An open letter to all who hold universal reconciliation to be true
Is it wrong to ask for Scriptural proof for a doctrine that is stated as fact?
I don't think so. Certainly the Bereans of Acts 17:11 searched the Scriptures to see if a thing was true. The list of questions below is a summery of questions that the believers in universal reconciliation have never given an answer to in all my dealings with them. I will happily remove or edit this list when a proof verse is given in answer for each of the questions below that doesn't twist the original author's meaning (as per James Sire's 20 ways the cults twist Scripture).
I realize that not all of the following is believed by every universalist, but all of the following is believed by some universalists. Therefore, I ask for proof because I can find no evidence of the following in Scripture despite the assertions of universalists:
1) The sins of the wicked being forgiven in the after life.
2) The wicked repenting in the after life.
3) The wicked accepting Jesus Christ in the after life.
4) The wicked avoiding judgment in the after life.
5) The wicked having sin "conditioned" out of them in the after life.
6) God tormenting the wicked in the lake of fire (presumably to condition sin out of the wicked).
7) The wicked getting out of the lake of fire.
8) Nor can I find anywhere that God repents of His judgment on Satan in the afterlife, or anywhere else. Satan was condemned by the Almighty in Genesis chapter three.
9) Nor do I see any evidence that God will acquit any fallen angel ever.
10) Nor do I see all peoples being saved in the after life.
For these reasons I have asked for direct Scriptural support from anybody in the UR camp to support their assertions. At this point, I am left with the understanding that universalists are religious fideists, in that they seem to believe that no Scriptural support or reason based on evidence is necessary to uphold their beliefs beyond their sincere faith that universalism is true.
Since the tactic of "bombing" (like sending a 29 page essay to one simple question) is the most common practice of universalists defense of UR, I have repeatedly asked universalists to provide Scriptural support of any of the above questions with one verse at a time so that we may systematically look at each verse. However this has not yet come to fruition.
Instead universalists tend to argue from silence along with a lot of hemming and hawing. Fine. However, is it up to me to try to prove UR? I'm trying to avoid false dichotomies. Universalists, you do not want me to be your research assistant.
Instead email me a verse, tell me what you believe the verse to mean and I'll examine it closely. Is there any misrepresentation in that?
What I'm not looking for is pages of verses pasted together lacking careful explanation on the part of the universalist because I've no idea what is being talked about when this is done. If you do that, you completely avoid any attempt at seeking common ground. By doing such a thing I figure you're not trying to explain your position to me. Instead pride is fueling a personal desire to feel as though you provided me with an answer. Furthermore, take notice that this is a conversation I started. As such, do not ask irrelevant questions that set up a false dichotomy as they do not forward the conversation and only feed the ego of the questioner. You may as well ask me to speak for God—I'm not going there.
Also I feel that time is a separate question that should be addressed in a separate discussion as it deals more with grammar than exegesis and contextualization. If you desire to discuss Greek grammar with me concerning time, then tell me in your email.
I realize that because all universalists do not believe the same things, I ask that you do not generalize in your reply. State your position. I think all of the questions I've asked above are reasonable—since at one point or another universalists have stated to me that they are facts—but all of my questions may not all apply to every single individual universalist. Please pick one question, support it with one verse, and give me your contextualization of that verse so that we may examine whether universalism is true. Remember, if you have the truth, there is nothing to fear by the examination of it.
Warmly
Eric Landstrom