I am a convinced
universalist. I believe that in the end all men will be gathered into the love
of God. In the early days Origen was the great name connected with universalism.
I would believe with Origen that universalism is no easy thing. Origen believed
that after death there were many who would need prolonged instruction, the
sternest discipline, even the severest punishment before they were fit for the
presence of God. Origen did not eliminate hell; he believed that some people
would have to go to heaven via hell. He believed that even at the end of the
day there would be some on whom the scars remained. He did not believe in
eternal punishment, but he did see the possibility of eternal penalty.
And so the choice is whether we accept God's offer and invitation willingly, or
take the long and terrible way round through ages of purification.
Gregory of Nyssa offered three reasons why he believed in universalism. First,
he believed in it because of the character of God. "Being good,
God entertains pity for fallen man; being wise, he is not ignorant of the means
for his recovery." Second, he believed in it because of the nature of
evil. Evil must in the end be moved out of existence, "so that the
absolutely non-existent should cease to be at all." Evil is essentially
negative and doomed to non-existence. Third, he believed in it because of the
purpose of punishment. The purpose of punishment is always remedial. Its aim
is "to get the good separated from the evil and to attract it into the
communion of blessedness." Punishment will hurt, but it is like the fire
which separates the alloy from the gold; it is like the surgery which removes
the diseased thing; it is like the cautery which burns out that which cannot be
removed any other way.
But I want to set down not the arguments of others but the thoughts which have
persuaded me personally of universal salvation.
First, there is the fact that there are things in the New Testament which more
than justify this belief. Jesus said: "I, when I am lifted up from the
earth, will draw all men to myself" (John 12:32). Paul writes to
the Romans: "God has consigned all men to disobedience that he
may have mercy on all" (Rom. 11:32). He writes to the
Corinthians: "As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all
be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:22); and he looks to the final total triumph
when God will be everything to everyone (1 Cor. 15:28). In the First Letter to
Timothy we read of God "who desires all men to be saved and to
come to the knowledge of the truth," and of Christ Jesus "who gave
himself as a ransom for all" (1 Tim 2:4-6). The New Testament
itself is not in the least afraid of the word all.
Second, one of the key passages is Matthew 25:46 where it is said that the
rejected go away to eternal punishment, and the righteous to eternal
life. The Greek word for punishment is kolasis, which was not
originally an ethical word at all. It originally meant the pruning of trees to
make them grow better. I think it is true to say that in all Greek secular
literature kolasis is never used of anything but remedial punishment.
The word for eternal is aionios. It means more than everlasting, for
Plato - who may have invented the word - plainly says that a thing may be
everlasting and still not be aionios. The simplest way to out it is
that aionios cannot be used properly of anyone but God; it is the word
uniquely, as Plato saw it, of God. Eternal punishment is then literally that
kind of remedial punishment which it befits God to give and which only God can
give.
Third, I believe that it is impossible to set limits to the grace of God. I
believe that not only in this world, but in any other world there may be, the
grace of God is still effective, still operative, still at work. I do not
believe that the operation of the grace of God is limited to this world. I
believe that the grace of God is as wide as the universe.
Fourth, I believe implicitly in the ultimate and complete triumph of God, the
time when all things will be subject to him, and when God will be everything to
everyone (1 Cor. 15:24-28). For me this has certain consequences. If one man
remains outside the love of God at the end of time, it means that that one man
has defeated the love of God - and that is impossible. Further, there is only
one way in which we can think of the triumph of God. If God was no more than a
King or Judge, then it would be possible to speak of his triumph, if his
enemies were agonizing in hell or were totally and completely obliterated and
wiped out. But God is not only King and Judge, God is Father - he is
indeed Father more than anything else. No father could be happy while there
were members of his family for ever in agony. No father would count it a triumph
to obliterate the disobedient members of his family. The only triumph a father
can know is to have all his family back home. The only victory love can enjoy
is the day when its offer of love is answered by the return of love. The only
possible final triumph is a universe loved by and in love with God.
[Quoted from William Barclay: A Spiritual Autobiography, pg
65-67, William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1977.]