Hosea
Ballou – Finding His Own Way
A first person
sermon by Lloyd H. Dunham
My
name is Hosea Ballou –
of
I
am pastor,
or at least I was pastor
of the
This
was a long way from my beginnings.
I
was born in 1771
and brought up in
not far from the majestic
My
preacher dad moved the family to
from
four years before I was born.
Many
of our cousins had already moved there.
There
were eight children when the family moved.
I
became number eleven.
My
mother,
died when I was two years old –
so dad had his hands full from there on.
While
I was never a great poet,
I
did enjoy writing poetry.
My
were very important to me
and inspired me to write:
There are no hills in Hampshire New,
Nor valleys half so fair,
As those outspread before our
view,
In merry
I first my mortal race began,
And spent my youthful
days;
Where first I saw the golden sun,
And felt his “livening
rays…..”[1]
I
was a little hesitant to come here today,
remembering that one of your people
has spent some time studying me and my family
and has probably told you all about me.
But
then I decided I should tell my story myself.
After
all,
a lot of what you’ve heard
probably came from one with the same name
but much younger.
Was
it my son Hosea II
or my grand-nephew?
Who
knows?
Anyway,
this is my story!
Dad’s
name was Maturin Ballou.
He
had been a preacher for fifteen years
in various Baptist Churches in
He
was a rather strict Calvinist.
He loved us
but felt it his responsibility to teach us
that God willed endless punishment for most people.
My
dad decided to start a new life near relatives in
He
became a farmer during the long weekdays
and a preacher on Sundays.
His
Calvinism was as harsh as the farm life was hard.
When
I was seventeen
I
was convinced that I needed to be baptized
to protect my soul from the devil.
There
was no baptistry in our church
so all baptisms were done in a nearby river.
It
was a really cold January Sunday in 1789
when a group of us young people were to be immersed.
They
had to cut a hole in the ice
and keep stirring the water to prevent it from freezing!
The
Rev. Isaac Kinney,
our local Baptist minister,
stood in the icy waters
and immersed each of us completely under water
as he spoke the baptismal words.
Now that is an experience
you never forget!
I’m
still shivering at the thought.
We
had no schools in
We had no books at home
except for the Bible and an old dictionary.
In
spite of that I learned to read and write
and even how to do some simple arithmetic.
We all joined
our dad in long hours of hard work
to clear the land and grow crops
to feed our family through the long winter.
There
had been a bitter quarrel in our
where my father was pastor.
Many
withdrew and established their own church.
Years
later,
when the reason for the split was forgotten,
my dad and the pastor at the other church
brought the two churches back together.
In
doing so, both resigned
and the combined church called the Rev. Mr. Kinney
who baptized me on that cold January day.
Even
though I was baptized
I
had a lot of questions.
I
knew what the answers would be
if I asked my father –
and those answers didn’t satisfy me any longer.
I
turned even more to the Bible –
and there I found some different teachings,
teachings which seemed to contradict what my father had
taught us.
Then
I heard about a minister over in
His
name was Rev. Caleb Rich.
He
preached about something he called Universalism.
A
family of our relatives joined that
I
was told that Universalist teachings were wrong.
I
studied hard to find arguments to refute Universalism,
but more and more I had to admit
that their teaching made sense.
Soon
after that
one of my brothers and I spent the summer working on a farm
in
All
the time I was there
my mind was busy working at questions about my faith
often recalling the Universalists teachings.
Could it be that my father
had missed some important parts of the Bible?
If
I would be happy to have everyone saved,
could God be any less kindly toward all people?
I
struggled with these questions
with no guide except for my Bible.
When
I returned home in the fall
I
was quite settled in the belief
that God would have mercy on all people.
I
still had lots of questions to work on
but this was my basic position.
How
exciting it was to return home
and find
that my older brother David had joined the Universalists!
Dad
was not happy with the faith that David and I espoused.
He
saw me reading one day
and demanded to know what book I was reading.
I
said,
“A Universalist Book”.
He
ordered that book out of his house.
Dad
watched as I took the book out back of the barn
and put it under a wood pile.
He
returned later
and found that my “Universalist” book
was the Bible!
That
winter I lived with David’s family,
saved my money
and then spent a whole term at
At
age nineteen
I
got the only brief formal education of my entire life.
Later
David took me to the New England Convention of Universalists
where I heard many great sermons
including one by John Murray.
While
we were there
I
felt a call to become a Universalist preacher.
While
teaching school all week
I
accepted every opportunity to preach on weekends
and to respond to questions about my faith –
which I tried to do clearly and honestly.
People
seemed to like it.
In
1794,
when I was twenty-three,
I
was ordained a Universalist minister
by the
Remember
Caleb Rich,
the Universalist minister at
Well,
he was concerned about my non-existent love life.
He
was a little pushy about it
but I was forever glad
that he introduced me to the love of my life,
the lovely Ruth Washburn.
After
we married
we moved to
where I served a circuit of six churches.
I
was paid a total of five dollars a week.
That
helped us buy a horse and buggy.
Together we
had nine children!
I
wish you could visit our first home and church.
Unfortunately
now it is at the bottom of a new reservoir
for the city of
All
that remains is one of my churches
that was moved to
and our bell
which still rings in the Second Congregational Church In
Greenfield.
We
were in Dana for six years.
Somehow
even in this rural location
strong Universalist preaching was controversial.
I
was as forthright as I could be.
There
were some strong Calvinists around
who objected to my preaching
but it brought many invitations to preach all over the
northeast.
John
Murray, the father of Universalism in
invited me take his place in
while he was away.
About
that time I was leaning toward a Unitarian view of Jesus –
which
In 1795 I actually
preached my first unitarian sermon,
A
full ten years before the start of the unitarian
movement.[2]
Nevertheless
John Murray trusted me to preach for him.
My
time in
with an ever increasing positive response.
Mrs.
Murray was upset with me
and at the end of my last sermon
had someone announce,
“Take
notice that the doctrine preached here this afternoon
is not the doctrine usually preached in this house.”
That
evening church officials came to my house
to apologize for the discourteous comment.
After
our brief time in
we moved to
where I relished the free-thinking style of Vermonters.
I
understand they still are free thinkers up there.
While I was there I wrote my book “A
Treatise on Atonement”.
I
attempted to bring together the points of liberal Christian theology
opposing Calvinist doctrine.
I
rejected the terrible notion
that Jesus died to pacify an angry God.
After
six years in
we moved to the
Again
we stayed for a very good six years
after which we moved to
for a brief two years.
During
these eight years
the more progressive Universalists in
were restless with John Murray
so they separated and built a new church.
At
this time
there was no strong voice for liberal religion in
Even
William Ellery Channing,
who had been pastor at the
had not yet publicly declared his Unitarian belief.
It
was on New Years Day 1818
when I was forty-six years old
that I accepted the call to
The
new church seated about a thousand people
but we usually had to hold three services each Sunday
to accommodate everyone.
I
made every effort to be a caring pastor
but my primary preaching focus was educational
as I worked to correct ancient theological errors.
The
Bible was always my authority.
I
believed it contained revelations from God.
I
always stood in awe of Jesus
who I believed had some supernatural powers.
I
became the first editor of The Universalist Magazine
in which the internal Universalist controversy was freely
aired –
presenting my views of faith
and those of my colleagues
as well as the views of those who disagreed with us.
As
this dialogue continued
I
refused to yield from the position
that there was no punishment after death.
I
was really an old man by existing standards
when I moved to
at age forty-six.
Since
life expectancy was much shorter then,
I
am amazed and grateful that I had the privilege of writing and preaching
for thirty-five more years.
I
lived to be eighty-one.
During
that time,
on
I
was honored to bring the charge to my son Hosea II
at his ordination to ministry.[3]
That was a proud moment for his
mother and me.
I
remained active in ministry all the way,
until on
with most of my family at my bedside in
I
had to bid farewell to this life.
I
had done my best to provide for Ruth
but as it turned out
she didn’t need
that
because she came to join me soon after.[4]
I
am humbled
that people called me “Father Ballou”.
My
place as a strong spokesman for Universalism
could not replace John Murray
as the one who brought Universalism to these shores.
I
had to think for myself –
without the advantage of formal schooling.
I
hate to think where my life would have led me
if I had not questioned the faith
that my beloved father preached.
It
is not easy to study
and find your own spiritual way.
I
guess that is why your churches are small today.
Too
many people like to be told what to believe.
Don’t
go that way!
Study!
Think!
Question!
Share
your faith journey,
and listen as others do the same!
You will all be better
for it.
If
anyone asks you why,
just tell them that Hosea Ballou pointed you this way!
Primary
Reference:
Hosea Ballou: The Challenge to Orthodoxy, a biography
by Ernest Cassara, Cornerstone Press, Cambridge 2003
These Live
Tomorrow: Twenty Unitarian Universalists Lives, by