[This post is a work in progress as part of the CAA Catechism.]
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Summary in 400 words or less:
Universalism is the belief that every individual will eventually be saved. After all, if God is all-loving and all-powerful, then surely He could ultimately bring all people into heaven. Perhaps after death God can reform them for heaven.
The Bible tells us, however, there will come a time of judgement where the dead will be judged according to their works (Revelation 20:11-15). Gehenna has been prepared for the devil and his angels and some people will go there (Matthew 25:41). Those who are not pardoned by Christ at the judgment will “pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord’s presence” (2 Thess. 1:9 HCSB).
God is love, but love requires freedom. Just as I cannot force my wife to love me, God cannot force human beings to love Him. As CS Lewis noted,
“When one says, ‘All will be saved,’ my reason retorts, ‘Without their will, or with it?’ If I say, ‘Without their will,’ I at once perceive a contradiction; how can the supreme voluntary act of self-surrender be involuntary? If I say. ‘With their will,’ my reason replies, ‘How, if they will not give in?’1
God is all-powerful, but God can only do that which is actually able to be done. God cannot create another God as it is not possible for there to be more than one greatest possible Being. Just as I cannot draw a circle with four equal sides, God cannot force a person to freely choose Him.
If the fate of the wicked is eternal destruction away from the Lord’s presence, then there is no possibility for a change in heart of those in Gehenna. After all, as Norman Geisler asks, “[H]ow can a place devoid of God’s mercy accomplish what no measure of His grace could accomplish on earth?”2 Only Jesus Christ, not time, can redeem the wicked.
We should not be angry with God that not all people will be saved. God loves the world and sent His Son to die for our sins (John 3:16) and He has been patient with us (2 Peter 3:9), but the Bible tells us that some people will never give in.
Scripture for YouVersion:
Short audio/video:
How should a Christian respond to Universalism?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87HcGQEEwfc
Short audio/video:
Three questions (1 fill-in-the-blank, 1 multiple choice, and one discussion question):
References for further reading:
[1] CS Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York: HarperCollins, 1996), 120.
[2] Norman Geisler, Systematic Theology Vol. 4 (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2005), 341.
Collaboration notes:
Collaborators: Christopher Riggs, JC Lamont, Marcia Montenegro
Three questions (1 fill-in-the-blank, 1 multiple choice, and one discussion question):
References for further reading:
[1] CS Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York: HarperCollins, 1996), 120.
[2] Norman Geisler, Systematic Theology Vol. 4 (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2005), 341.
Collaboration notes:
Collaborators: Christopher Riggs, JC Lamont
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