"Beyond Christian Universalism: A Larger Hope"

Rev. Bruce Russell-Jayne
March 7, 2010

Reading            North Shore Universalist Church
            Intern Minister Bruce Russell-Jayne

Our reading this morning was originally published in “The Beacon,” newsletter of North Shore Unitarian Church (NSUC for short) when Rev. Russell-Jayne was Intern Minister there.
“Many people at NSUC call themselves Unitarians, which is normal considering Unitarian is in the name of the church.  I particularly notice this because I am used to calling myself a Unitarian Universalist, probably because my former church was the Unitarian Universalist Church of Chattanooga.  I can understand the need to abbreviate from our rather formidable twenty syllable name (Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations), but I abbreviate to “UU” rather than leaving out Universalism.
It has been 49 years since the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America and no one nowadays asks, “Are you a Unitarian or a Universalist?  Around the time of the consolidation, because they were the smaller denomination at the time, Universalists feared their traditions and philosophy would be pushed out by the (somewhat) more powerful Unitarians.  To me, UUism today seems to have retained more Universalist than Unitarian religious values.  My point is not to contrast them but it is to encourage North Shore Unitarians to take pride in Universalism and to be able to say what it means to us in the 21st century. 
The concept of Universalism has evolved quite a bit since the early 19th century Universalist doctrine of the salvation of all souls participants in the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago gained “a fresh perspective on their place in the global religious community and a larger vision of what their faith might yet become.”  In 1895, James M. Pullman, brother of Chicago’s railway Pullman, said, “Universalists have squatted on the biggest word in the English language…either improve the property or move off the premises.”  Pullman wanted an ecumenical Universalism as called for in the Universalist Church of America’s charter which stated its fourth purpose thusly: “To promote harmony among adherents of all religious faiths, whether Christian or otherwise.” 
Clarence Skinner led the movement of Universalism toward a conception of universal social democracy or brotherhood as a way to transform society and aimed at securing the universal harmony of all individuals on earth.   Kenneth L. Patton said the name Universalism must expand to include universal brotherhood, freedom, peace, welfare, health, security, science and understanding.
At the 1943 General Assembly Robert Cummins, General Superintendent of the Universalist Church of America said: “Universalism cannot be limited either to Protestantism or to Christianity, not without denying its very name.  Ours is a world fellowship, not just a Christian sect.  For so long as Universalism is universalism and not partialism, the fellowship bearing its name must succeed in making it unmistakably clear that all are welcome: theist and humanist, Unitarian and Trinitarian, colored and colorless.  A circumscribed Universalism is unthinkable.”
In recent years there have been efforts to make UUism more welcoming to people from an increasingly multi-cultural American society.  This as consistent with Universalism’s call for us to work toward a more egalitarian faith and toward the ideal of creating harmony in all of creation.
We are the inheritors of a historical Universalism rich in meaning and promise.  I encourage us to own it, to pursue its goals, and to proudly include it when telling others about the church to which we belong.”

Sermon            Beyond Christian Universalism: A LargerHope            Rev. Bruce Russell-Jayne
OK, to explain the title of our reading this morning, the real name of the church where I served as Intern Minister is North Shore Unitarian Church, and the members there routinely called themselves simply Unitarians.  I titled my column North Shore Universalist Church as a tongue in cheek jibe in hopes it would help them remember to include Universalist when naming their religious affiliation.  There’s more to it than just the naming; I think it is very important for Unitarian Universalists to understand Universalism.   It is a foundational strand of our liberal religious movement and informs several principal components of modern UU theology.  For example, every one of our Principles contains Universalist ideas.  I don’t want to downplay Unitarian concepts, but I believe Unitarian Universalism today in many ways is much more Universalist than it is Unitarian.  So, today, I will tell you why I love Universalism.

I was first able to relate to Universalism through its historical denunciation of Calvinistic Christian doctrines which I had always found problematic.  The Southern Baptist church in which I grew up taught that I was sinful by nature, that God couldn’t accept me in my sinful state, that in fact God was angry at me for sinning, and that God allowed his only son, a totally sinless human being, to be tortured and killed by evil people as a sacrifice to make up for my sins and that I had to accept every bit of this story in order to be reconciled to God.  And Oh, by the way, if I didn’t, I would go to hell.  Quite a heavy load, don’t you think?  For years I struggled with these ideas, not really believing them, but not sure what would happen if I admitted that, and looked for an alternative plan.  I understand this line of thinking has caused some of you a few problems, too.

Had I known about Universalist Christianity in my earlier years I would probably never have gone looking elsewhere.  As it was defined by Hosea Ballou in his Treatise on Atonement in 1805, Universalist Christianity gave people a more hopeful, loving and in many cases happier outlook on life.  Ballou wrote: “The belief that the great Jehovah was offended by his creatures to [the] degree that nothing but the death of Christ, or the endless misery of mankind, could appease his anger, is an idea that has done more injury to the Christian religion than the writings of all its opposers for many centuries.  The error has been fatal to the life and spirit of the religion of Christ in our world...”  According to Ballou, Jesus’s purpose in the world was to teach the power of love through which men and women can turn away from sin and be reconciled to God.  He said, “The literal death of the man, Christ Jesus, is figurative...”  that is metaphorical or symbolic. “The death of the body of Jesus represented the death and destruction of the letter [of the Hebrew law,]” which was to be replaced by the spirit of love.  At that time, espousing God’s love for all people was a radical departure from Christian orthodoxy.  Universalists, feeling they were loved by a benevolent God rather than threatened by an angry one, were at once relieved and motivated to help others find similar happiness.

In his Treatise on Atonement, Ballou openly ridiculed the doctrine of the Trinity and embraced the position that Christ was not part of the Godhead.  Thus Universalists were Unitarian in their theology, but they held little interest in the subject compared to their message of love.  Their primary tenet was that it was due to God’s love for all people that they didn’t have to do anything to atone for their sins, to be “at-one” with God.  Therefore, salvation was a gift from God by his grace because he loved people.  This is the part most UUs tell about - that everyone was saved and there was no need for the threat of Hell.  What’s more, Ballou said, “this love, which is the spirit of the life of Jesus Christ” is not confined “particularly to names, sects, denominations, people or kingdoms.”  God’s love was universal and given freely to all people regardless of religious beliefs; you didn’t have to be Christian at all.   And Universalists came to believe the fate of each personwas tied to the fate of all human beings.

The distinctive Universalist doctrine, that all people, grateful for the love of God, could overcome sin and be reconciled to God, became very popular in the 19th century, and the Universalist Church was one of the largest American denominations for a time.  “For Universalists, moral behavior could not be based on fear or guilt.  ‘We are part of a divine plan,’ they taught.  ‘The nature of that plan is love.  Our response to that [love] is to express love in our own lives.” Universalist theology created in its adherents a desire to help all people experience such love and through it a happier life.  It created an impulse for ethical action, especially to help  poor and oppressed people, and spawned several of the centuries leading reformers.  Hosea Ballou wrote: “There is one inevitable criterion of judgement touching religious faith in doctrinal matters: Can you reduce it to practice?  If not, have none of it.”  Their example lives today in our Standing on the Side of Love campaign.

Rev. Dick Gilbert writes, “The distinctive Universalist doctrine of the 19th century, Universal Salvation, (the final harmony of all souls with God), for many...is a charmingly irrelevant bit of 19th century nostalgia, a theology for the good old days.”  My purpose this morning in recounting how theologically advanced for their time early Universalists were is not to suggest we revert to a Universalist Christian theology, but to remind us how their insights can still energize us today.  Through the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, Universalist theology evolved and changed.  As the once popular theistic universalism lost much of its appeal a demanding ethical universalism took its place.  Love, whether from God or from other members of our human community, is still a powerful motivating force for good.  “The Universalist impulse--to save humanity--to include all people in the human family--is alive and well,” but I suggest we need to re-articulate the message of universalism in 21st century language.

Now some UUs, maybe most of us at some point in our spiritual development, have questioned the need to think about those old theological terms like salvation any more.  We can say “Thanx Universalists - for getting us over the need to worry about hell; but the idea of salvation is of little or no consequence any more.  Even though some of our neighbors still seem to be hung up on the idea of salvation from sin, why don’t we UUs just let the old dogs lie?”  My response to that is two-fold.  First, if you are not interested in talking about old theological doctrines, great, don’t wake up the dog.  For the second half of my answer I’ll quote Forrest Church: “Freedom of religion too easily translates into the emptiness of freedom from religion...While freedom is the watchword of our faith, we [must] take that freedom seriously.  For one thing, we choose to be free together [we come together to create Beloved Community], rather than remaining free alone.  For another, free to dismiss the answers others have given to life’s essential questions, we are not free to dismiss these questions themselves.”

Included in the old concept of universal salvation were responses to several of life’s ultimate questions; “What will happen to us after we die?” was only one of them.  It also had implications for these questions: “What can I hope for - now and in the future?”  “What ought I to do with my life?”  “What am I capable of?”  “Does everyone matter?  In what sense?”  “How can I be in relationship with others?”  “Who cares about me?”  “Does it make any difference that I live?”  Finding help with answers to questions like these is still a vital religious task.  Our Universalist heritage tells us the most basic religious virtue is to provide a hospitable community of acceptance in which all people, especially those who feel unacceptable, can come and find help with life’s thorny questions.

Universalism has always had a positive opinion about human nature and has been particularly optimistic about people’s capacity and propensity to do good.  Initially, at a time when Christian theism was taken for granted by the culture, Universalists confidence in the good will of people was predicated upon their gratitude for the benevolent love of God and the message of universal respect for all classes of people taught by Jesus.  Slowly, Universalism moved outward from Christian theism, first embracing other theistic world religions, and later on coming to a place where a belief in God was no longer simply assumed to be the source of goodness until today where we recognize many sources of spiritual strength.

We will not cover all of the nuances of the devolution of American Universalism, but there is one we should look at briefly because it continues to be of profound interest to Universalists today.  The issue is the problem of liberal over-optimism about human nature and the progress of society.  At one point, Universalists assumed everyone would eventually become enlightened to their way of thinking and soon thereafter a utopian society would emerge.  Then the genocides and wars of the 20th century forced not only Universalists, but liberal religions of all stripes to incorporate into their theologies a more realistic treatment of the human capacity for evil.  Universalists had to admit that people have the capacity to do great evil as well as good and could be influenced by heredity, their society, brain chemistry, and any number of things in addition to their religious beliefs.  We could no longer predict human society would inevitably move onward and upward forever.  Today, we liberal religionists still have an optimistic view of human nature as a whole, but it is tempered with the knowledge that people individually and as a societies must do what we can to deal effectively with the potential for evil and to nurture and encourage people to live up to their potential for doing good.

The following liberal religious concepts of human nature and Universalism that have evolved within our movement for over 200 years, have been merged into our 7 Principles:

1. a theology founded on the affirmation of love;
2. a thoroughly democratic church government;
3. a social conscience motivated by the belief in the supreme worth of every human person;
4. a conviction that liberal religion can and should speak to all sorts and conditions of people;
5. an insistence on the equality of women and men in both church and society;
6. a recognition that liberal religion requires emotional warmth as well as intellectual vigor, and finally;
7. the great vision of inclusiveness implied by the Universalist name.”

This last one is still our biggest challenge.  There has been much progress with the inclusiveness of women and gays and lesbians, but there is much more to be done with them, people of color, immigrants and others.  UU churches are mostly white and middle class at a time when our society is rapidly changing to a more multicultural mix of people.

Now - here are modern Universalism’s answers to a few of life’s persistent questions:

1. “Does it make any difference that I live?” We say absolutely yes.  Each individual’s contributions to the world are important and valued.
2. “Does everyone matter?  In what sense?” Yes, everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and be accorded the same set of human rights - which almost every country in the world has agreed should be Universal.  By demanding that no one be left out, we ensure everyone’s security and potential for a good life.
3. “What am I capable of?” We know people can do both good and evil and that we can choose to do good in most circumstances.  We witness people helping each other more often than not.  We continue to be amazed at the human capacity to hope for a better future even in the direst of times.  We think every human being has the potential to come up with wonderful new ideas and solutions.
4. “What can I hope for - now and in the future?”  We see anecdotal evidence in our homes, churches and societies of people making progress - not only technologically but also in our ability to live together in ever more complex social groups.  We believe in the possibility of our creating a better future for children and our world.
5. “What ought I to do with my life?”  Universalism has always encouraged individuals to find their own source of inspiration and to develop themselves to their greatest potential.  It has also urged people to combine their talents with others to create loving and nurturing communities.
6. “How can I be in relationship with others?”  Good relationships begin with respect and good will toward others.  Everyone has something to offer.  Assume you will grow through relationships in ways you didn’t expect and risk going deep.
7. “Who cares about me?”  We all need other people for our survival, growth and happiness.  If you allow other people in, they will care about you. 
8. “What will happen to us after we die?”  Of course, your body will not survive, but we have several different theories about your mind.  We know you will survive in the lives and memories of those you have touched.  You will create lasting change during your lifetime.  We encourage you to make changes that will benefit the generations of people who will follow you.

I hope that my effort to pull some of the threads of Universalism out of the tapestry that is modern Unitarian Universalism has helped us to appreciate the richness it adds to our faith.  I encourage us to both honor our Universalist heritage and to take Universalism forward through the mission of our church by continuing to affirm the strength of love, to bring about a community of radically inclusive hospitality, and motivated by a strong social conscience to use our power for good.
Might this be so.