Memoir of Rev. Joseph Badger / Fourth Edition

by E. G. Holland

"Let us further reason on this subject. Can a part of God be ignorant of another part of himself? Yet are we not ignorant of what passes in the breast of our neighbor? Does not one drop of a fountain possess all the qualities of the fountain from which it was taken? But who will say that mortal man has all the qualities and qualifications of his Maker, God? If the soul is a part of God, where lies the propriety of those Scriptures wherein he threatens to punish the sinner? Would he threaten to banish a part of himself from himself forever, or say to a part of himself, 'Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity?'

"The supporters of this theory, arguing on the old Calvinistic, fatal plan, say that 'God foreordains whatsoever comes to pass;'—a popular and highly esteemed idea, from which I must dissent for the following reasons."

Mr. B. proceeds to urge half a dozen reasons for rejecting these theological premises, alleging, from the authority of scripture revelation, that many things have taken place which the Creator has disapproved of; that the premise assumed puts the decrees of God and his commandments into exactly hostile relations to each other; that it destroys the justice of all punishment whatever, unless it is just to punish human beings for doing the highest will in the universe, and for doing what they could not avoid.

"If all creation," says he, "moves in exact accordance with the divine will, I cannot find anything in the world that is sin. Where all is right, there can be no wrong. Sin then is rendered virtue, falsehood is truth, darkness is light, Satan is man's friend and helper toward the 'new heavens' and the eternal bliss. Is it not strange that God should give laws to machines? For this scheme completely renders men such. He does not announce laws to the trees of the forest. What would we think of the goldsmith who should appoint a day in which morally to judge all his watches according to their works? This doctrine gives as much honor to Satan as it does to Christ, as it makes him as active as he is in the salvation and final happiness of men. It certainly makes him the brother of Christ, for Jesus said, 'He that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven, the same is my brother;'—as universal foreordination causes the devil to do the will of God, it presents him as the brother of Jesus Christ. If the two ideas, that the soul is a part of God, and that God has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass, are true, then Universalism is correct; if they are not true, the system must fall, for these are the main pillars which support the fabric, and in my opinion they are as weak in their nature as were the feet of the king's image in the prophet's vision, which were 'part iron and part clay.'"

Mr. Badger goes on to speak of the universal goodness of God, as a pledge and proof that the divine laws will be executed; he says, that the goodness of a government, the goodness of a governor and his subordinate officers, are the proof that the laws will be duly enforced—that the criminal will find no refuge from deserved punishment.

After quoting from Mosheim on the opinions and reasoning of Origen, the celebrated father of the third century, whom he regards as the original founder of this theory, and after quoting from a late theological writer a statement of the system of Dr. Chauncey, and the Calvinistic theory of Mr. Murray, he asks which of these systems is the true and the reliable one; and after bringing the ideas he opposes to the subject of Christian experience, to the self-denial, inward love and joy produced by the regenerative agency of the Gospel, he pleads its incongeniality with those qualities of the Christian religion which cause repentance and reformation of life.

Occasionally I have heard it stated that Mr. Badger's preaching was very interesting to that class of Christians who take the name of Universalists, that they generally were fond of hearing him, and a very few unguarded persons have said that he was substantially of their doctrine. In regard to the first part of the statement, it must have been true that many of this class were pleased and interested with his preaching, for how could they be otherwise? It is to his credit that they were pleased with him as a man and as a speaker. Being less rigid than many others in their dogmatical restrictions—being less conservative and proscriptive than most other sects, and having investigating and inquiring minds, they would often be pleased to hear so natural and so gifted a man as Mr. Badger. Then his mode of preaching was never founded in terrific appeal—was never noisy or boisterous; the paternity of God, the fulness of the love of Christ to all mankind, the simplicity and reasonableness of religion, were topics that shone with peculiar brightness. Men often judge by contrasts. He who preaches humanely and from the fulness of a brotherly heart, when it is customary to hear the thunders of Sinai rocking the pulpits and churches of the land, and especially if the speaker draws the chief motive from the endearing magnetism of heaven rather than from the repulsions of the horrible pit, there will always be some to claim him as standing upon their platform, as belonging to the theory which has so stoutly and heroically fought the vindictive theology of Calvin. But if the truth is looked for or abided by, it will stand as the most unquestionable certainty that Mr. Badger adopted none of the theories of Universalism, whatever may be their merits or defects. He was one of those naturally balanced men who could see the fragmentary excellence residing in religious theories or in human reforms without becoming a partisan. Probably there is no one theological subject on which there is a larger amount of manuscript among the papers of Mr. B., than may be found on the subject of Universalism, and the whole of it may be appealed to in evidence that as a theory he always regarded it as human and erroneous. Before me lie his early writings, in which he frankly says, "I feel myself bound before my Eternal Judge to bear my testimony against it;" and plots of some controversial sermons, laid out in the form of a massive strength, and preached in the later years of his ministry, are unequivocal testifiers to the same fact. These remarks are not made to cast reflections on any sect, for our philosophy and observation have taught us to revere the great religious movements of the past century, believing that truth has been helped by each and by all of them. They are made that the original, to whom these pages refer, may be seen as he was. I rejoice that so many of those who hold the hope of the world's salvation were drawn to his ministry, and that among his friends throughout the country were those of different schools of thought, of different denominations; and it may be truthfully added, a large number of persons who were not in the habit of rendering their regards to sects by membership, nor to churches by a regular attendance. Many of this latter class, both of the intelligent and the very illiterate, would catch something from his manner and words that drew them about him. Sects are so much dressed in uniform, and are run so exactly in fixed castings, that a man whose influences go out naturally from the centre of an individual manhood is among the rarest productions. At Naples, in the State of New York, a lot of ignorant shingle makers, for example, some of whom drank and none of whom cared a groat for a church, came down at mid-day from the adjoining hills with but two questions in their mouth and heart, which were—"Where is he?" and "Will he preach?" nor were the hundreds of like instances that multiplied in his path anything less than the highest compliments, the surest evidence that a man was there and that his word was a help to all. No real man was ever yet on all sides walled by a sect; where one appears, men generally are made to feel that the bond which unites them to him is not ecclesiastical but human. Man and his brother are there. Here is the closing paragraph of the argumentative letter from which quotations have already been made:—

"For seven long years I have been deprived of the joys of a father's house on account of my obedience to the great commission, 'Go ye into the world and preach the Gospel to every creature;' yet in distant lands I have met many dear friends, and found many dear homes. But I have not lost my regard for my relatives, and the silent groves are witness to my tears that my father's family may all share in the grace of Christ. Oh, what comfort it gives me to learn that some of the family have in their experience known the light, joy, and peace of religion since I saw them. Though we connect with different sects of Christians, though our views may be vastly different, yet if we have real virtue, if we 'fear God and work righteousness,' we shall be accepted of him. It is with the greatest tenderness that I have penned these arguments against your theory, and it is with solemnity that I look forward to a coming judgment where we shall soon meet. Should you still think your system true, remember that we should have something more than a belief in any doctrine,—something more than a profession of religion to qualify us to meet our God in peace. May he crown your hopes with eternal joy. May your grey hairs, when he shall call, come down unto the grave in peace. With your ancestors and children may you praise the Lord God and the Lamb forever. My best regards to my dear mother. Ten thousand blessings crown the evening of her life, and may her sun set without a cloud. My love to my brothers and sisters, who to my heart are still dear. May they live as children of the light. Though hundreds of miles shall separate us—though hills and valleys, lakes and rivers between us lie, we can pray to the same God, cherish the same spirit, walk according to the same rule, and, ere long, meet in the same eternal mansion of repose, where sorrows, pains, and labors shall end, where tears shall be wiped away from all faces."

Among the permanent moral lights of New England at this time, Rev. Noah Worcester, of Brighton, Mass., shone with no ordinary lustre. His thoughts on several moral and theological subjects, embodied in tracts, books, and in periodical form, were known throughout the country. His opinions, though held as unsound by many, were commended to the reader by the candor, piety, learning and admirable character he possessed. Mr. Badger soon saw the value of his mind as a theological writer, instituted some friendly correspondence, and availed himself of a new element of power by throwing into wider circulation some of his argumentative writings; he also gained permission of Mr. Worcester to republish some of his works. His "Appeal to the Candid," and his "Bible News," were distinctly spoken of by Mr. B., as works deserving to be placed in every library, and of being read at every fireside. But the well of Christian life in Mr. Worcester was too full and deep to be exhausted on theological themes. Under date of April 30, 1819, he says to Mr. Badger: