I've been reading a book written in 1899 on Universalism lately. More specifically, in defense of Universalism from the Early Christian writings. It's got some good points, and some things which I feel are a stretch of logic. More to the point, it hinges most of its argument on the subtle differences of meaning between AIΩNIAN and AIΔIOC in Greek. Those differences are valid, but it's kind of a shaky branch to hang something like this on.
My evolving thought on the subject is that maybe we aren't supposed to speculate and build dogmas in either direction. Maybe there's always the possibility of redemption even out of torment, but maybe not everyone will make use of it. Human beings don't like to deal with possibilities. We like certainties. We want to know that 1+1=2. We want to know "If this, then that." And frequently, we want vengeance, payback against those whom we feel have done wrong in some way. We want the offender to be punished so that "we" feel better.
One point that the book made is that the word in Greek for God's punishment in the afterlife is "KOΛACIN," which means "discipline, chastisement." It's punishment which takes place to train and restore someone, not retribution or payback. But this word assumes that there's an end goal where the chastisement is no longer necessary. No good parent punishes a child just to exact vengeance on them, but to train them to produce the desired behavior.
Scripture doesn't use the word "forever" when it comes to punishment, at least not in Greek. In Greek, the word that strictly means "forever" with regards to time is AIΔIOC. The word that Scripture uses is AIΩNIAN. This word is more nuanced. Strictly speaking, it means "to the end of the age," or also "pertaining to the age to come." It can also mean "indefinite, timeless," and to this end "eternal" in the sense that the thing being described is outside of time rather than being described as continuing forever within time. Greek writers would sometimes use this word to describe some holding an office for the rest of his life, or something just happening since anyone can remember. In this respect, it's the same kind of thing as English slang when we talk about the high school teacher who's "been at that school for an eternity." That is, they've been there for a very long time.
So, is the outer darkness, torment, truly eternal in the sense of forever? Maybe that depends on the individual soul, like the prodigal son, coming to their senses and asking to come home. Maybe some will, maybe some won't. But maybe the important things to know are that the outer darkness is real, and also there may still be hope for those who come to their senses within it.
If God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, then doesn't it follow that He would take all and every necessary action to ensure that this happens with the only restriction being that He will not violate the individual soul's free will to choose? If this was His heart, and it was that important to Him, then why would He just leave it up to us? He would and does certainly invite us with the privilege of being a part of reconciling the world, but He would not rest everything on the willingness or ability of human beings whom He knows are malfunctioning in the first place. The work then is God's work, and He will accomplish it with or without us. That He invites us to take part is a privilege which He allows to some and not others depending on time and place.
Furthermore, if this is His heart, and it is that important to Him, why would He make it so that physical death would be the point of no return in regards to repentance and turning to Him? He is not some tribal deity some humans made up in their own cultural image. He is not Zeus, Ba'al, Hades, Odin, or any other myth. He is the ground and foundation of all existence and being who does not just give up when one of His creations develops a flaw, no matter how bad the flaw might be. And that He does not just give up, His resources in addressing the problem are as infinite as He is.
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Who is saved and who is not?
I woke up, just this morning, to find a request from a friend to write about my views on this subject after espousing my current thoughts from reading an old work on Universalism. In some ways, I feel like I have already addressed this question many, many times over. And no matter how I answer now, no one is going to be satisfied with my answer.
This question is based on a fundamental misconception of what the salvation found in Jesus Christ is to begin with. It is based on the concept that salvation primarily, if not only, concerned with the afterlife. What happens after we die?
But this is not the salvation which is taught or described by Jesus Christ and His Apostles. That salvation which was taught is very much rooted in this life. It is very much about the here and now, with consequences that extend into the afterlife yes, but it is primarily focused on who we are and what we do in this life.
The salvation which is taught in the New Testament is deliverance or rescue from our own fatal flaw as human beings which makes it so that we can literally do nothing without screwing it up in some way. This fatal flaw makes it so that no matter how hard we try to do the right thing, we end up doing the wrong thing in some way. No matter how hard we might seek the good, the bad ends up resulting in some way.
The salvation which is taught in the New Testament is union with Jesus Christ allowing for His Spirit to bypass that fatal flaw within our brains so that we are no longer enslaved to it. Thus we are actually able to do the good and the right thing because it is He who is doing it through us, and not we ourselves.
This union has consequences not only here, but in the afterlife, as whoever is joined with Jesus Christ is wherever He is, and vice versa. Whoever is joined to Jesus Christ is a part of Him just as His eye, or hand, or foot is a part of Him, and He is joined to that person as the head which coordinates and controls movement and action insofar as the person remains connected to that head.
The early Christians were explicit in who they considered to be one of their number, and this was the person who lived as Jesus Christ lived and taught. If a person didn't live as He taught, then he wasn't considered a Christian regardless of what he or she said or preached.
Fundamentally, I don't think we should be asking this question of anyone else other than ourselves, and this in the vein of "Am I actually living as Jesus taught? Am I actually one of His disciples, or am I just paying Him lip service?"
If what I have previously written is true regarding God not giving up on people even after death, then we have absolutely no measure to hold up to another person in this life and say, "This person is 'saved,' and that person is not" where the afterlife is concerned. The only measuring rod we have to gauge someone's salvation in Jesus Christ in the here and now is whether or not their behaviors and words reflect and resemble that of Jesus Christ Himself.
Salvation is in the here and now. It is in what we think, what we say, and what we do. That "salvation" which does nothing to alter behavior is not salvation at all, but acting and pretending. Salvation is the life of Jesus Christ being lived through the individual who follows Him. Everything else is a consequence of this. You cannot be a disciple of Jesus Christ without actually holding to the discipline of Jesus Christ.
"How can I best love this other person next to me?" This really is the first and most important question for a disciple of Jesus Christ. Not "what great things can I do for God?" Not "Do I have enough faith?" Not really anything else.
It doesn't matter who this person next to me is, and if I am alone, it is both "How can I best love God?" and "How can I best love this person that I am?" This latter point is in the sense of stepping outside oneself as though a third party observer.
How best can I love my wife? How best can I love Cindy? How best can I love John? How best can I love the cashier at Walmart? How best can I love the woman with four young kids taking forever at the self-checkout? How best can I love any person and every person who enters my orbit? How best can I love our dogs? Our livestock? How best can I love each one individually and as a group?
This is the first and most important question we must ask, because this question immediately addresses Jesus' commands to love, and so this question is really, "How can I best obey Jesus' commands right now in this moment with this person or creature right next to me?"
It is best to put the thoughts of those not right next to you away for the moment, because then it becomes overwhelming and too hypothetical. Just focus on this person next to you, whoever it might be. It's not about whether they deserve it, whether they're worthy of it, whether they're pleasant or unpleasant. Do I best love them by inserting myself into their space, or by leaving them be? Do I best love them by spending time with them? Speaking to them? Giving them something? Simple respect and compassion go a long way, as does a smile and some friendly words. These are easy enough to part with. But the key idea is, "How do I best love this person right here and right now?"
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