Beyond Judgement

I’m often surprised how many protests I get from my atheist friends about Christianity that I can effectively deactivate by just saying, “I’m a universalist so I don’t think that.” I write, “deactivate,” instead of, “answer,” because I don’t think many theological questions can be definitively answered with pithy responses. It takes a lifetime of wrestling with God to come up with your own answers.

I’m not going to defend or even provide much of a definition of universalism. I often touch on those issues elsewhere. The topic is enormous and there are 2,000 years of atonement theories that get in the way. But what I generally mean by universalism is that all people will be reconciled to God and that God’s love and grace extends to everyone regardless of their choices and beliefs. Does that mean there’s a heaven for everyone? I don’t know. I just think that I trust God in life, so I trust God in death and whatever happens to me is going to happen to all of God’s children.

You might say that my universalist beliefs are less about the specifics of how the afterlife works and more about a condemnation of traditional views of eternal damnation. God’s love must be perfect, great and their mercy must be all encompassing. Sin and rebellion cannot hold the final word for anyone because Christ’s light shine in and on all of us. So, I don’t know exactly how it works, but I have great suspicions about people who claim they know how it works, especially if their ideas involve a punitive Hell or eternal conscious torment. That’s not what I experience in God.

I’m convinced of universal salvation, not because it answers a lot of tough questions but because it makes logical sense of God’s enduring love and finds a lot of scriptural support. But as a bonus, it does make quick work of some of the common questions I get from my materialist loved ones.

How can God allow so much suffering in the world?

While I generally prefer Plantinga’s free-will defense of the problem of evil, universalism and Jesus’ resurrection also suggests that this is not the end of our experience. We have a God that suffers with us and will somehow reconcile all of us back to God. It allows me to at least answer, “I don’t know,” without the baggage that some people suffer and die pointlessly and then might go to Hell. I’ve heard Bart Ehrman protest something to the effect of, “but won’t there be free will in the afterlife, too?” Ehrman is smarter than I am, but my belief is that we will be fully transformed even in our will. Ehrman would undoubtedly respond, “then why doesn’t God just transform us now?” I just don’t know. I don’t believe or disbelieve in God because of suffering, I believe because I’m convinced by my personal experiences, and the many times God has supernaturally broken through in my life. I must trust that God has some sort of purpose in free will, growth and a kind of divine timing. I have no space in this article to go deeply into my beliefs around this very thorny topic. I’ve said many time that the problem of suffering is in my mind the best argument for atheism. But it does make sense to me that at some point we have to let free will play out in the context of separation from God. At the very least, it seems quite obvious to me that our world is broken, wrong and distorted. Those are just facts, look around. The atheist can, with good reason, claim the suffering is in no way worth it. But just maybe a loving God wants us to exhaust the sinful side of free will as part of our growth and transformation. And even more likely, maybe there is infinitely more in God’s plan than we can describe in philosophy.

How can you worship a God who would condemn people to eternal punishment?

I don’t. This is a common complaint about Christianity that I can easily shut down by being a universalist. Such a God would be evil and not worthy of worship. Even if you believe there is a Hell, that Hell must be a refining process toward eventual redemption. Eternal conscious torment is the most extreme version of Hell and makes no logical sense in a discussion about divine justice. If I lived an utterly deplorable life for 90 years, how could it possibly be just to punish me forever? Universalism lifts up God’s mercy and love. Plus, most atheists like the fact that I’m not then trying to convert them based on fear of Hell. I mean, I still would like to see them follow Christ because I think that is the best expression of our human purpose. But when it comes to the afterlife, I just say, “keep living your life, whatever happens to me happens to you, too.”

Why wouldn’t God save Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, etc.?

God does. At the very least, even the most conservative Christians can understand that it is impossible for every person on earth to hear about Jesus. Sometimes they might argue that these people know God in their heart and so live a righteous life, but then that reeks of salvation by works to me. What makes a lot more sense is that God’s love and grace is so enormous it is available to everyone regardless of their background or belief. If you believe that we are corrupted by sin, then Christian doctrine is also corrupt in many places. We Christians need God’s grace as much – and given much of history probably more – than our non-Christian sisters and brothers.

Then Why Be a Christan?

There is a funny question I sometimes get in response to being a universalist and I get it equally from my atheist and my Christian friends: why even be a Christian then? I understand this a little more from the atheists. I think the assumption they’re making is that we’re just following some weird superstitious rituals so we can enjoy our fantasy of an eternal life. Or negatively, we’re so afraid of Hell that we submit to strange beliefs. If they hold those assumptions, then they can’t understand why we’d practice religion unless there is some payout or divine exchange. They see religion as a sacrifice made for eternal reward. The Christians who ask this question puzzle me a bit more because they not only hold that assumption, but they also live it out.

If you’re a parent, is there anything you wouldn’t do to stay united with your child? Is there anything they could do that would make you want to punish them forever? If you’re not a parent, imagine your spouse, sibling or best friend. You certainly wouldn’t punish them forever, right? Then why do your children and spouse still love you and want to spend time with you? I mean, what’s the point if you’re not going to punish them otherwise. It’s because they love you and want to have a good relationship with you. That’s why I follow my Christian faith. I love Jesus and want to experience closeness with God. And paradoxically it’s also why I don’t really care if you do or not. I practice my faith because I believe that Jesus’ way is the way to become the most fully actualized human right now. I’m not sacrificing anything; I’m striving toward oneness with God and a fulfilment of God’s purpose for my life. If there is no Heaven, fine, I would still follow Jesus for the same reason.

Putting the emphasis back on God’s love and mercy

Universal salvation puts the emphasis back where it needs to be in Christianity, upon the boundless love and mercy we saw in Jesus. I think the Christian faith is uniquely appealing because Jesus shows us a God who wants reconciliation and relationship with us. God wants to repair what’s gone wrong, not punish us for it. Universal salvation is about hope and inclusivity. I cannot imagine God placing any of God’s creation beyond redemption. No part of creation is unworthy. If it was, it would be the fault of the creator, not the creation. Universalism cures some of the exclusivity that plagues modern American Christianity because all are worth of love and God values every single individual. We have no room to judge anyone else.

Thus, universalism – the belief that all will be reconciled to God – inspires compassion inside of every Christian. It makes our interactions more ethical; it drives more love in our lives. We are called to respond to each other the same way God responds. It opens more dialogue with those outside the faith because we become less confrontational and focus more on our shared aspirations for divinely created life.

I’m not a universalist because I want to make my faith more palatable to others. It’s just a nice side effect. Following Jesus is difficult enough. The logic of universalism helps bridge a lot of gaps in different faiths. Many people grapple with enough difficulties – suffering, pain, moral failure – no need for God to pile eternal Hell on top of it. But this idea of aligning our human experience with God, seeking real redemption and meaning, I find has a lot of legs. Like, you know, over 3,000 years of legs.