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many magistrates, who persecuted the name of the Lord, liquefying in fiercer flames than they ever kindled against Christians; so many sage philosophers blushing in raging fire, with their scholars whom they persuaded to despise God, and to disbelieve the resurrection; and so many poets shuddering before the tribunal, not of Rhadamanthus, not of Minos, but of the disbelieved Christ! Then shall we hear the tragedians more tuneful under their own sufferings; then shall we see the players far more sprightly amidst the flames; the charioteer all red-hot in his burning car; and the wrestlers hurled, not upon the accustomed list, but on a plain of fire." See Tertul. De Spectaculis, C. 39, and De Spectaculis, C. 30. The opinions of a man who could write such nonsense as is contained in the first extract, or who could possess such a spirit as is manifested in the last, are deserving of no weight whatever. The great ecclesiastical historian, Eusebius, heads chap. 31, of Book 12, of his "Evangelical Preparation," thus: "How FAR IT MAY BE PROPER TO USE FALSEHOOD AS A MEDICINE, AND FOR THE BENEFIT OF THOSE WHO REQUIRE TO BE DECEIVED." And he undertakes to defend the propriety of using falsehood by appealing to pretended examples in the Old Testament. Origen avowed the same principle. See Mosheim's Dissertations, p. 203. Bishop Horsley, in his controversy with Dr. Priestley, states the same fact. At page 160, he says, "Time was when the practice of using unjustifiable means to serve a good cause was openly avowed, and Origen himself was among its defenders." Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople, defended the same doctrine. See Mosh. Diss., p. 205. Gregory of Nazienzen, surnamed "The Divine," says, "A little jargon is all that is necessary to impose on the people. The less they comprehend the more they admire. Our forefathers and doctors of the church have often said, not what they thought, but what circumstances and necessity dictated to them." Synesius, bishop of Ptolemais, says, "The people are desirous of being deceived. We cannot act otherwise respecting them." And a little further on he says, "For my own part, to myself I shall always be a philosopher; but, in dealing with the mass of mankind, I shall be a priest." See Cave's "Ecclesiastica," p. 115. St. Jerome says, "I do not find fault with an error which proceeds from a hatred towards the Jews, and a pious zeal for the Christian faith." See Opera, tom. 4, p. 113. Mosheim " cially includes in the same charge," Ambrose, bishop of Milan;

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Hilary, bishop of Poictiers, and Augustine, bishop of Hippo, in Africa, "whose fame," says Mosheim, "filled, not without reason, the whole Christian world. We would willingly," he adds, cept them from this charge; but truth, which is more respectable than these venerable fathers" (amen), "obliges us to involve them in the general accusation." Dr. Chapman, in his "Miscellaneous Tracts," page 191, says, "The learned Mosheim, a foreign divine and zealous advocate for Christianity, who, by his writings, has deserved the esteem of all good and learned men, intimates his fears that those who search with any degree of attention into the writings of the fathers and most holy doctors of the fourth century, will find them all, without exception, disposed to lie and deceive, whenever the interests of religion require it." 66 The learned Dodwell," in a work published by him, "abstains from producing more proofs of ancient Christian forgeries," "through his great veneration for the goodness and piety of the fathers." What a strange and inconsistent reason was this!

For publishing the above facts to the world we may be censured by some, but we have long since adopted the maxim, “let the truth be told though the heavens fall;" and the above facts being truths, we fearlessly proclaim them. In relation to those who would censure us for so doing, we have only to say, their opinions are of no more consequence than the opinions of the Christian Fathers themselves. Such, reader, was the character and such was the conduct of the Christian Fathers. And yet they have been called "Christian Fathers." That very title which Jesus instructed his disciples to apply to no man on earth, has been applied to them; even by those who profess to be the disciples of Christ. They have been called "pious saints," and "most holy fathers." But, if such conduct as they were guilty of does not manifest depravity, then we have no evidence that depravity exists in any man on earth. If they were deserving of these high and honorable titles, where is the man who is not? They have been sainted and canonized, and their intercession in behalf of sinners has been supplicated by those calling themselves Christians. And to this day their authority is thought, by Catholics and Episcopalians, to be very important in settling controverted points of doctrine. These, then, are to be our oracles, are they? No; we acknowledge no oracles except the oracles of God, contained in the Old and New Testament. These

are to be our authorities on points of doctrine, are they? No; we acknowledge no authority but that of nature, reason and the Bible. These are our interpreters of the Bible, are they? No; we are Protestants, and will interpret the Bible for ourselves. These are our masters, are they? No; we acknowledge no master but Christ. These are our intercessors before the throne of God, are they? No; we want but one intercessor and that intercessor is Jesus. These are our advocates before God, are they? No; we want but one advocate with the Father, and that advocate is Jesus Christ. These are mediators between us and God, are they? No; we acknowledge but one mediator, and that mediator is "the man Christ Jesus." These are our spiritual fathers, are they? No; we acknowledge but one spiritual Father, and that Father is God. People may talk and prate about the pious, and holy, and Christian Fathers, as much as they will; but the fact is, these are only high-sounding titles and phrases, which can serve no other purpose but to deceive, delude, and to impose upon mankind. And any church, which has no other foundation to rest on but the authority of such men, must eventually be shaken to its very foundation; and its extravagant and arrogant claims and pretensions will be discarded by every rational man.

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CHAPTER XXIII.

The Articles of Faith, Plan of Church Government, and Statis tics of the Denomination of Universalists in the United States and British Provinces.

ARTICLES OF FAITH.

THE following article on this subject, written by Rev. A. B. Grosh, is full, clear and comprehensive, and much better than any. thing which we could substitute in its stead.

“The Universalists, as a body, have no Creed or Confession of Faith which members must subscribe, or profess faith in, before they can be admitted into fellowship or membership. The Bible is the creed of the Universalist. But as we have been, at various periods, much misrepresented by our opposers, a Profession of Belief, embracing those important points of doctrine in which all Universalists are agreed, became necessary. * The General Convention of

"As the Universalists of the New England States agreed with Congregationalists, in regard to church government, they could not be legally distinguished from them, so as to avoid paying taxes to support the then 'standing order,' until they became a separate denomination, and made a formal Profession of Faith. In New Hampshire they were so taxed, and the Supreme Court decided in favor of the Congregationalists, as late, we think, as 1803. To obviate this difficulty, which had been anticipated, a Profession of Faith' was presented by the committee, previously appointed for that purpose, and adopted by the General Convention, holden at Winchester, N. H. The members of the committee were Zebulon Streeter, Geo. Richards, Hosea Ballou, Zephaniah Laithe, and Walter Ferris; the Profession was composed by the last on the committee. There were some believers

Universalists for the New England States and others, at that time the highest official body in our order, in 1803, adopted and published the following, not as binding on the faith of its members. but as declarative of our sentiments. No alterations have been necessary, neither have any been made in it, since that period. It is, therefore, submitted to the reader as an official and correct declaration of the faith of our denomination at large, wherever it is known to exist, whether under the name of Salvationist, Restorationist, Christian Friends, or the more common and more appropriate one for all believers in impartial and universal grace, UNIVERSALISTS."

"1. We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments contain a revelation of the character of God, and of the duty, interest and final destination, of mankind.

"2. We believe there is one God, whose nature is love; revealed in one Lord Jesus Christ, by one Holy Spirit of Grace, who will finally restore the whole family of mankind to holiness and happi

ness.

"3. We believe that holiness and true happiness are inseparably connected; and that believers ought to maintain order, and practise good works, for these things are good and profitable unto men."

"This general declaration of the general belief of our whole order, it will be scen, allows great latitude of opinion on minor points, while it especially states our sentiments on all points most important and useful to all Christians."

Lest it should be thought that the above Profession of Faith is too brief, and. not sufficiently expressive of our views on all points connected with the Christian religion, we here insert a form of faith which was drawn up by Rev. D. Skinner, and which has been published and extensively circulated in the United States; premising, however, that we do not consider this creed as binding on the consciences of our fellow-men, but as "a mere general declaration, not of the things which must be believed, but of the things that are believed among us." To obtain the fellowship of our denomination it is only necessary that the individual should believe in one God; in Jesus Christ as the Sent of God and the Saviour of the world;

in the trinity and in future punishment on the committee, and yet all could cordially agree to the Articles presented." See an article on this subject in the Magazine and Advocate, vol. 14, No. 40, taken from the Universalist Watchman.

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