Episode Timestamps:
00:37 Is Universalism Biblical or heretical?
2:50 Abby’s Religious Background
Grew up typical protestant
Switched to Lutheran and Methodist
Church was a ritual she hated
Invited to Evangelical church in high school
No one dressed up
There were no hymnals
They played guitars
And it was more about relationship with God than ritual
About learning, studying, growing
But then in studying, came to stories like God commanding [Saul] to kill every man, woman, and child
Shocked that God would command him to kill babies
More and more stories like that that didn’t sit right built up
Didn’t align with who she knew God to be
“Study and ask questions, but not those kinds of questions.” - leaders Abby talked to at church
Listened to podcasts
Hell
“If you take the idea of Hell really seriously, you can never have peace.” - Abby
“Jesus left paradise to come down and serve the suffering. And so how could He just let people suffer in Hell?” - Abby
“...people, I love, if they were in Hell, what would I do to get them out? How much more would God do that for them?” - Abby
7:23 Scott’s Religious Background
Raised Pentecostcal
Then Foursquare
Hell was a big thing
His churches were big on fire and brimstone
Got married
Driving around with friends, sharing the love of Jesus
Scared for his children’s souls
Learned about annhilationism
1 Timothy 4:10
Started reading Keith Giles
Currently listening to Graces Saves All by David Artman
Would sit in church and worry that those who didn’t go to the altar and repent would die, unsaved, in a car crash on the way home
Fear is not a great motivator for Scott;
And Jesus didn’t go around threatening people
Grace doesn’t mean we do what we want
Fear might motivate some people
Inerrancy
12:42 Ari’s Religious Background
Grew up in black charismatic churches
N-64 trauma
He was in middle school
His Nintendo 64 his most important possession
His game stopped, so he tried blowing on the cartridge
Got so desperate he begged God to make it work
So he told God, “I hate you”
A bit later, pastor preached on blaspheming the Holy Spirit
His aunt died young
In his 20’s, he became agnostic
Slowly rebuilt his faith from the foundation up
Started studying Hell
Decided universalism is
Most moral
Logically consistent
18:38 Craig
Questioned everything since birth
Started understanding liberty, which led to anarchy
“If it’s not consistent, I’m done with it.” - Craig
Jesus was a questioner
22:48ish The Western church is a lot like an empire
Don’t question
“Jesus was not killed by atheism and anarchy. He was brought down by law and order allied with religion – which is always a deadly mix. Beware those who claim to know the mind of God and are prepared to use force, if necessary, to make others conform. Beware those who cannot tell God’s will – from their own.” ~ Barbara Brown Taylor
When the church came to power under Constantine
We served Caesar
Dictatorship
The Western church is more like imperialism than Jesus
26:28 If Jesus said He’s going to save all people, why question whether He means everyone?
Everyone asks, “What about Hitler?”
If God intends to save everyone, He will
He has the power
He has the intention
Romans 3:23
“People believe all sins can be forgiven except a misunderstanding.” - Abby
God is going to restore creation to its original intent
Except this little pocket called Hell
It doesn’t make sense for sin to be eternal
It doesn’t make sense to restore creation to perfection
But have most people – His children – be out of reach
“Why would he restore the entire universe except not allow people who didn't have the correct understanding while they were on earth to come into a right relationship with him?” - Abby
If God is infinitely merciful, why would He not save everyone?
We each have infinite chances
33:53 Death is not finite
“Who says God can't still work on your heart after you've left this earth?” - Abby
34:41 Free will
36:18 More on death
Death is a part of life
It doesn’t last forever
People attempting suicide (successful and not)
Death, where is your victory?
“I'm not gonna feel the pain of this forever. I'm gonna be reunited with the people that I love, regardless of if they had it all figured out here or not.” - Scott ?
37:31 Scriptures for the skeptics
Eternal damnation doesn’t make any sense, when you read Jesus’ words
Burning Up song
If non-believers get time to come to Jesus after they die, do Christians get time to learn more and improve too?
Where do souls go after death before the new Earth?
Perhaps we should leave it a mystery
Some people have died and been revived
But the Bible doesn’t explain the process
Show me where Jesus says if you make a misstep, you’re gonna burn in Hell for eternity
Hebrews 1:3
If Christ is a reflection of the Father
Stop focusing on words from the Bible
“I don't need to read the Bible. I need to read who Christ is.” - Scott
Words are all we have to describe God
Jesus
48:40 Christianity’s power
49:45 Post-death purification
We want to think, “This life is hard. As soon as I die, I’ll go to Heaven and be happy.”
But we must be salted with fire
51:46 Quoting Scripture
“I really do believe that Paul believed that there would be some who would be eternally annihilated, but I also believe that Paul obviously believed that ultimately, everybody would be saved.” - Ari
The problem is, you show someone one verse
Paul said meat sacrificed to idols was ok
John said you need Jesus and the Law
The Bible gives inconsistent eschatology
Paul vacillated between some being annihilated and all being saved
There’s obviously human error
People will say Scripture cannot really mean one thing because it says the opposite somewhere else
If you find something immoral or inconsistent, reject it
Paul believed like a good Jew that some would be annihilated
Other contradiction
In Romans, Paul is arguing one side of a case
1:00:22 Repent
That word is preached to mean turn 180° from your sin
But it means rethink; change
Paul started with black and white; good and evil
Could say that this is Hell and we are currently being purified
And once we get to be with Christ, it’ll be done
But Jesus says His Kingdom is here
We can see His glory here, in this life
1:01:54 Jesus is a peacemaker
Parables of lost things
Lost, found, party
Sons
One squandered his wealth
The other stayed home, but never really knew his father
The father makes peace with each of them
His love never changes for either one
The Prodigal God by Tim Keller
“I need to love these people who are telling me I’m going to Hell.” - Scott
In Scripture, when Jesus gets mad at Pharisees
We are all children of God
1:04:41 Is the Bible meaningless, then?
No
It has deep meaning
The above explanation of the prodigal son revealed new insights
That’s why it has survived empires and centuries
Everyone is searching and discovering
“Loving God with all of your mind is to relentlessly keep questioning and keep trying to figure it out and not be stuck in a spot where you're unwilling to change your mind.” - Craig
The human capacity to get things wrong is endless
People imagine God guiding the authors’ pens as they wrote Scripture
Reality is, people were involved
1:07:54 Biblical cases against universalism
Conditional immortality
Dare We Hope?
Best argument against it
That All Shall Be Saved
Best argument against Hell
If God permits some to be eternally lost, then He is evil
Humans do not exist in a vacuum
We’re shaped by those around us
If one damns itself, others around it might make different choices and end up damned
Could lead to the collapse of humanity
Libertarian freedom is stupid
If God would give us sufficient evidence to see that He is everything we need, everyone would choose Him
The Bible is clear on Hell
Allegory and truths
God is love
Definition of eternal life
We are loved regardless of our good works
Doing good for the sake of doing good
Heaven and Hell is often about
Harmony is loving ourselves and others equally
What’s the point of Jesus dying on the cross if everyone gets in?
God is love, but He is also just
Live your values until people start asking questions