Believe it or not, my goal is not to convert anyone to Christian Universalism (as if I could, anyway). It might seem like this is my goal but my actual reasons for discussing the topic of Universal Reconciliation on this site are a little different.
My first reason is to provide some explanations to those who truly want to understanding why I believe what I believe about the topic, as well as to correct more than a few misconceptions about what it is that Christian Universalists actually do believe.
My second reason is to point out the weaknesses of the popular opposing view, mostly because I believe that most traditionalist Christians take too many of their presuppositions for granted and need to have them challenged every now and then.
My third (and probably most important) reason is to encourage those who already believe in Universal Reconciliation and to provide them with resources to help them fulfill the same three goals if they so desire.
Now if my site happens to help someone come to believe in Universal Reconciliation then I'm thrilled, but I don't believe that it's my job to convince anyone of what to believe about anything, that's between them and God.
My first reason is to provide some explanations to those who truly want to understanding why I believe what I believe about the topic, as well as to correct more than a few misconceptions about what it is that Christian Universalists actually do believe.
My second reason is to point out the weaknesses of the popular opposing view, mostly because I believe that most traditionalist Christians take too many of their presuppositions for granted and need to have them challenged every now and then.
My third (and probably most important) reason is to encourage those who already believe in Universal Reconciliation and to provide them with resources to help them fulfill the same three goals if they so desire.
Now if my site happens to help someone come to believe in Universal Reconciliation then I'm thrilled, but I don't believe that it's my job to convince anyone of what to believe about anything, that's between them and God.
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7 comments:
I agree with your sentiment about not trying to convert anyone. I used to make that mistake when I was "evangelizing", trying to win people over to Christianity. When I became a Universalist, I decided to not make the same mistake.
I think our job is to plant the seed, to give a reason for our hope to those who want to listen. If people want to continue to wallow in the mud of a belief in ECT, we can't pull them out without their participation.
Peace,
Brian
I like the libertarian streak in you. freedom for everyone to believe as they wish, with some new ideas thrown in to prevent boredom and intellectual laziness. it's sort of a buddhist flavor as well. :D
Thanks for your site. It makes for great reading! I have one question for you. I would really appreciate your honest and objective response to Jesus' statement in Matthew 10:28. In my limited reading of Universalist theology to date I have not come across a helpful analysis of this statement from a universalist perspective.
Andrew
"I would really appreciate your honest and objective response to Jesus' statement in Matthew 10:28. In my limited reading of Universalist theology to date I have not come across a helpful analysis of this statement from a universalist perspective."
Check out this section of J.W. Hanson's classic book Bible Threatenings Explained.
Hey. I actually did a dissertation on Christian Universalism a number of years ago, because a friend of mine (who you remind me a great deal of) challenged me to quit my mindless proof-texting and actually take the issues seriously. This I did, to the point that I was actually a Universalist myself for a couple weeks! But studying it more, I came to the conclusion that the Bible was far too exclusivist to ever hope to achieve such a message of salvation. It is inclusivist in that anyone can be saved (in contrast to its Jewish and Greek counterparts) but exclusivist in that you have the great theological theme of election, which runs from Genesis to Revelation and really is one of the threads tying the whole of the Bible together.
In short, Universalist Christianity is not biblical Christianity. (Whether this is a bad thing or not is in the eyes of the beholder!)
I would love to discuss these things with you, and get a "new" view on the issues, since I haven't really given serious thought to them since 2004.
Sure, always happy to discuss the subject (as long as we can stay away from debating it). Send me an email and we can chat (my address is in my profile).
Out of curiousity how did you find my site?
Saw some comments on Joey's blog, Shipwrecked by the Stable Door.
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