For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. These are the things you must insist on and teach.
1 Timothy 4:10-11
[Last updated: 8 March 2023]
First, let us just quickly clear up some basic misunderstandings and straw man arguments. No, Christian universalists do not believe: 1] all religions are true, 2] one does not need Christ to be saved, 3] morality is relative and nothing is truly wrong, 4] repentance is unnecessary, 5] the elect and condemned will receive the exact same reward in the end, 6] there will be no punishment or judgment for sins, and 7] we have to re-write or ignore the Bible to fit our beliefs. Some of these beliefs are held by adherents of Unitarian Universalism, which has shared roots with Christian universalism, but nowadays is an entirely different religion altogether, inspired by but not exclusively committed to Christianity; that is likely where some of these misunderstandings come from.
Christian universalists believe: 1] Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that nobody goes to the Father except through him (cf. Jn 14:6), 2] everyone will be saved through Christ (cf. 1 Cor 15:22), 3] that God’s commands are objective right and truth (cf. Jn 4:24), 4] repenting of one’s sins is absolutely necessary, and, indeed, everyone will do so at the time of the universal reconciliation (cf. 2 Pt 3:9), 5] that there are indeed special rewards for the elect (cf. Mt 5:19, 19:28-30), who are the first fruits of salvation (cf. Eph 1:4-12) but not the last (cf. Phil 2:9-11), 6] the debt of many sins will have to be repaid by a time of purification in Gehenna (cf. Lk 12:59), and 7] Scripture absolutely supports all of these points.
For more on this topic, please see my article Responses to common objections to universalism.
The αἰώνιον verses
Daniel 12:2; Matthew 12:32, 13:22-49, 18:8, 21:19, 25:41-46; Mark 3:29, 11:14; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Jude 1:7-13.
These verses do not actually prescribe ‘eternal’ punishment, since the Koine Greek words which are translated into English as “eternal”, “everlasting”, or “forever” do not strictly mean ‘without end’. If you check all of these verses, you will see that they all use some variant of the root word αἰών [aion, meaning ‘age’, ‘eon’, ‘world’, or ‘universe’]. For example, Matthew 25:46 says that the punishment of the wicked lasts “αιωνιον [aionion]”, which means ‘for the rest of the aion‘. Another example: in Mark 11:14, when Jesus says that may no one “ever” eat from the fig tree again, the Greek phrase is “εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα [eis ton aiona]”, which means ‘in this aion‘.
An aion can verifiably be a finite period of time that definitively ends. The same is true of the Hebrew word עוֹלָם [olam], which the Septuagint (a translation of the Hebrew Bible into Koine Greek allegedly by seventy rabbis in the 3rd century B.C. [hence why it is also sometimes called the “LXX”]; when the New Testament authors quote the Old Testament, they are using the Septuagint about two-thirds of the time) translates as αἰών*. For example: Exodus 21:6 says that if a servant desires to, he can serve his master for “לְעֹלָֽם/αἰῶνα”, which obviously means ‘until bodily death’ and not ‘for all eternity’.
You might look up the αἰών* words in ancient Greek dictionaries and see they are most frequently defined as “eternity” or “eternal”. This is not completely wrong, because an aion actually would be forever-long if there is only one of them; but we know that there is in fact more than one aion, because God’s glory is said to last at least “αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων”, “aions to aions” (Gal 1:5; Phil 4:20; 1 Tim 1:17; 1 Pet 4:11 & 5:11; Rv 1:6, 1:18, 4:9-10, 5:13, 7:12, 10:6, 11:15, 15:7), and the saved in the city of New Jerusalem will also reign with God for at least that long (Rv 22:5). If these two phrases do refer to the same quantity of time, why do the New Testament authors so carefully distinguish between the two? And if an aion goes on forever, why does Jesus talk about things happening at the END of the aion [“συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος”] in Matthew 13:37-49, 24:3, and 28:20?
Moreover, in numerous places, Scripture clearly describes stuff occurring after an olam/aionion thing is complete, which means they must have a temporal completion and are not literally endless. Let us look at some Scriptural examples of things declared to be permanent, but have a definite end:
- “Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities […] serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal [αἰωνίου] fire” (Jude 1:7), YET God “will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters” (Ez 16:53).
- Egypt, Moab, the Ammonites, and Elam shall become a “waste forever [עוֹלָ֑ם/τὸν αἰῶνα]” and “rise no more” (Zep 2:9, Jer 25:17-27), YET the Lᴏʀᴅ will “restore the fortunes of Egypt” (Ez 29:14, cf. Is 19:22), “of Moab” (Jer 48:47), “of the Ammonites” (Jer 49:6), and “of Elam” (Jer 49:39).
- Mountains and hills of the Earth are “eternal” and “everlasting [עוֹלָ֑ם/αἰώνιοι]”, UNTIL they “were shattered” and “sank low” (Hb 3:6, in the same sentence no less).
- The Aaronic Priesthood was to be a “perpetual [עוֹלָ֖ם/τὸν αἰῶνα]” priesthood (Ex 40:15), UNTIL it was abrogated by Christ (Heb 7:14-18).
- The fire for Israel’s sin offering “shall not go out” (Lv 6:12-13, cf. also 16:17, Ps 105:10) and the Law of Moses was to be an “everlasting [עוֹלָֽם/αἰώνιον] covenant” (Lv 24:8, 1 Chr 16:36), UNTIL they were “obsolete and growing old” and “will soon disappear” (Heb 8:13).
- Jonah was locked in Sheol “forever [לְעוֹלָ֑ם/αἰώνιοι]” (Jon 2:1-6), UNTIL the Lᴏʀᴅ delivered him on the third day (v. 10).
- The Earth remains “forever [לְעוֹלָ֥ם/τὸν αἰῶνα]” (Eccl 1:4), YET it will “pass away” (Mt 24:35/Mk 13:31/Lk 21:33, Rv 21:1).
This accounts for almost every verse in the Bible that is mistranslated into describing an eternal punishment. There are other passages that mention a “condemnation”, “judgment”, or “punishment”, but there is no remark made about their durations in those passages, so they cannot be taken as proof of infernalism. Most universalists agree that there will be a divine judgment and it won’t be pleasant for the wicked; we just deny that their punishment will last forever without end.
Destruction of the wicked
2 Samuel 4:11; Psalm 9:5, 37:34-38, 92:7, 101:8, 145:20; Philippians 3:17-9; 2 Thessalonians 1:9.
There are numerous places where God promises to “destroy” all the wicked. Annihilationists/conditionalists (people who believe God completely annihilates the consciousness of the damned instead of torturing them forever) take these as evidence for their beliefs.
But Paul explains what this means. The destruction is of the “Old Self”, the sinful shell around our God-breathed spirit: “if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin” (Rom 6:5-6; cf. also Eph 4:22, Col 3:9). Then what happens? We are clothed with Christ to make a “New Self” (Eph 4:24, Col 3:10; cf. also Gal 3:27). This is also what Jesus meant when he said “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn 12:24); the death or destruction of the Old Self is what paves way for new life, something fundamentally interconnected with Jesus dying to give us new life in rising again. So, God’s destruction is ultimately for a benevolent purpose, in order to save us.
We can see this sentiment in the Hebrew Bible as well. God does not submit us into trials out of vengeance or cruelty, but for our own good: “How happy is the one whom God reproves; therefore do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he binds up; he strikes, but his hands heal” (Job 5:17-18); “let us return to the Lᴏʀᴅ; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him” (Hos 6:1-2); “the Lord scourges those who are close to him in order to admonish them” (Jdt 8:27), “the Lord will not reject forever. Although he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone” (Lam 3:31-33); “The Lᴏʀᴅ will strike Egypt, striking and healing; they will return to the Lᴏʀᴅ, and he will listen to their supplications and heal them” (Is 19:22); etc. And in the New Testament, we also read: “ I reprove and discipline those whom I love” (Rv 3:19); “God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? […] Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb 12:7-11); etc.
Another thing worthy of observation is that when Paul uses the phrase “aionion destruction” (2 Thes 1:9), the Greek behind it is “ὄλεθρον αἰώνιον”. Where else does the word ὄλεθρον appear? 1 Corinthians 5:5: “you are to hand this man over to Satan for the destruction [ὄλεθρον] of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” This is further proof that the destruction is not a vengeful annihilation, but a benevolent chastisement for the sinner’s own benefit.
If you need even more evidence, look at the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15:1-7. When Jesus refers to the “lost” sheep, the Greek word he uses is ἀπολέσας. This word can also mean “destroyed”, and it is used that way in Matthew 10:28: “fear him who can destroy [ἀπολέσαι] both soul and body”. But look at Matthew 16:25: “those who lose [ἀπολέσῃ] their life for my sake will find it.” The destruction being referred to is of the ‘Old Self’ so that the ‘New Self’ can sprout in its place.
For more on this, please see my article Annihilationism and infernalism are equally wrong, for the same reasons.
Do you have to do something to earn eternal life?
Matthew 7:13-14, 19:29; Mark 10:30; Luke 18:18-30; John 3:11-21, 5:19-29, 6:22-65; Acts 13:48; Romans 2:7; Galatians 6:8; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 6:12; Titus 3:7; 1 John 3:15; Revelation 20:15, 21:27, 22:19.
These passages seem to suggest that eternal life is something only a few will receive and has to be merited in some way, or can be lost because of malfeasance.
The first thing I should say is that nobody can ever earn salvation. It is a free gift from God (cf. Rom 5:12-21). If you have faith and grace, it’s because God gave you faith and grace. If you do charitable deeds, it’s because the Holy Spirit empowered you to do so. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9). Compatibilist (i.e. believers in free will) infernalists argue that you earn salvation by merely saying ‘Yes’ to God’s offers (although they might aggressively deny that it is ‘earned’, despite it being an accurate characterization of their beliefs), but even that is dependent upon God’s grace; one can only accept the Gospel if they already have the illumination to know that Jesus Christ is trustworthy and true, and that illumination too comes from the Holy Spirit. So, whether or not you will say ‘Yes’ is entirely reliant upon if God’s grace is given to you, start to finish.
In short, it is not that you have to do something in order to be saved. Salvation is God’s and God’s alone.
What do those aforementioned passages mean, then? Why do we have to avoid evil and do works of charity and persevere through times of trial? The answer is that these things are necessary to be among the elect, who are the first group of people who will be saved. Scripture mentions that there will not be only one resurrection of the dead, but that there will actually be two, the first for the just (cf. Lk 14:14), and the second, final one will be when the universal reconciliation is accomplished and all are saved (cf. Acts 3:21, Phil 2:9-11). Revelation 20:5-6 explicitly mentions a “first resurrection”, and that “the rest of the dead did not come to life” until later; John 5:28-29 also mentions two resurrections. Only the elect will be saved in the first resurrection, for the universal reconciliation of all souls will happen later, after the un-elect have spent a time of purification in Gehenna. This is why the elect are referred to as the “first fruits” in several places like Romans 8:23, James 1:18, and Revelation 14:4; being the “first” fruit implies that there’s an entire harvest that comes after.
Considering how dreadful are the New Testament’s descriptions of Gehenna, it behooves one to be among the elect, and not complacently wait for the universal reconciliation when everyone else will be saved. There are numerous other benefits to being among the elect as well, because we know in Heaven that there is actually a ranking of people (cf. Mt 5:19, 11:11) and those who were vivified in the first resurrection will sit in judgment on those in the second (cf. Mt 19:28-30); not to mention one’s mortal life will also be happier if it is lived in the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 15:11).
To summarize: no one earns salvation, but those who live a Christian life of faith and justice during their mortal earthly lives will be saved first before everyone else, and Scripture compels us to be among them. Nothing is required to be saved at the second resurrection.
“Fire and brimstone (sulfur)” are not punitive, but purificatory
Isaiah 66:24; Mark 9:42-48; Revelation 9:17-18, 14:10, 19:20, 20:10, 21:8.
Although Christian cultures have grown accustomed to viewing Scriptural references to “fire” as indicating punitive judgment or vengeance, the truth is that the coupling of “fire and brimstone” analogically refers to the metallurgical process of removing impurities from metal. One can see that this was widely understood even as early as Mosaic times (e.g. “everything that can withstand fire, shall be passed through fire, and it shall be clean”, Num 31:23). The goal of removing impurities is, of course, to make the metal more valuable, not to trash it.
The fact that “the worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched” (Mk 9:42-48) for those cast into Gehenna sounds scary, but it is important to understand that neither of these mean that the people in Gehenna will be there forever as well. How do I know? Because the very next verse in Mark 9, v. 49, says: “For everyone will be salted with fire.” If the worm and fire Jesus was referring to meant eternal punishment, that would mean everyone is damned and unsalvable.
This imagery is repeatedly used throughout the Bible. Some instances of this:
Luke 3:16: “John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.’“
1 Corinthians 3:12-15: “if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.”
1 Peter 1:7: “your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
Zechariah 13:9: “And I will put this third into the fire, refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The Lᴏʀᴅ is our God.'” (Note here, especially, how the fire preempts salvation.)
Malachi 3:1-4: “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lᴏʀᴅ in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lᴏʀᴅ as in the days of old and as in former years.” (Such a good Christological prophesy!)
Isaiah 1:25: “I will turn my hand against you; I will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy.“
Isaiah 48:10: “See, I have refined you, but not like silver; I have tested you in the furnace of adversity.“
Psalm 66:10: “For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.“
Obviously in these instances the fire is a benevolent thing, albeit unpleasant in the short term. (Don’t forget all of those passages I mentioned above about God’s compassionate chastisement.) Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that the fire mentioned in Mark 9 and elsewhere is also for an ultimately helpful cause, even though one would still want to avoid its necessity as much as possible by not committing sins that require purification by this analogical fire in the first place.
That is, I believe, the main benefit of being elect: one does not have to endure the fires of Gehenna, but like the three young men in Daniel 3, will pass through “the furnace of blazing fire” (Dan 3:20) unharmed. In Revelation, it is said that the faithful who endure the tribulation “will not be harmed by the second death” (Rv 2:11). The un-elect “will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Cor 3:15).
Now, to deal with some specific biblical passages that require more attention to understand:
Matthew 12:31-32, Mark 3:28-29: blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
Although these passages are often interpreted to mean that this sin will never be forgiven into eternity, what Jesus actually says is “whoever speaks against the holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age [αἰῶνι] or in the age to come”, i.e. the punishment lasts for two aions. He delimits the punishment into a quantified amount of time. Please see my article Is there an unforgivable sin? for more on this.
Luke 16:19-31: the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus sounds infernalist because of verse 26: “between you [the rich man] and us [Abraham and everyone in his realm] a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there [Hades] to us.”
Bear in mind that this parable was given before Christ’s death and resurrection, so this was literally true at that point: those in Hades were unsalvable. But that was the entire point of Christ’s sacrifice! He rescued those trapped in, or on the path to, Hades and allowed them to enter into his paradise (cf. Mt 20:28, Rv 5:9, etc.). This parable is not describing an eternal punishment, but rather is illustrating why Christ’s upcoming death would be necessary in the first place.
If it is perpetually true that “no one can cross from” Hades to Heaven, then this passage is contradictory to other parts of the New Testament. Peter says that Christ brought the Gospel to those who were dead in Hades: “He [Christ] was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water” (1 Pt 3:18-20). And later, in 1 Peter 4:6: “For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.” Why is the Gospel being preached to the dead if their ultimate fate is already permanently locked-in? Although infernalists insist that this was specifically only for the people who lived before Christ’s death and resurrection, it still demonstrates that salvific faith can be acquired after one’s earthly death.
Hebrews 6:1-12: “impossible to restore again to repentance”
This passage is carefully worded, and it is important to understand precisely what is being said. The Greek word for “they are crucifying again” is “ἀνασταυροῦντας”, which is in the present active sense, meaning this whole passage is talking about people who are currently, actively defecting from God’s light. So, the reason why it is impossible to restore an apostate to repentance is because they, while they are faithless at this precise moment, have lost the desire to repent, which is a grace of the Holy Spirit. God can freely give and take away this grace as he pleases. This passage in Hebrews is not saying that it is permanently impossible to repent after apostasy; rather, that it is impossible to do so until the Holy Spirit endows the necessary grace, which he will not do while the sin is being committed.
To phrase this another way, I will quote from the Smyth & Helwys Bible commentary Hebrews-James (2004): “This impossibility is not stated in psychological terms, in terms of limits upon human experience. It is not even stated in theological terms per se that limit God’s sovereignty. It is stated in logical terms […] Christ’s death is decisive; it is the only way to genuine cleansing of conscience and forgiveness of sin. Those who reject that foundation have rejected the necessary presupposition of repentance. By definition, then, they cannot repent—it is not possible.”
Thus, were the Holy Spirit to restore the grace necessary for repentance, then the apostate would again desire to repent, in which case Hebrews 6 no longer applies to them. At the time of the universal reconciliation, this grace will be given to all (cf. Is 45:22-23, Phil 2:9-11), even those in Hades, which indicates that an absolute, permanent, unconditional falling away is not something that will happen to anyone.
In v. 7-8, the author of Hebrews makes this comparison: “Ground that drinks up the rain falling on it repeatedly, and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and on the verge of being cursed; its end is to be burned over.” Remember that, as explained above, the purpose of fire in Scripture is not to torment, but to purify. The figurative ‘thorns and thistles’ are burned away, but that does not preclude new growth in the same place.
If you value patristic commentary at all, it is worth noting that John Chrysostom and Thomas Aquinas, among others, understood this passage to mean that one cannot receive the sacrament of baptism a second time, not that one cannot repent after being baptized. They explicitly repudiated the notion that those who have fallen away from the faith are guaranteed damnation, ascribing this teaching to the Novatian heresy.
Revelation 14:10-11, 19:2-3, 19:20, and 20:10: the Beast and his followers
These verses mention an “eternal” punishment, but the wording here is different: it lasts εἰς αἰῶνας αἰώνων or αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, roughly “to the ages of ages”. The fact that this distinction exists is proof that αἰώνων by itself must be a lesser descriptor of time and thus finite, but that does not help us to understand Revelation itself. Is the phrase “to the ages of ages” a Koine Greek idiom to mean “for eternity”? There is no particular reason to think it must be, just like how the English phrases “for years and years” or “for ages” also do not necessarily imply eternity (in fact, usually this kind of idiom is specifically intended to mean an indefinite but finite amount of time; e.g. “our math homework took ages to finish without a calculator”).
The fact is that Scripture simply does not actually tell us how many aions there will be, so there is no basis to determine where any human being will be in the ‘last’ one (if there even is a last one).
Infernalists sometimes cite the “book of life” mentioned numerous times in Revelation as proof that not all will be saved, e.g. “nothing unclean will enter it [New Jerusalem], nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rv 21:27). As shown above, the lake of fire is not an eternal dwelling; its fires are a temporary cleansing so that those within can be made clean for the Kingdom of Heaven. Hence, there is nothing incriminating about verses like “anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rv 20:15). Christian universalists agree that there will be a judgment and purification for the wicked, but as seen from the ample evidence above, the purpose of this is to benevolently save those enslaved to sin, not to exhibit arbitrary cruelty against them.
There is some confusion about this topic, because many theologians have understood the “book of life” to refer to an immutable list of people whom God has predestined will be saved. Actually, we can see that names can be removed from this list (e.g. Rv 3:5: “If you conquer, you will be clothed like them in white robes, and I will not blot your name out of the book of life”), which means names can also be added to it as well. The reason it is a βίβλος (biblos, book or scroll) is precisely because it is not immutable, much unlike a πλάξ (plax, stone tablet) or other symbols that convey unchangeability.
So it is perfectly reasonable to conclude that those in Gehenna/the lake of fire will have their names added to the book of life once their cleansing is complete. How can we be sure? Because this punishment is referred to as the “second death” (Rv 20:6, 20:14, 21:8), but we know it was prophesied that God “will swallow up death forever” (Is 25:8), which, according to Paul, will be accomplished at the final resurrection: “When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory'” (1 Cor 15:54). If some are in the “second death” for eternity, then these prophesies will never be accomplished.
All shall be saved
Now that the pro-infernalism passages have been refuted, infernalists now need to account for the numerous places where the universal salvation is promised and proclaimed:
- Isaiah 45:22-23: “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.’”
- Philippians 2:9-11: “Therefore God also highly exalted him [Christ] and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
These passages all make it clear that everyone will worship God at the end of time. One might argue that the damned will be forced to worship God for a brief moment before being consigned to eternal torment, but that would be a violation of their supposed free will, which is the one and only thing that most infernalists claim makes eternal punishment fair. Remember: “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” and “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom 10:9-13); Paul in no way restricts these statements to exclude those in Hades or Gehenna.
- Psalm 103:9: “[The Lᴏʀᴅ] will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger forever”.
- Lamentations 3:31: “the Lᴏʀᴅ will not reject forever.”
- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8: “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful […] Love never ends.”
These verses are simply lies if God imposes a punishment that lasts forever.
- Psalm 145:21: “My mouth will speak the praise of the Lᴏʀᴅ, and all flesh will bless his holy name for ever and ever.”
- John 12:32: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will ἑλκύσω [drag] all people to myself.’” (My article “I will drag all people to myself” (John 12:32) discusses this passage’s universalist implications.)
- Galatians 3:8: “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.’”¹
- Colossians 1:19-20: “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.”
- 1 Timothy 2:5-6: “there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all“.
- Titus 2:11-14: “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.”
Infernalists argue that the ‘all’ in the above passages mean really ‘all kinds of people’ and ‘all our [the elect’s] sins’, but that interpretation beggars belief. The Greek words for ‘all’ used in the above verses are πᾶν [pan], or other declensions of the same word (πάντα, πάντων, πᾶσιν, etc.). There are some instances where it sounds better in English to render these as ‘every kind’, but there is no implication at all that it would exclude some individuals within those categories; it would require the author to mention what the exceptions are, and in context, none of them do that.
- 1 Corinthians 15:22: “for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.”
- Romans 5:18: “Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.”
- Romans 11:25-32: “I want you to understand this mystery: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved […] For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.”
These verses are using a literary device called parallelism, and it makes no sense if the first ‘all’ is not equivalent to the second ‘all’. Consider this sentence: “For as all guitarists must understand rhythm, so too must all guitarists understand tone”; certainly no reasonable person would think that there exists some guitarists who must only understand one and not the other, because the ‘all’ is clearly the same amount in both clauses. So if not ‘all’ are made alive, justified, and shown mercy, then neither are ‘all’ dead in Adam, condemned, and imprisoned in disobedience.
Also, notice the causative relationship between disobedience and mercy in Romans 11:32. Paul did not write: “God has imprisoned all in disobedience, YET he may be merciful to all”. Rather, all are made disobedient “SO THAT” he may be merciful to all. If universalism is untrue, then this would mean God failed in his cause.
- 1 John 2:1-2: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”
If a lot of people are going to Hell for eternity, then evidently the sins of the “whole world” were not atoned, just those of the elect; yet this verse quite explicitly says “and not for ours only”.
- 1 Timothy 4:9-11: “The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. These are the things you must insist on and teach.”
Clearly this means there are people who will be saved despite not believing in the Savior (at least at this moment). Infernalists believe Paul meant to write “the living God, who is the potential Savior of all people, but actually only of those who believe”, but I choose to trust what Paul actually wrote over such outlandish mental gymnastics. (I also find it interesting that this passage is one of the few times in the New Testament where something is said to “must” be insisted upon and taught.)
- Acts 3:19-21: “Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Jesus, who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration [ἀποκαταστάσεως πάντων] that God announced long ago through his holy prophets.”
ἀποκαταστάσεως means something along the lines of “restore to a pristine state”. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon says that this can be interpreted as how a sick person is healed back to a healthy state. πάντων, as mentioned above, means ‘everyone’ or ‘everything’ without any implied exceptions. So, in this passage, Peter is saying something along the lines of: “Repent of your sins because a] you will be relieved of your sins and refreshed by the Lord, and b] that preempts the Second Coming, which will be when God fulfills his promise of healing/restoring all things/people.” Obviously all people will not be healed if many are sentenced to eternal damnation.
- Isaiah 25:6-8: “On this mountain the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord Gᴏᴅ will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lᴏʀᴅ has spoken.”
Infernalists allege that Matthew 13:42 (“the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”) is referring to eternal damnation, yet God promised that he will wipe away the tears from all faces. This passage cannot be interpreted to mean that this is done just for the elect, because Isaiah says this will happen “for all peoples” and “all faces”, and does not specifically talk “his [God’s] people” until after those statements.
Moreover, death cannot be “swallowed up” “forever” if the damned will be dead for eternity. How could one argue that it makes sense to proclaim X is ‘swallowed’ when only a small percent of X is consumed and the rest is thrown in the trash? (If my kids tried that one on me with their dinner vegetables, i.e. they took a tiny nibble but dumped the rest in the trash and said it has all been ‘swallowed’ without further comment, I would consider that an unambiguous lie.)
- Luke 2:10-11: “the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.'”
If infernalists are correct, this “good news of great joy” for “all the people” will be that they’re in severe danger of eternal torment and will probably have to watch many of their beloved family and friends be consigned to it. That is more like ‘half-great, half-horrifying news for some and catastrophically abysmal news for the rest’. Universalists choose to believe in the Gospel (“Good News”), not yfelspel (“vile news”).
An infernalist might rebut that the good news is that instead of nobody being saved from eternal punishment, that at least some people will. As a matter of fact, though, the Pharisees of 1st century Judea already taught and believed that the righteous would be given immortality at the resurrection of the dead, in accordance with the Books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Partial salvation from eternal death would not be particularly good news for them.
- Luke 3:6: “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
“Salvation” is not a physical phenomenon that can be literally seen with human eyes. Certainly it must be understood that “seeing” God’s salvation means to experience it. Hence why it is “good news of great joy for all the people” (Lk 2:10).
- Romans 6:17-18: “… you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness…” (all of chapter 6 is about this same topic)
In this chapter of Romans, Paul establishes a dichotomy: either we are slaves to sin and death, or to Christ. Slaves do not have freedom and cannot make free choices, so how could a fair God condemn sinners for the slavery they were born into?
- Isaiah 46:9-10: “I am God, there is no other; I am God, there is none like me. At the beginning I declare the outcome; from of old, things not yet done. I say that my plan shall stand, I accomplish my every desire” (New American Bible: Revised Edition).²
- 1 Timothy 2:3-4: “This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
- 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.”
God accomplishes his every desire, and he desires all to be saved. The only question is if the passage from Isaiah is translated properly. The “I accomplish my every desire” line is “וְכָל־חֶפְצִ֖י אֶעֱשֶֽׂה” in the Hebrew and “πάντα, ὅσα βεβούλευμαι, ποιήσω” in the Greek. An extremely literal translation of the Hebrew gives us: “the whole of/every/all my desire [or ‘pleasure’] I will do”, and an extremely literal translation of the Greek is “all just as I planned/determined I will do/make”. I think either way it’s clear that God is saying he gets what he wants, and what he wants is universal salvation. Universalists do not believe in a god that is too weak and impotent to actually save everyone, despite promising to do so.
- Romans 8:38-39: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Note that ignorance, faithlessness, freedom of choice, hardheartedness, etc. are all created things,³ just as much as height and depth are. This passage is incorrect if these created things are, in fact, capable of separating the love of God in Christ from his beloved children.
It is true that in context, Paul seems to only be talking about the elect here, but the magnificent plot twist that comes later at 11:25-36 is when Paul reveals that all of Israel “will be saved” after “the full number of the Gentiles has come in” (v. 25-26), “for God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all” (v. 32); thus retroactively proving that even disobedience will not “be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”.
- Matthew 18:12-13: “What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.”
Ninety-nine sheep is not enough for God, and thus he acts for the salvation of all one-hundred. Everyone understands that Jesus is not referring to literal sheep in this parable, but rather, humankind; yet, it is only universalists who actually believe this to be true.
- 1 John 4:18: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.”
How on earth does this make sense if we are constantly on the precipice of eternal torment? If there is “no fear in love” and “God is love” (v. 8), then logically God would not use fear to make people love him, for that would be a contradiction of his nature, something no less absurd than God sinning.
However, if we do not have to fear the eternal consequences of sin because Jesus thoroughly crushed sin and death by his passion and resurrection (cf. 1 Cor 15:54-57), and that God was not defeated by Satan for the destiny of any human being, then 1 John 4:18 makes perfect sense. This is consistent with Jesus telling us to be unafraid, be without anxiety, and have an untroubled heart (e.g. Mt 6:25-34, Jn 14:27), with Jesus saying “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mt 11:29-30), etc. None of this can be true if eternal damnation happens to anyone.
¹ Perhaps one could argue Galatians 3:8 means ‘some among all nations’, though I would say it probably does not mean that, since Paul here is contrasting those bound by the Mosaic Law with those who aren’t, not the nation of Israel with other nations. The other passages have no context whatsoever that would suggest the ‘all’ has exceptions.
² I chose to quote the NABRE because the NRSV appears to have omitted the word “all” [וְכָל/πάντα] in its translation.
³ Some may dispute this point by arguing that ignorance, faithlessness, etc. are all uncreated things, merely a lack of good. This is not a compelling argument, as I showed in my post Evil’s existence: explanations explored. Paul’s own point would be severely undermined if there were evils capable of separating the love of Christ from all humanity and he is willfully neglecting to mention them.
Yet Another Christian Universalist 