Universalist

The defining teaching of the Universalist Church in America was Universalism, or "universal salvation," the doctrine that a loving God would save all people and damn none. A God of love would not create a person knowing that he or she would be destined to eternal damnation. Since the Bible tells us that "God is love" (1 John 4:8 and 4:16), the Universalists reasoned that all would be saved.

Some Universalists, the "Restorationists," thought there might be a temporary punishment for some very wicked people, but that eventually all people would be restored to a proper relationship with God. Restorationist Universalists reasoned that a fair and just God would not punish anyone eternally. Humans are not infinite - we are finite. Therefore, human sin is finite. A fair God would not give an infinite punishment for a finite sin.

Other Universalists were called "Ultra-Universalists." They thought there was no hell at all, except the hells we create right here on earth. There is recompense right here on earth for most people: no one wants to do business with a person who gains a reputation for dishonesty; a violent parent finds that his children fear him and stay away from him, etc. All Universalists thought that sin, like illness, should be cured and not punished.

Without hell, would people still be good? The Universalists said there are many reasons to be a good person, but fear of hell is not one of them. If one becomes a Christian just to avoid hell, is one really sincere, or is one simply afraid?

George de Benneville began preaching Universalism in Pennsylvania in the mid-1700s. The Universalists were established in America largely through the efforts of John Murray, and English Methodist who had become convinced of Universalism. He established a Universalist church in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1779. Hosea Ballou published his influential book, A Treatise on Atonement, in 1805. Unlike Murray, who held Trinitarian beliefs, Ballou took the Unitarian position that God is one.

In their earlier years, the Universalists relied heavily on the Bible for their doctrines. 1 Timothy 4: 10 says, "We have our hope set on the living God, who is the savior of all people, especially those who believe." Yes, it is good to believe, but God "is the savior of all people." In 1 Corinthians 15:22 the Apostle Paul writes, "For as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ." Who are the "all" who die in Adam? Everyone. Who are the "all" who are made alive in Christ?" It's the same "all," everyone. In Romans 5:18 Paul says that Jesus act of righteousness "justifies all."

In John 3:17 we are told that "God sent his son into the world, not to condemn the world, but so that the world through him might be saved." Jesus does not condemn the world; God wants to save the world. If God desires it, and has the power to do it, it will happen. John 12:32 continues this theme: "And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself." Farther along, John 12:47 says, "I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world but to save the world."

The Epistle of 1 John 2:2 says that Jesus died "not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world." Titus 2:11 says, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all." Romans 8:38 says, "I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." The Universalists found these and other passages that confirmed the love of God and the salvation of all.

Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a Universalist who is called "the father of American psychiatry." He also established the first anti-slavery society in America. Clara Barton, another Universalist, founded the American Red Cross.

The Universalists were the first denomination to give their full endorsement to the ordination of women. Olympia Brown was ordained in 1863, and had a long career in the ministry. While one or two women had been ordained before (notably Antoinette Brown Blackwell, a Congregationalist who later became a Unitarian), Brown was the first woman ordained with the approval of her denomination.

In the twentieth century the Universalists became less Bible-centered and more humanistic. In the 1940s, when the Universalist Church in America applied to join the Federal Council of Churches (now the National Council of Churches) they were rejected on the grounds that they were not Christ-centered enough, and were too much like the Unitarians.

In 1961 the Universalist Church in America consolidated with the American Unitarian Association, forming the Unitarian Universalist Association. Today the UUA has a less theistic and less biblical outlook than the earlier Universalists, but the Universalist heritage still inspires the belief that a truly loving God would not damn anyone to eternity in hell.