Trinitarian Universalism - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Trinitarian Universalism is a variant of belief in universal salvation, the belief that every person will be saved, that also held the Christian

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

belief in Trinitarianism

Trinity

The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...

as opposed to liberal Unitarianism

Unitarianism

Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....

which is more usually associated with Unitarian Universalism

Unitarian Universalism

Unitarian Universalism is a religion characterized by support for a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Unitarian Universalists do not share a creed; rather, they are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth and by the understanding that an individual's theology is a...

. It was particularly associated with an ex-Methodist New England minister, John Murray

John Murray (minister)

John Murray though sometimes recalled as founder of the Universalist denomination in the United States, might more fairly be described as a pioneer minister and an inspirational figure, as his theological legacy to the later Universalist denomination was minimal.-Early life:He was born in Alton,...

, and after his death in 1815 the only clergy known to be preaching Trinitarian Universalism were Paul Dean of Boston and Edward Mitchell in New York.

History

The doctrine of Universalism was traditionally traced back by Universalist historians to the teachings of Origen

Origen

Origen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...

of Alexandria (c.185-284), an influential early Church Father

Church Fathers

The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...

and writer. Origen believed in apocatastasis

Apocatastasis

Apocatastasis is reconstitution, restitution, or restoration to the original or primordial condition.-Etymology and definition:The Liddell and Scott Lexicon entry, gives the following examples of usage:* “τοῦ ἐνδεοῦς” Aristotle MM, 1205a4; into its nature εἰς φύσιν id...

, the ultimate restoration and reconciliation of creation with God, which was interpreted by Universalists historians to mean the salvation and reconciliation with God of all souls which had ever existed, including Satan and his demons. However more recent research has shown that this analysis of Origen's views is uncertain. Origen also believed in the pre-existence of souls and that glorified Man may have to go through cycles of sin and redemption before reaching perfection. The teachings of Origen were declared anathema

Anathema

Anathema originally meant something lifted up as an offering to the gods; it later evolved to mean:...

at the Ecumenical Council of 553, centuries after his death, though Gregory of Nyssa

Gregory of Nyssa

St. Gregory of Nyssa was a Christian bishop and saint. He was a younger brother of Basil the Great and a good friend of Gregory of Nazianzus. His significance has long been recognized in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Catholic and Roman Catholic branches of Christianity...

, another figure to whom Universalist historians attributed Universalist belief, was commended as an Orthodox defender of the faith by the same Council. Universalist historians have also identified Johannes Scotus Eriugena

Johannes Scotus Eriugena

Johannes Scotus Eriugena was an Irish theologian, Neoplatonist philosopher, and poet. He is known for having translated and made commentaries upon the work of Pseudo-Dionysius.-Name:...

(815-877), and Amalric of Bena

Amalric of Bena

Amalric of Bena was a French theologian, after whom the Amalricians are named.-Biography:He was born in the latter part of the 12th century at Bennes, a village between Ollé and Chauffours in the diocese of Chartres....

(c. 1200). as Universalists. Much of this research was incorporated by French priest Pierre Batiffol into an article on Apocatastasis

Apocatastasis

later translated for the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia.

During the Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

, all doctrines and practices of the Catholic (Universal) Church were re-examined and numerous sects formed, none of them however reviving the belief attributed to Origen in universal reconciliation. Hans Denck was accused by his critics of being a Universalist because his theology admitted the possibility that all people will be saved, but it is now considered that he was not.

Jane Leade

Jane Leade

Jane Ward Leade was a Christian mystic born in Norfolk, England. Her spiritual visions, recorded in a series of publications, were central in the founding and philosophy of the Philadelphian Society in London at the time.-Early life:...

(1623–1704), a mystic who claimed to have seen heaven and hell, started a Universalist congregation, the Philadelphians, which dissipated after her death. She was a Behmenist rather than orthodox Trinitarian

Trinitarian

The word trinitarian is used in several senses:*Ideas or things pertaining to the Holy Trinity.*A person or group adhering to the doctrine of Trinitarianism, which holds God to subsist in the form of the Holy Trinity....

.

John Murray

John Murray (minister)

(1741–1815), who had to leave the Methodist Church because of his Universalism, came to New England in 1770 and is credited with being the Father of Universalism in North America. Although Murray was a Trinitarian (as was his mentor, James Relly

James Relly

James Relly was a Methodist minister and mentor of John Murray who spread Universalism in the United States.Relly was born at Jeffreston , Pembrokeshire, Wales...

), his successor, Hosea Ballou

Hosea Ballou

Hosea Ballou was an American Universalist clergyman and theological writer.-Biography:Hosea Ballou was born in Richmond, New Hampshire, to a family of Huguenot origin...

(1771–1852) was a strong Unitarian who opposed Trinitarianism, Calvinism

Calvinism

Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...

, and legalism. During his tenure, Universalism became linked with liberal theology as well as Unitarianism.

Modern Trinitarian Universalists include Robin Parry an evangelical writer, who under the pseudonym of "Gregory MacDonald" released a book The Evangelical Universalist, (2006) and Thomas Talbott

Thomas Talbott

Thomas Talbott is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Willamette University, Salem, Oregon. He is best known for his advocacy of Trinitarian Universalism. Due to his book The Inescapable Love of God and other works he is one of the most prominent Protestant voices today supporting the idea of...

author of The Inescapable Love of God (1999).

Philosophy

Thomas Talbott

, a philosophy professor at Willamette University

Willamette University

Willamette University is an American private institution of higher learning located in Salem, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest university in the Western United States. Willamette is a member of the Annapolis Group of colleges, and is made up of an undergraduate College of Liberal Arts and...

, Salem, Oregon

Salem, Oregon

Salem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood...

, offers three propositions which are biblically based but which he asserts cannot all be true at the same time.

God is omnipotent and exercises sovereign control over all aspects of human life and history.
God is omni-benevolent, is ontologically Love, and desires the salvation of all people.
Some (a lot) of people will experience everlasting, conscious torment in a place of (either literal or metaphorical) fire.

Traditionally, Calvinists

Calvinism

Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...

resolved this by disagreeing with the Arminian interpretation of #2. According to the Reformed doctrine of limited atonement, God's special love and grace are shown in his sovereign election of some to be saved, whereas his common grace

Common grace

Common Grace is a theological concept in Protestant Christianity, primarily in Reformed and Calvinistic circles, referring to the grace of God that is either common to all humankind, or common to everyone within a particular sphere of influence...

and tolerance are shown to all humanity, including the eternally reprobate (non-elect), thus retaining the doctrine of God's omnibenevolence

Omnibenevolence

Omnibenevolence is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "unlimited or infinite benevolence". It is often held to be impossible, or at least improbable, for a deity to exhibit such property along side omniscience and omnipotence as a result of the problem of evil...

. Arminians

Arminianism

Arminianism is a school of soteriological thought within Protestant Christianity based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic followers, the Remonstrants...

resolve this by rejecting the Calvinist interpretation of #1 by proposing what is commonly referred to as synergistic regeneration, which posits that man has the inviolable free will

Libertarianism (metaphysics)

Libertarianism is one of the main philosophical positions related to the problems of free will and determinism, which are part of the larger domain of metaphysics. In particular, libertarianism, which is an incompatibilist position, argues that free will is logically incompatible with a...

to choose to either accept or reject God's saving grace and call to reconciliation. Universalists disagree with #3.

Since traditional interpretations of multiple biblical verses seem to be about people experiencing everlasting conscious torment in hell, many Christians hold that Universalists must either refute or reinterprete these verses. There are many verses of scripture supporting universal salvation with which supporters of eternal damnation must contend, including (but not limited to): Matthew 18:14, Luke 3:6, John 3:17, John 12:32, John 12:47, John 15:16, Romans 8:38-9, 1 Timothy 2:3-4, and 1 Timothy 4:9-10.

Core Trinitarian doctrine

God is Trinity

God is One Being and Three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who indwell each other in a perichoretic communion of love.

God is Love

God is ontologically love ( 1 John 4:8), and everything that He is and does reflect His being love. His holiness is an aspect of His love and can be thought of as one thing: Holylovingkindness.

Reconciliation is through Christ Jesus

Jesus Christ is the incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity and he is both fully God and fully Man. Because he created everything and everything inheres in him, all of creation was crucified and resurrected with him. ( John 1:3-4), ( Col. 1:15-20) Because divinity and humanity meets in him, mankind are now participants in the perichoresis

Perichoresis

Perichoresis is a term in Christian theology first found within the Church Fathers but now reinvigorated among contemporary figures such as C. Baxter Kruger, Jurgen Moltmann, Miroslav Volf and John Zizioulas, amongst others. The term first appears in Gregory of Nazianzus but was explored more...

or the divine dance of love within the Trinity.

Universal atonement of sins

Jesus Christ's death on the cross paid the price for the sins of the world ( Rom. 5:15-19) and all men are reconciled to God ( 2 Cor. 5:19). No human being is alienated from God as He is their only source of life ( John 1:3-4) and in Him they live and move and have their being. ( Acts 17:28)

Because all sins have been paid for, all sins are forgiven. Divine forgiveness precedes human response and this forgiveness is both love and judgment because to say, "I forgive you" is to say "I love you" and "You have sinned against me". Man can respond by agreeing with the judgment (repentance) and receive both the love and forgiveness or he can deny the judgment and refuse God's love and forgiveness.

Universalist doctrine

Salvation is an objective reality and a subjective reality

A personal response of faith is required before the objective saving act of God is made subjectively real in the individual's life. The response is transformative and changes with knowledge and experience. What has been accomplished for all mankind must be accomplished in each person's life which requires the individual's cooperation with the Holy Spirit. God is love and man is loved but he must be in relationship with Him to know that love. It is the difference between being and knowing.

Hell, as described in the Bible, exists

It is partially here as the Kingdom of Darkness that all men are born into.

It will be fully present for those who persist in rejecting God's gift of salvation. However, God's grace and gift of faith reaches everyone while they are dead in their sins ( Eph. 2:1, Col. 2:13) and there is no biblical text that says His mercy and gift of salvation will end when one dies physically. Jesus Christ is proclaimed to be the Lord of the dead and the living ( Rom. 14:9).

Hell is not retribution but rehabilitation

The suffering in hell is the anguish of a soul persisting in rebellion against God, or the shame of a soul when it realizes how much it has sinned against a holy God as well as profound regret for what might have been.

The Good News is about the Kingdom of God

The mission is not just to save people from hell but to bring them out of the Kingdom of Darkness and into the Kingdom of Light. All moral law can be summed up by the two Great Commandments: Love God and Love Others ( Rom. 13:8-10) and these two commands are not distinct and exclusive. To love God is to love others and to love others is to love God.

The Kingdom of God is here and yet not fully here

Trinitarian Universalists live in that dialetic tension and in the hope of the future Kingdom. (1 Cor. 13:12)

Wrath and judgment is another face of Love

God's love is passionate and people can grieve Him ( Eph. 4:30) by thwarting His love and His good intentions toward them. If man hurts himself or others, he will experience that divine love as wrath. Judgment accompanies wrath and judgment is salvific. It is a fire that purifies and refines, not one that destroys. ( Mal. 3:2) If man is not judged and if he does not feel God's wrath, he will not be aware that he has sinned. Judgment and wrath encourages a man to stop what he is doing and repent (turn around). Then he will know forgiveness and feel God's love turn from wrath to warmth.

True justice is restoration and reconciliation

Justice is not fully met by punishing wrongdoers. True justice is

restoration of what was stolen or destroyed
repentance and reformation of the sinner
reconciliation between the sinner and God and the person(s) sinned against

The final word God speaks to Mankind is always reconciliation and redemption

Sodom is portrayed as a very wicked place that was judged by God and destroyed by burning sulfur ( Gen. 19:1-29). Jude writes that they "suffered the punishment of eternal fire" ( Jude 1:7). But Jesus knew what circumstances would have brought the people of Sodom to repentance and acknowledgement of God ( Matt. 11:23). The last word God speaks over Sodom is restoration in an eschatological prophecy by Ezekiel ( Ezk. 16:53-55).

Some of the Bible passages cited in support of Universalism

Universalism and heresy

Heresy

Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...

is "adherence to a religious opinion contrary to church dogma". Because dogma varies among denominations, what is considered heresy by one denomination or congregation may be accepted as doctrine or opinion by another.

There are three generally accepted understandings of hell

Hell

In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...

A literal place of fire where the damned suffer eternal conscious torment
A metaphorical hell where the suffering is real but is not literally fire and brimstone. The pain may be physical, emotional or spiritual.
Conditional where souls are punished until justice is met and then they are annihilated

There is also the doctrine of Purgatory, a wholly separate place from Hell, where imperfect souls are cleansed and made ready for heaven. It may be a place of rehabilitation, correction or retribution.

The majority of Universalists believe that hell will eventually empty as people respond to God's offer of grace, mercy, forgiveness and salvation. This view is similar to [Purgatory], which is only orthodox for the Roman Catholics (and, incidentally, some Jews). However, Universalists believe that every person will be saved and Roman Catholics believe only those who died in God's grace will find purgation for their venial sins in purgatory. A minority of Universalists do not believe in the existence of hell in the afterlife but that every human is glorified and sanctified upon death.

There are four theories of salvation

Exclusivism: salvation only found in Christianity. Anyone who is not a Christian will go to hell.
Inclusivism: some adherents of other religions may find salvation but it is still Jesus Christ who saves them.
Pluralism: one's own religion is not the sole and exclusive source of truth, hence may be found in principle in any religion, though not necessarily.
Universalism: all people will be saved

Denominations and churches will generally profess one of the above to be true and the others as error, however they are not all mutually exclusive. For example, some who hold to #4 "Universalism" also hold to #1 "Exclusivism." For these, anyone who is not a Christian will go to hell, but ultimately everyone will become a Christian and therefore be saved. Others may be #2 "Inclusivists" and #3 "Pluralists." For those who might hold to these, because God may use the tools of any particular religion or culture to reveal his grace in Christ (Inclusivism), other religions therefore, potentially exhibiting the effects of this work, may in fact hold valuable insights to truth for theology (Pluralism), consequently calling the members of a particular congregation/denomination/religion to be open to that possibility.

Hell needed as a deterrent

This anecdote by Rev. Elizabeth Strong, a Unitarian Universalist, sums up the issue:

Hosea Ballou was riding the circuit in the New Hampshire hills with a Baptist minister one day, arguing theology as they traveled. At one point, the Baptist looked over and said, "Brother Ballou, if I were a Universalist and feared not the fires of hell, I could hit you over the head, steal your horse and saddle, and ride away, and I'd still go to heaven."

Ballou looked over at him and said, "If you were a Universalist, the idea would never occur to you."

Bible teaches eternity of hell

The following are problematic verses for Trinitarian Universalists and which they usually seek to qualify in some way.

The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats

Matthew 25:14-30

Jesus is teaching a principle of Kingdom living: small acts of kindness have eternal value. This is not a teaching about what merits salvation and what merits damnation and it is definitely not a teaching about the eternity of hell. Also, the Greek word 'aion' can be interpreted as "a long time" as well as "eternal". Finally, this passage may not be dealing with personal eschatology at all, but rather with the judgement of Christ on nations based on how they treat his children. On this view, the passage teaches that nations that abuse Christians will be subject to enduring chastisement while those who protect Christians will enjoy enduring life.

Pauline writings

2 Thessalonians 1:9

The phrase "everlasting destruction" could be translated as "destruction of the coming age" which makes it a reference to eschatological judgment. The phrase "and shut out" should be translated as "that comes from". Therefore the verse should be read as: "They will be punished with destruction of the coming age that comes from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power." The imagery is that of the holiness of God burning away forever the sinful nature of unrepentant man.

Eschaton in Revelation

Revelation 14:11

In view of the overwhelming evidence for Universalism in the Bible, especially in the writings of Paul, this description is hyperbole. Revelation images are metaphorical and no one knows what they really mean.

Revelation 19:3

This refers to the whore of Babylon which is a metaphor for corrupt political systems and/or economic policies. It is not a reference to the eternal suffering of people.

In Revelation, the kings of the earth are depicted as in league with the Whore of Babylon, which is probably symbolic of corrupt political and/or socioeconomic systems, and they are drunk on the maddening wine of her adulteries. They weep and mourn when she is finally thrown into the Lake of Fire. Then they gather on the plains of Megiddo with the Beast to fight the "King of kings and Lord of lords" and the armies of heaven in the final battle, Armaggedon. They are defeated and the Beast and his False Prophet are thrown into the Lake of Fire. Those who followed them are slain with "the sword that came out of the mouth" of the Word of God which is probably symbolic of the Gospel or Truth. But in the last scene in New Jerusalem, where the gates are ever open, where the leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations, the kings of the earth are expected to enter, bringing their splendor with them.

Calvinist objections

Romans 9, according to Calvinism

Calvinism

Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...

, teaches that some people are natural objects of God's wrath, created and prepared for the purpose of being destroyed. Judas was predestined to be the Son of Perdition

Son of Perdition

Son of perdition is a phrase that appears in the New Testament in the Gospel of John and in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians . Many theologians and scholars also consider "the beast that goes into perdition" mentioned in Revelation and to be references to the "Son of Perdition."According...

, the one prophesied to betray Jesus. It is written that "It would be better for him if he had not been born" (despite the fact that, without Judas' betrayal there would have been no crucifixion, no resurrection and therefore no salvation). God foreknew all those He would save and that some people are destined for eternal damnation. Also, according to Calvinism, justice requires that sins against an infinite, holy God merit eternal punishment, especially for those who reject His gift of salvation. God is love but He is also Holy. Thirdly, Calvinists would contend that nowhere in the bible does it even hint at the possibility of post-mortem salvation. After death comes judgment.

Trinitarian Universalists might answer that, if all are created totally lost in sin, it would therefore not be logical or (more importantly) just for God, the Epitome of Justice Himself, to hold them accountable for their actions or liable for their state of being without providing them a way to find redemption, and this could be said even of a being that is not All-Merciful and All-Loving, as God is. Romans 9 deals with God's hidden will to choose some to salvation in this life (the elect) and pass others, called reprobates, by in this life. That is not the final word God speaks to those individuals he passes by. Jesus said, as he was dying on the cross, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." He also promised "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw (or, literally, "drag" in the Greek) all men unto me." Surely these global statements cover all of humanity.

F.W. Farrar offers this possible interpretation to Jesus' remarks regarding Judas. When Jesus said, "it would be better for him if he had not been born," the "him" was referring to the Son of Man (Jesus) and the "he" to Judas. Thus he meant that it would have been better for the Son of Man if Judas had not been born. Another view is that although everyone else is to be saved, perhaps Judas will be punished and then annihilated. At any rate the passage does not disprove universalism and certainly does not prove eternal torment.

Pointing to God's eternality is not a satisfactory explanation as to why a temporal sin logically entails unending punishment, though it may be for that reason eternally grave. God's attributes can never conflict with one another, lest God be an imperfect being who is subject to internal strife. God's mercy can never violate His Justice, as if God's Love pushes Him in one direction whereas His Holiness pushes him in another. Universalism brings all his attributes into harmony by pointing out the way in which they describe the one single will of God. The early twentieth century theologian Paul Tillich described this relationship between God's justice and mercy as "creative justice" and as "the strange work of love" in Love, Power, and Justice. Creative justice refers to justice under the principle of agape, or unambiguous and unconditional love. Because it drives towards the reunion of the separated (eros) unconditionally (agape), it makes amends with s/he whom is separated by severing from their personal center that which entrenches the separation (i.e. "the strange work"). This ultimately entails being faced with the Law, or the unconditionality of the moral imperative, and recognizing the need for reconciliation and forgiveness. This "destructive" work of love is always for the sake of building up love's object as and into a subject. Gestalt therapy

Gestalt therapy

Gestalt therapy is an existential/experiential form of psychotherapy that emphasizes personal responsibility, and that focuses upon the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist-client relationship, the environmental and social contexts of a person's life, and the self-regulating...

and psychotherapy are modern examples of love doing this strange work: the process is painful and entails major reform, but health and well-being are its intention. As Martin Luther

Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...

famously said, "the love of God creates its own object."

From the point of view of Trinitarian Universalism the following questions could be asked of more "orthodox" believers: If there is no hint of post-mortem salvation in the Bible, then why does Paul refer to people being baptized for the dead? Why did Jesus preach to those in hell? Why did the majority of church fathers, including Augustine and Luther, believe in the possibility of post-mortem salvation?

Arminian objections

Arminianism

holds that God will not abrogate humanity's free will because love must be chosen, not forced, and that some people will chose alienation from God over consummation, and so God has "graciously" provided a place for them to exist. C.S. Lewis said that hell is locked from within but few will leave because over a lifetime and through the coming ages, they will become more and more at home in hell.

A Trinitarian Universalist believer might counter that for God to allow His misguided and confused children to suffer eternal separation from Him is the very opposite of grace, runs counter to His loving and sovereign nature, and would compare unfavorably to the attitude and behavior of even average human parents toward their children. The Bible seems to teach that those who believe do so because God caused them to believe, not by any freedom of choice of their own (Ephesians 2:8-10), and they might cite the following in support their answer:

"He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved." Ephesians 1:4-6

"For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.' So then it {does} not {depend} on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy." Romans 9:15-16
(See also: John 15:16, Philippians 1:29, Ephesians 1:11)

Also, the Bible in several places refers to freedom being only for those freed through Christ, and that those who are not in Christ are in darkness under the dominion of Satan (Acts 26:18), and are slaves to sin (John 8:34). Therefore, it would make no sense to maintain that someone can have the "freedom" to "reject God" -- it is only by sin that people reject God. Those in sin are slaves to sin and Satan, and therefore it is only God who can, by his grace, release them from that bondage and make them able to believe:

"The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses {and escape} from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will."

Furthermore, the idea that God wills us to have real love, and that therefore the love cannot be forced upon us, is not to say that, therefore, the only other alternative is absolute and total freedom, even freedom to condemn ourselves. A good parent would certainly allow their son or daughter to develop into their own genuine person, making free choices. That doesn't mean, however, that the parent's earnest desire for authenticity in their child's life, based on the child making real, honest, personal choices, would therefore lead them to not intervene if the child were about to jump in front of a moving train, or take a fatal dose of sleeping pills. To say that God either gives us absolute and total freedom to accept or reject Him, or else we are mindless robots or marionettes is a false dichotomy. It also conveniently ignores the blatant fact that almost nothing in our life is under our control, from when and where we are born, to our economic status, to what sorts of beliefs we are taught and raised with—all of which have a bearing on our decision to accept or reject Him. No matter how much we would like to pretend otherwise, the decision to have faith in Christ is not as much "free will" as it is the enormously personal culmination of all the circumstances of our lives, and therefore enormously influenced by the myriad external, uncontrollable factors that have shaped our hearts and minds.

Even if one allows for personal freedom, Trinitarian Universalists find it desperately unlikely to suppose that anyone can say "No!" to God, who is Love and Goodness personified, and keep on saying "No!" for ever and ever. If it is by sin, darkness, and the interference of Satan (cf. Genesis 3; also, see above) that men reject God, and if everything not planted by God will be uprooted (Matthew 15:13), then, presumably, there will come a time when even the most hardened of all men will finally be free from the influence of darkness, sin, and the devil, and will finally accept the grace offered by Jesus, put his faith in Him, and then, with all submitted to Christ, and Christ submitted to the Father, will God be finally, truly, "all in all." (cf. Colossians 1:19,20; 1 Corinthians 15:28)

Mortalist objections

Mortalists object that, in their view, the Bible does not teach torment of souls, either in Hades

Hades

Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...

, nor at the Last Day in Gehenna

Gehenna

Gehenna , Gehinnom and Yiddish Gehinnam, are terms derived from a place outside ancient Jerusalem known in the Hebrew Bible as the Valley of the Son of Hinnom ; one of the two principal valleys surrounding the Old City.In the Hebrew Bible, the site was initially where apostate Israelites and...

Hope of universal salvation

Apart from the dogmatic belief that a sentence of endless torment in hell is incompatible with God's moral character there are notable theologians who believe that God wants everyone to be saved and that it is possible for God to save everyone but, at the same time, they will not limit God's sovereign right to choose not to save everyone.

While Thomas Talbott

Thomas Talbott

, "Gregory MacDonald" (the penname for Robin Parry

Robin Parry

Robin Parry is a Christian theologian best known for editing and writing Robin Parry is a Christian theologian best known for editing and writing Robin Parry is a Christian theologian best known for editing and writing (both as himself and under the pseudonym "Gregory MacDonald" revealed in 2009...

) and Eric Reitan regard everlasting punishment as impossible, Reformed, neo-orthodox theologian Karl Barth

Karl Barth

Karl Barth was a Swiss Reformed theologian whom critics hold to be among the most important Christian thinkers of the 20th century; Pope Pius XII described him as the most important theologian since Thomas Aquinas...

and Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar

Hans Urs von Balthasar

Hans Urs von Balthasar was a Swiss theologian and priest who was nominated to be a cardinal of the Catholic Church...

believed that the eventual salvation of all was merely a possibility.

Quotes

In 1997, Kallistos Ware (of the Greek Orthodox Church) wrote:

"Hell exists as a final possibility, but several of the Fathers have none the less believed that in the end all will be reconciled to God. It is heretical to say that all must be saved, for this is to deny free will; but it is legitimate to hope that all may be saved. Until the Last Day comes, we must not despair of anyone’s salvation, but must long and pray for the reconciliation of all without exception. No one must be excluded from our loving intercession. ‘What is a merciful heart?’ asked Isaac the Syrian. ‘It is a heart that burns with love for the whole of creation, for men, for the birds, for the beasts, for the demons, for all creatures.’Gregory of Nyssa said that Christians may legitimately hope even for the redemption of the Devil."

Non-Trinitarians:

William Barclay
William Barclay
William Barclay may refer to:*William Barclay , Scottish jurist in the 16th and early 17th centuries*William Barclay *William Barclay *William Barclay , 20th century theologian and writer of Bible commentaries...

, author of the Daily Study Bible, a set of commentaries on the New Testament wrote:

"Nowhere does the New Testament identify Jesus with God." and "I am a convinced universalist. I believe that in the end all men will be gathered into the love of God."

Former Bishop Carlton Pearson
Carlton Pearson
Carlton D'Metrius Pearson, DD is an American minister. At one time, he was the pastor of the Higher Dimensions Evangelistic Center, later named it Higher Dimensions Family Church which was one of the largest churches in Tulsa, Oklahoma. During the 1990s, it grew to an average attendance of over...

, of New Dimensions wrote:

"I think we in evangelical Christianity have ignored the Sovereignty of God and limited the scope and sweep of His great Love toward all. Scripture says, "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:20)— He died once for all. (Romans 6:10 and 1 Peter 3:18) And contrary to popular opinion, our belief systems and religious presuppositions do not invalidate or reverse the effectiveness or efficiency of the finished work of Calvary. (Romans 3:3).

External links

Discovering Trinitarian Universalism — Trinitarian Universalists found within and without the Unitarian Universalist Association.

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