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. Atlanta Universalist. SEPTEMBER 8,1881. lERMS: One Dalian Per Annum. * B. B. Clayton, Editor. Specimen Copies. We shall from time to time send out specimen copies to our friends invarious parte of the country, in the hope that they will subscribe themselves, and hand them around among their ac quaintances, in order to induce them also to subscribe. TERMS OB’ SUBSCRIPTION, One copy one year, $ 1,00 “ “ six months, 50 “ ■“ three months, 25 Skipped It. In a sermon delivered at Mechan- jcsville a short time ago, we took oc casion to reply to the assertion made by some good limitarian people that Christ did nofr pray for the world, for proof of wbidh they rely on the ex pression of Christ in his prayer for the twelve Apostles in John 17th, in which he says: “I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.” Calling attention to the fact that Christ was here making special prayer for the twelve Apostles, we referred to the 20th and 21st verses to show that he extended his petition in behalf of all who should who should believe on him through the word of the Apostles, that all such should be one as the Father and Son were one : “That the world may believe that thou hast sent me,” said Jesus. Thus we showed that he did pray for the world. After preaching a Baptist brother said to a Universalist: “Mr. Clayton was careful enough to skip the por tion of the prayer in which Jesus re ferred to the case of Judas, and said he was lost.” “Tell Mr. C.,” said the brother,” that I defy him to prove that Judas was not lost.” We have no desire to prove that Judas was not lost; a^Uuisl came “to seek and to save ti^p which was lost;” and hence we are encouraged to believe in the final salvation of even so great a sin ner as was Judas. We are disposed, the lost condition of Judas to which Jesus referred in that prayer. We ask then : was Judas an Apostle ? See Matthew 10.- 2-4, where it is said: “Now the names of the twelve Apos tles are these,” etc., the names being given in full, the last on the list oc curring thus: “And Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.” He was an Apostle then, commissioned as plenar- ily as any of them: “To heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.” Was he one of those that had been given to Christ by the Father? An swer, in the words of Christ, John 17: 12: “Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition ; that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.” Let us now turn to John 6 : 37 and see what Jesus there says : “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me ; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should (lose noth ing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” This is the statament of Jesus himself as to the final disposi tion he is to make of all that the Fath er had given him. It is his declara tion as to what he is to do, at the last day, with all that has been given him by the Father. Let us see where we stand now. 1st. Christ came to do the Father’s will. 2d. The Father’s will is that he should, at the lent day, lose nothing of all that has been given him, but raise it all up. This much is clearly established by John 6; 37-39. Then Christ explicit- y teaches, John 17: 12, 1st. That the son of perdition had been given him by the Father ; and, 2d, that in some sense the son of perdition was lost. The final inquiry is: Was Judas lost beyond recovery ? If he was, then clearly Christ’s mission, so far as it re lates to Judas, is to be a failure. This question necessitates the in quiry : In what sense was Judas lost? Acts 1: 25, informs what it was to which Judas was last. Praying to God for direction in the choice of a successor to Judas, the Apostle, declare the object to be: “That he may take part of this ministry and Apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place,” Judas then was simply lost to the Apostleship ; and not lost in the end less hell to which partial systems of salvation consign him. Such being the case, Jesus referred not to his final condition, but to his relation to the Apostleship. Thus, and thus only, can we harmonize the teachings of Christ in John 7: 37-39, and John If: 12; and thereby Javoid the mon strous and blasphemous conclusion that Christ’s mission, so far as it re lates to Judas, is destined to be a dis astrous foilure. But who was it that was to go to his own placet Critics are divided in opinion on this point. Reputable orthodox Critics contend that the ref erence irn that sentence is to the new Apostl^. 'then about to be chosen. But, allowing the reference to be to Judas, we demand, as we have gone to the labor of establishing the negative proposition that Judas was not lost in an endless hell, that he who avers that the place of Judas is in such a hell, produce the proof that his averment is true. We have written this, not to satisfy captious quibblers, which is an impos sible task ; but for the benefit of hon est’inquirers as to .“what is truth,” to whom the case of Judas is a stum bling block, of whom there is a large number. .Newton Factory. This place is the home of our be loved brother in the faith, Hugh White. For a long time he ha3 been wanting us to visit him and proclaim the “good tidings” to his neighbors ; but has been afraid we would fail to get a hearing, if we should go, so deeply seated seemed to be the prej udice there against the Universalist faith. On Friday, the l^th inst., we went down there, having previously notified him that we were going. Appointments had been arranged for Friday night; Saturday, forenoon and night; Sunday, forenoon and night. Friday night we had a good we had the house full. A hard rain just at night prevented the people from coming together. Sunday forenoon the house would not hold the people. Sunday night there was such a jam that we just had to abandon the house, and go out into the grove in order to give the people a chance to hear. Had we had a few more nights to preach there we believe we could have produced) a revival; or at least have gained several converts to our views. The signs were all favorable, and a deep impression made on the minds of a good many ; an impression that will not be easily eradicated. So great was the contrast between Universalism as preached by one of its advocates, and the chricatures of it that had been given by its opponents, that the peo ple could not fail to see that Univer salism was a very different thing from what they had been taught to regard it. We shall visit that people again ere long. On Monday we went several miles below the factory, to Mechanicsville, near which place lives Brother W. D. Cornwell, and delivered one sermon that evening to a very good audience, who were very attentive to the word spoken. A good impression was made there,on several who had never before heard one of our ministers preach. We made quite number of pleasant acquaintances during our visit, and regard the signs as quite auspicious for the spreading of our faith in that community, UNIVERSALISM IS SO LICENTIOUS in its tendency that in Monticello, the county site of Jasper county, this State, the guardians of public morals have determined that one of our min isters) shall not preach in the court house even; and yet that county scores an average of about six murders a year since the war; and f urnishes an abundance of business for the revenue officials in the effort to suppress the illicit traffiic in alcoholic poisons. It is a further fact that, notwith standing the good people of that coun ty have such an aversion to going to heaven with (murderers, they do not refuse to take them into their churches there, two of the redestdmnded mur derers of the county having been re ceived into the church there within the last few years. Verily Univer salism must be very licentious to contaminate the morals of so stauncL ly orthodox a county as Jasper. Ver-j ily some people in this day and time] can strain at a gate and swallow a sa mill. Bro. Neeli. Withdraws. Bro. Neeld has withdrawn from hty connection with the Atlanta Universal,, id. No cause disturbing the friendlj relations existing between him anq the senior editor, has contributed L the least to this result. The reasons that brought it about are his own prj. vate and personal property ; and it^ 8 neither our duty nor desire to say aijy thing about them in these column^. Suffice it to say, that he desired to sever his connection with this paper and we had no desire to continue hijm in a position that had grown dis ful or irksome to him. This actio his part necessitates a CHANGE OF PROGRAMME -* -on our' part. We cannot do the indispensible to the publication ol a weekly paper, and contin ue to traie 1 and preach as extensively as we desire to do, and ss the brethren desire uat t° do. The desire for a weekly paper is not strong enough on the part of the brethren of the South to prompt them to sup port the Herald; and also give to a weekly paper sufficient encour agement to inspire the publisher of such paper to the personal sacrifice necessary to the prosecution of the enterprise. Under these Cir cumstances we have determined to change the Universalist to a SEMI-MONTHLY and continue it permanently in that order. We can manage a publication of that kind, and spend a large portion of our time in the missionary labors for which we have contracted a liking from long service in that line ; and to which we have, by virtue of that serv ice, become better adapted than to a more settled course of ministerial service, In doing this we shall re duce the price of the paper to ONE DOLLAR A YEAR when paid within three months of d»te of subscription, or one dollar and a quarter if payment be delayed beyend three months. In order to give thyse Herald also, the advantages of a w|ek. ly paper, we shall issue the Univ 1st on the 8th and 23d of each mon the Herald being issued on the 1st ajj.fi 15th of each month. Thus, those who\ lake both will get four numbers, two from Brother Burruss and two from To the few who have paid TWO DOLLARS on the present volume of this paper, we will send it in semi-monthly issue till they get the value of their money at four cents per number. Under the new arrangement we shall, for the present, arrange no club rates nor of fer any premiums ; but treat all exact ly alike, giving to every subscriber the same amount of reading for the same price. We shall feel truly thankful to any friend of the cause in which we are engaged for any subscribers he or she may send us, but at the low rate at which we propose to furnish the paper we can not afford to pay commissions, and hence can ask no aid from any one who is not willing to do something “for the good of the cause.” The Georgia State Convention Of Universalists will meet at the Uni versalist churchy Mulberry,, Jackson county, on Friday before the 5th Sun day in October, and continue in ses sion three days. It is desirable that every church in the State shall have a representation present. Ministering brethren of this and adjoining States are requested to attend. The place of meeting is about twenty miles from Flowery Branch, which is on the Air-Line railroad about 42 miles from Atlanta. The friends will have conveyance at the point above designated, on Thursday and Friday, for the accommodation of those who may prefer to go by rail road to that point. Gome one, cojne all, and let us have “a soul reviving feast.” L, Y. Bradbury, James Park, Secretary. President, In order to get on our regular schedule time, which we propose 'to run in the future, we date this issue for September 8th. Hereafter we dx- ppet to bring out the paper regular Iy pn the 8th and 23d of every month. Signs of Growth. I He who counts the growth of Uni- versalist views only by the increasing number of its churches and ministers, will come far short of the facts, and get a very imperfect knowledge of its actual progress and strength. There is to-day more Universalism outside o i our organized church than inside of it. We can seldom take up a number of any so-called evangelical journal or mahazine which does not furnish evi dence of the spread of our sentiments among the churches; or give some proof of the continued modifications of the old creeds, by which they are shaped more and more into harmony with the doctrines which Universalists have taught for more than half a cen tury. We notice a pleasing illustra tion of this in the teachings of Rev. R. R. Meredith, who has charge of the Saturday afternoon Bible class, which was established last November at Tre- mont Temple, and which has an at tendance varying from 1,500 to 2,200. Mr. Meredith is evidently a man of independent thought, a diligent stu dent of the Scriptures, and well suited to the work he has in band. On the question proposed by one of the class—“Does the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus teach that the de parted can see and hold converse with one another, though separated by an impassable gulf ?” his answer was as follows—copied from a report in the Congregatioiwlid: “No, I think not. I insist, in the teaching of that parable, that any at tempt to make it literal would make it nonsense. You cannot make any thing out of it. You have simply got to say, there were certain ideas about last things resting in the minds of the Jews, and our lord seized on just those ideas. He does not take pains to rec tify them where they are wrong, or to indorse them where they are right; he simply takes what lies in their minds about the departed to bring out cer tain truths.” This i3 a notable departure from the literal interpretation of fifty years ago and an exact reproduction of what Universalists have taught all that while. Mr. Meredith thinks it is de signed to symbolize future rewards and punishments, but insists that it is a the same ground here that we have taken in other cases, viz: that Christ does not always in a special and for, mal manner correct the Jewish errors with which he came in contact, but leaves it to time and truth; as in the of demoniacs, metempsychosis, The following exposition of original sin and total (?) or natural depravity, is one to which few students of human nature would take special exception. It gives the child a chance, at least; with a balance of forces in his favor* as the last citation from Romans is in tended, we suppose, to demonstrate. The dialogue Shows the freedom of in quiry with which the class pursues its studies: “Has a new-born child of to-day no more sin upon its soul than had Adam before the fall ?” Mr. M. “What do you say to that? How can a child have sin on his soul?” Ans. “He has a tendency to sin.” Mr. M. “Yes, that is so; but has he any tendency to holiness ?” Ans. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” Mr. M. “Yes; taking sin in the sense of transgression the child has no sin—that goes without saying. But now this tendency to sin ; we agree that like must produce like, and a sin ful Adam must produce a fallen pos terity, and there must be these down ward tendencies, and as a matter of tact they are in the new-born babe. But are these the only tendencies ?” Ans. “No”; “Christ said, ‘Suffer little children to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’ ” Mr. M. “And I say Amen 1 I say the child has tendencies to sin because it comes down from the first Adam ; I say the child has tendencies to good because it comes from the second Adam, and the tendencies to good are as strong as the tendencies to evil, so that every child has a fair chance. And I will go a little further, if you demur to that, and tell you tha ‘where sin abounded grace did much mere abound.’ ’’ Sometimes Mr. Meredith’s answers to questions are amusing, and also sug gestive of more than is expressed in the words. To this question—“ Will you give your views on this 'millenni um ?” he replied, “Well, I won’t. I haven’t got time, and I haven’t got many ‘views,’either. You can be at sincere Christian if you get right with God through Jesus Christ, and walk in obedient faith—no matter what you think about future punishment or fu ture reward; no matter what you think ;™it. the second advent or case and endless punishment when and where it was believed. To the question, “Were the words of Christ, ’My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me,” uttered as the feeling of a lost soul ?” he replied: “The idea that Jesus Christ actually entered into the experience of a lost soul, with all those dreadful feelings of remorse and misery that must shroud the soul of a lost man, I put away ; it is not Scriptural. The peo ple who believe that Jesus suffered all the penalty that was due to sin, do not have the slightest difficulty with that question. But I do not believe that Jesus Christ suffered the legal penalty for sin. If Jesus Christ suf fered the penalty for my sin, I must be saved anyway, if God is just; for justice cannot demand a penalty twice over. Penalty is penalty; and if the penalty for my sin has been paid, then I am free, no matter what I do. For the honor of God, never talk about the Almighty pouring out His wrath on Jesus Christ when He was doing the grandest thing that Jesus Christ ever did. There was no sham on the cross at all.” This sounds very much like an ex tract from Ballou’s “Treatise on the Atonement”; but how immensely dif ferent from the orthodox preaching and teaching which prevailed at the time that book made its appe arance more than ninety years ago I And how great the forward movement to ward the thealogy of Universalism in dicated by l^r. Meredith’s exposilion of the subject! One after another our interpretations of Scripture, and our doctrinal expositions, are accepted by our evangelical brethren; and they are fast coming up to the higher ground Which we haye oecupled for nearly a eentury. A few more strides and they will stand on the s»mmit. Welcome, good friends, for the sum mit is not a sharp pointed peak, but a broad, far-reaching table land where there is ample room for us all, - It Hues not make the slightest differ ence-” We believe Mr. Meredith is doing work for truth among the two thous and members of his Bible class. He is sowing seed which will by and by spring up into a rich harvest. In the meantime we give him our hearty God-speed. t. b. t. True to its Name. The editor of this paper is not stere otyped in any opinion, so that evi dence cannot alter that opinion. But he is an old. fashioned Universalist, and is proud of the name. He has been for forty years, lacking four months only, doing battle as a preacher of Universalism, and expects to die in the harness. Moreover, he intends to keep this paper true to its name; and hence those who read the paper may expact to see its columns devoted to the advocacy of Universalism ; Bible Universalism at that. He has found ample room for a much greater growth than he has been able to make, with out any departure from Universalism. He has no sympathy with any form of liberalism that discards the Bible as the great fountain of religious truth, and refuses to call Jesus of Nazareth Master in spiritual matters; aqd hence he will, if necessary, Combat any sys tem or sentiment that tends to loosen the hold of Jesus and the Bible upon the affections of the world. If others have a degree of light on spiritual matters to which he cannot attain, let them enjoy it; hut he must not be ex pected to follow that light till he can see it for himself, simply because they assure him that they see it. Sad Affliction. Thos. Jones, of Twiggs county, in this State, had three dead daughters in his house at once, on Friday, 5th inst., aged respectively about 16, 18 and 20 years. Two of them died on Wednesday, and the other on Thurs day, all of measles. c. Ihe Editor of this Paper will preach on Sunday next at the new school house, two miles from Flowery Branch. On the second Sunday in Septem ber, and day before, in Walker coun ty, as the friends there may arrange, Cost of Crime. Some few years ago an estimate was made of what three criminal brothers had cost an English community in twenty years. The account stood thus: Twenty-four prosecutions £ 1.91 llantenance in prison 1.50 Seven years transportation for one 1.00 Value of depredations 3,120 Total, £3,561 Nearly $18,000 were spent on this one family, and at the time the com putation was made the eldest brother was only twenty-four years of age. But a still more startling exhibit has been made by the American Pris on Association in the statistics they have collected in reference to the de- scendents of one outcast girl covering the period of four generations of this criminal stock. In seventy-five years the progeny of that single outcast girl have cost the State of New York over one million of dollars for support and for the charges incidental to convic tions for crime. In the case of this poor girl whose great misfortune it was probably to have been born of ignorant, degraded and vicious parents, how much better, in simply an economic point of view., would it have been for the State to have expended one or two thousand dollars, had so much been necessary, (but a few hundred would have been sufficient,) in educating her, and plac ing her in a condition to be an hon ored and useful member of society. But when we add to the economic con sideration the more important one of moral results to the community in which this fearful criminal record was, made, what comparison can be institu ted between the pecuniary and the moral results to that community tor lack of the expenditure, at the right time, and in the right manner, of a few hundred dollars on the human pa rent of this criminal progeny. But, as the State of New York is full of believers in unceasing agony, what a terrible picture might be pve- sen ted to the imagination should we pursue the question of results into the eternal world. Hundreds of criminals gone into eternity because the Chris tian people of that community suffered ^ ^ d - ,rirl fn tr w t u, ~ for. If endless torment be true wha a fearful responsibility those people incurred by their indifference in thii matter. Aye, and what a fearful re. sponsibility rests upon the Christkw portion of every community for theii indifference to the condition of the criminal classes around them. Bu we leave the reader to pursue his owi reflections in this matter. A Trip to Walton County. Saturday morning 13th inst we board ed the train on the Georgia railroac for Covington, on our way to Waltoi county, for the purpose of assisting Park in a two days meeting near Wal nut, Grove, in that county. We couli not reach the church in tirao for th< fort noon services on Saturday; but a night we were on hand; and instear of playing assistant to Brother Park we were put, by him, in the lead, and he assumed the role of assistant. Four services were held, in all; two on Sat urday and two on Sunday. Notwith- standing the fact that wo were, on Sunday, surrounded by meetings ol other denominations we had a fine »>, u dience, forenoon and night, who g av < excellent attention to the word s’poken showing by their manner that thei were present for the purpose, of receiv ing instruotion. The outlook in thai vicinity is quite favorable for the propogation of the views held by Uni versalists. p) jj (j York town Centennial. The general passenger agents of tl various railroad routes have had meeting and made arrangements fi the transportation of passengers to tl celebration of the Yorktown centei nial, by which eleven thousand pe: sons can be transported daily. The rates ’agreed on are two cen per mile each way. Tickets will l good for fifteen days—say from Octi her 10th to 25th inclusive. In a report with which Calomel A Pope, chairman of the committee, hi furnished us, it is said that in dii season a lodging accommodation lit the various cities contiguous to York town, including that city also, will b prepared and published, in connectio with an exact schedule of local trail and steamer service.