Universal Reconciliation – The Good, the Bad and the guy who had himself Castrated

Maybe it is just among the people that I am friends with on Facebook, but there seems to be a massive shift happening in people’s theology on hell. Universalism in particular seems to be increasingly popular among many, especially those who can be considered as Progressives. As you may or may not know, I am currently researching and writing a book about heaven and hell and so I have spent quite a bit of time studying universalism as of late. And I must conclude that 90% of the arguments that I hear levelled against universalists are both unfair and born out of ignorance. With that in mind, I would like to write a few posts on the topic. First I will explore the case from the universalists perspective, are adherents looking for an excuse to sin? Do they claim that all roads lead to heaven and that Jesus died for nothing? Do they have a low view of the Bible and is a commitment to the goodness of God clouding their judgement as to the severity of sin? My hope is that once we have looked into this one might have a clearer understanding of exactly what universalists do and do not believe and be able to respond accordingly. Too often we are ready to talk and not listen and as a result we simply end up speaking past one another. After that, I will write a few more posts on why I personally reject universalism citing eight main reasons why I cannot accept it.

So what exactly is universalism? Universal Reconciliation, which is also sometimes called UR for short or inclusivism is the belief that all men will eventually come to a saving faith in Christ and be redeemed. To point out the obvious this means that universalists also believe that post mortem repentance is available to all and that God will sustain their lives as long as necessary in order for them to accept the gift of eternal life. Essentially then, universalists believe, as do adherents of the traditional view of hell, that all people will live forever. The imagery of hell and fire then is interpreted to be purgatorial, a place of punishment with the intent of restoring the individual to whom they were meant to be in Christ. God’s justice therefore is seen as restorative rather than as retributive and an emphasis is made that places no limit on the saving power and the mercies of God.  It is commonly and unfairly assumed that universalism equates to ‘many roads leading to heaven’ or an ‘escape from consequences of sin’. This is unfair criticism as universalism actually proclaims that Jesus death and life saves all, was completely necessary and that everyone will receive the measure of punishment due to them in the afterlife but with a restorative intent behind the punishing.

Some people have embraced the label of hopeful universalists meaning that they either are not 100% convinced of the doctrine but hold it to be a genuine possibility or they suppose that some may indeed reject Gods offer of salvation even into eternity.

Scriptural Support

As well as appealing to larger themes of redemption in the Bible such as a new heaven and earth where God is all in all, universalists appeal to a wide range of scriptures to support their view, these are the most common verses one might come across in UR literature.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. - Ecclesiastes 3:11

Say to God, “How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power your enemies shall submit themselves to You. All the earth shall worship You and sing praises to You; they shall sing praises to Your name.” Selah – Psalm 66:3-4

Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny. – Matthew 5:25-26

“At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts. – Jeremiah 3:17

And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. – Luke 3:6

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. – John 3:17

Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” – John 12:31-32

And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. – John 12:47

…and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. – Acts:3:20-21

But Isaiah is very bold and says: “I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me.” – Romans 3:20

Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. – Romans 5:18

For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. – Romans 11:32

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. – 1 Corinthians 15:22

Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all. – 1 Corinthians 15:28

Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. – 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. – Ephesians 1:7-10

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. – Colossians 1:19-20

Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. – Colossians 3:11

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:9-11 

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. 1 Timothy 2:3-6

For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. – 1 Timothy 4:10

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. – Titus 2:11

You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. – Hebrews 2:8

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. – 2 Peter 3:9

And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
– 1 John 2:2

Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”– Revelation 21:2-7

The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. (1)
– Revelation 21:23-26

Did this list surprise you as it did with me initially? It is certainly a longer list of ‘supportive texts’ than the eternal conscious torment view can claim. While the interpretation of some of these verses is debatable others put forward a decent case in favor of the salvation of all peoples. Ecclesiastes 3:11 for example is one of those verses where a lot of people are familiar with the phrase, “He has put eternity in their hearts”, but to add ‘He has made everything beautiful in its time” broadens the picture a little bit too. Matthew 5:26 says that no one will escape prison until they have paid the last penny that they owe. The context, and verse 22 in particular, make it clear that Jesus has gehenna in mind here. 1 Timothy 4:10 has been worded very interestingly as well, what does Paul mean by saying that God is the savior of all men, especially those that believe?


Perhaps though Revelation 21:23-26 puts forward the strongest case of all. The kings of the earth are consistently portrayed in a negative light until the culmination of the book when their glory is brought into the city of God. In Revelation the kings of the earth are deceived by demons (16:14), they commit fornication (17:2, 18:3,9) and are ruled by the counterfeit bride called the harlot (17:18). In chapter 19:19 they are said to side with the beast and gather their armies together to make war against Jesus and His army. But then right at the end in chapter 21 when we read about the new heavens and the new earth it says that the kings of the earth will bring their glory into the city where the gates are never shut. Many people have argued that the open gates represent a post mortem invitation where people may enter the city once they have repented and been purified. Whether one agrees with the universalist interpretation or not, it is probably unfair to claim that those who hold the view have a low view of scripture, a misinterpretation possibly, but one can see from the above list how one could arrive at UR conclusions based on scripture.

In the early church

As far as historical written evidence goes, universalism as a belief in the church can be traced back as far as Origen in the early 3rd century. While condemned for heretical beliefs at the Second Council of Constantinople in 553AD, Origen was highly regarded and influential both during and after his life. Origen taught that “we, however, know of no incorporeal substance that is destructible by fire, nor (do we believe) that the soul of man, or the substance of ‘angels,’ or of ‘thrones,’ or of ‘dominions,’ or ‘principalities,’ or ‘powers,’ can be dissolved by fire”(2). In his eyes, the ‘fire that consumes’ did not consume the wicked but consumed the wickedness that indwells those cast into the fire. Origen believed that “no being will remain outside the number of the saved”(3), it is worth noting that Origen was never condemned as a heretic for his belief in universal salvation but rather for his belief in the preexistence of the soul. Although his faith had clear Gnostic undertones to it(4), he was instrumental in helping developing the concept of the Trinity as well as giving the world the Ransom Theory of the Atonement. Origen was also a martyr for Christ and even allegedly had himself castrated (after reading Matthew 19:12) in order to ensure his reputation as a respectable tutor to young men and woman. One could hardly accuse this particular universalist of being a liberal who was secretly looking for a license to sin as many conclude of today's adherents.

Gregory of Nyssa, was the bishop of Nyssa and one of the three Cappadocian Fathers, he participated in the First Council of Constantinople late in the 4th century and such was his reputation that he was affectionately called the ‘father of fathers’. Is his book Sermo Catecheticus Magnus he says the following:

…the annihilation of evil, the restitution of all things, and the final resurrection of evil men and evil spirits to the blessedness of union with God, so that He may be all in all, embracing all things endowed with sense and reason…(5)

Similar quotes can be found in the writings of men like St. Jerome, Clement of Alexandria and more. Hardly outcasts in their day and age. It is no wonder then that Augustine could say that there were a great many people in that particular period of church history that, while not rejecting the Christian faith, rejected the teachings of eternal conscious torment.

Gehenna Redeemed

If God is one day to be all in all then hell needs to be emptied of its inhabitants either by them perishing or through post mortem repentance and salvation. In the book of Jeremiah 31:40 there is a remarkable prophecy that gehenna will one day be restored and be holy to the Lord which is the kind of verse one would expect to find if this were to be true. This is what it says:

And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the Lord. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down anymore forever.

The chapter (from verse 31) is referring to a future period when the new covenant has been instituted. While the term Ge-hinnom is not specifically mentioned in the above verse it is undoubtedly a reference to it in a similar vein as Isaiah 66:24.

How Long is Forever?

While we sometimes use the term forever in a non-literal way, like when we say, “this food is taking forever to be ready”, we generally interpret it as meaning something is ongoing or eternally fixed in its state. The Greek word aionios however simply mean ‘age-during’ and can simply refer to a specific period of time. To give an example where it cannot refer to and eternal period of time, Romans 16:25, which uses the word aionios, says…

Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began (chronos aionios).

Obviously the mystery Paul is speaking of here has since been revealed and is no longer a secret. That is not to say though that aionios cannot refer to an unending time period, it just means that we need to interpret it in its context. So an argument can be made that when the Bible says that the wicked will be tormented forever one can draw from several examples in scripture where ‘forever’ is not the end of the story. The Moabites were forbidden from entering the LORD’s assembly forever (Deuteronomy 23:3) but later Ruth was redeemed through her marriage to Boaz. The Mosaic covenant was established forever (Leviticus 24:8) but only until it vanished (Hebrews 8:7-13). Jude 7 tells us that Sodom is undergoing a punishment of eternal fire but Ezekiel 16:53-55 promises a future return to its former state. The Priesthood was everlasting (Numbers 25:13) but prevented by death from continuing contrary to Christs priesthood (Hebrews 7:22-24.

Conclusion

In many circles when universalism is mentioned people tend to just assume that those who hold to it do not have any sort of reverence for scripture and that if it were true, then evangelism would be meaningless. I have heard far too many people say that throwing eternal conscious torment out of the window downplays the severity of sin and the justice of God. But an honest reflection (I have attempted to be as fair as possible here and accurately present the universalist perspective) affirms that universalism does not teach that anyone gets away with their sins or that God is not just. It could also be argued that universalism does not downplay the importance of Christ’s sacrifice but rather makes it all the more glorious. It is time that we lay thoughtless objections and accusations aside, like “universal redemption means that all roads lead to heaven”. Rebuttals like these serve no value at all and only demonstrate the ignorant mindsets of the persons who make them.

In writing this post I was not trying to convince anyone of a particular view inasmuch as I was trying to help people see that there are persons out there who love God, who take the Bible seriously and actively desire to see Gods Kingdom growing on earth but do not necessarily agree with us on every point of doctrine. And while we should be working toward correctly interpreting the word in this matter and others areas wherever they may arise, we need not demonize those who disagree with us. A little humility could just reveal that we were on the wrong side of the argument in the first place.

This post painted the ‘pro universalism’ position and the next will focus on a case against universalism. For now though I would love to hear your thoughts, is the universalist case stronger than you might have thought it to be previously? Do you think that what someone believes about hell is a salvation issue if they have faith in Christ? If you are a universalist, are there other points that you feel I should have included to further build your case? Do you feel that what I have written is a fair reflection of what universalists believe and do not believe? As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I am writing a book on heaven and hell with some space allocated to universalism and this is your chance to help me refine my thoughts and make it better than it would be without your input.


You can check out the follow up article to this one by clicking here.



1 – The argument here is that if the gates remain open to the City of God and the prodigals are always welcome home. Furthermore, the ‘kings and nations’ who bring their glory into the city were elsewhere in the book found to be Gods enemies, warring against the Lamb, something has changed in the interim. 
2 - Book VI, 71:5, p. 606.
3 – The Sacred Writings of Origen, chapter LXXI
4 – McGuckin, John Anthony (2004), The Westminster handbook to Origen, Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Know Press, ISBN 0-664-22472-5
5 - https://supernaturalgospel.wordpress.com/2013/12/25/the-historicity-of-universalism/