Dialogues with “Christian” Universalists

Universalism can look very appealing. Here is what the Christian Universalist Association (CUA) writes about it:

·       Are you looking for a faith that boldly proclaims God’s unfailing love for all people? A faith that accepts Jesus as Savior and holds him up as someone who shows us the heart of the Creator, as someone everyone can follow with joy and integrity — and yet a faith that does not use fear of eternal hell as a stick to force you into the fold? Are you searching for a faith based on the premise that in the end there will be no one left behind — a faith that through this blessed hope can truly break down barriers and bring people together in a spirit of joy and “good tidings to all”?

This form of universalism is appealing in a number of ways:

1.  It allows you to retain some semblance of your Christian faith
2. It also coincides with today’s secularism that denies any eternal punishment, removes all distinctions among peoples, eliminates any fear of judgment, provides a popular but simplistic faith, and is all-inclusive.

However, not everything that is appealing is true. Here is a slightly edited dialogue (of my own words) that I recently had with universalists at the CUA Facebook group. I hope it illustrates some of the problems with universalism.

Daniel, you can't have "Mercy enduring forever" and eternal torment too. One cancels out the other right? Which would you prefer to win or last forever? Is your god, eternally angry, hateful, judgmental vindictive? Or does your heaven have NO eternal forgiveness, grace of unconditional love?

Even biblically, there is so much we don't know about hell and eternal judgment. Is it a matter of annihilation (and not eternal anger)? If annihilation is the eternal consequence (or one of them), then it isn’t a matter of God being eternally angry, but rather a matter of people refusing to come to the light and be eternally healed. Is it something self-chosen due to our hate of the light (God) John 3:17-20? In this case, how could we call God “vindictive” for allowing the lover of darkness to choose his destiny?

Unless, you can precisely define the nature of hell, we cannot begin to suggest that the existence of hell contradicts the nature of God as presented in the Bible.

Consequently, I do not see contradiction where you see it. I am willing to live with a certain degree of tension and uncertainty about the nature of hell because I am convinced that God will reconcile it all lovingly and justly in the end.

I am also left to wonder where your evidence and confidence about universalism arises, now that you have rejected the biblical revelation. Do you have a more trustworthy revelation?

Daniel, the evidence for the existence of a loving God is everywhere, not just in the Bible. Just google "proof of God," and then start reading. Close your eyes and try to imagine yourself not existing. Unimaginable. Try to imagine a God who by His nature is the very definition of love, and at the same time hateful and vindictive towards those who want to believe in Him, but can't. Unimaginable! We all know in our hearts that God is love, because God has planted those feelings there. Trust your gut. Trust your heart. God will fill in all the details when you are ready to know more. For some, that won't come until after death. But that's OK. Whether we believe it or not, God loves us and is always with us. So, just go out there and live your life to the fullest and follow your heart.

Along with you, I certainly believe that God is love. However, I don't think that this contradicts the fact that God is also righteous (judging), just and holy. Meanwhile, based upon what you regard as imaginable and unimaginable, you impugn the biblical God as “hateful and vindictive towards those who want to believe in Him, but can't.”

What if instead, they refuse to believe (Rom. 1:18-32; 3:10-16) because they hate God and refuse to come to Him and be saved (John 3:19-21). Unless you can prove that humanity is as innocent as the CUAs make us out to be, then you cannot make the case that the biblical God is “hateful.”

It seems that a lot of our differences arise from the way the CUA seems to imagine humanity, God and hell. While your imagination conjures up a relatively innocent humanity, and an unjustified hell and a God who is less that righteous, just and holy, the Bible presents an entirely different portrait.

Daniel, instead of viewing [God’s here-and-now judgments] as vindictive, we view them as remedial and restorative in purpose.

I too would have trouble with the vindictive part. However, to the prophet Ezekiel, God reveals:

•  "Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’" (Ezek. 33:11)

Perhaps then hell is a matter of annihilation for those who refuse to be connected to Life and find restoration or perhaps hell is self-chosen. Since they detest the presence of the Light as they have in this life, perhaps for them, darkness will remain preferable to the Light in the next life.

Oh no! Who refuses to be connected to Life, who detests the presence of the Light? They are the ones whose souls have been warped, wounded, and wasted, deprived of love and compassion, and poisoned from the well of warfare, hatred, and greed. None of us can boast of our goodness, we fall so short of the mark. Our destiny is not in our hands, but in the hands of a forgiving and compassionate creator. We are all, in the words of Kalen's book, DESTINED FOR SALVATION.

What if humanity is far worse than our relative innocence you imagine? What if we have truly become evil to the core, as so many verses suggest:

• As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.”  “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways.” (Rom. 3:10-16)

If this portrait corresponds to the real nature of humanity, wouldn’t you have to revise your assessment of our innocence and God’s “hatefulness” by judging?

Daniel my brother, you can't have both judgment and mercy enduring forever. You cannot hate and love at the same time. One cancels out the other. In Christ, mercy triumphs over Justice. That's in your bible too!

You insist that judgment is incompatible with love and cite “mercy triumphs over judgment” in support. However, you seem to believe that this teaching eliminates any need for judgment. However, when we take a look at this passage in context, we have to reject this possibility:

•  Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:12-13)

Instead, James insisted that judgment is still on the table for those who aren’t merciful. What then is mercy? According to Jesus, mercy is predicated on repentance:

•  Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:2-5)

Daniel, you can find passages of scripture that support annihilationism. Those same passages, however, are subject to more than one interpretation. The word in the Bible that is translated "destroyed" simply means "lost." That which is lost can also be found. That which is dead can be made alive again. That is what the Gospel of Christ is all about. The Bible clearly teaches that in Christ "all shall be made alive." Yes, the wages of sin is death and the destruction of the soul, but the gift of God is life. All we like sheep have gone astray and become "lost." Jesus will not lose any of those sheep permanently. He will seek them out and eventually bring all of them back into the fold.

I certainly agree that the doctrine of eternal judgment is a difficult one. It is for this reason (among others) that I am reluctant to associate it with a God of Hate but rather of justice.

You are right that “in Christ, all shall be made alive.” However, we have no basis to apply this to those outside of Christ. Instead, Scripture offers little hope for those outside:

•  Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,  so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Heb. 9:27-28)

I might not like this exclusivistic message, but I am bound to submit to it, even before my understanding catches up to this revelation.

Daniel, do you really believe that that the Gospel is about justice? It is exactly the opposite. It is the height of arrogance to believe that you are "justly" going to heaven, while the mass of "unjust" humanity is going to spend eternity in Hell.

You are right! Entering heaven is not a matter of justice but of mercy, and mercy can be discriminate.

What kind of justice is it that prepares a "place" of eternal suffering for temporal misdeeds? This even goes way beyond the "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" scale-balancing justice of the Hebrew Bible. We might even be able to live with a scale-balancing justice like the "12-months-in-Gehenna" pictured by the rabbinical scholars of Jesus' day, but a never-ending conscious torment?

Before we can conclude that hell is either unjust, we first have to determine the exact nature of hell. However, we are told that hell will be different for different people. It is also possible that those in hell might eventually be annihilated. It is also possible that hell is self-chosen, and that some would prefer darkness to the presence of God – something they detest.

Therefore, before you can disparage the justice of eternal punishment, you need a better idea of what it will consist.

Daniel, you are completely missing the point. The purpose of God's judgments is rehabilitation and restoration and repentance.

Is it always such? Can you support this contention? Perhaps punishment is a just payment for our sins.

Daniel, unbelief is by definition ignorance of the truth. If one is not ignorant of the truth, then by one would obviously be believing the truth. Jesus refers to our sin as a kind of blindness. On the cross He asked the Father to forgive his tormentors because "they know not what they do."

I think that you will find that Jesus regards such ignorance as culpable:

•  "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.” (John 3:19-20)

Also see the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16) where the problem of unbelief is not about a lack of evidence.

Daniel, yes, we are culpable or held accountable for our sins, regardless of whether they are committed in ignorance or not, because our sinful attitudes and behaviors are harmful to ourselves and others. So God does chastise and correct us. That is not the same as banishment to Hell for all eternity.

If God didn’t rescue them from their willful ignorance and rebellion in this life, why should we expect that He’ll do so in the next? In fact, we are taught to not expect this. Peter argued that if He condemned the rebellious angels to hell, we should expect that he will do the same with us:

• For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness[b] to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless… if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. (2 Peter 2:4-9)

If you were all-powerful and able to change peoples’ hearts and minds through the influence of your indwelling spirit, would you not be completely able to bring your wayward son to repentance, after you feel he has suffered enough to learn his lesson?

I think that this is your strongest point. However, it just doesn’t seem that our Lord does this. Instead, we see many who become hardened in their unbelief and vitriol. Jesus said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing." (Mat. 23:37)

Jesus declared that He had done what He either could or would. Why doesn't God become more coercive with all unwilling people? I don't know. However, I trust that He has his reasons. I am willing to live with a certain degree of uncertainty in this area, while taking Him at His word.

Meanwhile, you insist that Her will not condemn anyone or allow anyone to go to hell, because this doesn't correspond with your philosophy. However, it does seem to correspond with Scripture.

I believe all the words of Jesus. Of course, He grieved over the lost condition of the nation of Israel. Remember this also. That which is lost can also be found. Jesus didn't come to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him. He is more than able to accomplish all that He set out to do.

Indeed, He can "accomplish all that He set out to do." But did He ordain to accomplish the salvation of the entire world? So many verses indicate that although He had paid the price for the sins of the world, many will not avail themselves of it:

• “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it... Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’" (Mat. 7:13-23)

While it is true that Jesus acknowledged that He didn’t come to judge the world, this still leaves open the possibility that the non-believer will judge himself and flee from the light – the presence of God – which he has always hated and into the darkness of lies and denial.

Universalist Carton Pearson started this thread by writing:

• What happens after this life we can only speculate about and trust that in the ultimate reality, intrinsic good will prevail in us, for us, through us and as us.

It is noteworthy that Pearson confesses agnosticism about his universalistic heaven. It points to the possibility that agnosticism is endemic to universalism. Why? Can the universalist really believe in the mercy of God if he denies the inevitable judgment of God without it? It would seem that mercy of the cross is predicated on our understanding that we need the cross, and that without it, we face judgment.

It also makes me wonder if the Spirit will validate such a faith in those who have rejected the fullness of the biblical revelation. Instead, this agnosticism would seem to prove that the Spirit will not endorse a faith based on picking-and-choosing those verses we find appealing. Instead, we when submit to God, we submit to the totality of His Word (Mat. 4:4). By doing this, we honor Him and He honors us:

•  “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name [who I am]. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” (Psalm 91:14-16)

Does the universalist know God or has he re-created him in a form that he finds appealing? In this way, has he thus rejected God?

A Preoccupation with Sin might be Burdensome, but it is also very Healing and Liberating

Many have taken issue with my essay on universalist Carlton Pearson and his denunciation of Christian “sin consciousness.” According to Pearson:

·       "Sin consciousness, something Jesus never taught or encouraged, both prohibits and prevents self-love, something we must learn and re-learn to do, especially when we're brought up in a kind of "hate yourself" religious climate as many were and continue to be, whether, Christian, Jewish or Islamic."

Oddly, many agreed with Pearson, equating “sin consciousness” – the preoccupation with sin – with mental illness. However, this preoccupation is thoroughly biblical. Jesus stated: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48), proving that He is very preoccupied with sin. Why? Here’s my response:

It seems that we have left behind what Pearson meant by “sin consciousness” and are now pursuing the question of whether scrupulosity regarding sin is a form of OCD or some other mental disturbance. Okay!

Clearly, the Bible never gives us a pass for only doing 99% percent of the law. Perfection is always the standard. Here is an example:

·       But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 15-16)

While, to you, this seems obsessive and a prescription for mental problems, it reflects the wisdom of the Bible. Let me try to explain.

Our natural default position is self-righteousness. We love to think that we are worthy, superior and deserving – the very thing that God abhors. Instead, He wants us to be grateful and humble. Therefore, His law not only reflects His own righteousness, it also presents us with a standard of goodness that we cannot obtain on our own – a standard that should humble us and lead us to seek His mercy and be grateful when we receive it.

Interestingly, perfect adherence to goodness is something that we do and should expect from others. When I don’t treat my wife in a loving manner, she has every reason in the world to expect an apology. It just wouldn’t cut it if I responded, “I don’t want to be overly scrupulous about sin. I think you should just chill!”

Likewise, if I lied to you, you would be down my throat. If I responded, “You’re just uptight about sin,” you wouldn’t receive it.

Maturity is a matter of taking full responsibility for our garbage. God expects this from us, and we expect this from others. However, this is where mercy and healing kicks in. When we confess our sins to God, He forgives. There is nothing more healing when my wife and I confess our sins to one another and receive forgiveness from the other. However, all of this depends upon us taking full responsibility for our sins – call it a “sin consciousness” if you want.

Carlton Pearson, Universalism, and the Denial of Sin

Life is endlessly challenging and also painful. How then do we make life livable? A popular solution is “self-love.” Universalist and former mega-church success-story, Carlton Pearson, claims that self-love has to be based on a god who is all-loving – one who would never un-love anyone:

• We are all sexual, sensual, social and spiritual beings. Finding our way through the long distance soul journey is an art, science and grace most struggle with all their lives. Sin consciousness, something Jesus never taught or encouraged, both prohibits and prevents self-love, something we must learn and re-learn to do, especially when we're brought up in a kind of "hate yourself" religious climate as many were and continue to be, whether, Christian, Jewish or Islamic.

Many Christians would have no idea what Pearson is talking about - “hate yourself religious climate.” Instead, we have found in Christ’s love and forgiveness the ultimate answer to self-contempt, assured that if He accepts us, we can begin to accept ourselves.

Instead, Pearson seems to think that once we become conscious of the enormity of our sin, we will automatically hate ourselves. Although this is a possibility when we fail to grasp the cross – the boundless extent of His love and forgiveness – denying sin consciousness is like denying physical infirmity consciousness. Instead, it’s important to know when we are sick so that we can do something about it. If the doctor tells me that I need cancer surgery, I would be foolish to deny it. Something worse would likely happen.

It’s also important that we have a conscience to tell us when we have sinned and hurt others. Maturity is a matter of owning our sin and confessing it. However, if we refuse to be conscious of our sins, they will merely fester as an untreated cancer, and our relationships will deteriorate.

I thank God for my sin consciousness and so does my wife. When I become impatient with my wife, I tell her that I am sorry and try to make it up to her. The effect is healing.

Pearson seems to be in denial about this very significant part of life and even the teachings of Jesus, claiming that “Sin consciousness [is] something Jesus never taught or encouraged.” This assertion is flagrantly off-base, as these few teachings from the Sermon on the Mount illustrate:

• “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” Matthew 5:20-22)

• “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” (Mat. 5:27-30)

• “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Mat. 7:21-23)

All of this makes me wonder whether our endless quest for self-love is merely the self-centered perversion of our me-generation. Achieving self-love is certainly nothing that comes naturally, as even Pearson seems to admit: “Finding our way through the long distance soul journey is an art, science and grace most struggle with all their lives.”

Perhaps this generation has encountered so many problems in trying to achieve self-love because it is not attainable through Pearson’s “art, science.” Perhaps instead, it’s a gift that comes from Christ, as Jesus suggested:

• To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

However, this gift of freedom does not come by denying sin but rather by confessing and turning from it, as so many millions have discovered. It comes from humbling ourselves to acknowledge our ugliness, only to find that we have been exalted in the process (Luke 18:14). I too have found great freedom in committing all of my sins, inadequacies, and failures to my Savior, who gladly receives them, shouldering my heavy burdens (Mat. 11:28-30).

In contrast, Pearson claims:

• Sin consciousness is something with which most hyper-religious people seem to be severely "afflicted" and must be treated as if it’s a life threatening disease. It causes more anxiety, fear and delusional thinking than most clinically diagnosed mental illnesses do.

Instead, it is the denied and untreated “disease” of sin that causes the “anxiety, fear and delusional thinking.” I know, because I spent years of my life talking to psychologists, all of whom told me that I was a good person and should love myself. However, we are not constructed in a way that we profit through false positive affirmations but through confronting the truth about ourselves – God’s truth.