Universal Salvation

On the floor of my presbytery several months ago, two young seminarians ready to head into parish ministry were harangued by several of the presbytery's members over the horror of universalism, among other issues.

It seemed to me that the candidates were reticent to be pushed toward language condemning every person who has ever lived, is now alive or shall at any future time be alive on planet earth to an eternal hell upon their death if they were not Christians. Their commitment to a compassionate and sane theology was admirable.

That the entire scene was played out in a governing body of a supposedly mainline denomination in 2008 was just silly.

A broad-minded, tolerant, humane Christian eschatology, for both individuals and the cosmos, has existed from the earliest centuries of the church's existence.

The majority of the early church's theological schools were universalist in sentiment. Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Didymus the Blind, Titus of Bostra, Gregory of Nyssa, Marcellus of Ancyra, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus and Diodorus of Tarsus were among the bishops and theologians of the early church who affirmed a purgatorial view of hell with the concomitant idea that ultimately hell would have a terminus and all souls would be redeemed. Typically, too, from my reading of the literature those fellows left for posterity, they were sophisticated enough that most seem to be very forthright in acknowledging that 'fire' (as in the 'fires of hell') was a metaphor for remorse, guilt, the purifying activity of the Spirit or Christ.

In the contemporary Reformed tradition, the one in which I live and move and have my being, there are certainly those who affirm universalism of some sort or variety. The Reformed tradition surely has room for variants of universalist thought whether Moses Amyraut in the 1600's and his hypothetical universalism or Neal Punt (A Theology of Inclusivism) today.

The turn of the 19th Century saw Charles Augustus Briggs affirm universalism, at least the possibility of postmortem conversion; in the twentieth century universalist inclined thinkers include (but are not limited to) Barth, Tillich, Moltmann, Jan Boda, et.al.

Why, even William Barclay, whose commentary sets are ubiquitous in PCUSA church libraries, was an avowed universalist. He wrote, "I am a convinced universalist. I believe that in the end all men will be gathered into the love of God."

In the great battle of verse slinging, a few particularist texts are thrown out against the affirmation of universal salvation. I'm disinclined to verse sling and proof-text. As with any topic in theology or ethics, various opinions can find a proof-text here or there in the scriptures. If I must appeal to individual proof-texts to support the perspective of universal salvation (and the subculture of theological debates in Protestant circles often demands it) I find the following texts persuasive:

Luke 2:10 ~ But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:

John 12:32 ~ 'And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’

Romans 5:18 ~ Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.

Acts 3:21 ~ who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets.

1 Corinthians 15:22 ~ for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.

Colossians 1:20 ~ and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

1 Timothy 4:10 ~ For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Saviour of all people, especially of those who believe.

1 John 4:16b ~ God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.

The finite failings or sin of finite human beings could not with any justice be punished to an infinite degree or for an infinite duration. Any God worth her or his salt is not a sadist. Punishment is, at its best, remedial and not merely punitive. God is often characterized in the various writings of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures as merciful, gracious, not willing or wanting the destruction of any person. Rather, the overarching theme of scripture is that God is desirous of saving and redeeming all who can or would be redeemed. The turn of phrase in the PCUSA Study Catechism - "all who can be saved will be saved" works nicely I think.

The Westminster Standards, among the other confessional documents used by the PCUSA, links misery to sin. To sustain infinite, endless misery in hell, according to Westminster, would require endless, infinite sin. In that event, there is never any triumph of grace, never any victory over sin, never a time when God is all in all and evil abolished or defeated.

Personally, to debate the mind of God, the eternal state of disembodied souls - or whether personal consciousness survives the biological death of the individual at all - seems all rather academic, abstruse and abstract. The zeal of some folks for hammering away at the issue of personal eschatology could be better spent in trying to ameliorate poverty, war, ecological degradation and the like in this world.

There are certainly more sophisticated arguments for an inclusive view of salvation whether from a process perspective (my own) or one like John Hicks than those I have here offered.
But, if the issue is going to be raised by the more conservative sisters and brothers on the floor of presbyteries in the 21st Century, then I'll meet the traditionalists on their own ground and happily throw in my lot with those affirming a gracious universalism best exemplified by Jesus of Nazareth as John's Gospel offers him - the Jesus who wasn't God's sign of condemnation, but salvation - - - for the whole world.

After dallying about the thing, I will be trying to maintain the discipline of occasional posting on blogspot for the purpose of ruminating about issues and ideas somewhere between the privacy of the study and the public of the pulpit.

As a PCUSA minister serving a two-congregation yoked field (in the parlance of Presbyterianism), I offer my disclaimer that the viewpoint I express is only my own and not reflective of the variety of perspectives and opinions of my congregants or the sessions of the respective churches.