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Recent Scholarship in American Universalism: A Bibliographical Essay

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Alan Seaburg
Alan Seaburg
Affiliation:
Mr. Seaburg is curator of manuscipts in the Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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Extract

Church historians have generally tended to ignore American Universalism. This was not because Universalists were unmindful of their past. Several works were produced in the nineteenth century trying to prove through Scripture and history the fact that the idea of universal salvation was always a part of the mesage of Christianity from the days of the apostles through the Reformation down to the modern era. It was an important argument in their voluminous debates and an essential ingredient of their theology. They were rather proud of this heritage. It cannot be said, therefore, that Universalism failed to produce its own historians. The problem for scholars of all disciplines has been that until recently there were no reliable sources available which dealt with American Universalism. Yet Universalism needs to be understood, for it helped to humanize the church through its teachings that God was a God of love and that he cared to save each and everyone of his children.

Type
Research Article
Information
Church History , Volume 41 , Issue 4 , December 1972 , pp. 513 - 523
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 1972

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References

1. The chapter on Winchester in Irwin owes much to McGhee 's article on the same gentleman, and while she quite properly cites her obligation, Irwin sometimes forgets to use quotation marks.

2. The last Universalist church in England, in South London, was destroyed during World War II by flying bombs. The movement struggled along for some years after this tragic event, but its minister, Arthur Peacock, who was also in Unitarian fellowship, is now dead. See his book, Yours Fraternally (London: Pendulum Publications, 1945.)Google Scholar

3. Hereafter this journal will be cited as JUHS.

4. Skinner, Clarence R. and Cole, Alfred S., Hell's Ramparts Fell (Boston: Universalist Publishing House, 1941)Google Scholar, and Carpenter, Perrin Elton, “John Murray and the Rise of American Liberal Thought,” unpublished MA thesis, Columbia University, 1937.Google Scholar

5. Also published during this period: Clinton Lee Scott, These Live Tomorrow: Twenty Unitarian Universalist Biographies (Boston: Beacon, 1964)Google Scholar and Cheetham, Henry H., Unitarianism and Universalism: An Illustrated History (BostonBeacon, 1962.)Google Scholar Both are textbooks for the religious education department of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

6. The author has not attempted to mention all the publications in this field, particularly all the articles included in the Journal of the Universalist Historical Society. He will be happy to receive addenda and information on works undertaken in the future by scholars which relate to this topic.