quoted against us, let the will of God in that passage be understood as it may. After saying that God hath " mercy on whom he will have mercy," the Apostle adds by way of contrast," and whom he will, he hardeneth." The only remaining text advanced against us under this. head of argument, is Eph. 1: 9-11, where it is said, "that in the dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather together in one, all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him." This gathering of all things in Christ, is acknowledged to be according to God's will of purpose, as asserted by my opponent, and proved by the verses immediately preceding and following the 10th just now quoted. On this subject there is no dispute, and my opponent might have saved himself much unnecessary labour* by passing it over as a thing admitted by both parties. The only question is, what is meant by this gathering of all things in Christ which is to take place in the dispensation of the fulness of times? My opponent has identified it with "the times of restitution of all things,"† already explained in our 5th Universalist argument. If this be correct, and I believe it is, then this gathering of all things in Christ is that restoring, constituting, establishing, or settling of all things, which shall take place at the general judgment, when there shall be a restoring of " the kingdom to God, even the Father," and when he shall "put all enemies under his feet." Not only is the innumerable multitude of the redeemed called "all things," by the Apostle, but in this same chapter, he speaks of these enemies upon whom he tramples, by the same general description of “ all things.” Verses 22. 23. "And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the Head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." Here are two very different classes of mankind, and each of them is called" all things." The first "all things" which our heavenly conqueror puts under his feet, we are informed by the same Apostle in I Cor. 15: 25, constitutes the body of his enemies. The second 66 all things" constitutes "the church which is his body;" "for we are members of his body, of his flesh and his bones," as the same epistle declares. Now although we read of Christ gathering the members of the church invisible into his arms as the shepherd does the lambs, 66 and of his placing them, in the great day of restitution, on his right hand, as sheep, we never once read of his putting them under his feet. The scriptures expressly inform us that this treatment is given to enemies, both by God and man. The amount of this authority which has been cited against us, when taken with its context, appears to be this; that it is God's will of purpose that when the trump of judgment shall sound, Christ's mystical body which was before divided, a part being in heaven and a part on the earth, shall be gathered in one, and that those who have not obtained that predestinated inheritance, mentioned in the 11th verse, shall according to the 22nd, be put under his feet. The argument then, from that class of texts which relates to the will of God, instead of proving Universal Salvation, proves only that the invisible church, the body of believers, shall be saved, while the synagogue of Satan, the enemies of the Divine Redeemer, shall be lost forever. The Apostle's saying, as in the 10th verse, that God will gather "all things" in Christ, is no better evidence for universal salvation, than his saying, as in verse 22nd, that he shall put "all things" under his feet, is proof of universal damnation. But as the scriptures are consistent and not contradictory, we may and ought to explain this to mean, as the Bible uniformly declares, that he that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned. EIGHTH UNIVERSALIST ARGUMENT. Christ's Prophetic Office.-When he speaks to his followers of his being with them, he says, in John 12: 35, “the light is with you;" that is, with the Jews: but in Acts 26: 18, he sends Paul to the Gentiles, " to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light." In Luke 1: 79, he is said" to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death;" and in Luke 2: 32, he is called "a light to lighten thy Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel." Neither does this light shine in vain, but it dispels the darkness, and illuminates the world universally.* It is said, in 1 John, 2:8," the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth." In Ephes. I: 8, it is written, "ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord." On this subject Mr. Ballout quotes Isa. 49: 6. "And he said, it is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes Say the Universalists. t On Atonement, p. 200. of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth." To the same amount, Mr. Murray repeatedly* quotes Habb. 2: 14, "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God, as the waters cover the sea." But none appears more pointed than John 1:9, "That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."+ Compare this with the 4th verse, and you will see that this is a quickening, saving light. "In him was life, and the life was the light of men." In the text just quoted from Isaiah, this light is identified with salvation. In Acts 26: 18, we are taught that turning them from darkness to light, is the same as turning "them from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified." Now let it be observed that in consequence of this saving light, the above authorities prove that "the darkness is past," that those who "were sometimes darkness," are now "light in the Lord;" that "the earth shall be filled with" this light, even "unto the ends of the earth;" embracing Jews and Gentiles, even "every man that cometh into the world." The amount of the evidence is this;-Christ saves all whom he enlightens ;-but he enlightens all universally;-Therefore all universally shall be saved. A great portion of the plausibility of the above argument is owing to the texts being detached from their connection. Examine them as they are found in the Bible, and the illusion vanishes. It will then appear that the minor proposition of the above syllogism is unsupported in scripture. It is hardly necessary to mention that a more correct translation, probably, of John 1: 19 is" That was the true light, which coming into the world, enlighteneth every man." Certain it is, that his coming into the world is recognized in all the passages quoted, as the occasion of this extraordinary diffusion of light. Its being extraordinary at his advent, is itself a denial of its antecedent universality. At his coming, it is said "the darkness is past," but before he came 66 to turn them from darkness to light," the nations had sat for four thousand years "in darkness and the shadow of death;" and in this moral darkness, many millions had passed, without hope or comfort, "through the dark valley and shadow of * Universalism Vindicated, pp. 49, 75. + John 6; 45, is not here noticed, because it was more convenient to give in the 9th argument the force of the word all on which the Universalist cause hangs. 66 death." When he told his followers, "The light is with you," as in the first text quoted in their favour, he let them know, that, as it had lately come, it would soon disappear, unless they profited by it. "Then Jesus said unto them, yet a little while is the light with you: walk while ye have "the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh "in darkness, knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have "the light believe in the light, that ye may be children of "light."* From this it would appear that even after the light has come, men are liable to walk in darkness and be children of darkness; and that this will be their character; unless they believe in the light. In the second authority quoted in their favour,+ Christ promises "to open their eyes, and to "turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of "Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, "and an inheritance among them which are sanctified by "faith that is in me." These last words deny the universality of this light, unless it can be shewn that all men living, or at least, all men dying, are sanctified by faith in Christ. The same is taught in the context of the passage from John,‡ "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." But did they all believe on him? Did they all receive him? The context says,§ "the light shineth in darkness, and the darknes comprehended it not."" He came unto his own, and his own received him not." Are those persons enlightened who hate their brother,¶ or who refuse to receive Christ and his Gospel? "To the law and to the tes"timony: if they speak not according to this word, it is be"cause there is no light in them."**" In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the Book [precious book!] and the "eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness." But this same prophet Isaiah,‡‡ pronounces a woe upon some in his day, who, like my opponent, took "darkness for light, and light for darkness." To such our Saviour says,§§"if therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" This rejection of the 66 f 66 66 light, and evil-eyed perversion of the truth, he declares to be NINTH UNIVERSALIST ARGUMENT. The Christ's Kingly Office.-Do not the Scriptures represent Christ as destroying the works of the Devil, and trampling all evil under his feet? "For this purpose, the Son of God "was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the "Devil."¶"He hath put all enemies under his feet. “last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath "put all things under his feet.." "Behold I shew you a mys"tery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: "for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised "incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corrupti"ble must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on "immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on in"corruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, "then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death "is swallowed up in victory. Oh death! where is thy sting? O "grave! where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and "the strength of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who "giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."** |