Earlier today, I posted on the origins of American Unitarianism. I'm now going to turn my attention to Universalism and its American origins.
Universalism is actually a general term for the belief that no one will be subject to condemnation, that we're all going to be saved. There are a couple of verses in the New Testament that are used to justify this belief, most notably Romans 5:18 (ESV) "Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men." Now, by itself, this verse seems to justify Universalism, but there are others which don't, such as John 3:36 (ESV) "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." So a bit more study is required to reveal whether this doctrine has any real merit.
Universalism came to America from England in the person of John Murray, who came ashore due to his ship running aground in New Jersey in 1770, in present day Lanoka Harbor. John Murray met a local farmer named Thomas Potter (who just happened to hold Universalist beliefs, and had even built a church, but had no preacher to preach in it). Potter talked Murray into preaching at his church, which Murray reluctantly agreed to do. Murray was actually a preacher from England who had suffered huge personal tragedy in the loss of his wife and only child, and was coming to America to start over with a new career and life. He agreed to preach only if the weather prevented him from returning to the ship with provisions. The weather favored Potter, Murray preached, and a Universalist church was founded there.
The Universalist Church of America was esentially a one-doctrine denomination, which led to its decline as a spiritual organization. There just wasn't enough material to make for a fulfilling and growing career for its clergy. One notable Universalist, Thomas Starr King actually made a name for himself by being recognized as a Universalist and Unitarian minister. Over the last half of the nineteenth century, and going into the twentieth, the Universalists placed more and more emphasis on social and political causes, abandoning any pretense of Christian doctrine. There was little motivation for Christian conversion since it was considered unnecessary, as all were saved anyway. By the time of the merger with the American Unitarian Association in 1961, both organizations had become activists for social and political causes and had little spiritual content to offer.
Posted by joelfuhrmann at November 14, 2002 09:18 PM