Universalism, or even universal salvation, for me, is one place where all
this starts to jump the shark. When we start to conceive of evolution as
moving the universe towards an omega point of perfection, to me, that starts
to get outside the distinctives of a Christian narrative. It seems pretty
clear to me that some will never be saved. I like P's take on Lewis below
about this.
I also wonder about thinking of God' sovereign choice concerning relating to
humanity as a species as "election." "Election," it seems to me, is a
soteriological term, not a general term for God's sovereignty.
On Sat, Feb 23, 2008 at 9:35 AM, Steve Martin <steven.dale.martin@gmail.com>
wrote:
>
> Hi Douglas,
>
> From Polkinghorne's "Science & Christian Belief" ("Faith of a Physicist"
> in the US) - page 171:
>
> It is well known that the NT seems sometimes to speak in universalist
> > terms (eg. Rom 11:32, 1 Cor 15:22) and sometimes in terms of some who will
> > be lost (eg. Matt 25:46, Rom 2:6-11). I cannot believe that God will
> > ever foreclose on his loving offer of mercy, but equally I do not believe he
> > will override the human freedom to refuse. If there is a hell, its
> > doors are locked on the inside. Those who are there are there by
> > choice. It is not a place of torment, but rather a place of exquisite
> > boredom, for it has all the emptiness of life without God.
> >
>
> I think he is echoing CS Lewis here. Also, for clarity I believe JP
> should probably use the term "universal salvation" above (ie. belief that
> all will eventually be saved) rather than the generic universalism which can
> also be interpreted as "All ways lead to God". The latter is (I strongly
> believe) incompatible with Christianity - the former can be, as JP notes,
> defended biblically.
>
> thanks,
>
> On Sat, Feb 23, 2008 at 9:17 AM, Douglas Hayworth <haythere.doug@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Sorry for forgetting to delete the thread of previous posts in my
> > message. If you respond to my post, please don't make my mistake and forget
> > to delete the previous posts in the text body!
> >
> > Doug
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> --
> Steve Martin (CSCA)
> http://evanevodialogue.blogspot.com
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Received on Sat Feb 23 11:48:13 2008
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