LOVE'S FINAL VICTORY

Ultimate Universal Salvation on the Basis of Scripture and Reason

BY

HORATIO

An Orthodox Minister

"That which is incredible to thee thou shalt not, at thy soul's peril, attempt to believe. Go to Perdition if thou must, but not with a lie in thy mouth. By the Eternal Maker, no."—Carlyle.

"Is not Universal Salvation the Divine Corollary of Universal Atonement?"—Extract of a letter from the Author to an eminent Methodist minister in England.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I.

DIFFERENT THEORIES.

Fear of Punishment—Early Impressions—Men of Piety and Learning—Facts and Figures—Mental or Material Fire—The Theory of Conditional Immortality—Why Invented—Moody—Divine Failure Impossible—Future Operations of Grace—Restoration—A Plea for Charity—Other Worlds—The Heathen—Devout Use of the Imagination.

II.

CRUELTY OF FORMER VIEWS.

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

III.

THE CHURCH IN TRANSITION.

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

IV.

INFINITE JUSTICE.

A Strong Argument—Universal Atonement—Infinite Justice Satisfied—A Candid Methodist Minister—Can Man Commit An Infinite Sin?—Everlasting Punishment Could Not Be Rendered—Uses of Suffering—Punitive and Remedial—The Penalty Has Been Paid—Moral Effect—Mystery of Pain—Not Punishment but Chastening—Extending Our Outlook Beyond—Boundless Time and Space—Operations of Grace in the Next Life—Infinite Power—Infinite Mercy—Infinite Love—Incentive to Endless Praise.

V.

HARMONY OF THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES.

Our Limitations—Development—Our Capacity—Divine Foreknowledge—No Divine Failure—The Heathen—Unchangeable Dove—Union of Four Attributes—Eternal Wisdom—A Marvel of Coercion and Freedom—The Day of Divine Power—An Unfathomable Mystery—Future Revelations—Coming to Zion with Songs.

VI.

THEORY OF EQUALITY.

Abraham Tucker's View—Ingenious and Reverent—Variety of Endowment—Maximum of Happiness—Imparting and Receiving New Ideas—Compensations—Infinite Justice.

VII.

PROCESSES OF PURIFICATION.

Different Processes—The Case of Saul—Changed in a Moment—No Violence to Human Freedom—The Case of Nebuchadnezzar—Sudden or Slow—Basis of Warning—An Object Lesson—Function of Suffering.

VIII.

THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.

Meagre Details—Good Reasons Why—Extent of the Universe—Future Glory—Sin in Other Worlds—No Revelation—Future Abode of the Righteous—Solid or Ethereal—Impossible Revelations—Present Duties and Interests—Our Limitations—Necessity of Purification—Preaching to the Spirits in Prison—Stages of Progress—The Law of Gradual Development.

IX.

THE SPIRITS IN PRISON.

The Descent of Jesus Into Hades—Singular Reserve of Preachers—Purgatory—Dr. Gerhardt's Book—A Bodily Resurrection—The Spirit World Requires a Spirit Body.

X.

DIVINE LOVE.

Infinite Being and Perfection—Grades of Being—Variety—Man's Limitations—Moral Beings—Hopeless Surroundings—All Are the Children of God—Righting the Wrongs of Time—"The Heart of the Universe Is Love"—Eternal Conscious Torment Incredible—Conquering Power of Love—Eternal Purpose Will Not Fail—Omnipotence in the Moral Realm—The Divine Expression of Love—Universal Atonement Involves Universal Salvation—Final Success of God's Designs—Will Evil Necessarily Perpetuate Itself?—Triumph of Good Over Evil—Few Stripes or Many—Reformatory Punishment—Bringing Good Out of Evil—Possibilities of Redeeming Grace—The Ransomed of the Lord—Wrath but the Shadow of Love—Former Eternity of Sinlessness—Wrath No Constituent of the Divine Character—Pity and Indignation.

XI.

THE ATONEMENT.

Extent of the Atonement—The Dilemma of Universal Atonement and Partial Salvation—Human Systems of Truth—Methodist Theology—Tradition and Reason—Dr. Dale's View—No Divine Failure—Imperfection of All Theological Systems—"Sufficient but Not Efficient"—Undeveloped Possibilities—The Angel in the Apocalypse—Omnipotence Both in the Physical and the Moral Realm—The Short Epoch of Time—Advance of the Presbyterian Church in the United States—Individual Congregations—Hardening Effects of the Narrower View—The Softening Influence of Dreams—Divine Capacity of Suffering—Persistence of What Is Good—Good Men Who Are Not Christians—Insanity—Blind Tom.

XII.

A FEEBLE NOTE OF WARNING.

The Creed of Eternal Torment—Do Ministers Really Believe It?—If They Do, Why Not Say So?—No Decisive Note of Warning—Definite Missionary Incentive Is Wanting—The Phrase, "Eternal Death," Often Used—Does It Mean Annihilation, or Eternal Torment, or What?—Vague Reference to Punishment Fosters Unbelief—An Age of Compromise—Professor Faulkner's Testimony—The Idea of Restoration Would Fully Meet the Difficulty—Honesty and Candor—Carlyle's Scathing Warning—Ultimate Fulfilment of Prophecy—Eternal Songs.

XIII.

PROPHECIES YET TO BE FULFILLED.

Enlarging Vision—Promise to Abraham—A Host of Similar Promises—Many of Them Not Merely National—Their Fulfilment—Not Limited by the Short Epoch of Time—The Present Only One Part of the Divine Administration—Why the Revelation Was Not Given Sooner—Groping in the Twilight—Growing Illumination—A Time for Everything—Dazzle or Enlighten—Discoveries in Science are Really Revelations—Our Slowness in Receiving Spiritual Truth—Limitations of Great Men.

XIV.

TESTIMONY OF SCRIPTURE.

The Unrevealed—Scripture and Reason—Bishop Butler's Dictum—Reverence of Kepler—Moral Courage of Sir Oliver Lodge—Increase of Laxity—The Spirit's Almighty Power—Supreme Authority of Scripture—The Proper Sphere of Reason—Fate of the Heathen—Singular Reserve of Preachers—Sin Is Abnormal—Union of Divine Power, Wisdom, and Love—Reasonableness and Harmony—A Multitude of Scripture Promises—Discipline Instead of Eternal Torment—Dr. Funk's View—The Great Panacea for Unbelief—Ingersoll—No Divine Failure.

XV.

TESTIMONY OF REASON.

Divine Gift of Reason—Its Proper Sphere—No Dogmatism—Is Sin An Infinite Evil?—Infinite Penalty Impossible to Be Rendered—Justice Can Delay—Good Cannot Perish—Testimony of Dickens—Endless Punishment Would Increase Moral Evil—The Divine Character Never Changes—Time but a Short Epoch—Our Capacity of Development—Salvation of Infants—The Insane—Imperfect Christians—Their Destiny—Good Unchristian Men—Where Will They Go?—"All Souls Are Mine"—Worth Preserving—Fate of the Heathen—Reclaimed in the Next Life—Human Freedom Never Destroyed—Provision for All—A Dreadful Hymn—Divine Sacrifice Not in Vain—Bringing Good Out of Evil—Final Triumph of Goodness—Sin Is Abnormal—Will Therefore Cease—Law of Gradual Change—Sins of the Mind—The Race Might Easily Have Been Intercepted—Endless Torment Cannot Be Believed—The Mind's Affinity for Truth—True Punishment Is Reformatory—Alleged Divine Cruelty—Agony of Eternal—Ingersoll and His Shafts of Ridicule—Incentive to Good Works—Unfathomable Divine Love—"Joy Cometh in the Morning"

XVI.

THE CASE OP SAUL.

Divine Methods of Reclaiming Men—"The Chief of Sinners"—Changed' in a Moment—No Violence Done to His Freedom—Yet Sovereign Power—The Mystery of Grace—View of McCosh—Supremacy of Conscience—Sir Isaac Newton's Wonderful Alertness of Mind—Reason and Intuition—Capturing the Most Incorrigible—Evil Environment—Suffering a Necessary Factor—Agony of Remorse—Eternal Hope.

XVII.

ETERNAL SEPARATIONS.

An Everlasting Pang—David and Absalom—Strained Ideas of Late Momentary Repentance—King Solomon—King Saul—The Gracious Character of Sympathy—George Eliot's View—A Strong Argument for Restoration—Heresy of a Minister's Wife—A Minister's Orthodox View—Wonderful Goodness of a Criminal—Where Will He Finally Go?—Our Very Imperfect Friends—Glossing Over Their Faults When They Are Gone—Our Instinctive Hope for the Worst—Restoration the True Solution—A Final Era of Joy.

XVIII.

NOT REALLY BELIEVED.

Present Enthusiasm for Missions—Former Lassitude—The Basis of Missionary Enterprise—Supposed Damnation of the Heathen—If Really Believed Would Drive Us to Frenzy—Minister's Monday Meeting—Pretence Cuts the Nerve of Enthusiasm—Restoration the True Incentive—Effective Because Reasonable—Torment Not Really Believed—The Heart Often Truer Than the Head—Necessity for Preparatory State—Could Not Have Details Revealed—Orthodoxy of the Torment View—Trying to Believe It—Be Not Afraid of the Truth—Extreme Calvinists Signally Honored—The Reason Why—Our Innate God-given Convictions—Meagre Expenditure for Missions—Tacit Acknowledgment That Endless Suffering Is Not Believed.

XIX.

WORKING MEN AND THE CHURCH.

Efforts to Attract Working Men to the Church—Restoration Would Largely Solve the Difficulty—Common Sense of Working-Men—Glorious Expansion of Truth—Recasting Traditional Views—The True Basis for Unity.

XX.

THE SEEN AND THE UNSEEN.

Beauty Evolved from Chaos—Future Capacity of Motion—Gleams of the Invisible—Changing Into the Divine Image—Crying Out for God—From Barrenness to Beauty—The Glow of the Firefly—The Effulgent Divinity—Universal Sense of Beauty—Sunset on the Prairie—Guardian Angels—Death As Seen from This Side and That—Sunset on Yellowstone River—A Drop of Dew—Reality of Heaven—The Literal and the Figurative—The Spiritual Body—Expanding Glory of Creation—Sunset in Dakota—Lights Dim and Clear—Christ's Unsullied Purity—A Rent in the Cloud—An Imprisoned Lark.

XXI.

THE FINAL DAY.

Everlasting Love—Resources of Infinite Wisdom and Power—Redemption of the Whole Race—Forecast of the Final Day—The Conquest of Love —Christ Is Satisfied—He Is Singing with Joy—Ancient Prophecy Fulfilled—Adoration of the Heavenly Hosts—The Saviour Crowned.