I was raised a very proper Evangelical.
4 Spiritual Laws. Sola scriptura and sola fide. But life is a journey and
change is the only constant. Not long ago, I emailed a former pastor and said
I'm fast becoming a universalist! Please email back
reasons why I shouldn't be! He had a good laugh. The number one passage people bring up is Matthew 25 about eternal punishment and eternal life. Talbott says "eternal" here means long time but
not...eternal (just as some would say a day is not a day and all does not mean
all but those are debates for another time!!). He makes a good argument
on the Greek term but, as someone else who has read the book said, it was not
entirely compelling.
Why would you become a
'universalist' Caroline? Constant change may be the way of the world but if
you take a good look the more it changes the more it stays the same.
Jesus OTOH is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So all that
matters really is which side you are on. Also who is Talbott? Surely you
are not going to allow him to have the final say concerning your
eternal destiny.
I think the key to Matthew 25 is the epistle of 1
John. The whole epistle helps but the key verse is 1 John 1:2
"The life appeared: we have seen it and testify
to it, and we proclaim to you eternal life, which was with the Father and has
appeared to us." Eternal life is Christ Jesus.
It is the incarnation. It is
about us in Him and He in us. It is right now and more fully later.
Even now, we are seated in the heavenly realms at the right hand side of our
Father in Jesus Christ our brother, saviour and Lord. Right now we have
eternal life because we have Him.
Oh no, not again. I see you
have the "comprehensive view" Caroline. The BIG problem with this from my
perspective is the every day nuts and bolts. It's all well and good to
make these great sweeping statements - Some years ago I was involved in what
they call the "Faith Movement" This group was really big on what they called
"positional truth" and we would meditate on things like "keep looking
down, you're seated with Christ in the heavenlies" - so I understand, it can be real heady.
Getting eternal life is getting Jesus. Getting
eternal punishment is getting the other guy. That parable does not contradict
other teachings in the bible about salvation and God's love. While some will
use this parable as saying hell is eternal just as heaven is eternal because
it fits their theology, this parable no longer have to be the sticking point
for universalism.
The paramount problem is "Jesus
getting us" are we dying to the flesh so that we can serve Him in newness of
life? Or are we giving Him some kind of lip service while our heart remains
far from Him.
The gates of hell can be stormed and the strong
man's home can be plundered becasue he can be tied up. "O LORD, you
brought me up from sheol" Psalm 30:3 "If I go up to the heavens, you are
there; if I make my bed in sheol, you are there." Psalm 139:8
Caroline Psalm 30:3 more accurately
reads "O Lord thou hast brought up my soul from the grave" (a
spiritually dead person's soul is int he grave); In Psalm 139 David is
saying that there is noplace where one can hide from God. As for the
strongman's house, it is not plundered until the strongman is tied up
first. So, how in your understanding is this done??
Universalism have biblical support and can be formulated in an internally coherent theology.
There are several such systems now: exclusivism,
inclusivism, annihilation, universalism. What resonates with your
spirit? Jesus asked, "Who do you say that I am?" The system that
you choose depends on how you answer Jesus' question.
Wishful thinking Caroline though
the question is relevant because there are a lot of different Jesus' out
there. In fact the term anti-christ
also means "in place
of"
I thought I'd throw that in as most likely I
can't spend too much time on TT and will be here less. Love and God bless, Caroline
What a shame, I've enjoyed your
time here. Grace and Peace, judyt
