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Christian Universalism

Jason76Jason76
in General Vatican Issues & Pope Francis Debates Posts: 10
A small group of Christians believes eventually all people will come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ.   In fact, they think hell is really a form of purgatory and the flames are metaphoric, not real.  Some of their arguments seem rather convincing.  For instance, they claim a loving God would not command punishment that never ends, mainly cause it's cruel and is not a form of correction.  Correction is something that has to end at some point.
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Comments

  • MarthaMartha
    Posts: 36
    Being in hell is an eternal punishment for separation from God, not a correction. God has given us free will and it's up to us to make a decision on which way we want to go. Are we for God or are we of this world? if we choose to be for God, then we must live up to God's standards, believe what Jesus taught us, and follow God's commandments. If we choose to give in to the world and turn back from our faith, then we must pay the price of the separation with eternal damnation in hell. That is something that has been explicitly stated in the bible whereas the claims of these so called 'Christian' groups aren't.

    Luke 16:25 shows us how a great chasm that has been set in place makes it impossible to move from hell to heaven and otherwise:

    25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your
    lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but
    now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between
    us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go
    from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’


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  • HappyFishHappyFish
    Posts: 14
    This is an interesting idea.  It's a rather nice one, in fact.  It acknowledges that people make mistakes and bad decisions, but that everyone has hope in the end.  Speculation on the Bible has been divided for quite some time as to how literally one sees it.  Some see it as myth and metaphor, some take every word as perfect, but most of us fit somewhere in between this.  I think it depends on what your idea of God's overall plan is, and what He has in mind for us.
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