Christian Universalism - interesting concept

Ok, Pro-christian readers can comment. I'll try and be nice.

Just because something flies in the face of everything one knows to be true, doesn't make it wrong. I'm not calling myself a universalist but I am intrigued by the idea of it.

"...just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men." Rom 5:18

Did Paul mean that even though the single sin of Adam was enough to damn the entire human race, the single act of righteousness of Christ was NOT ENOUGH TO SAVE ALL MEN?
Was Adam's sin MORE POWERFUL than Christ's salvation? Was Adam able to bring more "death," and this universal death has overwhelmed the weaker "life" that is found in Christ?

Therefore... Will ALL men be saved or only the small sliver of people who happen to follow the correct instructions? Is eternal life ONLY for the Christians?

If so, then Jesus truly did save the world through his very temporary death. If not, then God is responsible for billions of deaths and Hell (whatever that is) will be full up. Big questions.

4 comments:

Rhology said...

Indeed, big questions!

The single sin of Adam was enough to damn the entire human race, yes.
But he doesn't say "Christ's righteousness was NOT enough..." He says it WAS. But God chose to make that salvation available thru faith. But not all have faith. So not all will take advantage.

All men will NOT be saved. Christ said that the way to salvation is narrow and few pass thru it, but the way to destruction is broad and many take it.

--Jesus truly did save the world through his very temporary death
>>Yes He did and the world will be redeemed (see 2 Peter and Revelation for more info). But that doesn't mean that all PEOPLE will be saved.

--God is responsible for billions of deaths and Hell will be full
>>What is your argument for that? God CREATED those people and all have the choice to come to Him, but few do. How is that His fault?

Take it to a different level. What if God WERE really directly responsible? By what standard do YOU condemn His actions as evil?

Peace,
ALAN

mothpete said...

>>Yes He did and the world will be redeemed (see 2 Peter and Revelation for more info). But that doesn't mean that all PEOPLE will be saved.

The world will be redeemed.. oh lucky world. The planet you say? uh-huh.. the planet but not the people. Jesus died for a few days so that the planet would be redeemed but most of the 'people' will still be fucked up.
You lost me right there.

mothpete said...

God is responsible for billions of deaths and Hell will be full
>>What is your argument for that? God CREATED those people and all have the choice to come to Him, but few do. How is that His fault?

God made this 'Hell' you say, to eternally punish and torment people who reasoned with the minds he gave them that he didn't exist. When you walk this earth and see the misery it's quite easy to reason there's no one at the wheel.

Rhology said...

Moth,

--oh lucky world.
>>From the Xtian perspective, the " whole creation groans and suffers" (Romans 8:22) as it waits for its redemption, so that statement makes sense that way. Not to you, but you operate from different presuppositions, like alchemy and spontaneous generation and logic being a human convention.

--the planet but not the people.
>>The whole planet will be redeemed, and many of the people, but not all.

--Jesus died for a few days so that the planet would be redeemed but most of the 'people' will (not be)
>>I don't know exactly what you mean that Jesus died "for a few days." Do you mean He was dead for the 3 days? If so, OK, I follow you.
May I ask how it would be Jesus' fault for supplying a way of salvation and some people not accepting it? How is it His fault that people turn their backs on Him?

--God made this 'Hell' you say, to eternally punish and torment people
>>Actually, Hell is for Satan and his angels who rebelled. But it is also by extension for God's other enemies, ie, people who hate Him and love their sin and love evil.
This includes you, by the way.

--who reasoned with the minds he gave them that he didn't exist.
>>From a Xtian perspective, those people's minds are blinded by Satan (2 Corinthians 4:4) and their reasoning is foolish and stupid (1 Corinthians 3).
From an atheist perspective, this reasoning is nothing more than atoms banging around and is the result of evolution to a place that is advantageous to survival. Why should I believe that this reasoning is valid or could lead anyone to truth? Can you help me understand that?

--it's quite easy to reason there's no one at the wheel.
>>What is your argument for that?
What kind of things might you need to see to convince you that someone is "at the wheel"?

Peace,
ALAN