5 MOST COMMON ARGUMENTS AGAINST CHRISTIAN UNIVERSALISM
6-8 min. read on why Christians are so allergic to Universalism and why they may be wrong about it.
Trigger Warning! In this post we’ll discuss the outrageous, heretical idea that loving God will manage to get everyone on the heaven’s board.
I don’t know if I’m being funny, but for some people Christian Universalism really is too much. Wrong. Dangerous. A modern, people-pleasing false gospel.
I’ve been failing to grasp why. I can’t wrap my mind around Calvinism being commonly taken as a view acceptable for a Christian to hold, while Universalism is often seen as a borderline (if only!) heresy, possibly threatening your salvation.
Like, hey, you believe that God created the majority of people only to send them to suffer eternally in hell so he can express his ‘justice’ and ‘sovereignty’ this way? Oh, okay. We may disagree, but that’s fine.
If, however, you think that God’s patient love and justice will eventually see all his creation saved by grace? O-oh! We’ve got a problem here.
Seriously?
Goes a question on Quora. The top answer starts with ‘This is actually a tricky question’.
To finally understand what is so ‘tricky’ about it, I’ve talked to conservative Christians and spent more time than I’d wish surfing the Christian corners of the internet.
The most common objections I encountered can be broken into 5 categories:
1. The ‘Suppressed Puritan’ View:
‘So why are we struggling here, while other people are partying, if in the end it’ll be the same for everyone?’.
That’s a direct quote from one of my in-church conversations. Yes, it is bad. If that’s what you think, you’re probably not doing Christianity right. Living with God is hard for you, you have to follow all these no-fun rules, like not getting wasted on Fridays and perhaps no premarital sex, and you have to forgive that guy when all you want is to kick him in his shinbone. Your only source of joy is picturing your future reward while the now-happy idiots burn in flames. Haha!
That’s admittedly the weakest existing objection to Christian Universalism and I won’t even spend time refuting it on deeper grounds. I only worry that while many are not brave (or stupid) enough to say it out loud, for many it sadly is their main objection, and many only try to cover it with more sophisticated arguments.
2. The ‘Hungry For Justice’ View:
A view clearly expressed in the Christianity Today article linked here.
It basically says the real evil done on this earth cannot go unsolved and unpunished:
or in less abstract terms:
While the sentiment for justice is in the right place here, the understanding of justice and of Universalism are both misled in this case:
– as disgusting as the example of a human-trader’s action is, the suffering caused by this evil will eventually finish. The suffering of the perpetrator in an eternal hell will not. It does not equate to perfect justice.
– Christian Universalism does not deny condemnation or ‘divine making things right’. Universalism only opposes the idea of eternal condemnation (often believing in an opportunity of change available even after ‘the judgement’).
3. The ‘Scared of Comfort’ View:
‘If Universalism is true, you don’t need to preach the Gospel. How convenient.’
This one is close to objection no. 1. You don’t, if you believe that Christianity is all only about the afterlife. Well, it’s not.
Yes. It does. Is that wrong?
Ah, ‘cultural relativism’ feels like ‘terrorism’: if you don’t like something, it is the name by which you will call it.
All paths may ultimately lead to the same destination, but how you get there matters. I can stand up and get to my kitchen in 10 steps; I can face the opposite direction and get there by circling the globe. My choice WILL make a difference. Universalism does not claim all religions and world-views are equally true.
4. The ‘Historical Orthodoxy’ View:
I used to say the Nicene-Constantinopolitan creed every Sunday, but I can’t recall the ‘I believe in the eternal hell’ bit there…
What I mean is that while the eternal hell is present in many Christian doctrines, it is rather secondary to more important parts.
And first of all: universalist views can be easily found in the history of Christian thought. There are proponents of it among Church Fathers and saints like Origen, Clement of Alexandria, St Gregory of Nyssa, and St Isaac the Syrian.
In the Orthodox Church Universalism is a fully acceptable stand to have. You know, the Orthodox Church.
5. The ‘Biblical Authority’ View:
The most common one: here we find Christians concerned about universalists ignoring clear teaching of the Bible.
Throwing verses at each other is a popular sport among brethren. Let me just state that the arsenal of Christian Universalists isn’t lacking compared to the hell enthusiasts’ one.
And if you were taught and conditioned to find eternal flames of hell in the Bible, you will do it with ease. I’ve got a lot of experience listening to Roman Catholics quoting the Bible to support the primacy of the Pope, in-person confession before a priest, or the cult of Mary.
Yes, I know it doesn’t prove or disprove anything yet. Since there is a lot to deal with here, it will be covered in a separate post.
Lastly, for the record, if it matters a bit: I’m not a universalist. I’m an agnostic (surprise!) on that issue. However, I sympathise with the universalists’ ideas and I hope they are right.
I never understood Christians who think Universalism is dangerous and heretical.
After doing my research and writing this post I have to admit I still don’t.
But maybe now I don’t understand them a little bit less.
