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 UNIVERSALISTS

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UNIVERSALISTS

by the Apostolic Churches, especially by that of Rome, belonged to the true Church (De prsescript., xxi). The same contention was upheld by Clement of Alex- andria and by Origen, who said that outside the one visible Church none could be saved (cf. Schaff, "Hist. of Christian Church", 169-70). St. CjTirian in his treatise on the unity of the Church says: "God is one, and Christ one, and one the Church of Christ" (De eccl. unitate, xxiii); and again in his epistles he insists that there is but "One Church founded upon Peter by Christ the Lord" (Epist.70,ad Jan.) and that there is but "one altar and one priesthood" (Epist. 40, v). Many more testimonies of unity might be adduced from Saints .Jerome, .\ugustine, Chrysostom, and the other Fathers, but their teachings are only too well known. The long li^it of councils, the history and treatment of heretics and heresies in every cen- tury show beyond doubt that unity of doctrine, of cult, and of authority, has always been regarded as an essential and visible mark of the true Christian Church. As shown above, it was the intention of Christ that His Church should be one, and that, not in any accidental internal way, but essentially and visibly, f'nity is the fundamental mark of the Church, for without it the other marks would have no meaning, since indeed the Church itself could not exist. Unity is the source of strength and organiza- tion, as discord and schism are of weakness and con- fusion. Given one supernatural authority which all respect, a common doctrine which all profess, one form of worship subject to the same authority and expressive of the same teaching, centred in one sacrifice and in the reception of the same sacraments, and the other marks of the Church necessarily follow and are easily understood.

That the mark of unity which is distinctive of and essenti.al to the true Church of Christ is to be found in none other than t he Roman CathoUc Church, follows naturally from what has been said. All the theories of unity entertained by the sects are woefully out of harmony with the true and proper concept of unity as defined above and as taught by Christ, the .\postles, and all orthodox Tradition. In no other Christian body is there a oneness of faith, of worship, and of discipline. Between no two of the hundreds of non- Cathohc sects is there a common bond of imion; each one having a different head, a different belief, a dif- ferent cult. Nay more, even between the members of any one sect there is no such thing as real unity, for their first and foremost principle is that each one is free to believe and do as he w-ishes. They are con- stantly breaking up into new sects and subdivisions of sects, showing that they have within themselves the seeds of disunion and disintegration. Divisions and subdivisions have ever been the characteristics of Protestantism. This is certainly a literal fulfilment of the words of Christ: "Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up" (Matt., XV, 13); and "every kingdom divided against itself shall be made desolate: and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand " (Matt., xii, 2.5).

St. Thomas. Summn. II-II. Q. i. a. 4 ad 3: a. 5 ad 1: a. 10;Q. iv, a. 6; Q. v, a. 4; Q. xxxii. a. 1; Q. Ixxx. a. 12 ad 3; Q. clxxiiii, s. 2; Idem, Contra errorei Grircnrum, xxxii; Idem, Expos, in Ephta. IV. led. 2; Idem. Opunr. in tymb., a. 9; Bellarmise. De eccUt. milil., IV, iii: Tasqueret. Sunop. Tkeol. fund., I. 397 sq.; De Groot, Summa apotog. de ecclen., Q. v. a. 1-2; Newman, Diff. of Anglicans. I, lect. X; Spaldino. Evidences of Catholicity (Louisville. 1870). lect. VI; MoRBia. Ecclenology (New York, 188.5). 152. 160; Schaff, Reunion of Chrislendnm in Parliament of Retioiom. p. 1192; Shields, The Hint. Episcopate (New York, 1894), 13. 62.

Chas. J. Callan.

UniTersalists, a Liberal Protestant sect whose distinctive tenet is the belief in the final salvation of all souls, and which is chiefly to be found in \orth America. The doctrine of universal salvation found favour among members of various (Christian Churches

(see Apocatastasis for its treatment anterior to the foundation of the LTniversahst Church). The present article will exclusively consider UniversaUsm as a separate denomin.it ion.

I. Dnctrinal Principkn. — The historic creed of this rehgious body is the profession of belief adopted by the General Convention at Winchester, New Hamp- shire, in 1803. It contains the following articles:

(1). We beUeve 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 destmation of mankind.

(2). We believe that there is one God whose nature is Love, re\ealed in one Lord. Jesus Christ, by one Holy Spirit of grace, who will finally restore the whole family of mankind to holiness and hap])ine.ss.

(3). We beheve that holiness and true happiness are inseparably connected, and that believers ought to be careful to maintain order and practise good works; for these things are good and profitable unto men.

To meet the objections raised by some l^niversal- ists to parts of the foregoing articles, a briefer state- ment of essential principles was adopted in 1899 b}- the General Convention held at Boston. It requires for admission to fellow.ship the belief in the following articles: (1) the universal fatherhood of God; (2) the spiritual authority and leadership of His Son Jesus Christ; (3) the trustworthiness of the Bible as containing a revelation from God; (4) the certainty of ju.st retribution for sin; (.5) the final harmony of all souls with God. To the admi.ssion of the.se principles must be added "the acknowledgment of the authority of the General Convention and assent to its laws". The Trinity is usually rejected by present-day Universalis* s. The reception of the sacraments is not enjoined; but baptism and the Lord's Supper are administered; the former accord- ing to the mode preferred by the candidate. The infliction of temporary punishment for sin insuffi- ciently atoned for on earth is now generally admitted. A usage of distinctly Universalist origin is the ob- servance of "Children's Sunday". A special day (now the second Sunday in June) is set apart for the baptism of children and their dedication to God's service. This observance has been taken over by other Protestant churches. Until a comparatively recent date the several Universahst congregations administered their own affairs independently, and the General Convention enjoyed merely advisory powers. The functions of this body were enlarged in 1866 and further extended in 1870, so that it is at present the highest legislative authority for the United States and Canada. It meets biennially, and when not in session most of its powers are exercised by a bo;ird of trustees. It is comi)Osed of clerical and lay delegates from the subordinate state conventions. The latter meet annually, and are made up of dele- gations from the various p.arishes of the same state.

II. History; Missionary, Social, Educalinna]. Actityi- ties; Statistics. — The first Universalist congregation was organized in 17.50 in London by Rev. James Relly, who ministered to its spiritual needs until his death (1778). In spite of this early estabUshment few Universalist churches exist at present in Europe; but UniversaUsm is undoubtedly believed in outside of the denomination. The .stronghold of the sect is in .\merica, where the first church was established by Rev. John Murray. He landed in New Jersey in Sept., 1770, preached the doctrine of L^niversalism along the Atlantic seaboard, and in 1779 formed with fifteen other persons the first .American congregation of that faith at Gloucester, Massachusetts. Other preachers of the same doctrine arose about this time: Elhanan Winchester, a former Baptist minister, taught Universahsm at Philadelphia, and Adams Streeter and Caleb Rich spread it in New P^ngland.