Forest Man

(Introduction by Lars Larsen: In this book from 1849, Universalist minister Erasmus Manford (1815-1884) defends universalism with the Holy Scriptures and with reason. Here is the whole book on Internet Archive, and here is a version of it on Tentmaker.org. This will be a series of about ten blogposts. Here is the fourth part:)

46. This universal confession is to be voluntary and filial and not a slavish or forced confession; for the same Apostle says that “no man can say that Christ is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” I Cor. 12:3.

47. Would the endless sinning and suffering of millions, for whom Jesus was exalted, glorify God? Strange as it may seem, it is sometimes asserted that the groans and screams of the damned in hell will promote the GLORY OF GOD! What a thought! Alexander obtained what this world calls glory by spending years in roaming through the world at the head of a band of pirates, turning fruitful fields into barren wastes, demolishing cities, and murdering all who would not bow the knee to him; Hannibal, the Carthagenian General, obtained what this world calls glory, by spending years in distressing and murdering the Roman people; Julius Caesar obtained what this world terms glory by driving the plowshare of destruction through all the nations he could reach, that would not yield to the Roman bondage, and finally by drawing his bloody sword on his own country; Napoleon Bonaparte obtained what this world terms glory by keeping Europe in a blaze for one fourth of a century, by the fire of his terrible artillery, by causing rivers of tears and oceans of blood to flow, and by filling half of the civilized world with mourning and lamentation. And will Almighty God promote his glory by infinitely worse means? By enslaving and crushing and tormenting half of mankind, his own offspring, those for whom Christ died, and was exalted? Impossible, for he is a God that delighteth in mercy, not in wrath; and moreover the Psalmist says, “Whoso offereth PRAISE GLORIFIETH GOD!” Ps. 50:23.

48. It is also said that “all nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify thy name.” Ps. 86:9. All men, then, are to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and worship their Creator in such a manner as to glorify the name of God. How false is the doctrine of endless rebellion!

49. All the dead are to be raised in Christ. “As in Adam all die even so, in Christ, shall all be made alive.” I Cor. 15:22. This is a very important passage. It teaches universal death and universal life. All die, and all shall live again. All the dead, all who die in Adam, shall be raised in Christ; none shall be raised out of him, but all in him. Let this be remembered.

50. All who are in Christ are recipients of salvation, for saith the same writer, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, and behold all things are become new.” II Cor. 5:17. This is the blessed state of all who are, or ever will be, in Christ. They are in possession of the salvation of heaven. Do not forget the promise is, that all who die in Adam shall be thus blessed.

51. They are also free from condemnation. “There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” Rom. 8:1. Can proof be more conclusive? All the dead shall be raised in Christ, new creatures, free from condemnation.

52. All the dead are to be raised, bearing the image of the heavenly. “So also is the resurrection of the dead (of all who die in Adam). It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. . . . And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bare the image of the heavenly.” I Cor. 15:42-44, 49. Let it not be forgotten that the Apostle is here speaking of a universal resurrection of all who die in Adam. Of this there can be no doubt. That act is prominent through the whole of this highly important chapter. A blessed immortality then for all mankind is established beyond all doubt, all cavel.

53. The writer, in the same chapter, repeats the same soul-inspiring truth. “The dead (all who die in Adam) shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruption must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." I Cor. 15: 52, 53.

54. The Apostle again teaches that the change from earthly to heavenly is to be universal. “Behold I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” I Cor. 15: 51, 52. Dr. Clarke understands this to refer to all mankind. He says, the “resurrection of all the dead, from the foundation of the world to that time, and the change of all the living then upon the earth, shall be the work of a single moment.” The change, then, is to be universal – the living and the dead are to be changed. But notwithstanding this plain testimony, it is supposed by some there is to be no change after death; that during the countless ages of eternity, all will retain the same characters they possessed when they breathed their last breath and heaved their last sigh in this world – a doctrine at variance with reason, benevolence and the word of God. If it is true, but few will participate in the joys of heaven, for nearly all of mankind live and die, more or less sinful. But it is not true; all who die in Adam are to be made alive in Christ.

55. “The last enemy, death, shall be destroyed.” I Cor. 15:26. This is an additional evidence that Paul speaks of a universal resurrection, for as Dr. Clarke says, in commenting on this passage: “But death cannot be destroyed by there being no further death; death can only b destroyed and annihilated by a general resurrection; o there be no general resurrection it is mot evident that death will retain his empire. Therefore, the fact that death shall be destroyed, assures the fact that there shall be a general resurrection; and this is a proof, also, that after the resurrection, there shall be no more death.” The Doctor is undoubtedly correct – there will be NO MORE DEATH AFTER THE GENERAL RESURRECTION, for death will be swallowed up in eternal life. Why then, do men threaten their fellow men with “eternal death,” with a “death that never dies,” beyond the resurrection? Paul knew nothing of such a death. Remark also, that temporal death is man’s last enemy. Before we encounter death we have many enemies to grapple with. Sin, temptation and suffering beset us from the cradle to the grave; but death is the last of the series and Almighty God will destroy that one. But this is not the common opinion. It is supposed by some that when death shall be destroyed, a large part of mankind will have innumerable enemies to encounter – that God, Christ and all the angels of heaven, and all the devils in hell will be their enemies. But this is a mistake, for death is the last enemy, and there can surely be no enemy beyond the last.

56. In the resurrection God will be all in all. “And when all things shall be subdued unto him,
then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be ALL IN ALL.” I Cor. 15:28. “God is love” and so in the resurrection state all will be redeemed from the dominion of sin, and be imbued with love divine. What a blessed promise! What a glorious theme for contemplation! Love will triumph over all opposing obstacles and enthrone itself in every heart. Then will the purpose of God relative to man’s destiny, be consummated; then will Jesus have performed his Father’s will.

57. All will become equal to the angels. Said Jesus to the Sadduces, “Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.” Matt. 22: 29-30. Luke records his words thus: “The children of this world marry and are given in marriage; but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; neither can they die any more; for they are equal unto the angels, and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.” Luke 20: 34-36. That Jesus teaches the resurrection of all the dead, is evident from two considerations. First, the Sadduces questioned him about the resurrection of THE DEAD, not of any particular class, but of the dead in general, and our Lord in answering them, also speaks of THE DEAD in general. Second, he says all who “shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world – the future world – and the resurrection from the dead,” etc. I ask, does not Christ uniformly teach that all mankind will be raised from the dead, and exist in the future state? Well, then, as all will be raised, all will live hereafter. Jesus speaks of a universal resurrection. This conclusion cannot be avoided, although we may not know why he used what to us appears to be a qualifying term.

The character of mankind in the future sate is clearly revealed. They shall be “like the angels in heaven, equal to the angels of God; shall die no more; shall be the children of God.” Oh, what exaltation for worms of the dust to attain!

58. In the same answer to the Sadducees there is another argument for a universal resurrection to eternal blessedness. Says Jesus: “For he is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for all live unto him.” What does all relate to in this passage? Evidently to the dead. All the dead, then, live unto God. None live unto sin or the devil, but all the dead live unto God.

59. Our Redeemer likewise says: “I am the resurrection and the life. John 11:25. If Christ will raise any to endure eternal misery, he would have said that he was the damnation as well as the life.

60. “Christ hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.” II Tim. 1:10. Observe, Christ did not bring eternal death and an endless hell to light. He revealed life and immortality only for our race beyond the grave. This is a very important declaration, and in no part of the Bible is it contradicted. Remember, temporal death is the last enemy man will ever encounter, and that is to be destroyed by the Lord Omnipotent. Amen.