FAITH LIKE A RIVER
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Adults
WORKSHOP 10: RISE IN THE SEA — UNIVERSALISM
2011
BY JACKIE CLEMENT ALISON CORNISH
© Copyright 2011 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 9/29/2014 11:01:49 PM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
Universalists are often asked to tell where they stand. The only true answer to give to this question is that we do not stand at all, we move. — L. B. Fisher, A Brief History of the Universalist Church for Young People (1904)
This workshop examines the character and contributions of Universalism, both as part of our faith tradition and as an influence in the wider society. It considers the history of Universalism as an institution, and highlights important people and events that shaped its path before consolidation with the Unitarians.
Before you lead this workshop, review the Accessibility Guidelines for Workshop Presenters in the program Introduction and prepare to accommodate anyone who may be in the group.
GOALS
This workshop will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
WORKSHOP-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Welcoming and Entering | 0 |
Opening | 5 |
Activity 1: John Murray and the Deacon | 20 |
Activity 2: Universal Salvation to Universalism | 15 |
Activity 3: We Are Universalists | 35 |
Activity 4: Life-Changing Beliefs | 30 |
Faith in Action: Exploring Your Congregation's History — Long-Term Project | |
Closing | 5 |
Alternate Activity 1: Paradise Is Ours | 30 |
Alternate Activity 2: Origen | 20 |
Alternate Activity 3: A Generous Heaven | 10 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
Set aside time to consider the meaning of "salvation" to you. History has seen many ideas of salvation. One dictionary definition of salvation is "God's activities in bringing humans into a right relationship with God and with one another." Consider these questions:
You may wish to ask participants to engage in this same spiritual practice so that they, too, arrive at the workshop centered and ready to engage with the material and the group.
WORKSHOP PLAN
WELCOMING AND ENTERING
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Welcome everyone to the workshop as they enter. Ask them to sign in, make (or pick up) name tags, and pick up the schedule and time line handouts from the welcome table. Point out the posted agenda for this workshop.
Including All Participants
Write the agenda in large, clear lettering and post it where it will be easily visible to all participants. Provide name tags large enough and markers bold enough so names will be easily visible.
OPENING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Light the chalice with these words by Alfred Storer Cole, a 20th-century minister and professor at the School of Religion of Tufts University, written in 1959:
Touch not my lips with the white fire
From the glowing altar of some peaceful shrine.
Thrust not into my hands the scroll of wisdom
Gleaned through the patient toil of the centuries;
Give me no finished chart that I may follow
Without effort or the bitter taste of tears.
I do not crave the comfort of the ancient creeds,
Nor the sheltered harbor where the great winds cease to blow;
But winnow my heart, O God; torture my mind
With doubt. Let me feel the clean gales of the open sea,
Until thy creative life is my life and my joy;
One with the miracle of Spring and the blowing grain,
The yearning of my fellowmen and the endless reach of stars.
ACTIVITY 1: JOHN MURRAY AND THE DEACON (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Distribute the story "John Murray and the Deacon." Say in these words, or your own:
John Murray, a Methodist preacher from England, is often credited as the founding father of Universalism in America. In his memoirs, Murray recounted a story of his encounter with a Methodist deacon.
Invite the two volunteers to read and act out the dialogue.
Thank the volunteers. Then, lead a discussion of these questions:
Including All Participants
To better include participants with hearing limitations, invite the group to follow the enacted conversation on their handouts, and provide portable or lapel microphones for the volunteers who are acting out the story.
ACTIVITY 2: UNIVERSAL SALVATION TO UNIVERSALISM (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Present or read aloud Leader Resource 2, Universal Salvation to Universalism. Invite comment and questions about the material. Then, post the two questions you have written on newsprint. Invite participants to reflect on the questions for a minute or two and then invite responses.
ACTIVITY 3: WE ARE UNIVERSALISTS (35 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Explain that participants will learn about some of the people who helped forge the identity of Universalism. Say the basket contains short biographies which they will be invited to read aloud.
Pass the basket, inviting each participant to select a slip with a biography. If your group is small, participants may choose more than one. Invite each person in turn to read the biographies in a loud, clear voice. After each biography is read, ask if anyone would like to add anything about that historical figure. Mark the life of each person on the Time Line of UU History.
Following the readings, engage participants in conversation about the biographies using some or all of the following observations and questions:
Including All Participants
Select a bowl or basket that is lightweight enough for participants to easily pass. Be sure to tell participant they may "pass" or request that another person read for them if they do not wish to read a biography aloud.
ACTIVITY 4: LIFE-CHANGING BELIEFS (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Present Leader Resource 5, Life-Changing Beliefs. Then say, in these or similar words:
The story of Mary Livermore and the information about the Southold Debate and the Women's National Missionary Association highlight a common charge against Universalism which was the source of so much of the derision and discrimination Universalists experienced: Universalism, as understood by the orthodox, undercut morality. The orthodox believer asked, If there is no retribution, what keeps everyone in line?
Today, many mainline Christian traditions hold beliefs similar to our Universalists ancestors, yet the core questions remain rich opportunities for debate.
Have participants form three groups. Give each group a sheet of newsprint and invite them to discuss the question printed on it.
Allow ten minutes for the small group discussions. Then, re-gather the large group and invite each small group to report whether they reached a consensus and what the main arguments were for each position. After all groups have reported, invite general comment and discussion.
CLOSING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Distribute Taking It Home. Announce the date, time, and place of the next workshop and any other "housekeeping" information. Request or remind volunteers if you want participants to read material aloud or perform other roles at the next meeting.
Invite participants to gather around the chalice. Read these words of Universalist preacher John Murray:
Go out into the highways and bi-ways. Give the people something of your new vision. You may possess a small light, but uncover it, let it shine, use it in order to bring more light and understanding to the hearts and minds of men and women. Give them not hell, but hope and courage; preach the kindness and everlasting love of God.
Extinguish the chalice.
FAITH IN ACTION: EXPLORING YOUR CONGREGATION'S HISTORY — LONG-TERM PROJECT
Description of Activity
If the group has not yet begun this activity, read Workshop 9, Faith in Action and plan to introduce it to the group.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
After the workshop, co-leaders should talk together to evaluate this workshop and plan future workshops. Use these questions to guide your shared reflection and planning:
TAKING IT HOME
Universalists are often asked to tell where they stand. The only true answer to give to this question is that we do not stand at all, we move.
— L. B. Fisher, A Brief History of the Universalist Church for Young People (1904)
The doctrine of universal salvation rests on a theology of a supreme deity of compassion, mercy, and forgiveness. Islam, Judaism, and Christianity teach that as humanity was created with the breath of God, humans contain the potential for divine attributes including those of compassion, mercy and forgiveness. Consider times in your life when you were called on to display compassion, mercy, or forgiveness. Under what circumstances did this come easily? When was it a challenge? Can you think of a time when you were in need of these same gifts from another person?
What does a saving faith call you to do in today's world? Journal your thoughts or share your insights with a trusted conversation partner.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: PARADISE IS OURS (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Present Leader Resource 6, Paradise Is Ours, stopping where indicated in the text.
Invite participants to form groups of four. Distribute Handout 1, Paradise in the Psalms. Ask groups to identify any ways the psalm in Handout 1 describes aspects of paradise available in human existence. Tell them they will have 15 minutes to work and will be asked to share their insights when the large group re-gathers.
After 15 minutes, re-gather and ask participants to share what they found in the psalm. Conclude by reading the final section of Leader Resource 6, Paradise Is Ours.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: ORIGEN (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Present or read the information contained in Leader Resource 7, Origen of Alexandria. Distribute Handout 2, Excerpt from De Principiis. Explain that Origen's work was originally written in Greek, and only survives in fragments. Later translators added material in Latin, based on works that refuted Origen. The materials used today are yet another translation, into English.
Invite participants to read the handout once on their own. Then invite the two volunteers to re-read the material aloud. Ask participants to consider what the excerpt suggests about Origen's beliefs regarding (1) the nature of God, (2) the nature of Humanity, and (3) Creation, free will, heaven, and hell. Invite comment and reflections on Origen's work.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 3: A GENEROUS HEAVEN (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Universalism is associated with the idea of a generous and bountiful heaven, whether in a time to come or here on earth. Heaven can also be a rich metaphor for a time and place when we each might be surrounded by all we regard as good and true. Liten to Susan Werner's song together, and then reflect on these questions:
FAITH LIKE A RIVER: WORKSHOP 10:
STORY: JOHN MURRAY AND THE DEACON
From John Murray, Letters and Sketches of Sermons, (Boston, 1812), as quoted in David B. Parke's book, The Epic of Unitarianism.
John Murray, a Methodist preacher from England, is often credited with being the founding father of Universalism in America. In his memoirs, Murray recounts the following story of his encounter with a deacon.
Deacon: I have heard much of you, and have come many miles to see and converse with you. Will you be so obliging as to permit me to ask a few questions?
Murray: Readily, Sir.
Deacon: I have heard—but I do not pay much regard to slanderous reports; nothing of that sort is to be depended upon— But I have heard— Excuse me, Sir, I really hope you will not be angry, but indeed, Sir, I have heard, I have been told, that you preached Universal Salvation, that is, that all mankind will be saved.
Murray: Well, Sir, as you seem to be an honest man, I will freely own to you, that God hath told me, "That he sent not his Son into the world, to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved."
Deacon: Aye, the believing world.
Murray: No, Sir; the world are never called believers, nor believers the world.
(Aside to audience) The Deacon then proceeded to mention a variety of scriptures that proved, as the poor man believed, the damnation of the greatest part of the world, and I answered him from the same scriptures: At last, I mention that very obnoxious text, "As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive."
Deacon: Aye, Sir, all that believe.
Murray: No, Sir, all who died in Adam.
Deacon: But, how can they be made alive in Christ without believing?
Murray: As well as they could die in Adam without believing. There are a very great multitude among mankind, who do not believe they died in Adam; and as they do not believe they died in Adam, then they did not die in Adam.
Deacon: O yes, Sir, they died in Adam, whether they believe it or not.
Murray: How can they, Sir, die in Adam without believing they did?
Deacon: Because the word of God declares, "they died in Adam," and that must be true whether they believe it or not.
Murray: But, Sir, the same word of God says, all shall be made alive in Christ; and yet you say it is only those who believe, that shall be made alive!
(Concluding, to the audience) This silenced the old gentleman, and thus ended our conversation; but another and another succeeded, until half past two o'clock, when I proceeded to a more public delivery of my testimony.
FAITH LIKE A RIVER: WORKSHOP 10:
HANDOUT 1: PARADISE IN THE PSALMS
Psalm 65: A Psalm of David. A Song.
(1)Praise is due to you,
O God, in Zion;
and to you shall vows be performed,
(2)O you who answer prayer!
To you all flesh shall come.
(3)When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,
you forgive our transgressions.
(4)Happy are those whom you choose and bring near
to live in your courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
your holy temple.
(5)By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
(6)By your strength you established the mountains;
you are girded with might.
(7)You silence the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples.
(8)Those who live at earth's farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.
(9)You visit the earth and water it,
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide the people with grain,
for so you have prepared it.
(10)You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
(11)You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
(12)The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
(13) the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.
FAITH LIKE A RIVER: WORKSHOP 10:
HANDOUT 2: EXCERPT FROM DE PRINCIPIIS
English translation of Origen's De Principiis, Book I, Chapter 6.3, "On the End of Consummation" from Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., The Ante-Nicean Fathers Translations of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325, Vol, 4 (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1994).
It is to be borne in mind, however, that certain beings who fell away from that one beginning of which we have spoken, have sunk to such a depth of unworthiness and wickedness as to be deemed altogether undeserving of that training and instruction by which the human race, while in the flesh, are trained and instructed with the assistance of the heavenly powers; and continue, on the contrary, in a state of enmity and opposition to those who are receiving this instruction and teaching. And hence it is that the whole of this mortal life is full of struggles and trials, caused by the opposition and enmity of those who fell from a better condition without at all looking back, and who are called the devil and his angels, and the other orders of evil, which the apostle classed among the opposing powers. But whether any of these orders who act under the government of the devil, and obey his wicked commands, will in a future world be converted to righteousness because of their possessing the faculty of freedom of will, or whether persistent and inveterate wickedness may be changed by the power of habit into nature, is a result which you yourself, reader, may approve of, if neither in these present worlds which are seen and temporal, nor in those which are unseen and are eternal, that portion is to differ wholly from the final unity and fitness of things. But in the meantime, both in those temporal worlds which are seen, as well as in those eternal worlds which are invisible, all those beings are arranged, according to a regular plan, in the order and degree of their merits; so that some of them in the first, others in the second, some even in the last times, after having undergone heavier and severer punishments, endured for a lengthened period, and for many ages, so to speak, improved by this stern method of training, and restored at first by the instruction of the angels, and subsequently by the powers of a higher grade, and thus advancing through each stage to a better condition, reach even to that which is invisible and eternal, having travelled through, by a kind of training, every single office of the heavenly powers. From which, I think, this will appear to follow as an inference, that every rational nature may, in passing from one order to another, go through each to all, and advance from all to each, while made the subject of various degrees of proficiency and failure according to its own actions and endeavours, put forth in the enjoyment of its power of freedom of will.
FAITH LIKE A RIVER: WORKSHOP 10:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: JOHN MURRAY, PORTRAIT
From the Unitarian Universalist Association archives.
FAITH LIKE A RIVER: WORKSHOP 10:
LEADER RESOURCE 2: UNIVERSAL SALVATION TO UNIVERSALISM
Universal salvation, or universalism, is the theological belief that, through the goodness, mercy and love of God, all people will be saved; that is, all people will be forgiven their sins and granted eternal life. The idea that all people would be saved is a very old one. It can be seen as early as the works of Origen, an important scholar and theologian of the early church (c.185-250 CE), and surfaces in Christian history in the thought of theologians and faiths from the Roman Catholic Church to the radical arm of the Protestant Reformation. However, for the most part, the doctrine of universal salvation stood as contrary to the teachings of most Christian churches. And when universalism did "bubble up," it remained a theological idea rather than a formal or distinct church tradition.
That is, until universalist ideas came to America, where, at long last, universalism developed into a formal institution. There are different stories as to how this came about. The often recounted story is about John Murray (1741-1815), a Methodist lay preacher from England. In England Murray became converted to the idea of universal salvation by James Relly, author of the pamphlet Union. Following the death of his wife and infant son, Murray gave up preaching and, in 1770, immigrated to the United States. As the story is told, on the way to New York, Murray's ship became stuck on a sandbar off the coast of New Jersey. While waiting for the wind to shift the ship off the bar, Murray went ashore where he met a farmer, Thomas Potter. Potter is reported to have asked if Murray was the preacher sent by God to preach universal salvation in the meetinghouse he had built for that purpose. Murray declined, but Potter persisted. If, he said, the winds did not change by Sunday, it was a sign from God that Murray was meant to preach in the meetinghouse. If the winds did release the ship, Murray was free to continue his journey. The winds stayed quiet, and so on Sunday, Murray returned to the pulpit to preach universal salvation in Thomas Potter's meetinghouse. In the following years, Murray preached universalism along the east coast of the United States, and in 1779, founded the Independent Church of Christ (now known as the Independent Christian Church, Unitarian Universalist) in Gloucester, Massachusetts, which is recognized as the first Universalist church in America. Finally, an institution dedicated to universalist ideas was founded.
Murray's was but one of the streams of universalism (the theological idea that all will be saved) and Universalism (the formalization of these thoughts as churches and other institutions) in America. Predating Murray's arrival by almost 30 years, George de Benneville (1703-1793), a doctor and a preacher of universalism, immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1741. Though arrested several times in Europe for preaching universal salvation, de Benneville found a more sympathetic audience in America, and was instrumental in the conversion of several early universalists, including Elhanan Winchester. De Benneville also preached to Native Americans, and was instrumental in the 1753 publication of The Everlasting Gospel by Paul Siegvolk, a book which had great influence in spreading universalist notions, particularly the idea that God cannot be cruel or unjust.
A third stream of universalism arose in the Connecticut River Valley of northern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Caleb Rich, an itinerant lay preacher, spread belief in universal salvation after experiencing several mystical episodes. In 1773, Rich founded a specifically Universalist church in Warwick, Massachusetts, and soon also established additional churches in Richmond and Jaffrey, New Hampshire (but as they were not recognized to have legal standing, John Murray's Gloucester church of 1779 is considered the first Universalist church in America). Rich's preaching converted many to Universalism including several cousins of Hosea Ballou as well as David Ballou, Hosea's brother. Hosea Ballou (1771-1852), who later converted to the belief of universal salvation, became one of Universalism's leading figures.
At a regional meeting, or convention, in Oxford, Massachusetts in 1785, individual Universalist churches joined together to form a broader religious movement. The movement became even broader with the first national convention, in Philadelphia in 1790. The conventions provided opportunities to bring all the various streams of universalism together for a week of conversation, debate, socializing, revivalism, and activism. The Philadelphia Convention of 1790, which had 17 delegates, adopted a resolution that invoked the Universalist belief in the ultimate worth of every human being in opposing slavery. The meeting at Winchester, New Hampshire in 1803 resulted in codifying Universalist beliefs of the time in what became known as the Winchester Profession (see Workshop 7). By 1833 the General Convention became the national forum for Universalism. The three-day celebration in September, 1870 in Gloucester, Massachusetts that marked the centennial of John Murray's landing in America was the largest religious gathering ever to take place in the United States: 12,000 attended.
In 1805, Hosea Ballou published A Treatise on Atonement, perhaps the most influential Universalist document of the 19th century. The book articulated an American understanding of Universalism, and the religion of universal salvation spoke to many in the youthful, optimistic nation. Because Ballou held that no soul was hellbound, whether by God's judgment or exclusion of election, his book represents the first real break universalism had with Calvinism. Ballou was a preacher and a founder of the Universalist Magazine (1819), but is perhaps best remembered for his role in the Restorationist Controversy of the 1820s. Ballou held the "ultra-universalist" view that all people were saved immediately upon death, while others, notably Paul Dean and Edward Turner, held that salvation came to all people only after an interim period of punishment and atonement after which souls would be restored to God's presence. The ensuing controversy threatened to split the young denomination, though it ultimately not only survived, but thrived.
Universalism grew rapidly in numbers as individuals left their former religious traditions, particularly the Baptist and Congregational faiths. By the time of the Civil War, there were estimated to be more than 600,000 Universalists in the United States. While attracted to the message of universal salvation, these "come-outers" from other traditions brought ideas that influenced the ways in which Universalists organized themselves.
Universalism developed theologically as well, and by the late 19th century promoted higher criticism of the Bible, the need for Universalism to establish a universal Beloved Community through social engagement, and reconciliation between religion and science, particularly in light of the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species. In the 20th century, as Universalism moved further from its Trinitarian Christian roots, the term "universalism" took on the meaning of a religion for all people, rather than its original reference to the doctrine of universal salvation. Robert Cummins, the General Superintendent of the Universalist Church of America (UCA), succinctly declared in 1943, "Ours is a world fellowship."
FAITH LIKE A RIVER: WORKSHOP 10:
LEADER RESOURCE 3: WE ARE UNIVERSALISTS
Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810-1891) — "The noblest art is that of making others happy, honesty, sobriety, industry, economy, education, good habits, perseverance, cheerfulness, love to God and good will toward men." This was the philosophy of P. T. Barnum, the greatest American showman of the 19th century and a dedicated Universalist. Barnum rose from poverty to bring entertainment to millions with his American Museum of curiosities and his traveling three-ring circus, "The Greatest Show on Earth." Converted to Universalism by his grandfather, Barnum was active in Universalist congregations in Connecticut and New York. After hearing a persuasive Universalist sermon on temperance, Barnum poured his entire wine collection down the drain! Barnum donated generously to Universalist churches, schools and causes.
Clarissa Harlowe Barton (1821-1912) — "I defy the tyranny of precedent. I cannot afford the luxury of a closed mind. I go for anything new that might improve the past." This philosophy led Clara Barton to work for reforms in education, to seek women's suffrage, and to found the American Red Cross. Born into an active Universalist family in Oxford, Massachusetts, Barton expressed interest in spiritualism and Christian Science and religiously defined herself at various times as a Universalist, a pagan, and "not what the world denominated a church woman." Known as the "Angel of the Battlefield," Barton dedicated much of her life to the care of the wounded and ill—on the battlefield, in the hospitals, and as founder of the American Red Cross and as its first president.
Olympia Brown (1835-1926) — "The grandest thing has been the lifting up of the gates and the opening of the doors to the women of America, giving liberty to twenty-seven million women, thus opening to them a new and larger life and a higher ideal." Although she was referring to women securing the right to vote, a cause for which she had worked tirelessly, Olympia Brown might well have been referring to her own impact on the vocation of religious women in the United States. Although Lydia Jenkins was ordained by a denominational body of the Universalists in 1858, Brown has long been considered the first woman ordained with full ministerial fellowship by a denomination (1863). Whatever the nuances of denominational authority, Brown stood as a model and inspiration for many others. Brown was inspired to the ministry by Antoinette Brown Blackwell, the first woman ordained by a congregation in America, and went on to inspire others such as Phebe Ann Coffin Hanaford (1829-1921).
Augusta Jane Chapin (1836-1905) — "Let the creeds remain as historic landmarks, but let the church the Master founded move on." Just six months after Olympia Brown's historic ordination in 1863, Augusta Chapin put these words into action by becoming the second woman ordained by the Universalists. Later she was the first woman to sit on the Universalist General Convention, as well as the first woman to receive an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. Chapin served a number of Universalist congregations, worked for women's rights in education and suffrage, was a college lecturer on English literature, and chaired the Women's Committee of the 1893 World Parliament of Religions.
Maria Cook (1779-1835) — "But as the phenomenon of a female preacher appearing among us was so extraordinary, and curiosity was on tiptoe among the mass of the congregation, to hear a woman preach, our opposing brethren finally withdrew their objections, and she very cheerfully obliged us with a discourse." These words by Nathaniel Stacy describe the atmosphere that met Maria Cook's request to speak at the Universalist Western Association in 1811. Though Cook's application to the Western Association was met with skepticism, her successful address led to a letter of fellowship as the first woman to fill Universalist pulpits. However, repeated demonstrations of disrespect from crowds and colleagues, led Cook to doubt the sincerity and unanimity of support, and she destroyed the letter. Cook continued to preach sporadically for several years, but gave up the ministry after being arrested on a trumped up vagrancy charge. As a woman and a Universalist Cook faced unguarded discrimination, but blazed a path that others were to follow.
Nathaniel Gunnison (1811-1871) — "A good deed survives the hand that performed it. A great thought, once uttered, may pulsate the universe and overturn empires and themes which have withstood armies and resisted the onward march of time... " Nathaniel Gunnison was a living example of "a good deed" that survived well past its time. While on a winter's journey, and nearly penniless, the 16-year-old Gunnison was taken in and treated well by a couple who he learned were Universalists. He vowed to always do the same for others, and did so throughout western New York and eastern Canada in his long and active ministry. He was the minister in Halifax, Nova Scotia during the Civil War, a partisan for the North in a city—and, to some extent, a congregation—that sympathized with the South, the source of the cotton trade and prosperity. In a single year of ministry, Gunnison recorded in his journal that he preached "more than 100 sermons, and made more than 500 pastoral calls."
Lydia Ann Moulton Jenkins (1824-1874) — "We supposed that a woman could not do it, unless she were bold, masculine, and presuming. We are now sure that a woman can preach, can pray, in the pulpit, without throwing off her womanly dignity and modesty." With these words about Lydia Jenkins, influential Universalist leader Thomas Whittemore reversed his long-held stand against women in the ministry. Lydia Moulton came to Universalism as a young woman. In 1860, after several years of joint ministry with her husband Edmund Jenkins, Lydia was ordained by the Ontario Association of Universalists in Geneva, NY. Few records of the event remain, and given the controversy over the ordination of women, it was likely not well publicized. Thus the record of the first woman granted ordination by a denomination was lost for many years. In 1866 Jenkins left the ministry to become a physician. She continued working for women's rights until her death in 1874.
Joseph Fletcher Jordan (1863-1929) — "Then came Dr. Shinn and Dr. Shinn's 'beautiful gospel."' This is how the Universalist Yearbook described the conversion of the Methodist preacher Joseph F. Jordan to Universalism after hearing the great evangelist Quillen Shinn. Thus Jordan, the child of slaves, became one of the first black Universalist ministers. Following preparation at St. Lawrence University, Jordan moved to Virginia to continue the work of Joseph Jordan (no relation). He led a congregation and served as principal of the Suffolk Normal Training School, revitalizing and growing both institutions. Until his death in 1929, Jordan remained principal of the school, was active in the Temperance movement, served as a probation officer for black youths, and edited the Colored Universalist periodical.
Joseph Jordan (1842-1901) — "He believes in us, and knows why." This was the conclusion of the ordination council that accepted Joseph Jordan into fellowship as the first African American Universalist minister. Originally a Baptist minister, Jordan was converted to Universalism through the writings of Thomas Whittemore, and other Universalists. Jordan wanted to return to his birthplace, Norfolk, Virginia, to start a school and Universalist congregation for the black community. In 1893 the General Convention granted Jordan's request for building funds and, with help from mentor Edwin Sweetser and Quillen Shinn, the Norfolk community was on its way. A second community was started in Suffolk under direction of Jordan's assistant, Thomas Wise. Following Jordan's death the Norfolk center declined and was closed in 1906, but the Suffolk community continued and grew under the leadership of Joseph Fletcher Jordan (no relation).
Thomas Starr King (1824-1864) — As a statue in his honor in Golden Gate Park reads, "In him eloquence, strength and virtue were devoted with fearless courage to truth, country and his fellowmen. " As Starr King put it himself, "But, though I weigh only 120 pounds, when I am mad, I weigh a ton!" Either way, the might of Thomas Starr King is credited with saving California for Union. Starr King was born the son of a Universalist minister, though he was urged to the ministry by Unitarian preacher Theodore Parker, and would go on to serve both Universalist and Unitarian congregations. With Abraham Lincoln's campaign for President of the United States, Starr King became involved in politics as a spiritual leader to California Republicans. Starr King also worked to help elect Governor Leland Stanford, a member of his growing San Francisco congregation. Church work, politics and fundraising efforts on behalf of the Sanitary Commission and Red Cross took their toll on the slight minister, who contracted diphtheria and pneumonia, and died at the age of 39. The Unitarian Universalism theological school Starr King School for the Ministry is named in his honor.
Abner Kneeland (1774-1844) — "Universalists believe in a god which I do not; but believe that their god, with all his moral attributes, (aside from nature itself,) is nothing more than a chimera of their own imagination." This is but a sampling of the radical theology which landed Abner Kneeland in jail as the last man imprisoned in America on a charge of blasphemy. Once a teacher, Abner Kneeland began his ministerial career as a Baptist. Then he read the work of Universalist Elhanan Winchester, and was ordained to the Universalist ministry in 1805. Throughout his career, Kneeland's outspokenness and radical views brought him trouble. As a preacher, newspaper editor, and lecturer, he advocated free thought and free speech, women's rights, birth control, and labor reform. However, it was his attacks on Christian doctrine that finally landed Kneeland in jail for blasphemy. After his release, he moved to Iowa with plans to establish a community of freethinkers.
Angus Hector MacLean (1892-1969) — "He was a champion of the spiritual rights of children and a wise interpreter of the liberal spirit to their parents." These are words of tribute from Max Kapp, successor to Angus MacLean as dean of St. Lawrence University. A Presbyterian lay preacher as a young man, MacLean faced some difficulty gaining ordination due to his liberal views, but eventually prevailed. However, MacLean dedicated his life to education—in the university as dean and teacher, and in the church as religious educator and preacher. One of the leading reformers of religious education, MacLean advocated a child-centered, experience-based classroom in his pamphlet "The Method is the Message." Adopting Universalism as his religious home in the 1940s, MacLean was ordained to the Universalist ministry in 1945.
Judith Sargent Stevens Murray (1751-1820) — "It doth not appear that she was governed by any one sensual appetite; but merely by a desire of adorning her mind; a laudable ambition fired her soul, and a thirst for knowledge." Thus Judith Sargent Murray defended the biblical Eve in her own quest for educational rights for all women. Though she regretted the lack of formal education available to young women in her day, Judith Sargent Murray accomplished much with her self-acquired knowledge, far more than most women of her generation. She was a poet and a prolific letter writer, and as a young widow following the death of her sea captain husband John Stevens, she supported herself with her writing. Two of her plays were produced in Boston. Her father was swayed by the writings of British Universalist James Relly, and invited John Murray to come to Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1774. Judith found a friend and mentor in Murray, and they married 14 years later. Judith collaborated with Murray on his writings and continued to publish essays on the rights and capabilities of women and other social issues, some anonymously as "the Gleaner." In 1798 she finally published three volumes of essays by "The Gleaner," and admitted authorship.
Benjamin Rush (1745-1813) — "The Universal doctrine prevails more and more in our country, particularly among persons eminent for their piety, in whom it is not a mere speculation but a principle of action in the heart prompting to practical goodness." Benjamin Rush wrote these words to his friend Elhanan Winchester in 1791, and they were words that well described his own life. Perhaps best known as a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Rush was an eminent physician who supported medical advances and social reforms well ahead of his time. His work on mental illness and advocacy for treatment forecast a modern psychiatric approach. He was a staunch advocate of sanitation, hygiene, and temperance in preventing illness. He advocated for educational and penal reform, opposed the death penalty, and worked to abolish slavery. While the newly formed United States was creating the Department of War, Rush drew up plans for a Department of Peace.
Clarence Russell Skinner (1881-1949) — "The true social objective is the perfecting of human character by progressive improvement of those conditions and environments which are within the social control." In his work The Social Implications of Universalism (1915), Clarence Skinner declared the need for Universalism to move beyond the church to establish a universal Beloved Community through social engagement. Strongly influenced by the Social Gospel movement of the time, Skinner advocated putting religious principle into social action. Skinner joined John Haynes Holmes in founding the Community Church of Boston, which was patterned on Holmes' New York church, and intended to serve a wider nonsectarian community in order to effect social change. Through his writings, as a minister, and as professor and dean of Crane Theological School at Tufts University, Skinner influenced a generation of Universalists. David Robinson wrote in The Unitarians and the Universalists that Skinner was "certainly the most important twentieth century Universalist leader."
Caroline Augusta White Soule (1824-1903) — "Fatigue in the cause of Universalism is infinitely better than inaction, apathy, indolence." Caroline Soule could hardly have been accused of inaction, apathy or indolence. Widowed before the age of 30, she turned to writing to support herself and her five children. Beginning with a memoir of her late husband, Universalist minister Henry B. Soule, she soon added poetry, stories, and books, as well as editorship of a Sunday School paper to her list of accomplishments. In 1869 Soule helped found the Women's Centenary Association, and added fundraising and lecturing to her repertoire. Ill health forced her to travel abroad to restore her strength, but while in Scotland she became an evangelist for Universalism. Three years later she returned to Scotland and helped organize the Scottish Universalist Convention. In 1880 she was ordained as the minister of St. Paul's Universalist Church in Glasgow, Universalism's first missionary.
Elhanan Winchester (1751-1797) — "I became so well persuaded of the truth of the Universal Restoration that I was determined never to deny it, let it cost me ever so much, though all my numerous friends should forsake me, as I expected they would." In fact, not all Winchester's friends deserted him, though he did know extraordinary loss in his life. He married and was widowed five times; seven of his eight children were stillborn and the eighth died before the age of two. Yet Winchester had many close friends who stood by him, including George de Benneville and Benjamin Rush. When he was forced from his Philadelphia Baptist pastorate for his belief in universal salvation, half the congregation came with him and founded the Society of Universal Baptists. Winchester went on to preach in South Carolina (where he founded a church for slaves), in England, and in New England, converting many to Universalism. Though his life was short, Winchester's influence was wide. Indeed it was Elhanan Winchester who ordained Hosea Ballou to the Universalist ministry.
FAITH LIKE A RIVER: WORKSHOP 10:
LEADER RESOURCE 4: PHOTOS OF EARLY 1900S UNIVERSALISTS IN NORTH CAROLINA
From the Unitarian Universalist Association archives.
FAITH LIKE A RIVER: WORKSHOP 10:
LEADER RESOURCE 5: LIFE-CHANGING BELIEFS
Even as a young girl, Mary Ashton Rice Livermore was tortured by the idea that only some were destined for salvation. She would awaken her parents in the middle of the night begging them to pray for her sisters lest their souls be eternally lost. She wrote in her memoir, The Story of My Life:
I was sometimes shaken to the very center of my being, and often expressed to my father, even when very young, what I frequently felt,--a bitter regret that I had ever been born. There were times when I envied the cat that purred at the fireside, or the dog that slept on the doorstep. They could be happy, for they had no souls to be saved or lost.
When a new baby was born into the family Mary begged her parents to send the baby back to God in case she was not destined to be a true Christian and therefore not one of the saved. Her father tried to reassure the young Mary saying they would pray for the baby and train her to be a good Christian, but the Calvinism Mary learned at the First Baptist Church of Boston told her this was not enough. Mary knew the doctrine of election: that God determined, even before birth, who was to be saved and who to be damned. She could find no assurance of this baby's ultimate salvation, and when another sister died at the age of fifteen Mary was cast into despair. "Happiness and I had parted company forever, unless in some certain and assured manner I could be convinced that my sister Rachel was not among the lost," she wrote.
It was some years before she found the reassurance she sought. One Christmas Eve she wandered into the Universalist Church in Duxbury, Massachusetts and heard the minister, Daniel Livermore, read from the Gospel of Matthew, "And thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." Though Mary knew the Bible well, this was not the sort of passage that her Calvinist education stressed. It opened for her a new horizon, and she went on to write in her memoir about the new faith that cleared away all the anxiety and despair she had known until then.
In later years I have been compelled to so wide and thorough a study of the great subject of religion that I have gained a nobler comprehension of God, life, and human destiny than I was ever taught. I have learned a broader tolerance, a world-embracing sympathy, and a more stimulating and uplifting faith.
Mary Livermore's experience of encountering Universalism was not unusual in a world where eternal damnation was the prevalent theological position used to exact moral behavior from God-fearing Christians. The optimism of a faith that asserted that the love and mercy of God was stronger than human misdeeds changed people's lives. It was an optimism that paralleled the promise of a new nation, for it held that God is merciful, and preached that humans are capable of moral discernment and growth.
Universalism promised that humans were not only capable of distinguishing good from evil, but that they would choose righteousness for its own sake, without the threat of future damnation. This contrasted with the prevailing tradition, which said humans are by nature prone to evil and incapable of resisting the pull of innate depravity. Orthodox believers were not ready to release the moral hold of a promised eternal punishment. How were people to be made to act in moral and upright ways, they asked, if not under threat of dire, unceasing consequences? This question was widely debated in pamphlets, in religious periodicals, and in person. Theological debates between ministers began in the mid-18th century, and were still alive a century later.
One such debate was held in Southold, New York. The debate set the Methodist and Universalist ministers the task of deciding the eventual fate of all humanity. Held over the course of four evenings and two afternoons (a total of 18 or 20 hours) the debate was recorded as a victory by both sides. But the debate did not end there: It was subsequently published in several pamphlet versions and reported in New York's Universalist Union paper. Here one learns that the local Presbyterian minister, no supporter of the new upstart Methodist church, still found its views preferable to the dangers of Universalism. He wrote that the theology of Universalism had not "influenced any man that was vicious and abandoned, to turn and become a man of prayer, faith and holiness," but was prepared to go a good deal further in declaring that, even worse, the faith had the reverse effect. By removing the natural restraint of endless punishment for sins, Universalism had "emboldened" individuals in their sins and crimes. Accordingly he described Universalist church members as those expelled from evangelical churches. He concluded by accusing Universalism of flagrant and open materialism, semi-atheism, and absurdity.
Though but one local occurrence of theological discourse, the Southold Debate is representative of the challenges faced by early Universalists, challenges which continued into the late 19th and even the 20th century. Regardless, the Universalists found creative and compelling ways to spread their message. The Women's Centenary Association, established to help raise money for the 1870 Universalist Centenary in Gloucester, later became a service organization, the Centenary Aid Organization. The earliest denominationwide women's group, it changed its name in about 1905 to the Women's National Missionary Association (WNMA) dedicating itself to mission work, and particularly funding rural church outposts of liberalism in areas of fundamentalism. The WNMA established and supported a string of small churches in the 1920s and 1930s, emphasizing education in rural areas. These small congregations offered an alternative to the dominant cultural and theological conservatism. In particular, the Universalist teaching against damnation of unbaptized infants offered comfort in small communities faced with infectious disease and high infant mortality.
FAITH LIKE A RIVER: WORKSHOP 10:
LEADER RESOURCE 6: PARADISE IS OURS
In modern, Western, Christian conception, salvation occurs only after death. In their book Saving Paradise (Beacon Press, 2008), Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker write, "Theologians speak of sacred and profane time, of salvation history and of hope. They interpret the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise as the beginning of salvation history: the world runs along a hard arrow of time, beginning with human sin and culminating in a final New Age, kingdom of God, Second Coming or New Heaven and Earth."
Yet the early Christian church did not speak of salvation as something only in the future. Salvation had qualities of being not yet fully realized, but at the same time existed in the here and now. Brock and Parker write, "...in the early church, paradise—first and foremost—was this world, permeated and blessed by the Spirit of God." Paradise was a place of this earth and of this life, permeated with the goodness and loving spirit of God—a place available to all through the church.
In the 10th century, the Christian idea of paradise as an earthly abode changed with the launch of the first Crusade. As fighters in a war not only justified but sanctified by the church, crusaders were assured their place in paradise, not by right of baptism into the church, but upon their death in this holy war.
Champions of universal salvation, both ancient and modern, have challenged the theology of a wrathful God that withholds paradise as the future reward of an elected few. Some Universalists, such as Jane Leade, an English writer and mystic (1624-1704), saw paradise as a realm in this world. Clarence Skinner, in 20th-century Universalism, preached the creation of the Beloved Community or kingdom of God on earth through social engagement.
Early Universalist thought was deeply grounded in the Bible. One story, though likely apocryphal, tells that the 18th-century itinerant lay preacher Caleb Rich determined the truth of universal salvation by counting the number of biblical passages for and against it. The very fact that this story arose and was circulated shows the great value the Universalists placed on scripture. Orello Cone (1835-1905), a prominent biblical scholar and Universalist, helped shift understanding of the Bible from a literal to a metaphorical interpretation, promoting the use of modern biblical criticism.
Brock and Parker also highlight bilical passages that portray paradise as a dimension of existence, citing the books of the prophets and Leviticus, the Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. Let's see if we too can identify the signs of earthly paradise in the Psalms.
(Leader: Pause here and facilitate small group discussions as described in Alternate Activity 1, Paradise Is Ours, Description.)
This is the way that Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Parker see paradise as described in the here and now:
The Psalms affirm that the gifts of paradise are tangible in this life. "O taste and see that the Lord is good" (Ps. 34:8). They speak of respite from weariness, pleasure in companionship, freedom from oppression, comfort in sorrow, delight in beauty, satisfaction of hunger, and protection from danger. Though these precious aspects of life can be lost or compromised, they are real dimensions of human experience on the earth, not imaginary ideals. This is what it means to say that paradise is in this world: the actual tastes, sights, fragrances, and textures of paradise touch our lives. They call us to resist the principalities and powers that deny the goodness of ordinary life, threaten to destroy it, or seek to secure its blessings for a few at the expense of many.
FAITH LIKE A RIVER: WORKSHOP 10:
LEADER RESOURCE 7: ORIGEN OF ALEXANDRIA
Origen of Alexandria (c. 185-250 CE) was an early Christian theologian who articulated ideas of universal salvation in ways that led his critics to charge him with heresy centuries after his death. From all accounts, Origen was a brilliant, gifted, and prolific scholar who studied science, philosophy, and theology and created the first systematic theology of Christianity, De Principiis, or On First Principles. This great work survived in its original Greek only in fragments; in the year 543, the emperor Justinian issued an edict condemning Origen's writings, and ordered them destroyed.
Origen's basic premises were:
While all these ideas were important in the development of Christian theology, of particular interest to Unitarian Universalists is Origen's "major heresy," that because Christ redeemed all humans, all would be saved in eternity. Origen did not believe in eternal suffering, and theorized that souls are re-born, over and again, to experience the educative powers of God until they finally and eventually achieve salvation.
Origen died c. 250 CE, from wounds he received from torture for expressing and spreading his ideas in nearly 2,000 separate written works.
FIND OUT MORE
More Universalist Stories in this Program
Adin Ballou (1803-1890) — Universalist minister and founder of the Hopedale utopian community, Workshop 13
Quillen Shinn (1845-1907) — Universalist evangelist, Workshop 16
Winchester Profession (1803) — A Collection of Covenants and Statements of Belief, Workshop 7
The History of Universalism
Ballou, Hosea. A Treatise on Atonement, reprint (Boston, MA: Skinner House Books, 1986)
Cassara, Ernest. Universalism in America (at www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=648), Skinner House Books (Boston, MA, 1971)
Hitchings, Catherine F. Universalist and Unitarian Women Ministers (Boston, MA: UU Historical Society, 1985)
Howe, Charles A. The Larger Faith: A Short History of American Universalism (at www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=601) (Boston, MA: Skinner House Books, 1993)
Miller, Russell. The Larger Hope (Boston, MA: Unitarian Universalist Association) Volume I, 1979; Volume II, 1985
Moore, Edward. Origen of Alexandria (at www.iep.utm.edu/origen-of-alexandria/), The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Scott, Clinton Lee. The Universalist Church of America: A Short History (Boston, MA: Universalist Historical Society, 1957)
Williams, George Hunston. American Universalism (Boston, MA: Skinner House Books, 1976)
Research and Presentation of Congregational Histories
Coeyman, Barbara. Creating Congregational Histories (at www25.uua.org/uuhs/UUresources/creatingCongregationalHistories.html), on the website of the Unitarian Universalist Historical Society
Knowing Where You've Been: Maintaining Records and Archives (at www.uua.org/leaders/leaderslibrary/congregationalhandbook/34829.shtml), in the online UUA Leaders' Library