration without end.t 
 
 Such being the state of the case, it might be 
 admitted, that these words denote a place of future 
 punishment, and still nothing is gained in the way 
 of making out the truth of the doctrine of eternal 
 punishment. This is just as far from being proved 
 after this admission as before ; and if established at 
 all, it must be done by some entirely distinct and 
 independent testimony. It will, therefore, be my 
 object, in what follows, to collect and present all the 
 information relative to the meaning of these terms, 
 and the ideas they were intended to convey, that I 
 can command, and in as brief a space as I may be 
 able, and make the matter plain and intelligible to 
 all who will think. 
 
 # bi^llf? aXSrjg, yshva, Tugraqog. 
 
 f There is but one text in which Hades occurs, and one 
 where Gehenna is used which even seems an exception to this 
 remark. In these instances, the imagery associated with 
 these words, may seem to imply a contrary idea ; but a 
 further and more accurate examination of the matter will 
 satisfy any candid and intelligent mind, that it is in appear- 
 ance only. The texts are Luke 16 : 23, and Matt. 18 : 
 8, 9, and Mark 9 : 43—48. See pp. 186—193, and 222 
 —225. 
 
 14* 
 
162 universalist's assistant. 
 
 SECTION IL ADMISSIONS OF THE LEARNED. 
 
 While some are very confident that sheol means 
 a place of endless punishment, as most of the older 
 theologians were, others, and particularly recent 
 writers, are quite diffident in these claims. Of this 
 number is Prof. Stuart, who is not among the 
 least. The fartherest he ventures to go, even when 
 writing expressly to sustain the truth of the doctrine 
 of eternal punishment, is to say, in regard to the 
 following texts — " the cases in which sheol may des- 
 ignate the future world of woe."^ " They spend 
 their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to 
 sheol."i " The wicked shall be turned into sheol, 
 and all the nations that forget God."t " Her feet 
 go down to death, her steps take hold of sheol."§ 
 " But he knoweth that the ghosts are there, and that 
 her guests are in the depths of sheol "\\ " Thou 
 shalt beat him with a rod, and shall deliver his soul 
 from sheol ."1T 
 
 These are all the places where he thinks this 
 term " may " mean " the future world of woe ;" and 
 after devoting nearly five pages to comments, mostly 
 of an interrogative character, designed to show that 
 " the meaning will be a good one, if we suppose 
 sheol to designate future punishment," he concludes 
 
 * Exegetical Essays, p. 106. f Job 21 : 13. % Ps. 9 : 17. 
 Prov. 5:5. || Do. 9 : 18. U Do. 23 : 14. 
 
THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL. 163 
 
 with these words ; — " I concede, to interpret all the 
 texts which exhibit sheol as having reference merely 
 to the grave, is possible ; and therefore it is possible 
 to interpret " them " as designating a death violent 
 and premature, inflicted by the hand of Heaven ;"^ 
 and finally he concludes with these remarkable 
 words : — " The sum of the evidence from the Old 
 Testament, in regard to sheol, is, that the Hebrews 
 did, probably, in some cases, connect with the use 
 of this word, the idea of misery subsequent to the 
 death of the body. It seems to me, that we may 
 safely believe this ; and to aver more than this, 
 would be somewhat hazardous, when all the exam 
 pies of the word are duly considered."! 
 
 This is, in fact, conceding the whole ground in 
 debate ; for if it is not safe to go farther than to 
 regard the Hebrews as in some cases connecting the 
 idea of future misery with this word, it is directly 
 and explicitly abandoning it as the name of the 
 place of endless misery, in the world of spirits, 
 which is the very point in debate. This is a very 
 important admission, and with it, we might dismiss 
 the whole subject, so far as Universalism is con- 
 cerned ; for if the exhibitions of the word, in the 
 Old Testament, are such, as to force from one pro- 
 fessedly writing against this doctrine, such admis- 
 sions, the case must be a sufficiently plain one. 
 
 * Exegetical Essays, p. 111. f Do., p. 114. 
 
164 
 
 SECTION III. AN EXHIBITION OF THE USAGE OF SHEOL. 
 
 In the Old Testament, we read on this wise :— 
 
 " What man liveth, and seeth not death ? 
 Who can deliver himself from the power of the grave ?* 
 
 " And all his sons and all his daughters rose up 
 to comfort him ; but he refused to be comforted ; 
 and he said, for I will go down into the grave, unto 
 my son mourning, "t " My son shall not go down 
 with you ; for his brother is dead, and he is left 
 alone ; if mischief befall him by the way in which 
 ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs 
 with sorrow to the grave. "t 
 
 " The waters fail from the lake, 
 
 And the stream drieth up, and disappears j 
 
 So man lieth down, and riseth not ; 
 
 Till the heavens be no more, he shall not awake, 
 
 Nor be roused from his sleep. 
 
 O that thou wouldst hide me in the under-world ! 
 
 That thou wouldst conceal me till thy wrath be past ! "$ 
 
 k{ Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with 
 thy might ; for there is no work, nor device, nor 
 
 * Ps. 89 : 48. I shall put the word answering to sheo! in 
 small capitals. 
 
 t Gen. 37: 35. 
 
 X Gen. 43 : 38. I may also remark, that quotations from 
 Hebrew poetry are from Prof. Noyes' translations, which I 
 would commend to all lovers of Hebrew song. 
 
 $ Job 14: 11—13. 
 
THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL. 165 
 
 knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither thou 
 goest."^ 
 
 * Therefore my heart is glad, and my spirit rejoiceth ; 
 My flesh also dwelleth in security ; 
 For thou wilt not give me up to the grave ; 
 Nor wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see the pit."f 
 " I cried, by reason of my distress ; to Jehovah, 
 And he heard me ; 
 
 Out of the depth of the under- woeld I cried, 
 And thou didst hear my voice. "| 
 " For thy kindness to me hath been great ; 
 Thou hast delivered me from the very depths of the 
 
 GRAV£."§ 
 
 " But God will redeem my life from the grave ; 
 
 For he will take me under his protection." || 
 
 " O Lord, thou hast raised me up from the grave ; 
 
 Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the 
 
 pit."! 
 " The Lord killeth, and maketh alive ; 
 He bringeth down, to the grave, and bringeth up."** 
 " I will ransom them from the power of the grave ; 
 I will redeem them from death ; 
 O death, I will be thy plague ! 
 O grave, I would be thy destruction ! " ft 
 
 These texts may serve as a fair sample of the 
 manner in which sheol is generally used in the Old 
 Testament. Among the learned, I believe there is 
 but one opinion as to its meaning in such con- 
 nexions. All agree, that the term is used to desig- 
 nate " the under-world, the region of the dead, the 
 grave, the sepulchre, the region of ghosts or de- 
 parted spirits. "It " It was considered as a vast and 
 
 * Eccl. 9 : 10. f Ps. 16 : 10. % Jonah 2 : 2. 
 
 § Ps. 86 : 13. || Ps. 49 : 15. % Ps. 30 : 3. 
 
 ** 1 Sam. 2 : 6. ft Hosea 13 : 14. 
 
 XX Stuart's Exegetical Essays, p. 77. 
 
166 universalist's assistant. 
 
 wide domain or region, of which the grave seems 
 to have been as it were only a part, or a kind of 
 entrance-way. It appears to have been regarded 
 as extending deep down into the earth, even to its 
 
 lowest abysses In this boundless region 
 
 lived and moved at times, the manes of departed 
 friends."^ Dr. Campbell says, it " signifies the 
 state of the dead in general, without regard to the 
 goodness or badness of the persons, their happiness 
 or misery. This state is always represented under 
 those figures which suggest something dreadful, 
 dark, and silent, about which the most prying eye, 
 and listening ear, can acquire no information, "t 
 
 " In the under- world of the Hebrews, there is 
 something peculiarly grand and awful. It was an 
 immense region, a vast subterranean kingdom, 
 involved in thick darkness, filled with deep valleys, 
 and shut up with strong gates ; and from it there is 
 no possibility of escape. Thither whole hosts of men 
 went down at once ; heroes and armies with all 
 their trophies of victory; kings and their people 
 were found there ; where they had a sort of sha- 
 dowy existence, as manes or ghosts, neither entirely 
 spiritual nor entirely material, engaged in the em- 
 ployments of their earthly life, though destitute of 
 strength and physical substance. "♦ 
 
 * Stuart's Exegetical Essays, p. 116. 
 
 f Prelim. Dissertations, Diss. 6, pt. 2, § 2. 
 
 + South's Lectures on Hebrew Poetry, p. 347. Andover, 
 
 1829. 
 
THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL. 167 
 
 Dr. Good's description of the ideas of mankind 
 in the earlier ages, concerning the dead and their 
 state, with a few exceptions, is true of the Hebrews y 
 as presented in the use of sheol in the Old Testa- 
 ment. " It taught that the disembodied spirit be- 
 comes a ghost as soon as it is separated from the 
 corporeal frame ; a thin, misty, aerial form, some- 
 what larger than life, with a feeble voice, and 
 shadowy limbs ; knowledge superior to what it pos- 
 sessed while in the flesh ; capable, under particular 
 circumstances, of rendering itself visible, and retain- 
 ing so much of its former features, as to be recog- 
 nized upon its apparition ;^ in a few instances, 
 wandering about for a certain period of time after 
 death ; but for the most part, conveyed to a com- 
 mon receptacle situated in the interior of the 
 earth."t 
 
 # This -was tfie idea commonly entertained, not only by 
 the Orientals, but seems to have been the common notion 
 of mankind generally and in all ages, if it is not some- 
 thing kindred to it even at the present time. A fine exhibi- 
 tion of the views of the dead, as held by the people of 
 northern Europe, may be seen in Ossian^s Poems. See 
 the poem entitled Carric-Thura, on pp. 31 — 43. New 
 York, 1835, 8vo. 
 
 "He lifted high his shadowy spear! He bent forward 
 his dreadful height. Fingal, advancing, drew his sword ; the 
 blade of dark-brown Luno. The gleaming path of the 
 steel winds through the gloomy ghost. The form fell shape- 
 less into air, like a column of smoke, which the staff of the 
 boy disturbs, as it rises from the half-extinguished furnace.'* 
 p. 37. "The forms were empty winds." pp. 97, 112. 
 "The stars dim-twinkled through his form." pp. 144, 284 y 
 312, 336. 
 
 fBook of Nature, p. 335; New York, 1831. See also 
 
168 univetisaltst's assistant. 
 
 That such were the ideas of the Hebrews, is 
 sufficiently manifest, from the following texts, in 
 addition to those already quoted ; although it can- 
 not be doubted, that some considerable change took 
 place in their ideas, between the time in which the 
 first and the last books of the Old Testament were 
 written. 
 
 " Canst thou search out the deep things of God ? 
 
 Canst thou reach the perfection of the Almighty ? 
 
 ? Tis high as heaven, what canst thou do? 
 
 Deeper than hell, what canst thou know ? " # 
 
 " Whither shall I go from thy spirit, 
 
 And whither shall I flee from thy presence ? 
 
 If I ascend into heaven, thou art there ! 
 
 If I make my bed in hades, behold, thou art there ! "f 
 
 "Though they dig down to the lower world, 
 
 Thence shall my hand take them. "J 
 
 " Hades beneath is in commotion on account of thee, 
 
 To meet thee at thy coming ; 
 
 He stirreth up before thee the shades, all the mighty of the 
 
 earth ; 
 He arouseth from their thrones, all the kings of the nations ; 
 They all accost thee, and say, 
 Art thou, too, become weak as we ? 
 Art thou become like us ? "§ 
 "In the day when he went down to the grave, 
 I caused the deep to mourn, I covered it for him. 
 At the sound of his fall I made the nations to shake, 
 "When I cast him down to the grave, 
 They also went down into the grave with him, 
 To them that have been slain with the sword." || 
 " The mightiest heroes from the midst of the pit shall speak 
 
 to him and his helpers ; 
 
 Barnes' Introduction to his Notes on Job, pp. lxxxix — xciv. 
 (10) where is a very full and accurate statement of the 
 Hebrew views of the future state. 
 
 * Job 11 : 7—8. t P^ 139 : 7, S. $ Amos 9 : 2. 
 
 § Isaiah 14 : 9. 10. || Ezek. 31 : 10—17. 
 
THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL. 69 
 
 For they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by 
 
 the sword. 
 Shall they not lie with the mighty of the uncircumcised that 
 
 are fallen, 
 "Who have gone down to the pit with their weapons of war, 
 Having their swords laid under their heads, 
 And their iniquity resting upon their bones, 
 Though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the 
 
 living? " # 
 
 Comment upon such language as this, is quite 
 unnecessary. It confirms, in the most plain and 
 explicit manner, the views that have been advanced, 
 in regard to the ideas of the Hebrews, concerning 
 the realm of the dead, as indicated by the term sheol. 
 These texts also show, that this term means some- 
 thing widely different from what the English word 
 hell does, as now commonly used; though, it is 
 beyond all controversy, that " the word hell in its 
 primitive signification perfectly corresponded" with 
 that of sheolA 
 
 Although all men go to sheol at death, it is often 
 
 * Ezek. 32 : 21 and 27. 
 
 t Campbell's Four Gospels, Prel. Diss. D. 6, P. 2, § 2. 
 So Dr. A. Clarke, Com. on Matt. 11: 23. So also Dr. 
 Anthon, Class. Die., Art. Had-es ; and Prof. Stuart's Exeget. 
 Essays, p. 93. 
 
 Dr. Anthon says, " As regards the analogy between the 
 term hades and our English word hell, it may be remarked, 
 that the latter, in its primitive signification, perfectly corre- 
 sponded to the former. For, at first, it denoted onfy what 
 was secret or concealed ; and it is found, moreover, with 
 little variation of form, and precisely with the same mean- 
 ing, in all the Teutonic dialects." This fact may serve to 
 explain the singular use that is made of the term hell in our 
 common version of the Scriptures. 
 
 15 
 
170 universalist's assistant. 
 
 represented as a punishment to be sent there, not 
 that men are sent there to be punished. This was 
 not the Hebrew idea, however it may be in fact. 
 They regarded it a punishment in the same way 
 that we now do to die. All men die ; yet death is 
 sometimes a punishment. It is so, when men are 
 forced out of the world, for their crimes, by the 
 executioner's hands. So when men were forced into 
 sheol against their wills, in consequence of their 
 sins, it was a punishment. Hence it is said, " The 
 wicked are driven away in their wickedness ; "* 
 and that " the wicked shall be thrust into hehV't 
 
 * Prov. 14 : 32. a7twa^)josrai f from aTtw&tu), to thrust from, 
 implying the idea of force, as in driving away an enemy. 
 Ps. 43 : 2. 
 
 f Ps. 9 : 17. 
 
171 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE GREEK WORD HADES, COMMONLY RENDERED 
 
 HELL IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, CONSIDERED 
 
 AS AN OBJECTION TO UNIVERSALISM. 
 
 SECTION I. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 
 
 The word hades is commonly used, in the Greek 
 version of the Old Testament, called the Septua- 
 gint, as the rendering of the Hebrew word sheol ; 
 and it undoubtedly benrs the same general meaning. 
 Indeed, this is universally conceded at the present 
 day, as it is also, in regard to the primitive mean- 
 ing of our English word hell. But the two last 
 of these words have undergone very considerable 
 changes in their meaning, as we all know is the 
 case in regard to our English word hell ; and as 
 will appear by a comparison of the New with the 
 Old Testament usage of the term hades. To notice 
 but one circumstance. In the New Testament, we 
 find, in one case at least, an individual represented 
 as lifting up his eyes in torment in hades ;* a rep- 
 resentation to which there is nothing analogous in 
 the Old Testament. But nothing is said as to the 
 duration of this torment, even in this individual 
 case. 
 
 * Luke 16 : 23. 
 
172 universalist's assistant. 
 
 Beside, neither in this or any other text where 
 hades is used to represent a place of torment, can 
 it bear the sense of endless ; for everywhere in the 
 Scriptures it is spoken of as a place that is to be 
 destroyed. The following texts may serve as ex- 
 amples. " And death and hell delivered up the 
 dead which were in them. . . . And death and 
 hell were cast into the lake of fire,"* " death, 
 where is thy sting ? grave, where is thy vic- 
 tory ? "t If this be true, how can this be a place 
 of endless punishment ? What will become of its 
 miseries, when all its inhabitants shall be taken out 
 of it ; every knee brought to bow, and every tongue 
 to confess to the glory of God; and when at last, 
 both the place and its king shall be hurled into 
 utter and irretrievable ruin, and a song of triumph 
 sung over them ? So plainly do the facts present 
 this subject, that the most staunch believers and 
 defenders of the doctrine of endless punishment, 
 are forced to abandon this term as affording any 
 proof of this doctrine. The most they will main- 
 tain is, that it is used to denote punishment in an 
 intermediate state. $ A time is to come when death 
 and hades " are no more to exercise any power over 
 the human race."<5> Hence, there is no necessity for 
 
 * Rev. 20: 13, 14. ffcor. 15:55. 
 
 % Campbell's Four Gospels, Diss. 6, P. 2, § 13. Exeget, 
 Essays, p. 133. 
 
 § Stuart's Exeget. Ess., p. 133. "The king of Hades, 
 and Hades itself, i.e.. the region or domains of death, are 
 
THE GREEK WORD HADES. 173 
 
 entering into a lengthy discussion, to show that this 
 term affords no argument in favor of the doctrine 
 of eternal punishment. We may therefore give our 
 entire attention to the consideration of what was 
 really meant by this term, by mankind in the past 
 ages of the world, and the opinions associated with it. 
 This, I trust, will be a subject not altogether devoid 
 of interest. It is one invested with great interest 
 to every curious mind, that loves to know what men 
 have thought in the past. 
 
 SECTION II. — CLASSICAL AND JEWISH USAGE OF THE 
 TERM HADES. 
 
 " According to Grecian mythology, hades is the 
 place of departed spirits." It is a word formed 
 " from a, not, and eido, to see, as denoting the lower 
 or invisible world. "^ Prof. Stuart says, " Hades, in 
 
 represented as cast into the burning lake. The general 
 judgment being now come, mortality having now been 
 brought to a close, the tyrant death, and his domains along 
 with him, are represented as cast into the burning lake, as 
 objects of abhorrence and of indignation. They are no 
 more to exercise any power over the human race." 
 
 " Whatever the state of either the righteous or the wicked 
 may be, whilst in Hades, i. e., under the dominion of death, 
 that state will certainly cease, and be exchanged for another, 
 at the general resurrection." Ibid., p. 136. 
 
 # Anthon's Class. Die, Art. Hades. 
 
 15* 
 
174 universalist's assistant. 
 
 the view of the Greeks and Romans, was the under- 
 world, the world of the dead, a place deep in the 
 earth, dark, cheerless ; where everything was un- 
 substantial and shadowy. r ^ A few passages from 
 the poets will serve to verify these statements, and 
 may not be uninteresting. 
 
 "Here in a lonely land, and gloomy cells, 
 
 The dusky nation of Cimmeriaf dwells ; 
 
 The sun ne'er views the uncomfortable seats, 
 
 When radiant he advances or retreats. 
 
 Unhappy race ! whom endless night invades, 
 
 Clouds the dull air, and wraps then round in shades. "+ 
 
 The guide of iEneas, after giving him certain 
 
 directions in regard to preparing for his descent into 
 
 hades, tells him, 
 
 " This done, securely take the destined way, 
 To find the regions destitute of day."§ 
 
 This place, like the Hebrew sheol, is represented 
 as shut up with gates, and, unlike the latter, guard- 
 ed by sentinels. 
 
 " Wide is the fronting gate, and, raised on high 
 With adamantine columns, threats the sky. 
 Vain is the force of man, and heaven's as vain, 
 To crush the pillars which the pile sustain. 
 Sublime on these a tower of steel is reared ; 
 And dire Tisiphone there keeps the ward, 
 Girt in her sanguine gown, by night and day, 
 
 *Exeget. Ess., p. 12S. 
 
 f Cimmeria or Cimmerium, was an imaginary place, 
 near the island of iEea, which island lay off the western 
 coast of Sicily, and was the fabled abode of Circe and her 
 companions.'' — Stuarfs Ext get. Ess., p. 124. 
 
 J Pope's Homer, Odys. xi. 15—20. 
 
 $ Dryden's Virgil, JEr\e\d 6, 231. 
 
THE GREEK WORD HADES. 175 
 
 Observant of souls that pass the downward way."* 
 
 " The gates of hell are open night and day ; 
 
 Smooth the descent, and easy is the way."f 
 
 " Just in the gate, and in the jaws of hell, 
 
 Revengeful Cares and sullen Sorrows dwell, 
 
 And pale Diseases, and repining Age, 
 
 Want, Fear, and Famine's unresisted rage ; 
 
 Here Toils, and Death, and Death's half-brother Sleep, 
 
 Forms terrible to view, their sentry keep ; 
 
 With anxious pleasures of a guilty mind, 
 
 Deep Frauds before, and open Force behind ; 
 
 The Furies' iron beds ; and Strife, that shakes 
 
 Her hissing tresses, and unfolds her snakes. 
 
 Full in the midst of this infernal road, 
 
 An elm displays her dusky arms abroad ; — 
 
 The god of sleep there hides his heavy head ; 
 
 And empty dreams on ev'ry leaf are spread. 
 
 Of various forms unnumbered spectres move, 
 
 Centaurs, and double shapes, besiege the door. 
 
 Before the passage horrid Hydra stands, 
 
 And Briarius with all his hundred hands ; 
 
 Gorgons, Geryon with his triple frame ; 
 
 And vain Chimgera vomits empty flame. "if 
 
 This place, like sheol, is pervaded by rivers, one 
 
 of which it was necessary to cross on entering it. 
 
 " Hence to deep Acheron § they take their way, 
 Whose troubled eddies, thick with ooze and clay, 
 Are whirled aloft, and in Cocytus|| lost. 
 
 * Dryden's Virgil, jEneid, vi. 744—751. 
 
 fDo. jEneid, vi. 192. 
 
 | Dryden's Virgil, ^Eneid, vi. 384—403. 
 
 § " The poets make Acheron to have been the son of Sol 
 and Terra, and to have been precipitated into the infernal 
 regions and there changed into a river, for having supplied 
 the Titans with water during the war which they waged 
 with Jupiter. Hence its waters were muddy and bitter ; 
 and it was the stream over which the souls of the dead 
 were first conveyed." — Anthon's Class. Die, Art. Acheron. 
 
 || " Cocytus, a river of Epirus, which, according to Pausa- 
 nias. blended its nauseous waters with those of the Ache- 
 ron." The poets made it one of the rivers of the lower 
 world. Ibid., Art. Cocytus. 
 
176 universalist's assistant. 
 
 There Charon stands, who rules the dreary coast — 
 
 A sordid god ; — down from his hoary chin, 
 
 A length of beard descends, uncombed, unclean ; — 
 
 His eyes, like hollow furnaces on fire : 
 
 A girdle, foul with grease, binds his obscene attire. 
 
 He spreads his canvass ; w T ith his pole he steers ; 
 
 The freights of flitting ghosts in his thin bottom bears. 
 
 He look'd in years ; yet, in his years were seen 
 
 A youthful vigor, and autumnal green." # 
 
 The inhabitants of this dreary realm were the 
 unsubstantial shades of the dead, like those of skeoL 
 Prof. Stuart says, " The manes were neither body 
 nor spirit ; but something intermediate, not palpa- 
 ble to any of the senses, except to the sight and 
 hearing ; pursuing the mere shadows of their occu- 
 pations on earth, and incapable of any plans, enjoy- 
 ments, or satisfaction which were substantial."! 
 When Ulysses met his mother in the realm of the 
 dead, he says, 
 
 " Thrice in my arms I strove her shade to bind, 
 
 Thrice through my arms she slip'd like empty wind, 
 
 Or dreams, the vain illusions of the mind. 
 
 Wild with despair, I shed a copious tide 
 
 Of flowing tears, and thus with sighs replied ; 
 
 Fliest thou, loved shade, while I thus fondly mourn? 
 
 Turn to my arms, to my embraces turn ! 
 
 Is it, ye powers that smile at human harms ! 
 
 Too great a bliss to weep within her arms ? 
 
 Or has hell's queen an empty image sent, 
 
 That wretched I might ev'n my joys lament ? 
 
 Oh son of woe ! the pensive shade rejoiud, 
 
 Oh most inured to grief of all mankind ! 
 
 ? T is not the queen of hell who thee deceives ; 
 
 All, all are such, when life the body leaves. 
 
 No more the substance of the man remains, 
 
 *Dryden's Virgil, ^Eneid, vi. 410—421. 
 fExeget. Ess.,"p. 218. 
 
THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL. 
 
 17* 
 
 Nor bounds the blood along the purple veins j 
 These the funereal flames in atoms bear, 
 To wander with the wind in empty air ; 
 While the impassive soul reluctant flies. 
 Like a vain dream, to these infernal skies." # 
 " Comest thou alive to view the Stygian bounds, 
 Where the wan spectres walk eternal rounds ; 
 Nor fear'st the dark and dismal waste to tread, 
 Thronged with pale ghosts, familiar with the dead? ; 'f 
 
 4 ' The dead, without distinction of good or evil, 
 age or rank, wander there, conversing about their 
 former state on earth ; they are unhappy, and they 
 feel their wretched state acutely. They have no 
 strength or power of body or mind. . . . Noth- 
 ing can be more gloomy and comfortless than the 
 whole aspect of the realm of hades, as pictured by 
 Homer."! Hence, when Ulysses congratulated 
 Achilles on account of the honorable position he 
 held in this realm, his reply is, — 
 
 " Talk not of ruling in this dolorous gloom, 
 
 Nor think vain words, he cried, can ease my doom. 
 
 Rather I 'd choose laboriously to bear 
 
 A weight of woes, and breathe the vital air, 
 
 A slave to some poor hind that toils for bread, 
 
 Than reign the sceptred monarch of the dead."§ 
 
 " The chief beheld their chariots from afar, 
 
 Their shining arms, and coursers trained to war, 
 
 Their lances fix'd in earth — their steeds around, 
 
 Free from their harness, graze the mimic || ground. 
 
 * Pope's Homer, Odys., xi. 248—268. f Do. xi. 583—586. 
 
 f Antkon's Class. Die, Art. Pluto. 
 
 § Pope's Homer, Odyssey, xi. 595 — 600. 
 
 || I have substituted " mimic," from Dr. Good's transla- 
 tion, as more in conformity with the spirit of the passage, 
 than " flom'ry," which Pope uses. — Book of Nature, p. 336. 
 New York. 1831. 
 
178 UNIVERSALIS!^ ASSISTANT. 
 
 The love of horses which they had, alive, 
 And care of chariots, after death survive."* 
 
 11 In the Homeric times, the prevalent belief was 
 merely as follows; that the souls of the departed, 
 with the exception of those who had personally of- 
 fended against the gods, were occupied in the lower 
 world with the unreal performances of the same 
 actions that had formed their chief objects of pur- 
 suit in the regions of day."t " Some few, enemies 
 of the gods, such as Sisyphus, Tityus, Tantalus, are 
 punished for their crimes, but not apart from the rest 
 of the dead."t- 
 
 " In process of time, when communication with 
 Egypt and Asia had enlarged the sphere of the 
 ideas of the Greeks, the nether world underwent a 
 total change. It was now divided into two separate 
 regions ; Tartarus, which, in the time of Homer and 
 Hesiod, was thought to lie far beneath it, and to be 
 the prison of the Titans, became one of these 
 regions, and the place of punishment for wicked 
 men ; and Elysium, which lay on the shore of the 
 stream of Ocean, the retreat of the children and 
 relatives of the king of the gods, was moved down 
 thither to form the place of reward for good men."<5> 
 
 According to " the new-modified under-world, " 
 in the days of Virgil, Hades was the residence of 
 souls, to prepare them to reanimate new bodies in 
 
 * Dryden's Virgil, ^Eneid, vi., 885—890. 
 
 fAnthon's Class. Die, Art. Hades, t Do. Art. Pluto. § Do. 
 
THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL. 179 
 
 this world. " The Eiver of Oblivion" was intro- 
 duced, of which the dead were to drink, that they 
 might forget the past, before taking possession of 
 new bodies.^ 
 
 " Now, in a secret vale, the Trojan sees 
 
 A sep'rate grove, through which a gentle breeze 
 
 Plays with a passing breath, that whispers through the 
 
 trees ; 
 And, just before the confines of the wood, 
 The gliding Lethe leads her silent flood. 
 About the boughs an airy nation flew, 
 Thick as the humming bees, that hunt the golden dew 
 In summer's heat ; on tops of lilies feed, 
 And creep within their bells, to suck the balmy seed ;— 
 The winged army roams the field around ; 
 The rivers and the rocks remurmur to the sound. 
 JEneas wond'ring stood, then ask'd the cause 
 Which to the stream the crowding people draws. 
 Then thus the sire ; — The souls that throng the flood, 
 Are those to whom, by Fate, are other bodies owed. 
 In Lethe's lake they long oblivion taste, 
 Of future life secure, forgetful of the past. 
 
 O Father ! can it be, that souls sublime 
 Return to visit our terrestrial clime, 
 And that the gen'rous mind, released by death, 
 Can covet lazy limbs, and mortal breath ? " 
 
 In reply Anchises goes into a very particular 
 statement of the reasons for such an arrangement, 
 and among other things says, 
 
 nor can the grovelling mind, 
 
 In the dark dungeon of the limbs confined, 
 
 # " In the sixth book of Virgil's iEneid will be found the 
 richest and fullest description of the new-modified under- 
 world, and for those who love to trace the progress and 
 change of ideas, it will not be an uninteresting employ- 
 ment to compare it with that in the eleventh book of Ho- 
 mer's Odyssey." Anthon's Class. Die, Art. Pluto. 
 
180 un.iversalist's ASSISTANT. 
 
 Assert the native skies, or own its heav'nly kind ; 
 
 Nor death itself can wholly wash their slams ; 
 
 But long-contracted filth ev'n in the soul remains. 
 
 The relics of invet'rate vice they wear ; 
 
 And spots of sin obscene in ev'ry face appear. 
 
 For this are various penances enjoin'd ; 
 
 Some are hung to bleach upon the wind, 
 
 Some plunged in waters, others purged in fires, 
 
 Till all the dregs are drain'd, and all the rust expires. 
 
 All have their manes, and those manes bear ; — 
 
 The few, so cleansed, to these abodes repair, 
 
 And breathe, in ample fields, the soft Elysian air. 
 
 Then they are happy, when by length of time 
 
 The scurf is worn away of each committed crime ; 
 
 No speck is left of their habitual stains ; 
 
 But the pure ether of the soul remains. 
 
 But, when a thousand rolling years are past, — 
 
 So long their punishments and penance last, — 
 
 Whole droves of minds are, by the driving god, 
 
 Compell'd to drink the deep Lethean flood, 
 
 In large forgetful draughts, to steep the cares 
 
 Of their past labors and their irksome years, 
 
 That, unrememb'ring of its former pain, 
 
 The soul may suffer mortal flesh again."* 
 
 Such were the views entertained by the most 
 enlightened heathen nations, of the realm of the 
 dead. And nothing can be more obvious to any one 
 who goes into a careful examination of the subject, 
 than that the views of the Greeks and Romans 
 underwent a gradual change, relative to hades, be- 
 tween the days of Homer and those of Virgil. A 
 similar change took place in the Hebrew mind, be- 
 tween the days of Moses and those of our Saviour, so 
 that, in his times, the opinions of the Jews, concern- 
 ing the world of spirits, very nearly coincided with 
 
 *Dryden ? s Virgil, .Eneid, vi., 953—1020. 
 
THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL. 181 
 
 those entertained by the Greeks and the Romans, 
 as above described.^ There was, probably, some 
 diversity of opinion among them ; but these, or opin- 
 ions very nearly like them, generally prevailed in 
 the times of the Saviour, among the Pharisees in 
 particular. Unlike both the Greeks in Homer's 
 time, and the Hebrews in the days of Moses and 
 the prophets, both the Greeks and Jews of these la- 
 ter periods, divided hades into two parts, the place 
 of happiness and the place of misery. So, too, both 
 came to believe, that, after a certain number of years, 
 souls returned to the earth to inhabit other bodies. t 
 11 The Jews did not, indeed, adopt the pagan fables, 
 on this subject, nor did they express themselves, en- 
 tirely, in the same manner ; but the general train of 
 thinking, in both, came pretty much to coincide. 
 The Greek hades they found well adapted to ex- 
 
 * Campbell's Four Gospels, Diss. 6, Pt. 2, § 19. 
 
 f"The prevalent and distinguishing opinion was, that 
 the soul survived the body, that vicious souls would suffer 
 an everlasting imprisonment in hades, and that the souls of 
 the virtuous would both be happy there, and, in process of 
 time, obtain the privilege of transmigrating iuto other 
 bodies. ..... That this Pythagorian dogma was be- 
 come pretty general among the Jews, appears even from 
 some passages in the Gospels." Campbell's Four Gospels, 
 Diss. 6, Pt. 2, § 19. So of the Pharisees, it is said by Jose- 
 phus — " They also believe that souls have an immortal vigor 
 in them, and that, under the earth, there will be rewards and 
 punishments, according as they have lived virtuously or 
 viciously in this life ; and the latter are to be detained in an 
 everlasting prison, but that the former shall have power to 
 revive and live again." Antiquities, B. 18, Ch. 1, § 3. 
 Whiston's Tr. 
 
 16 
 
182 universalist's assistant. 
 
 press the Hebrew sheol. This they came to con- 
 ceive as including different sorts of habitations, for 
 ghosts of different characters. And, though they 
 did not receive the terms Elysium, or Ely sian fields, 
 as suitable appellations for the regions peopled by 
 good spirits, they took, instead of them, as better 
 adapted to their own theology, the garden of Eden, 
 or Paradise, a name originally Persian, by which 
 the word answering to garden, especially when ap- 
 plied to Eden, had commonly been rendered, by the 
 Seventy. To denote the same state, they sometimes 
 used the phrase Abraham's bosom, a metaphor bor- 
 rowed from the manner in which they reclined at 
 meals. But, on the other hand, to express the un- 
 happy situation of the wicked, in that intermediate 
 state, they do not seem to have declined the use of 
 the word tartarus."* 
 
 So much for the classical and Jewish usage of the 
 term hades ; from which it appears, by the facts pre- 
 sented and the best authority, that the ideas of the 
 Greeks and Romans, and those of the Jews of our 
 Saviour's time, very nearly coincided. It now re- 
 mains for us to examine the New Testament usage 
 of this term. 
 
 * Campbell's Four Gospels, Diss. 6, Pt. 2, § 19. 
 
183 
 
 SECTION III. — NEW TESTAMENT USAGE OF THE TERM 
 
 HADES. 
 
 Having exhibited the classical and Jewish view 
 of the meaning of the term hades, the question very 
 naturally arises, — Did the writers of the New Tes- 
 tament use it in the same sense ? I say the New 
 Testament, because it is with this alone that we 
 are now concerned ; as the Old Testament represen- 
 tation of the under- world was exhibited in the con- 
 sideration of the meaning of the term sheol. 
 
 I think no man, who has paid the slightest atten- 
 tion to the manner in which this term is used in 
 the New Testament, can, for one moment, doubt, 
 what answer to return to this question. Such a 
 person must admit, that so far as usage is con- 
 cerned, the evidence is most conclusive, that the 
 writers of the New Testament used this term, nei- 
 ther in precisely the same sense as the classics, 
 nor yet in that of the Jews of their time ; but in the 
 more general sense of the Septuagint translation of 
 the Old Testament, and entirely in conformity with 
 the earlier usage of the Hebrew word sheol, for the 
 state of the dead in general, as beneath the surface 
 of the ground. An example or two will verify this 
 view. " Thou Capernaum, which art exalted to 
 heaven, shalt be brought down to hades ;"* i. e., 
 
 * Matt. 11 : 23. 
 
184 universalist's assistant. 
 
 you who are exalted to the highest point of gran- 
 deur and magnificence, and enjoy the highest privi- 
 leges, shall be brought down to lowest depths of 
 degradation and ruin. " Thou wilt not leave my 
 soul in hades ; nor suffer thy holy one to see cor- 
 ruption ;"* i. e., thou wilt not permit my spirit to 
 remain in the state of the dead, until my body shall 
 decay. Hence Prof. Stuart says, " We here find it 
 sometimes employed in almost or quite a literal 
 sense, i. e., as meaning world beneath, under-world ; 
 sometimes in a sense similar to that of Orcus or 
 Infernus, i. e., the place of departed souls ; and 
 sometimes in the sense of kingdom or region of the 
 dead,"] And afterwards he adds — " That the 
 Hebrews used the Greek word hades, so as to cor- 
 respond in general with their sheol, is quite plain. 
 .... We can no more argue that hades, as used 
 by them, did in all respects mean the same as it did 
 among the Greeks, than we can argue in like man- 
 ner in regard to the use of the words theos, angelos, 
 soter"% etc. 
 
 So much for the general sense in which the 
 writers of the New Testament used the term hades. 
 But although they commonly used it in perfect con- 
 formity with the Old Testament usage of sheol, yet 
 there are instances in which it seems to me, the 
 New Testament writers used it in a sense peculiar 
 to themselves. They seem to have used it in more 
 
 * Acts 2 : 31. f Exeget. Ess., p. 129. % Ibid., p. 136. 
 
NEW TESTAMENT USAGE OF HADES. 185 
 
 of a spiritual sense, for the state of the dead, with- 
 out any reference to the locality — whether it is in 
 the sky, under the earth, or somewhere else. This 
 seems a necessary inference from the general char- 
 racter of their language, in reference to a future 
 state. Hence, when Christ rose from the dead and 
 went to heaven, he is represented as going up into 
 heaven.* So Stephen, when he was stoned, looked 
 up into heaven and saw God and Christ.t So St. 
 Paul says " he was caught up into paradise. "t So 
 too, it is asked — " Who shall ascend into heaven ? 
 that is, to bring Christ down, or who shall descend, 
 into the deep ? that is, to bring Christ up again from 
 the dead."§ How are we to reconcile this language 
 with the prevalent view, that both the place of hap- 
 piness and that of misery are down beneath the sur- 
 face of the ground ? It appears to me, the only way 
 to solve the difficulty is, to suppose they used the 
 term hades, in a modified sense, for the world of 
 spirits, the same as they have the word anastasis, 
 translated in our common version, resurrection, in 
 the general sense of future life, without reference 
 to the manner of attaining it. II 
 
 * Mark 6 : 9. Luke 24 : 15. f Acts 7 : 55. 
 
 X 2 Cor. 12 : 2—4. § Rom. 1Q : 7. 
 
 || The word avaoraaig was used by the Jews in the times 
 of oar Saviour to designate a sort of metempsychosis or trans- 
 migration of souls ; while nothing can be more obvious, 
 than that no such thing was intended by it, as used by 
 Christ and his apostles. Campbell's Four Gospels, Dis. 6, 
 
 16* 
 
186 universalist's assistant. 
 
 There is one instance of a peculiar usage of the 
 term in question. Unlike all other passages in 
 which it occurs, it represents an individual as lifting 
 up his eyes in torment, in hades. Standing out by 
 itself as it does, an exception to all other occurrences 
 of the word, it seems but just that it receive espe- 
 cial attention. A separate section, therefore, will 
 be devoted to its consideration. 
 
 SECTION IV. EXPOSITION OF LUKE 16: 23. 
 
 The language of this text is — " The rich man 
 also died ; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being 
 in torments." The connection in which these 
 words are found, and the discourse of which it 
 makes a part, is confessedly a parable ; and it will 
 at once be perceived, by every one who will take the 
 pains to read it with any tolerable degree of atten- 
 tion, that it was addressed to the Jews, who per- 
 sisted in the rejection of Jesus, as the Messiah, in 
 the face, and in defiance, of the clearest and most 
 convincing testimony. And not only so, but they 
 perverted the teachings of Moses, and the prophets, 
 so as to answer their own base and selfish designs 
 
 Pt. 2, § 19. "The immortality of human souls, and the 
 transmigration of the good, seem to have been all they com- 
 prehended in the phrase avaaraoic twv vty.qwv. Indeed, the 
 words strictly denote no more than the renewal of life." 
 
NEW TESTAMENT USAGE OF HADES. 187 
 
 and purposes. Hence the parable closes with these 
 words ; — " If they hear not Moses and the prophets, 
 neither would they be persuaded, though one rose 
 from the dead." To illustrate this fact, the parable 
 was uttered — their perversity, and their hardened 
 and determined obstinacy. And the statement was 
 fully demonstrated, by their subsequent conduct, 
 in relation to the resurrection of Jesus himself. 
 They had no more faith in him after his resurrec- 
 tion, than they had before. It was to rebuke them 
 for their perverseness and obstinacy, that this para- 
 ble was spoken. This was its main design, while, 
 perhaps, in its arrangement, there was a subordi- 
 nate purpose, to expose and rebuke some of their 
 theological opinions, which had a direct bearing 
 upon their practices, with a peculiar reference to 
 their future condition. 
 
 The whole parable, I regard a sort of argumen- 
 turn ad hominem, as the logicians say ; or an argu- 
 ment against them, drawn from their own admitted 
 doctrines and notions. Jesus does not state his 
 own belief upon this subject; but admits, for the 
 sake of the argument, their peculiar notions about 
 the future state, without intending to sanction them 
 as true thereby. He then takes two individuals, 
 one whose character and circumstances were per- 
 fectly conformable to their ideas of moral rectitude. 
 A man who enjoyed all the advantages of wealth, so 
 far as position in society and leisure to seek his own 
 
188 universalist's assistant. 
 
 good and happiness were concerned — one who was 
 chargeable with no particular immoralities or crimes; 
 an individual we should now term a very good, 
 moral sort of a man, who did no one any particular 
 good or hurt ; an inefficient, good-natured, harmless, 
 unconcerned sort of a character, intent upon secur- 
 ing his own selfish gratification ; a man who was 
 disposed to do a favor for a fellow if he came in his 
 way, and it would not cost him too much effort, or 
 interfere very much with his own ease or pleasure ; 
 a man who lived chiefly to pamper his appetites and 
 passions, without concerning himself much about 
 other people's happiness or misery. Such a selfish 
 mortal, as a Jew, they supposed, when dead, and 
 his body composed in the tomb, was sure of enter- 
 ing into the society and becoming a favorite of Abra- 
 ham in the future world. 
 
 He then introduces another individual in contrast 
 with this man, whose condition and circumstances 
 are as different as possible. He is a miserable beg- 
 gar, whose body was a mass of disease. He was 
 so covered with ulcers, that he was an object of 
 loathing and abhorrence to all who might approach 
 him. In the eye of a Jew, the very circumstance of 
 an individual's being in so miserable a condition, 
 was the most conclusive evidence, that he had been 
 guilty of some enormous and shocking crime,^ for 
 
 # Luke 13 : 1 — 5. See Kenrick's remarks on this place. 
 Also Barnes, Livermore, Paige and others in loco. 
 
NEW TESTAMENT USAGE OF HADES. 1S9 
 
 which he was doomed to drag out a miserable exist- 
 ence here, as a prelude to a more miserable exist- 
 ence hereafter. 
 
 Both of these men die. One in his splendid 
 mansion, surrounded by friends and magnificence 
 to minister to his wants and soothe the pangs of 
 mortal disease, and he is buried in pomp and splen- 
 dor; while the other departs in loneliness, and is 
 either denied the rite of burial, or hurried away to 
 his grave by his few poor and destitute friends, or 
 by some stranger, in so private a manner, that the 
 event is unnoticed. 
 
 Jesus then chances the scene from this to 
 the world of the dead, as their imaginations 
 had conceived it, and there presents them with 
 these individuals in circumstances entirely reversed. 
 The rich man now is in miserable circumstances, 
 and becomes the one to ask favors of him who had 
 been deemed unfit to be received into his mansion 
 on earth. All this was subordinate to the main 
 design of the parable, to expose to them their false 
 views of the means of securing future bliss ; to show 
 them, that according to their own views of a future 
 world, they had entirely mistaken the grounds of 
 admittance to a condition of happiness in that state ; 
 that instead of being what they had supposed, 
 a faithful observance of the rites of the ceromonial 
 law, a descendance from Abraham, and a decent 
 regard to the laws of morality — a sort of negative 
 
190 universalist's assistant. 
 
 goodness — it demands a positive goodness — purity 
 and benevolence of heart, which looks beyond self 
 and selfish gratifications, upon the great world of suf- 
 fering humanity, and will prompt the individual to 
 active efforts for human good — efforts that will 
 demand some sacrifice of personal ease and selfish 
 gratification. 
 
 A conversation is then introduced, as being car- 
 ried on between Abraham and this rich man, who 
 mutually acknowledge each other as father and son, 
 in allusion, probably, to the fact of his being a true 
 son of the Jewish church, first in relation to his own 
 condition, and then in r -Terence to his Jewish 
 brethren. These, he evidently regarded, as on the 
 direct road to the same condition as he very unex- 
 pectedly found himself in ; and that the only way 
 for them to escape, was by reformation, for which 
 he manifested no little anxiety. This was the 
 point at which the whole parable is aimed — to 
 show, that according to their own views, the whole 
 of them were on the direct road to a place of mis- 
 ery, which they had supposed expressly fitted up 
 and solely for heathens and some exceedingly wick- 
 ed persons ; such as suicides, and those guilty of 
 enormous and shocking crimes ; and that they were 
 so wrapped up and deluded with self-righteous- 
 ness, and so full of obstinacy, that they would 
 hearken to no warning voice, not even of one from 
 the dead. Such is my view of the meaning of this 
 
NEW TESTAMENT USAGE OF HADES. 191 
 
 parable. But I do not suppose that Jesus meanc, 
 in this, to sanction their views of the future world 
 as true, more than the writer of the Acts of the 
 Apostles intended to be understood as admitting the 
 reality of the existence and supernatural power of 
 the heathen deity, Apollo, in saying that a certain 
 girl was possessed of the spirit of Python.^ It 
 was merely confuting some of their errors and 
 rebuking their obstinacy, by admitting their own 
 opinions. And this was most effectually done, in 
 putting the rebuke into the mouth of their father 
 Abraham, on whose account they claimed such 
 high prerogatives. 
 
 How far this parable may be urged in favor of 
 the opinion, that the consequences of sin do extend 
 beyond this life, may, perhaps, be a question. Al- 
 though I believe, most firmly, that the consequences 
 of sin do extend beyond this life, I cannot rely upon 
 this text as proof of it. I think it no evidence that 
 Jesus entertained such a view, because the whole 
 structure of the story recognizes and is founded 
 upon the common opinions of the Jews and hea- 
 thens, which were substantially the same, and I 
 cannot bring myself to believe, that he meant to be 
 understood, as teaching, that these views were in 
 conformity with the actual state of things in the 
 world of spirits. 
 
 In regard to the idea, that this text teaches the 
 
 * See p. 61, of this work, note. 
 
192 universalist's assistant. 
 
 doctrine of endless misery, nothing can be more 
 groundless ; for not a word is said or intimated, as 
 to the duration of the states of either of these men. 
 That, of necessity, depended upon their continuing 
 to sustain their respective characters, even if the 
 parable was designed as an express recognition of 
 the truth of the doctrine of future punishment.^ 
 Beside this, there is no truth more clearly revealed 
 in the Bible, than that hades itself is to be destroyed, 
 and a song of triumph sung over it by man.t 
 
 In regard to the impassable gulf, upon which the 
 idea, that the punishment mentioned in this para- 
 ble is to be endless, there is really no argument 
 afforded by it, in favor of this opinion, even admit- 
 ting it was designed to recognize the truth of the 
 doctrine of future punishment; because there is 
 just as impassable a gulf between the good and the 
 bad in this world, as in the next. A good man, 
 while good, can no more enter into the state of the 
 bad here, than he can hereafter ; nor the bad into 
 that of the good. Still all admit, that those now 
 bad men may get into the state of the good any 
 time, while they remain in this world at least. In- 
 deed, it is one of the leading aims of the gospel to 
 secure this, by removing this great gulf out of the 
 way, which it does by converting bad into good 
 
 * See pp. 129—133, of this work. 
 t See p. 172 of this work, note. 
 
NEW TESTAMENT USAGE OF HADES. 193 
 
 men. Hence we read of men's passing from death 
 unto life ; # and of their being translated from the 
 kingdom of darkness into that of God's dear Son.t 
 It is not man's outward condition, which constitutes 
 his essential happiness or misery, as a moral being ; 
 but his inward state. The only obstacle in the way 
 of any man's entrance into a state of happiness, is 
 his own moral condition. This is the impassable 
 gulf fixed in every wicked man's path, and the only 
 one in any world; not an outward barrier. So that, 
 although this gulf is impassable, a way is provided 
 by which it may be removed out of every man's 
 path. Let him become a good man and it will 
 vanish away, no matter where he is, whether in 
 this world or the next. 
 
 * John 5: 24. fCol. 1: 13. 
 
 17 
 
194 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE GREEK WORD TARTARUS, RENDERED HELL 
 IN OUR COMMON VERSION OF THE NEW TES- 
 TAMENT, CONSIDERED AS AN OBJEC- 
 TION TO UNIVERSALISM. 
 
 The word Tartarus* does not occur in the Scrip- 
 tures at all; "but a denominative verb, tartarobj 
 which means to send to Tartarus, to confine in 
 Tartarus, to punish in Tartarus, occurs in " one 
 place. X " Here it is said, that God spared not the 
 angels who sinned, but confining them in Tartarus, 
 he put them in chains of darkness, incarcerated for 
 trial or kept for judgment. "§ This is an exceed- 
 ingly tame rendering of the original, and falls very 
 far short of giving anything like its full force. A 
 more literal rendering would be, " but hurled them 
 down to hell ;"ll or " thrust them down to Tartarus. "H 
 The term tartarosas** conveys the idea of violence 
 or force directed against the wishes and efforts of 
 an antagonist. 
 
 In the Greek mythology, Tartarus was " the 
 fabled place of punishment in the Lower world. 
 
 * TaQraQog. f TctQTctQuw. % 2 Pet. 2: 4. 
 
 § Stuart's Exeget. Ess., p. 137. 
 
 || Donnegan's Lex., in raoTaoow. 
 
 If Robinson's Greek Lex. Ibid. ** xaQraQcoaagr 
 
THE GREEK WORD TARTARUS. 195 
 
 According to the ideas of the Homeric and Hesiodic 
 ages, it would seem that the world or universe was 
 a hollow globe, divided into two equal portions by 
 the flat disk of the earth. The external shell of 
 this globe is called by the poets Irazen and iron, 
 probably only to express its solidity. The superior 
 hemisphere was named Heaven, and the inferior 
 one Tartarus. The length of the diameter of the 
 hollow sphere is given thus by Hesiod. It would 
 take, he says, nine days for an anvil to fall from 
 Heaven to Earth ; and an equal space of time 
 would be occupied by its fall from Earth to the bot- 
 tom of Tartarus. The luminaries which give light 
 to gods and men, shed their radiance through all 
 the interior of the upper hemisphere, while that of 
 the inferior one was filled with eternal darkness, 
 and its still air was unmoved by any wind. Tarta- 
 rus was regarded, at this period, as the prison of 
 the gods, and not as the place of torment for wicked 
 men ; being to the gods, what Erebus was to men, 
 the abode of those who were driven from the super- 
 nal world. The Titans, when conquered, were 
 shut up in it, and Jupiter menaces the gods with 
 banishment to its murky regions. The Oceanus 
 of Homer encompassed the whole earth, and beyond 
 it was a region unvisited by the sun, and therefore 
 shrouded in perpetual darkness, the abode of a peo- 
 ple whom he names Cimmerians. Here the poet 
 of the Odyssey also places Erebus, the realm of 
 
196 TJNIVERS A LIST'S ASSISTANT. 
 
 Pluto and Proserpina, the final dwelling-place 
 of all the race of men, a place which the poet of 
 the Iliad describes as lying within the bosom of 
 the earth. At a later period, the change of reli- 
 gions gradually affected Erebus, the place of the 
 reward of the good ; and Tartarus was raised up, 
 to form the prison in which the wicked suffered the 
 punishment due to their crimes." 3 * 
 
 Prof. Stuart says, " Tartarus is employed, in 
 Greek, to designate a supposed subterranean region, 
 as deep down below the upper part of Hades as the 
 earth is distant from heaven, "t A few passages 
 from the classics relating to this subject, may not be 
 altogether uninteresting. Jupiter is represented as 
 forbidding all the gods from interfering in a battle 
 about to be fought, and threatening them, if disobe- 
 dient, in these words, — 
 
 "What god but enters yon forbidden field, 
 
 Who yields assistance, or but wills to yield, 
 
 Back to the skies, with shame, he shall be driven, 
 
 Gash'd with dishonest wounds, the scorn of heaven. 
 
 Or far, oh far from steep Olympus thrown, 
 
 Low in the dark Tartarean gulf shall groan, 
 
 With burning chains fix'd to the brazen floors, 
 
 And lock'd by hell's inexorable doors ; 
 
 As deep beneath the infernal centre hurled, 
 
 As from that centre to the ethereal world. "J 
 
 In speaking of this place Virgil makes nearly the 
 same representation, and describes it only as the 
 place where the gods are punished. 
 
 * Anthon's Class. Die, Art. Tartarvs. f Essays, p. 137. 
 t Pope's Homer, Iliad, B. viii. 11—20. 
 
NEW TESTAMENT USAGE OF HADES. 197 
 
 "'Tis here, in different paths, the way divides; — 
 The right to Pluto's golden palace guides, 
 The left to that unhappy region tends, 
 Which to the depths of Tartarus descends — 
 The seat of night profound and punished fiends. 
 
 The gaping gulf low to the centre lies, 
 And twice as deep as earth is distant from the skies. 
 The rivals of the gods, the Titan race, 
 Here, singed with lightning, roll within th' unfathomed 
 space. " # 
 
 From what has been said, it will be seen, that Tar- 
 tarus is only a part of Hades. According to the older 
 classics, it was the place where the gods only were 
 confined. But in later times it came to be regarded 
 as a place of punishment for wicked men. Hence, 
 Prof. Stuart says; — "It is not improbable that the 
 general conception of Hades, as meaning the region 
 of the dead, comprised both an Elysium and a 
 Tartarus, or a state of happiness and a state of 
 misery."! That such was the fact in the more 
 modern times, particularly among the Jews, admits 
 of little doubt. 
 
 Now the question is, did the apostle, in the text 
 under consideration, mean to be understood to teach 
 the same doctrine as the heathen and the Jews of 
 his time held ? Did he mean to be understood to 
 say, that, beneath the surface of the ground, there 
 was a vast region, to which all men go at death, 
 and that that region was divided into a place of 
 
 * Dryden's Virgil, jEneid vi. 726—783. f Essays, p. 135. 
 17* 
 
198 universalist's assistant. 
 
 happiness and a place of misery ? If he adopted 
 the heathen or Jewish ideas upon this subject, 
 between whom there was little difference, except in 
 the use of terms, such must have been what he 
 meant. But who will pretend to defend such an 
 opinion ? I hardly think any one can be found 
 willing to accept such a christianized heathenism. 
 Beside, if the apostle intended to describe a place 
 of future punishment by the use of this word, it 
 must have been regarded merely as temporary ; for 
 these angels were only confined there to await their 
 trial. Such a confinement, of course, is limited in 
 its duration, whatever may follow the trial. 
 
 The term Tartarus " is occasionally employed, in 
 the later classic writers, for the under- world in 
 general."^ In other words, it is employed to sig- 
 nify not the prison of Hades alone, but the same as 
 Hades itself. So similiar is it to the language in 
 one of the Psalms, that one is almost forced to think 
 the apostle had that text in his mind when he 
 penned this. "The wicked shall be turned into 
 hell."t That is, they should come to a violent 
 death — should be forced out of this world and into 
 the future, against their wills and efforts. So these 
 angels, be they what they may, were forced out of 
 the state or mode of existence in which they were, 
 into another and untried condition. This view of its 
 meaning is confirmed by the circumstance, that it is 
 
 * Stuart's Exeget. Ess., p. 137. f Ps. 9 : 17. 
 
NEW TESTAMENT USAGE OF HADES. 199 
 
 described as a place of darkness. " Delivered them 
 into chains of darkness." This goes strongly to 
 confirm the opinion, that Tartarus is here used in 
 the sense of sheol and hades; for these terms always 
 denote a place of darkness. 
 
200 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE HEBREW-GREEK WORD GEHENNA ALWAYS 
 
 RENDERED HELL IN THE COMMON VERSION 
 
 OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, CONSIDERED 
 
 AS AN OBJECTION TO UNIVERSALISM. 
 
 SECTION I. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 The term Gehenna is the one universally fixed 
 upon by the advocates of the " absolute eternity" 
 of punishment, as the name of the place where it is 
 to be inflicted, " That gehenna is employed in the 
 New Testament, to denote the place of future 
 punishment, prepared for the devil and his angels, 
 is indisputable. This is the sense, if I mistake not, 
 in which Gehenna is always to be understood in the 
 New Testament, where it occurs just twelve 
 times. "* " It is a word peculiar to the Jews, and 
 was employed by them some time before the com- 
 ing of Christ, to denote that part of sheol which was 
 the habitation of the wicked after death. This is 
 proved by the fact of its familiar use in the New 
 Testament, and by the fact of its being found in 
 the apocrypha books and Jewish Targums, some of 
 which were written before the time of our Sa- 
 
 * Campbell's Four Gospels, Diss. 6, Pt. 2, § 1. 
 
THE 
 
 WORD GEHENNA. 201 
 
 viour."^ By future punishment is here intended 
 endless punishment. 
 
 Such is the ground assumed by the believers in 
 the doctrine of endless punishment, and the ques- 
 tion is — Is it; well founded? It is admitted, that 
 the Pharisees and the Essenes, in the times of our 
 Saviour, believed in the endless punishment of the 
 wicked, and the question to be settled is — Did they 
 use the term Gehenna to describe the place where 
 this punishment was to be inflicted ? That it was 
 used by the Jews, some hundreds of years after 
 Christ, to designate the place of the damned, is 
 freely admitted. " It is admitted, that the Jews of 
 a later date, used the word Gehenna to denote Tar- 
 tarus, that is, the place of infernal punishment. "t 
 The Christians of the second century so understood 
 the matter. Clemens Alexandrirms says — " Does 
 not Plato acknowledge both the rivers of fire, and 
 that profound depth of the earth which the bar- 
 bariansj call Gehenna ? Does he not mention pro- 
 phetically, Tartarus, Cocytus, Acheron, the Phlege- 
 thon of fire, and certain other places of punishment, 
 which lead to correction and discipline ? "9 
 
 But the question is not what were the facts in 
 regard to the usage of this term some centuries 
 after Christ. It is — What are they as presented at 
 
 * Tract 224, p. 31. f Stuart's Exeget. Ess., p. 141. 
 % By barbarians, is here intended the Jews. 
 $ Universalist Expositor, Vol. 2, pp. 366, 367. 
 
202 universalist's assistant. 
 
 and before his time ? The whole force of the argu- 
 ment, a priori as it is, depends upon its being 
 made out by fair and unexceptionable testimony — 
 by witnesses which cannot be impeached — that the 
 term gehenna was so used at that precise time. 
 Testimony as to what was the state of the case at a 
 subsequent period, is only a presumption as to what 
 was the fact at that time. It is only an argument 
 a posteriori, which would be entitled to considerable 
 weight, if not arrested by any conflicting circum- 
 stances, belonging to that earlier period. 
 
 Now the appeal is made, to sustain the position, 
 that Gehenna is used as the name of the place of 
 infernal punishment by the Jews, as we have seen, 
 to certain Jewish writings, called the Targums and 
 the Talmuds,^ and also to the apocryphal writ- 
 ings of the Old Testament. There are two ques- 
 tions to be settled in regard to these writings, before 
 they can be admitted as testimony in the case. 
 The first is — Is this term found in these writings ? 
 If so, were they written about the time or before 
 the days of our Saviour? If both these questions 
 are answered in the affirmative, and it occurs in 
 
 # It may here be remarked, that the Targums are trans- 
 lations of the Old Testament into Chaldee, though they 
 are, in fact, in many instances, mere paraphrases of the 
 original. The word Tar^um means translation. Horn's 
 Intro., Vol. 2, p. 157. Phil. 1831. The Tahmuls are a 
 collection of Jewish traditions, called the Mishna, to which 
 are attached comments, called the Gemara, for their elucida- 
 tion. Prideaux's Connexions, Vol. 1, p. 269. Baltimore, 
 1833. 
 
THE WORD GEHENNA. 203 
 
 such a sense, then the witness is competent to tes- 
 tify in the case ; and if unequivocal, it must settle 
 the question ; but if not, the testimony cannot be 
 accepted. It must be rejected as inapposite to the 
 case. 
 
 That the word occurs in the Targums and Tal- 
 muds, I believe is admitted on all hands, and the 
 question is, — When were they written? Do they 
 belong to a period about the time of our Saviour, or 
 not ? The whole matter depends upon the answer to 
 this question. Is it certain, then, that these writings 
 were composed before or about the commencement 
 of the Christian era ? I answer, no. Their date is 
 extremely uncertain, as an appeal to the statements 
 of the critics will show. 
 
 The oldest of these writings in which the term 
 Gehenna occurs, in the sense of a place of future 
 punishment, is the Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel, 
 where it is said to occur several times in this sense. 
 To what age does this book belong? " Most of the 
 eminent critics now agree, that it could not have 
 been completed till some time between two and four 
 hundred years after Christ."^ " Neither the lan- 
 guage nor the method of interpretation is the same 
 in all the books. In the historical works, the text 
 is translated with greater accuracy than elsewhere ; 
 in some of the prophets, as in Zechariah, the inter- 
 pretation has more of the Rabbinical and Talmudical 
 
 * Univ. Expos., Vol. 2, p. 368. 
 
204 universalist's assistant. 
 
 character. From this variety we may properly in- 
 fer, that the work is a collection of interpretations 
 of several learned men, made toward the close of 
 the third century, and containing some of a much 
 older date ; for that some parts of it existed as early 
 as in the second century, appears from the additions 
 which have been transferred from some Chaldee 
 paraphrase into the Hebrew text, and were already 
 in the text in the second century."^ Others have 
 assigned its date to the third, fourth, and even as 
 late as the eighth century. t 
 
 Thus it will be seen, that the date of this book is 
 exceedingly uncertain, and that all that can be 
 adduced to establish this point, is little better than 
 mere conjecture. Now a book, the date of which is 
 so extremely uncertain as this is, cannot be very 
 good evidence of the usage of a word at a specific 
 time, in the absence of all other testimony. 
 Especially is this the case, when we know a very 
 great change took place in the opinions and phrase- 
 ology of the Jews, between that period and the 
 earliest date assigned this book by any sober and 
 judicious critic. I It has been well said, that " from 
 
 * Jahn's Intro, to the 0. T., p. 66. Home's Intro., Vol. 2, 
 p. 160. 
 
 t Univ. Expos., Vol. 2, p. 368. 
 
 X Perhaps an exception should be made of Gesenius, who 
 maintains the higher antiquity of this work ; but his views 
 are not adopted by the more recent German critics. They 
 still adhere to the opinion of its later date. 
 
THE WORD GEHENNA. 205 
 
 the time of Josephus onwards, there is an interval of 
 about a century, from which no Jewish writings 
 have descended to us. This was a period of dread- 
 ful change and ruin with that distracted people. 
 Their body politic was dissolved ; the whole system 
 of their ceremonial religion had been crushed in the 
 fall of their city and temple ; and they themselves, 
 scattered abroad, were accursed on all the face of the 
 earth. In these circumstances, it was natural that 
 their sentiments and usages should undergo a rapid 
 modification ; and if we may judge from the state 
 in which we find their doctrine, when their own 
 compositions again appear in view, they adopted 
 almost -every conceit, provided it were sufficiently 
 extravagant and ridiculous, that ever crossed the 
 brain of a mad-man."^ 
 
 In regard to the Talmuds, they are no better au- 
 thority in the case, than the Targums. They are 
 assigned to no earlier a period than the second cen- 
 tury. There are two of these works, the Jerusalem 
 Talmud and the Babylonish. " The former was 
 completed about the year of our Lord three hundred ; 
 and the latter was published about two hundred 
 years after, in the beginning of the sixth century."t 
 So far as the apocryphal books of the Old Testa- 
 ment are concerned, the term Gehenna is not to be 
 
 # Universalist Expos,, Vol. 2., p. 366. 
 fPrideaux's Connexions, Vol. 1, p. 269. Home's Intro., 
 Vol. 2, p. 296—297. 
 
 18 
 
206 tjniversalist's assistant. 
 
 found in them, notwithstanding they have so often 
 been appealed to as affording testimony in the 
 case.^ 
 
 Thus it will be seen, that there is an entire ab- 
 sence of decided and unequivocal testimony, aside 
 from the New Testament, to show that Gehenna, 
 in the times of our Saviour, was the name of a 
 place of endless punishment. The case may be 
 stated in this way. Before his day, the Old Testa- 
 ment was written in Hebrew, where the word had 
 its origin. The Septuagint translation of the Old 
 Testament was made some two hundred years be- 
 fore his birth, where the word is found, with some 
 variation of spelling. In both of these works 
 Gehenna is never used as the name of a place of 
 punishment in the future world. Cotemporary, or 
 nearly so, with Jesus and his apostles, was Philo 
 Judseus, in whose writings, now extant, the word is 
 not to be found. Immediately after Christ, Josephus 
 composed his works ; and although he treats par- 
 
 * I hardly know how to explain this circumstance ; for the 
 statement has been made by men who had both the learn- 
 ing and the means of knowing better. One thing is certain, 
 and that is, that such men have no apology that can justify 
 such a misstatement to common readers, who have not the 
 means of detecting it. In the Apocrypha the word hell oc- 
 curs in the following places, and is a rendering of Hades, 
 instead of Gehenna, as T can testify from a personal exami- 
 nation. Tobit, 13 : 2 ; Wisdom, 16 : 13 ; 17 : 14 ; (13 of the 
 Sep. Eccles. 21 : 10 ; 51 :5,6- Dan. 3 : 66. It occurs also 
 in 2 Esd. 2 : 29 ; 4 : 9 ; 8 : 53 ; but as this book exists only 
 in the Latin, it is no authority in the case. 
 
THE WORD GEHENNA. 207 
 
 ticularly of the different sects among the Jews, and 
 gives a very full description of their doctrines, he 
 never used the term. Now had Gehenna, in his 
 time, been used by the Jews as the name of the 
 place of endless punishment, in which the Pharisees 
 believed, is it supposable, that he would not have 
 used it, in describing their opinions ? 
 
 Beside all this, the ideas of the Jews, as exhibited 
 in the writings of the Apocrypha, Philo and Jose- 
 phus, in reference to punishment, were such that 
 they could not have used Gehenna as the name of 
 the place in which it was to be inflicted, in the 
 future world. " If we misjudge not, both the Apoc- 
 rypha, and the works of Philo, when compared to- 
 gether, afford circumstantial evidence that the word 
 cannot have been currently employed, during their 
 age, to denote a place of future torment. . . . From 
 the few traces which remain to us of this age, it 
 seems that the idea of future punishment, such as it 
 was among the Jews, was associated with that of 
 darkness, and not of fire ; and that among those of 
 Palestine, the misery of the wicked was supposed to 
 consist rather in privation, than in positive inflic- 
 tion. . . . But we cannot discover, in Josephus, 
 that either of these sects," the Pharisees or the Es- 
 senes, both of which believed the doctrine of endless 
 misery, " supposed it to be a state of fire, or that the 
 Jews ever alluded to it by that emblem. In addi- 
 tion, therefore, to the absence of all proof that they 
 
208 universalist's assistant. 
 
 had as yet named it Gehenna, we find their notions 
 of it to have been such as would not comport with 
 the term, in its later usage." 1 * 
 
 Such are the facts in the case, and how they can 
 be reconciled with the position, that Gehenna, in our 
 Saviour's day, had come to signify a place of punish- 
 ment, in the world of spirits, I cannot see. They 
 present the strongest kind of negative proof that the 
 word then had attained no such signification. At 
 any rate, no direct evidence has yet been adduced, 
 and I believe none can be, aside from the New 
 Testament, of its ever being used in such a sense 
 at that time. This is fai J to the a 'priori argu- 
 ment, that it bears this meaning in the New Testa- 
 ment, and throws the whole matter upon the New 
 Testament itself. 
 
 SECTION II. THE DERIVATION OF GEHENNA. 
 
 " It is originally a compound of the two Hebrew 
 words ge hinnorn^ the valley of Hinnom, a place 
 near Jerusalem, of which we hear first in the book of 
 Joshua. X It was there that the cruel sacrifices of chil- 
 dren were made by fire to Moloch, the Ammonitish 
 idol.§ The place was also called Tophet,!! and that, 
 
 * Univ. Expos., Vol. 2, pp. 361—366. f Ml h 3 
 
 % Josh. 15 : 8 ; 18 : 6. § 2 Chron. 33 : 6. || 2 Kings 23 ; 10. 
 
THE WORD GEHENNA. 209 
 
 as is supposed, from the noise of drums, (Toph 
 signifies a drum,) a noise raised on purpose to 
 drown the cries of the helpless infants."^ 
 
 "The word Gehenna is derived, as all agree, 
 from the Hebrew words ge hinnom ; which, in pro- 
 cess of time, passing into other languages, assumed 
 diverse forms; e. g. Chaldee Gehennom, Arabic 
 Gahannam, Greek Gehenna. The valley of Hin- 
 nom is a part of the pleasant wadi or valley, which 
 bounds Jerusalem on the south. t Here, in ancient 
 times, and under some of the idolatrous kings, the 
 worship of Moloch, the horrid idol-god of the Am- 
 monites, was practised. To this idol, children were 
 offered in sacrifice. % If we may credit the Rab- 
 bins, the head of the idol was like that of an ox ; 
 while the rest of the body resembled that of a man. 
 It was hollow within ; and being heated by fire, 
 children were laid in its arms and were literally 
 roasted alive. We cannot wonder, then, at the se- 
 vere terms in which the worship of Moloch is every- 
 where denounced in the Scriptures. Nor can we 
 wonder that the place itself should have been called 
 Tophet, i. e. abomination, detestation, (from toph, to 
 vomit with loathing. ,)§ 
 
 " After these sacrifices had ceased, the place was 
 
 * Campbell's Four Gospels, Diss. 6, Pt. 2, § 1. 
 fJosh. 15: 8: 18: 6. 
 
 X 2 Kings 23 : 10 j Ezek. 23 : 37 ; 39 ; 2 Chron. 28 : 3 ; Lev. 
 18: 21 ; 20: 2. 
 § Jer. 31 : 32 ; 19 : 6 ; 2 Kings 23 : 10 ; Ezek. 23 : 37, 39. 
 
 IS* 
 
210 universalist's assistant. 
 
 desecrated, and made one of loathing and horror. 
 The pious king Josiah caused it to be polluted, i. e. 
 he caused to be carried there the filth of the city of 
 Jerusalem. It would seem that the custom of dese- 
 crating this place, thus happily begun, was con- 
 tinued in after ages, down to the period when our 
 Saviour was on earth. Perpetual fires were kept 
 up, in order to consume the offal which was depos- 
 ited there. And as the same offal would breed 
 worms, (for so all putrefying meat does of course,) 
 hence came the expression, * Where the worm dietb 
 not, and the fire is not quenched.'^ 
 
 " Gehenna, originally a Hebrew word, which 
 signifies the valley of Hinnom, is composed of the 
 common noun, Gee, valley, and the proper name 
 Hinnom, the owner of this valley. The valley of 
 the sons of Hinnom was a delightful vale, planted 
 with trees, watered by fountains, and lying near 
 Jerusalem on the south-east, by the brook Kidron. 
 Here the Jews placed that brazen image of Moloch, 
 which had the face of a calf, and extended its hands 
 as those of a man. It is said, on the authority of the 
 ancient Eabbins, that, to this image, the idolatrous 
 Jews were wont not only to sacrifice doves, pigeons, 
 lambs, rams, calves and bulls, but even to offer their 
 children.! In the prophecy of Jeremiah, t this val- 
 ley is called Tophet, from Toph, a drum ; because 
 
 * Stuart's Exegetical Ess., p. 140—141. 
 
 f 1 Kings 9 : 7 ; 2 Kings 15 : 3, 4. $ Ch. 7 : 31. 
 
THE WORD GEHENNA. 211 
 
 the administrators in these horrible rites, beat drums, 
 lest the cries and shrieks of the infants who were 
 burned, should be heard by the assembly. At 
 length, these nefarious practices were abolished by 
 Josiah, and the Jews brought back to the pure wor- 
 ship of God.^ After this, they held the place in 
 such abomination, it is said, that they cast into it all 
 kinds of filth, together with the carcasses of beasts, 
 and the unburied bodies of criminals who had been 
 executed. Continual fires were necessary, in order 
 to consume these, lest the putrefaction should infect 
 the air ; and there were always worms feeding on 
 the remaining relics. Hence it came, that any se- 
 vere punishment especially a shameful kind of death, 
 was denominated Gehenna."! 
 
 Such is the undisputed derivation of this word, 
 and such its literal meaning. And even Prof. Stu- 
 art admits, that " the word Gehenna, when used in 
 respect to a place of punishment, may be used, or 
 might have been used, literally." And the ques- 
 tion now is, " whether it is employed in its literal" 
 or in a "secondary and spiritual sense, in the 
 New Testament."^ That it is generally used in a 
 literal sense in the New Testament, I suppose no 
 one will pretend. It will doubtless be admitted, on 
 
 * 2 Kings 23: 10. 
 
 f Schleusneri Lexicon in Nov. Test, sub voce riewa, as 
 quoted in the Univ. Expos., Vol. 2, pp. 354 — 355. 
 t 1 Exeget. Ess., p. 141. 
 
212 universalist's assistant. 
 
 all hands, at the present day, that it is there used 
 generally in a figurative sense. It is a figure of 
 something. This is clear from the whole history 
 of the word. If it refers to future punishment, it is 
 not the name of the place where it is to be inflicted, 
 but only a figure to represent it. This being the 
 case, whether it means any such thing, in any par- 
 ticular place, must be determined, not by the force 
 and meaning of the word itself, but by the connex- 
 ion in which it is found, or the subject to which it 
 is applied. So much being admitted, it is, in effect, 
 giving up the word as affording any evidence, of 
 itself, of the truth of the doctrine of endless misery, 
 or even of future punishment, however it may be 
 in regard to some of the* texts where it occurs. 
 Whether it ever refers to any such punishment in 
 the New Testament, can be determined only by an 
 actual examination of all the places where it occurs. 
 If it is used as a figurative representation, the ques- 
 tion is — Of what is it a figure ? I think it was 
 used by the writers of the New Testament, as a 
 figure of punishment in general, particularly any 
 peculiarly severe or odious punishment, without 
 any reference to the place where inflicted, or its 
 duration ; and sometimes for anything peculiarly 
 odious and detestable. That such is its meaning, 
 will appear from an examination of the several 
 texts where it occurs in the New Testament. 
 
THE WORD GEHENNA. 2lS 
 
 SECTION HI. NEW TESTAMENT USAGE OF THE TERM 
 
 GEHENNA. 
 
 In the examination of the texts which will come 
 under consideration, I shall offer but little on the 
 negative side of the question ; that is, to show the 
 word gehenna does not mean a place of endless 
 punishment. This has been done very fully and 
 thoroughly by others.^ It will be my effort, rather to 
 show what the texts really mean, which is the most 
 important matter ; and if this is truly represented, 
 those interpretations which make them teach the 
 doctrine of endless punishment, must of necessity 
 be false. My work, therefore, will be constructive, 
 rather than destructive; affirmative rather than 
 negative. In the execution* of this work, I shall 
 not go into any lengthy arguments to sustain the 
 explanations that may be given. I shall aim to 
 state my views of the texts that may come under 
 review, as concisely as possible, without going at 
 length into the reasons therefor. I pursue this 
 course because I think it will convey a clearer and 
 more distinct conception of the meaning of the texts, 
 to the minds of most readers, and be quite as satis- 
 factory as a more elaborate method. I shall refer 
 
 * See particularly Balfour's First Inquiry, which pre- 
 sents about all that can be said on the negative side of this 
 question. 
 
214 universalist's assistant. 
 
 to such authorities as may be at hand, in confirma- 
 tion of my positions, so as to enable those who may 
 be disposed, to pursue the inquiry still farther. 
 
 The word Gehenna occurs in the New Testament 
 just twelve times. Five^ of these are parallel with 
 other texts, which reduces the instances of its use to 
 seven in number. These will now be examined in 
 the chronological order in which they were uttered, 
 according to the Harmony of the Gospels by Dr. 
 L. Carpenter. 
 
 1. Matt. 5 : 22. "But I say unto you, that whosoever is 
 angry with his brother, without a cause, shall be in danger 
 of the judgment ; and whosoever shall say to his brother 
 Raca, shall be in danger of the council ; but whosoever 
 shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell-Jtre."f 
 
 Upon the word Gehenna, in this text, Mr. Barnes 
 says, — " In this verse it denotes a degree of suffer- 
 ing higher than the punishment inflicted by the 
 court of seven, or the sanhedrim. And the whole 
 verse may therefore mean, He that hates his brother 
 without a cause, is guilty of a violation of the sixth 
 commandment, and shall be punished with a sever- 
 ity similar to that inflicted by the court of judg- 
 ment. He that shall suffer his passions to trans- 
 
 * Matt. 5 : 30. Mark 9 : 43 and 45. Luke 12 : 5. Matt. 
 18: 9. 
 
 f evo/og sotcci tig xi t v ytirvav rov 7rf£><;£, shall be obnoxious 
 to the gehenna of fire. — Campbell's note in loco. " To be in 
 danger of evil of auy kind, is one thing ; to be obnoxious to 
 it, is another. The most innocent person may be in danger 
 of death, it is the guilty only who are obnoxious to it." 
 
THE WORD GEHENNA. 215 
 
 port him to still greater extravagances, and shall 
 make him an object of derision and contempt, shall 
 be exposed to still severer punishment, correspond- 
 ing to that which the sanhedrim, or council, inflicts. 
 But he who shall load his brother with odious ap- 
 pellations and abusive language, shall incur the 
 severest degree of punishment, represented by being 
 burnt alive in the horrid and awful valley of Hin* 
 nom."^ 
 
 " Three degrees of anger are specified, and three 
 corresponding gradations of punishment, propor- 
 tioned to the different degrees of guilt. Where 
 these punishments will be inflicted, he does not say, 
 he need not say. The man, who indulges any 
 wicked feelings against his brother man, is in this 
 world punished ; his anger is the torture of his soul, 
 and unless he repents of it and forsakes it, it must 
 prove his woe in all future states of his being."! 
 
 The antithesis, in this passage, lies between the 
 material views of the Jews, who regarded men's 
 overt acts of wrong, only as subjecting them to the 
 
 * Note in loco. 
 
 t Livermore's Com. in loco ; also Dr. A. Clarke, Bloom- 
 field, Kenrick and Paige in loco. Dr. Clarke, Kenrick and 
 Paige seem to regard the whole in a strictly literal sense, 
 rather than figurative ; while Bloomfield, Barnes and Liver- 
 more seem to think the council, sanhedrim and gehenna 
 mere figures ; Mr. B. and Dr. Bloomfield of future pun- 
 ishment only, and Mr. Livermore of punishment in general,, 
 without any reference to the place where inflicted, or the time 
 when, or its duration. 
 
216 universalist's assistant. 
 
 retributions of the Almighty, and the more spiritual 
 views of Jesus, who maintained that the thoughts, 
 feelings, desires and purposes of the individual, 
 though never carried out in action, exposed him 
 equally to punishment, with overt acts.^ And in 
 my view, he did not refer to these several kinds of 
 death inflicted by the Jews, as the penalties to be 
 suffered for these sins ; or to these tribunals as tak- 
 ing cognizance of these offences. They are referred 
 to only as an illustration of the principle upon 
 which God would deal with men for their evil and 
 malicious thoughts, feelings, desires and purposes. 
 What he means to say is, that according to his 
 religion, punishment would be inflicted upon men 
 for these things, as well as for their overt acts ; and 
 that, as in these, it would be severe, in proportion 
 to their malignity, and the evil they were calculated 
 to produce.! 
 
 2. Matt. 5 : 29—30. "And if thy right eye offend}: thee, 
 pluck it out and cast it from thee ; for it is profitable for 
 thee, that one of thy members should perish, and not that 
 thy whole body should be cast into hell.§ And if thy right 
 hand offend}: thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee, for 
 it is profitable for thee, that one of thy members should 
 perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell"§ 
 
 * Matt. 5 : 28 ; 15 : 19. f Univ. Miscel., vol. 2, p. 184—6. 
 
 % " We have no single word to express the import of 
 oxavdaXiLU), which is peculiar to ecclesiastical Greek. It 
 denotes to cause to fall, either from duty or allegiance. 
 The noun oxavda/.ov, denotes the cause of sin or desertion, 
 — a stumbling-block. Dr. L. Carpenter's Note in loco. 
 
 § xal /ntj oXov to ouyiu gov (ikrj-frrj tig yctvvav, and not thy 
 whole body should be thrust into gehenna. 
 
THE WORD GEHENNA. 217 
 
 The duty enjoined in this text is ; " Deny thyself 
 what is even the most desirable and alluring, and 
 seems the most necessary, when the sacrifice is 
 demanded by the good of thy soul. Some think 
 that there is an allusion to the amputation of dis- 
 eased members of the body, to prevent the spread 
 of any disorder."^ This, I apprehend, is the true 
 idea. When a mortal disease seizes upon some 
 one of the limbs, it becomes necessary to have that 
 limb removed, to prevent the infection from spread- 
 ing through the whole body, and filling it with dis- 
 ease and torture, and ultimately reducing it to a 
 mass of loathsome corruption ; so when any evil 
 passion springs up in the soul, and is leading the 
 individual into sin, he must expel it from him, or, 
 like a plague, it will spread through his whole moral 
 constitution, filling it with disease, putrefaction and 
 torment, and making it as odious and abominable, 
 as the valley of Hinnom, — a fate as dreadful, in a 
 moral point of view, as to suffer capital punishment, 
 by being burned alive in this loathsome and detest- 
 able place ; or being executed, and then having the 
 body thrown into this receptacle of filth, to putrefy 
 and be consumed by the fire and worms with the 
 rest of the offal of the city. 
 
 Hence it is said, — " As it would be better to lose 
 a limb, than to have the whole body become diseased 
 
 * Bloomfield's Note in loco. 
 19 
 
218 universalist's assistant. 
 
 and putrid, and finally cast into the valley of Hin- 
 nom, the place of abomination, — the deepest disgrace 
 of which a Jew could conceive, — so it would be 
 better to crush and destroy any passion, however 
 painful the struggle, than to have the whole moral 
 system become infected, and to incur the disgrace 
 and punishment which might well be called the 
 worm and fire of Gehenna"* 
 
 " The main idea here conveyed, is that of punish- 
 ment, extreme suffering, and no intimation is given 
 as to its place, or its duration, whatever may be 
 said in other texts in relation to these points. 
 Wickedness is its own hell. A wronged conscience, 
 awakened to remorse, is more terrible than fire or 
 worm. In this life and in the next, sin and woe 
 are forever coupled together. God has joined them, 
 and man cannot put them asunder."! 
 
 3. Matt. 10: 28 "Bat fear not them which kill the 
 body, but are not able to kill the soul ; but rather fear him 
 which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."% Luke 
 12 : 4, 5. 
 
 The most natural construction of this text seems 
 to be this, — Be not afraid of men, who, when they 
 exert their utmost power, can only kill the body, 
 but cannot touch the soul. They may destroy the 
 natural life, the temporary dwelling-place of the 
 soul ; but this is a small matter. It will not inter- 
 
 * Paige's Com. in loco. f Livermore's Com. in Iocq. 
 
 % Iv yefavv, in Gehenna. 
 
THE WORD GEHENNA. 
 
 219 
 
 nipt the bliss of the soul. Not even this can be 
 affected without your consent ; much less its exist- 
 ence. Both are beyond their reach. They may 
 destroy the body by the punishments inflicted in 
 that loathsome and abhorred place, called Gehenna ; 
 but this will do you no harm as moral beings. 
 Therefore, be not afraid of them, seeing they can 
 do so little, even when they do their worst. But I 
 tell you rather to fear God, who has far greater 
 power ; who is able utterly to annihilate both body 
 and soul, your whole being, in some manner equally 
 horrible with having your body consumed in the 
 valley of Hinnom. 
 
 It appears to me, that the point of contrast be- 
 tween men and God, is in reference to their power. 
 The power of men can accomplish but little, even 
 when exerted to its utmost. It can reach only to 
 the temporary dwelling-place of the soul, which 
 must, sooner or later, fall to decay, if left to the 
 operation of natural laws. But God's power is so 
 great, that he can not only do what men may per- 
 form, but much more. While men can destroy the 
 habitation only, God can destroy both the habitation 
 and the inhabitant , without implying that either 
 will be done. It is a simple contrast of the abilities 
 of the parties. 
 
 This view seems to be confirmed by the circum- 
 stances of the case. Jesus was giving his disciples 
 directions concerning the promulgation of his reli- 
 
220 universalist's assistant. 
 
 gion. He and they knew, that, in the prosecution 
 of this work, they should not only suffer all man- 
 ner of privations, but be exposed to physical death 
 by the hands of their fellow-men, on account of their 
 labors and efforts. And it is his object to guard 
 their minds against such a fear of men, as would 
 lead them to swerve from duty, clothed in as much 
 power as they might be, by contrasting their highest 
 power with that of God. It is a mere contrasting 
 of the ability of God and men, not their dispositions, 
 or what they will actually do. It is saying to 
 them, that if there was reason to fear men on 
 account of their power, they had much greater rea- 
 son to fear God — as much greater reason as his 
 power is greater than theirs; that if they felt any 
 shrinking from the performance of their duties, for 
 fear of the evils men could bring upon their bodies, 
 they should remember that God, who will in no 
 wise clear the guilty, is able to do far more — to 
 destroy or annihilate the soul as well as the body — 
 not implying, by any means, that God would anni- 
 hilate their whole being, even should they prove 
 recreant to their trust, through fear of men. It 
 affirms nothing as to what would be their punish- 
 ment in such an event; but simply implies that 
 they would render themselves obnoxious to a pun- 
 ishment proportionate to their guilt. 
 
 That Gehenna, in this text, cannot mean a place 
 of punishment in another world, is manifest from 
 
THE WORD GEHENNA. 
 
 221 
 
 the fact, that the exhortation is addressed particu- 
 larly to the disciples, who, if the common views are 
 correct, were in no sort of danger of such a punish- 
 ment. And even if it did refer to such a place, it 
 would afford no evidence in favor of the doctrine 
 of eternal punishment ; for it says not a word about 
 their being punished there; but that their whole 
 being may be destroyed in that place. Upon this 
 supposition, it proves annihilation, if it proves any- 
 thing.^ 
 
 " That it was the design of Christ, to lead 
 his disciples to reverence the surpassing power of 
 God, which he thus illustrated, and not to make 
 them fear an actual destruction of their souls and 
 bodies in Gehenna, seems evident from the words 
 that immediately follow. For he proceeds to show 
 them that that power was constantly exerted in 
 their behalf — not against them. See the following 
 verses. "t 
 
 # I am aware, that the idea commonly attached to the 
 words kill and destroy in this text, is to torture or torment. 
 But this is an idea which is no more naturally expressed by 
 the original words anoxrsivw, rendered to kill, in the first 
 clause, and anoXXvpt, translated to destroy, in the last clause, 
 than it is by these English words. To torture or torment is 
 by no means the usual signification of these words ; and I 
 doubt whether they ever occur in this unusual sense in the 
 New Testament, though they are of very frequent occur- 
 rence ; arroxTeivw occurring in seventy-five instances, and 
 anollv^u, in eighty- five cases. Univ. Expos., Vol. 4, pp. 
 166, 167. Mr. Donnegan defines anoUv^i, primarily, "to 
 destroy utterly. 1 '' 
 
 t Univ. Expos., Vol. 4, p. 169. Paige's Com. in loco. 
 19* 
 
222 
 
 4. Matt. 18 : 8, 9. "Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot 
 offend* thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee ; it is 
 better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than 
 having two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting 
 fire.f And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it 
 from thee ; it is better for thee to enter into life with one 
 eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire." % 
 
 The parallel passage in Mark is recorded in 
 phraseology somewhat different ; and as both evi- 
 dently mean the same thing, and are used to repre- 
 sent the same conversation of our Lord, they will 
 naturally aid in explaining the peculiar phraseology 
 of each. I will, therefore, quote this passage, that 
 the reader may have both before him at once. 
 
 Mark 9 : 43—48. " And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off; 
 it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than to have 
 two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be 
 quenched,^ where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not 
 quenched.\\ And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off; it is better 
 for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet, to be 
 cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched ;§ where 
 their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.\\ And if 
 thine eye offend thee, pluck it out ; it is better for thee to 
 enter into the kingdom of God, with one eye, than having 
 two eyes, to be cast into hell -fir e ;^ where their worm dieth 
 not, and their fire is not quenched. 1 \\ 
 
 The general sentiment of these texts is the same 
 as in one before noticed ; but they are distin- 
 
 * See note on page 216, of this work. 
 t *U to TtvQ to aitoviov, into the fire the everlasting. 
 % dg ri t v ytivvav rov nvgog, into the Gehenna of fire. 
 § stg rr t v ythvav, tig to ttvq to aofteorov, into the Gehenna, 
 into the fire unquenchable. 
 
 || xal to nvq ov ofevvvTai, and the fire not to be extinguished. 
 If tig Ttjv yeewav rov nvQog, into the Gehenna of fire. 
 
THE WORD GEHENNA. 223 
 
 guished by somewhat peculiar phraseology, espe- 
 cially this last. Still the whole of it is derived 
 from what was literally true of the valley of Hin- 
 nom, after its desecration. Perpetual fires were 
 kept there, arid it swarmed with worms as we have 
 seen.^ This fire is called everlasting, not because 
 it is absolutely endless in duration ; but to represent 
 its uninterrupted character. For the word ren- 
 dered everlasting, as we have seen,t has more the 
 sense of uninterrupted, than of endless duration ; a 
 duration in which there is no break or interruption 
 so long as it lasts, be that longer or shorter. This 
 was the character of the fire in Gehenna. It was 
 continual and uninterrupted, in consequence of the 
 constantly renewed supply of fuel to feed it, until, 
 from the want of this supply, it became extinct. 
 
 Although the imagery of the last quoted text is 
 much more terrific than in the first, this very im- 
 agery only serves to confirm the view above pre- 
 sented. The fire is here called unquenchable, with 
 particular allusion to what the prophet says ;t and 
 there are said to be undying worms there. It was 
 a fire that burned continually, and a place that con- 
 tinually swarmed with worms, and would do so as 
 long as the place maintained its characteristics as 
 then known. This view is confirmed by the use 
 
 * See page 210, of this work, f See p. 152, of this work. 
 % Isaiah 46 : 24, from which these peculiar forms of ex- 
 pression are taken almost literally. 
 
224 universalist's assistant. 
 
 of the word rendered unquenchable, by the prophet, 
 alluded to above, and the common usage of it by- 
 other writers. Josephus uses it in describing the 
 fire upon the altar in the temple of Jerusalem, and 
 so of others.^ These facts are added only to pre- 
 sent a stronger and more lively image of the loath- 
 some and abhorrent character of that place ; and what 
 can be more so, than that of fomenting filth, filled 
 with worms, in which fire is smouldering and fill- 
 ing the air with its horrid and intolerable stench ? 
 But these worms have ceased to exist, and this fire 
 has been long since extinguished. 
 
 Thus much for the literal meaning of this text. 
 But are we to take this text in a literal sense? 
 Will any one maintain, that our Lord meant to con- 
 trast the life his gospel is calculated to impart, and 
 the kingdom he came to establish, with the literal 
 horrors of the valley of Hinnom? I think not. 
 Every one, it appears to me, must see, the horrors of 
 this place are used only as figures ; and the ques- 
 tion at once arises — Figures of what ? I answer — 
 Figures of the consequences of sin, of neglect of 
 duty, of violation of God's law. And these figures 
 are not used so much to represent the duration of 
 punishment, as to indicate its intensity, and its un- 
 interrupted, unmitigated, continuous character, so 
 long as it lasts, which must be as long as its cause 
 
 *Univ. Expos., Vol. 4, pp. 106, 107, where a number of 
 examples are quoted from different authors. 
 
THE WORD GEHENNA. 225 
 
 continues ; i. e. sin in the soul. How long this will 
 continue, in any individual case, is a matter which 
 cannot be determined, until it shall have transpired, 
 as we have already shown. ^ Where this fearful 
 punishment will be inflicted, no intimation is given, 
 as none is needed ; for wherever sin exists, there it 
 will be punished ; because sin and its misery are in- 
 separably united, and the latter will adhere to 
 every soul so long as the former. When the one 
 ceases, then will the other also.t 
 
 5. Matt. 23 : 15. " Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, 
 hypocrites ! for ye compass sea and land to make one pros- 
 elyte ; and when he is made, ye make him two-fold more 
 the child of hell, % than yourselves. 7 ' 
 
 The word translated child, would be more literally 
 rendered son ; and it is used to express a great va- 
 riety of relations. In this place it means like, or in 
 resemblance of.§ The scribes and Pharisees were 
 abominably wicked, malicious and persecuting. So 
 vile and polluted, yet so hypocritical, were they, as 
 to be compared to whited sepulchres. They w T ere 
 so full of all that was corrupt and odious, as to be 
 the objects of loathing and abhorrence to every pure 
 and good mind acquainted with their real characters. 
 They had a sufficiently strong resemblance to that 
 
 * See pp. 129—133 of this work. 
 
 f Those who may wish for a more minute and particular 
 exposition of this text, are referred to Paige's Com. in loco. 
 J vlbv ystwrjg, a son of Gehenna. 
 § Universalist Expositor, Vol. I., pp. 312 — 316. 
 
226 UNIVERSALIST's ASSISTANT. 
 
 most odious and abominable of all places, the valley 
 of Hinnom ; but their proselytes were twice as bad, 
 — vastly more wicked, odious, abominable, mali- 
 cious and persecuting, than they were themselves ; 
 they bore a more exact resemblance to Gehenna, 
 than the scribes and Pharisees did themselves. 
 
 Hence it is said, — " It was the complaint of the 
 Jewish nation, that the proselytes were ' scabs of 
 the church,' and hindered the coming of the Mes- 
 siah, as being ignorant of the law, and bringing in 
 revenge. Justin Martyr informs us of them, that 
 these ' proselytes did not only disbelieve Christ's 
 doctrine, but were twice more blasphemous against 
 him than the Jews themselves, endeavoring to tor- 
 ment and cut them off wheresoever they could, they 
 being in this the instruments of the scribes and 
 Pharisees. "^ 
 
 6. Matt. 23 : 33. " Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, 
 how can ye escape the damnation of hellP\ 
 
 The word rendered damnation, in this text, would 
 be more properly translated condemnation or punish- 
 ment. X The meaning of this text is, — How can ye 
 escape from a punishment as dreadful as that of be- 
 ing burned alive in that most execrable of all places, 
 the valley of Hinnom ; or how can you escape from, 
 
 * Whitby, Com. and Note, in loco. 
 
 If an 6 rijg xQiosoyg rijg ysfir^c, from the punishment of Ge- 
 henna. 
 
 X Campbell's Notes on Mark 12 : 40 ; 16: 16; Matt. 23: 
 23 : John 5 : 22. 
 
THE WORD GEHENNA. 227 
 
 or avoid the most dreadful punishment God sees fit 
 to inflict upon men ; the language denoting, not the 
 duration, but the intensity and severity of the 
 punishment. Hence it is said, — " Gehenna, or the 
 valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem, where the filth 
 of the city and the bodies of malefactors were 
 thrown, to be consumed by fire and worms. Hence 
 it was used as a figure for a keen and terrible punish- 
 ment."^ " The damnation of hell, or of Gehenna ; 
 which place the Jews understood to indicate the 
 most acute misery, "t This text, I apprehend, is to 
 be taken for punishment in general, without par- 
 ticular reference to the kind, or when or where 
 inflicted, or how long it is to endure. This is as 
 indefinite and uncertain as the duration of any indi- 
 vidual soul in sin.t 
 
 7. James 3:6. " And the tongue is a fire, a world of 
 iniquity ; so is the tongue among our members, that it de- 
 fileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of 
 nature ; and it is set on fire of hell.^% 
 
 The last clause of this text, is manifestly figur- 
 ative ; for no man, in his senses, will maintain, that 
 an unruly, or ungoverned tongue, is literally set on 
 
 # Livermore's Com. in loco. 
 
 t Paige's Com. in loco, where a somewhat different view 
 of the matter is taken. This respected author thinks the 
 punishment is to be understood as specific, rather than 
 general. 
 
 % xal (fXoyito^ivr\ vnb rtjg ysiwriq, and being inflamed of the 
 Gehenna. 
 
228 universalist's assistant. 
 
 fire from hell, if this word is taken in its common 
 acceptation. It being a figure, the question very 
 naturally arises — From what is it drawn? From 
 Gehenna taken in its literal sense, or from a place 
 which it is supposed to represent as a symbol? 
 From a place well known and most deeply abhorred 
 by those to whom the language was addressed, or a 
 place which was a mere ideal thing, about the very 
 existence of which there was dispute among them ? 
 It certainly seems quite unnecessary, to say the least, 
 to resort to this sort of compound figure, to express 
 an idea, which would be more forcibly expressed by 
 a simple figure, and adopting the term Gehenna in 
 its literal sense ; for this would give it all the force 
 it could possibly have. 
 
 The simple meaning, therefore, of this text, I take 
 to be, that an unruly or ungoverned tongue, not 
 only defiles and pollutes the whole man, in whom it 
 resides, and blackens everybody about him, by its 
 lies and slanders, but inflames society, and is calcu- 
 lated to make it as uncomfortable to its members, 
 and as loathsome and abhorrent to all good and 
 peace-loving persons, as the filth and smoke of the 
 valley of Hinnom were to the eyes and nostrils of 
 those who might enter it ; and that the principles 
 and passions which move such a tongue, are as vile 
 and polluted, and odious and offensive in the eyes 
 
THE WORD GEHENNA. 229 
 
 of the pure and good, as was this valley to the mind 
 of a Jew.^ 
 
 These are all the instances where the word 
 Gehenna occurs in the New Testament, and such 
 are my views of their meaning, which are com- 
 mended to the serious attention of every reader. 
 Of their correctness he is left to judge, with a full 
 assurance that they must commend themselves to 
 his reason and common sense. 
 
 * See Whitby in loco, and Balfour's First Inquiry, p. 194. 
 20 
 
230 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 GENERAL CONCLUSION. 
 
 In view of what has been presented in this 
 volume, it must be manifest to all intelligent and 
 reflecting minds, that the objections commonly 
 urged against Universalism, are either without 
 foundation, or utterly inapposite. It must be equal- 
 ly plain, that the objections urged against this 
 doctrine, from the Scriptures, are, to say the least, 
 very far from being conclusive in the case. Indeed, 
 I cannot see how any person, with the facts herein 
 presented before him, can regard the testimony 
 commonly adduced, in favor of the doctrine of end- 
 less misery, from the Bible, as sufficient to warrant 
 the belief of so tremendous a doctrine. I think all 
 candid and fair-minded men must concede, that if 
 this fearful doctrine is true, some other and more 
 decisive testimony must be adduced, so far as the 
 Scriptures are concerned, than that which has been 
 commonly relied upon, for this purpose. 
 
 In attaining the position at which I have arrived 
 in this volume, I am aware, that the way is only 
 fairly cleared and well laid open for the introduc- 
 tion of affirmative testimony, in behalf of Universal- 
 
GENERAL CONCLUSION. 231 
 
 ism. No direct evidence has been produced in behalf 
 of this idea, in what has been said. This was not 
 the design. Its aim has been merely defensive ; to 
 remove objections, that the mind of the reader 
 might be prepared, fully to appreciate and feel the 
 force of the arguments of others of an affirmative 
 character. Still, the position that has been attain- 
 ed, is, of itself, a presumption in favor of the truth 
 of the doctrine of universal salvation. If the doc- 
 trine of the " absolute eternity " of punishment is 
 not true, as we have a right to assume, if the evi- 
 dence in its favor is inconclusive, then only one 
 of two things can be true, either annihilation or 
 universal salvation. And if the universality and 
 eternity of human existence is admitted, then uni- 
 versal salvation must be the truth; for nothing else 
 can possibly be the case, unless it can be supposed, 
 that the human soul may be in a state and condition, 
 where it neither enjoys happiness nor suffers misery. 
 This, I suppose, no one will maintain. 
 
 Still, I am aware, that there is a very serious 
 difficulty, in the way of many persons coming to 
 view the matter in the light presented in this vol- 
 ume, from the common apprehensions about the 
 Scripture representations of rewards and punish- 
 ments. It has been the practice so long, to regard 
 the Bible as speaking in one place, exclusively of 
 rewards and punishments in this state, and in 
 another as speaking only of future rewards and 
 
232 universalist's assistant. 
 
 punishments, that it is exceedingly difficult to bring 
 their minds to right apprehensions upon the subject, 
 plainly as it is exhibited upon the very face of the 
 Scriptures; for nothing is more difficult than to 
 break up old associations, when attached for a long 
 time to particular words and phrases. 
 
 But I apprehend, however numerous the passages 
 of Scripture, in which the idea of future rewards and 
 punishments is involved, it will be very difficult to 
 fix upon any one text, and show, by fair argument, 
 that it is exclusively confined to this meaning. And 
 the same may be said, if they are attempted to be 
 restricted to this state; for what is true of one state, 
 in regard to the cause of punishment, is true of the 
 other also. 
 
 The truth is, the Bible makes no such distinction 
 between present and future rewards and punish- 
 ments, as is commonly supposed. It does not here 
 describe a reward to be bestowed, or a punishment 
 to be inflicted in this life only ; and there, those t3 
 be enjoyed or suffered exclusively in a future state. 
 It lays down the great principle, that virtue and its 
 rewards, and vice and its punishment, are insepara- 
 bly united ; that this is a law of God's moral 
 government, as eternal and immutable as that gov- 
 ernment itself. Both the bliss of the righteous and 
 the misery of the wicked, begin in this world, and 
 are as truly enjoyed and suffered in this, as they 
 can be in any world. Whether the bliss of the 
 
GENERAL CONCLUSION. 233 
 
 one, or the misery of the other, extends beyond this 
 life, must depend entirely upon the circumstance, 
 whether they will continue to sustain their respect- 
 ive characters in that world. If those who are bad 
 here, continue to be bad there, they must continue 
 to suffer the miserable consequences of their wick- 
 edness, which attached to them here ; and if those 
 who are good in this world, continue to be good in 
 the world to come, they will continue to enjoy the 
 reward of their goodness there as here. The only 
 difference between the two states will be, that the 
 miseries of the bad, and the enjoyments of the good, 
 must be immensely greater in degree, in that world, 
 than in this, from the very nature of the case. 
 They are the same in kind, though different in 
 degree. 
 
 Hence the whole controversy between the believer 
 in the doctrine of endless punishment, and the Uni- 
 versalist, turns upon the single point, whether human 
 character is immutably, unalterably and eternally 
 fixed in the world to come. This is really the 
 whole matter in controversy, between these two 
 classes of religionists. To make out the " absolute 
 eternity" of punishment, it must be proved, that 
 human character is or will become immutably fixed ; 
 and all that the application of any particular terms 
 signifying duration, to punishment can do, is to af- 
 ford a reflected argument in favor of this idea. 
 20* 
 
234 universalist's assistant. 
 
 Thus it will be seen, that this controversy may 
 be brought within a very narrow compass — reduced 
 to a very simple and intelligible proposition. Let 
 all the efforts of the antagonists of Universalism be 
 directed to this single point, and the matter would 
 be rendered more intelligible to common minds, and 
 bring it more clearly and distinctly before them, 
 and place the matter more entirely within their' 
 grasp. Will they do this ? We shall see. In the 
 mean time, I may remark, that if this point cannot 
 be sustained, Universalism must be regarded as 
 established beyond all controversy. 
 
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