Christian universalism was a theology widespread in the early United States coinciding with the founding of the Latter Day Saint movement (also known as Mormonism) in 1830. Universalists believed that God would save all of humanity. Universalism peaked in popularity during the 1820s and 1830s, and the idea of universal salvation for all humanity was hotly debated. Several revelations of the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, Joseph Smith, dealt with issues regarding Universalism, and it was a prominent heresy in the Book of Mormon. Smith's father was a Universalist, while his mother was a traditional Calvinist, creating strain in the Smith family home.
The Book of Mormon is generally seen as containing anti-Universalist rhetoric of the 1820s, supporting the idea that Hell is real and a place where the wicked will suffer for eternity. The extent that the debates over Universalism from the 1820s influenced the Book of Mormon is controversial for Latter Day Saints, as many believe the book to be of ancient origin. Later revelations were seen by early members and outsiders as supporting a more universalist approach, where the wicked are still redeemed in heaven. This view on salvation led many to leave the early church.
Background Universalism in the Early United States
The distinguishing doctrine of Universalism was that God would save all of humanity regardless of their righteousness or wickedness. To a Universalist, eternal damnation was an excessive and unjust punishment that far outweighed any sin a person could commit, and antithetical to a merciful God.Vincent, Ken R. (January/February 2006). "Where Have All the Universalists Gone?". The Universalist Herald. Prominent Universalist advocate Hosea Ballou summarized the motivation for the doctrine with the rhetorical question:
Your child has fallen into the mire, and its body and its garments are defiled. You cleanse it, and array it in clean robes. The query is, Do you love your child because you have washed it? Or, Did you wash it because you loved it?
Universalists were divided on the extent of the punishment of the sinner:Restorationist Universalists Believed sinners would be temporarily punished after death before eventually being saved. Ultra-Universalists or Modern Universalists Believed that all would be saved with no punishment, did not believe in divinity of Jesus or the need for an atonement.Universalism was brought to the North American colonies in the early 18th century by the English-born physician George de Benneville and popularized by John Murray, Elhanan Winchester, and Hosea Ballou. It reached its apex of popularity in 1833, becoming the fourth or fifth largest denomination in the United States.Ann Lee Bressler, The Universalist Movement in America, 1770–1880 (New York: Oxford, 2001), 54. Debates over Universalism were ubiquitous in the American theological landscape. It was seen as a threat by the orthodox, Calvinist Congregationalists of New England such as Jonathan Edwards, who wrote prolifically against universalist teachings and preachers.Seymour, Charles. A Theodicy of Hell. Pp. 30–31. Springer (2000). . While the mainline Protestant movements (e.g. Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Methodists, Baptists, and Episcopalians) frequently disagreed among themselves, they were united in rejecting Universalism as heresy, and are generally referred to today as the orthodox viewpoint, or anti-Universalists.
Universalism and early Latter Day Saints In 1823, there were around 90 Universalist congregations in the greater Finger Lakes area where Mormonism was founded. In 1818, speaking of a town 15 miles south of the Joseph Smith family home, minister David Millard said, "Universalism was a predominant opinion in the place." Universalism was also a prominent theology in the Joseph Smith's home growing up. His father, Joseph Smith Sr., along with his Uncle Jesse and Grandfather Aesel founded a Universalist Society in Topsfield, Massachusetts, in 1797. Topsfield was just 15 miles north of the residence of influential Universalist John Murray.Richard Lloyd Anderson, Joseph Smith's New England Heritage, rev. ed. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2003), 136
Joseph Smith Sr. continued his belief in Universalism into adulthood, for which he was criticized by some of his neighbors. Joseph Smith Sr.'s belief in Universalism contributed to his and some of his children's disdain for revival churches in the 1820s.Brooke, J. L. (1996). The refiner's fire: The making of Mormon cosmology, 1644-1844. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. e-book location 1149, 1320, 2858 of 6221 In 1823, when Smith's older brother Alvin died, the reverend who preached at the funeral implied that Alvin had gone to Hell since he had never been baptized, which angered Smith's father. Joseph Smith's mother, Lucy Mack Smith, was an orthodox Presbyterian, and this differing belief system created tension in the Smith family home. Some of their children followed after their mother and were baptized into Presbyterianism, while others followed their father and did not become baptized, including Joseph Smith Jr. Joseph Smith's grandfather, Asael Smith, remained unmoved in his Universalist convictions upon hearing of Mormonism, but according to family tradition, he did eventually renounce Universalism on his deathbed in November 1830.Bushman, R. L. (1988). Joseph Smith and the beginnings of Mormonism. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. page 28-29, 198 Joseph Smith Sr. also changed his mind about the necessity of baptism, and was baptized on April 6, 1830, upon which Joseph Smith Jr. became overwhelmed, declaring, "Oh! My God I have lived to see my own father baptized into the true church of Jesus Christ!"
Lucy's father Solomon Mack converted from Universalism to orthodox Christianity in the early 1800s and back to Universalism in 1818. One of the scribes of the Book of Mormon, Martin Harris, was also a Universalist at one point before joining the Latter Day Saint movement. Joseph Knight Sr. and members of his family had also been Universalist.Dan Vogel, ed., Early Mormon Documents, 3:29–30, 4:21, 110. (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1996)
Despite these notable exceptions, however, early Latter Day Saints in the 1830s were generally not sympathetic to Universalists.Underwood, Grant. "'Saved or Damned': Tracing a Persistent Protestantism in Early Mormon Thought." Brigham Young University Studies, vol. 25, no. 3, 1985, pp. 85–103. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43041063. Accessed 12 Apr. 2024.
Universalism and the Book of Mormon A central theme of the Book of Mormon is man's salvation; it rejects the doctrine of universal salvation as heretical.Richard Lyman Bushman, Joseph Smith:Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Knopf, 2005), 87-88Mark Thomas, "Revival Language in the Book of Mormon," Sunstone 8 (May–June 1983): 20. The discussions surrounding Universalism in the Book of Mormon are similar to those in early-nineteenth-century United States.Hardy, G. (2010). Understanding the Book of Mormon: A reader's guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press. e-book location 6811 of 8410 Early converts may have felt their anti-Universalist views confirmed by the Book of Mormon.
The anti-Universalism of the Book of Mormon was recognized by its early readers, both adherents and critics. Prominent opponent Alexander Campbell wrote, "This prophet Smith ... wrote ... in his book of Mormon, every error and almost every truth discussed in N. York for the last ten years. He decides all the great controversies" and included "eternal punishment" as one of those controversies. Early Latter Day Saint Sylvester Smith wrote in 1833 that "the Universalist says it [the Book of Mormon] reproaches his creed."Evening and Morning Star 2 [July 1833]: 108Ford, C. D. (2005). Lehi on the Great Issues: Book of Mormon Theology in Early Nineteenth-Century Perspective. Dialogue Journal, 38(4), 75–96. Another early convert, Eli Gilbert, of Connecticut said that the Book of Mormon shortly after publication, that it "bore hard upon my favorite notions of universal salvation"Messenger and Advocate 1 [Oct. 1834]: 9Vogel, Dan. Religious Seekers and the Advent of Mormonism. Signature Books. 1988. Salt Lake City Utah
Amongst anti-Universalists, there was general agreement that there was a binary doctrine of heaven and hell, but opinions differed on who would ultimately be saved. Calvinism, for example, believed that an omniscient God already had decided who would be saved, and man's actions on earth would do little to change things. The Book of Mormon generally aligned with Methodists of the time, who divided mankind into five groups: