Podcasts about universal salvation

God is loving and merciful, not judgmental and cruel Welcome back to Gnostic Insights and the Gnostic Reformation on Substack. Last week I began sharing with you what is essentially a book report on the book called That All Shall Be Saved, Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation by David Bentley Hart, and he's the translator of the New Testament that I've been using. So, last week we got up to page 21 out of this book, and now I'm all the way up to page 85, so we'll see what happened in this latest round of reading. Now, David Bentley Hart's style of writing may not be for everyone. It's very academic, very high-minded and educated and erudite—difficult to follow if you're not accustomed to reading scholastic writing. But I believe his heart's in the right place, and I agree with pretty much everything he says. I will do my best to reinterpret what he is saying in simpler words, in case you're interested in the content, but not in its delivery method. So, picking it up on page 21, Hart says, And what could be more absurd than the claim that God's ways so exceed comprehension, that we dare not presume even to distinguish benevolence from malevolence in the divine, inasmuch as either can result in the same endless excruciating despair? Here the docile believer is simply commanded to nod in acquiescence, quietly and submissively, to feel moved at a strange and stirring obscurity, and to accept that, if only he or she could sound the depths of this mystery, its essence would somehow be revealed as infinite beauty and love. A rational person capable of that assent, however, of believing all of this to be a paradox concealing a deeper, wholly coherent truth, rather than a gross contradiction, has probably suffered such chronic intellectual and moral malformation that he or she is no longer able to recognize certain very plain truths, such as the truth that he or she has been taught to approve of divine deeds that, were they reduced to a human scale of action, would immediately be recognizable as expressions of unalloyed spite. And he's talking about the idea that most everyone and everything is going to hell and will suffer eternal torment. That is an interpretation or misinterpretation of the word brought about by incorrect translation of the original Coptic. Most of our Bible translations come off of old Latin Vulgate translations, and then they've been modernized. But that's how errors are brought forward. And what Hart has done in his New Testament translation is go back to the original, very oldest transcripts, still in Greek, before they were translated to Latin. And he did what he called a pitilessly accurate translation, where Hart was not trying to make the words that are being translated fit into a predetermined doctrine, like everyone going to hell, or like the Trinity, or eternal damnation. These things we've been taught to believe are in the Scripture, but when you actually go back to the original Scriptures prior to the Latin translations, they are not in the Scripture. And so this book that I'm doing the book report on here, That All Shall Be Saved, this is about universal salvation, and doing away with the idea. And he says in this section I just read you, that it is a malevolent idea, unalloyed spite, unalloyed meaning pure spite on the part of God, that's going to send everyone to hell that doesn't get it. And that we have been commanded by the Church over the last 2,000 years to just nod our heads and say, oh, well, it's God's will, or oh, well, how can I presume to distinguish benevolence from malevolence, good intention from bad intention on the part of God, because God is so great and good. We're supposed to be docile believers, to acquiesce, that is, to go along with, to quietly and submissively accept that we don't get it, that we don't understand the depths of the mystery, and someday we will, and that God is good, and God is just, and therefore everyone's going to hell, except for those few preordained elect from before time began. So this book is entirely against that proposition. So moving on, what I did was I read the book through, and I've highlighted the parts that seem worth sharing or very interesting. Now we're jumping to page 35, where he says that certain people, of my acquaintance who are committed to what is often called an intellectualist model of human liberty, as I am myself, [he says], but who also insist that it is possible for a soul freely to reject God's love with such perfect perpiscuity of understanding and intention as to merit eternal suffering. And we can tell from the context that perpiscuity means you get it. So he's saying, how is it even possible for a soul to freely reject the love of God and consign oneself into eternal torment? It just doesn't work. It's not possible. He says, this is an altogether dizzying contradiction. In simplest terms, that is to say, they, [that is, the intellectualists], want to assert that all true freedom is an orientation of the rational will toward an end that the mind takes in some sense to be the good, and so takes also as the one end that can fulfill the mind's nature and supply its desires. This means that the better the rational will knows the Good, and that's a capital G, Good, for what it is, the more that is that the will is freed from those forces that distort reason and lead the soul toward improper ends. The more it will long for and seek after the true good in itself, and conversely, the more rationally it seeks the good, the freer it is. He says that in terms of the great Maximus the Confessor, who lived from 580 to 660, the natural will within us, which is the rational ground of our whole power of volition, must tend only toward God as its true end, for God is goodness as such, whereas our gnomic or deliberative will can stray from him, but only to the degree that it has been blinded to the truth of who he is and what we are, and as a result has come to seek a false end as the true end. In short, sin requires some degree of ignorance, and ignorance is by definition a diverting of the mind and will to an end they would not naturally pursue. So, in other words, we all want what's best for ourself, even in the most selfish sense, even in the most egoic sense. The ego wants what is best for this person that it is part of, that that is the rational end of the ego's striving, what is best, and that there is a thing called good in the absolute sense, and if we realize that, then we would strive toward the good, by definition. Carrying on, page 37, I'm not saying that we do not in some very significant sense make our own exceedingly substantial voluntary contributions to our estrangement from the good in this life. And, see, he's just saying we all screw up. Even if we are seeking the good, we often fall backwards into the bad, okay? Up to a certain point, [he says], it is undeniable, but past that point it is manifest falsehood. There is no such thing as perfect freedom in this life, or perfect understanding, and it is sheer nonsense to suggest that we possess limitless or unqualified liberty. Therefore, we are incapable of contracting a limitless or unqualified guilt. There are always extenuating circumstances. Well, in a sense, that's true of all of us and all of our circumstances. We are a product of our environment, to some extent. But don't forget that in the Gnostic view, we also contain the pure goodness of God, the capital S Self, that reflects the Fullness of God. So we do know what goodness is, even if we are surrounded by badness. Quoting Hart again, page 40, Here though, I have to note that it is a thoroughly modern and wholly illogical notion that the power of absolutely unpremised liberty, obeying no rationale except its own spontaneous volition toward whatever end it might pose for itself, is either a real logical possibility or, in any meaningful sense, a proper definition of freedom. See? He's saying it's thoroughly modern and wholly illogical to think that we have complete freedom of will, and that we can choose to follow any unethical or immoral end that we wish to, because what's it matter? One choice being pretty much the same as another, you see. He goes on to say, in page 40, A choice made without rationale is a contradiction in terms. At the same time, any movement of the will prompted by an entirely perverse rationale would be, by definition, wholly irrational. Insane, that is to say. And therefore, no more truly free than a psychotic episode. The more one is in one's right mind, the more that is that one is conscious of God as the goodness that fulfills all beings. And the more one recognizes that one's own nature can have its true completion and joy nowhere but in Him, and the more one is unfettered by distorting misperceptions, deranged passions, and the encumbrances of past mistakes, the more inevitable is one's surrender to God, liberated from all ignorance, emancipated from all the adverse conditions of this life, the rational soul could freely will only its own union with God, and thereby its own supreme beatitude. We are, as it were, doomed to happiness, so long as our natures follow their healthiest impulses unhindered. And we cannot not will the satisfaction of our beings in our true final end, a transcendent good lying behind and beyond all the proximate ends we might be moved to pursue. This is no constraint upon the freedom of the will, coherently conceived. It is simply the consequence of possessing a nature produced by and for the transcendent good, a nature whose proper end has been fashioned in harmony with a supernatural purpose. God has made us for Himself, as Augustine would say, and our hearts are restless till they rest in Him. A rational nature seeks a rational end, truth, which is God Himself. The irresistibility of God for any soul that has been truly set free is no more a constraint placed upon its liberty than is the irresistible attraction of a flowing spring to fresh water in a desert place to a man who is dying of thirst. To choose not to drink in that circumstance would not be an act of freedom on his part, but only a manifestation of the delusions that enslave him and force him to inflict violence upon himself, contrary to his nature. Do you follow the reasoning there? That boils down to simply saying it is logical. Even Mr. Spock would find it logical for a human to pursue the good in its own best interests, and that it is illogical, illogical all the way to insanity, to refuse the good, to refuse what is best for you. It's a manifestation of insanity, to refuse the love of God. How's that for laying it out? I really appreciate logic, you know, because this is a logical universe. If the laws of physics and chemistry didn't hold true to logic, and that includes math, you see, 2 plus 2 equals 4, etc., all the way through all the difficult math, the quantum physics, and the string theory, and so forth, this is a logical universe based upon the Aeon known as Logos, logic. And so, therefore, to reject logic, it's not smart, it's not clever, it's not freedom. And, by the way, this is about the level of pushback I see in, for example, YouTube comments that reject the gospel. They're pretty much on the order of, oh, yeah, I can die of thirst if I want to, so F off. Okay, well, good luck with that, right? Carrying on, page 43. None of this should need saying, to be honest. We should all already know that whenever the term justice and eternal punishment are set side by side as if they were logically compatible, the boundaries of the rational have been violated. If we were not so stupefied by the hoary and venerable myth that eternal damnation is an essential element of the original Christian message, and then he says in parentheses, which, not to spoil later plot developments here, it is not, we would not even waste our time on so preposterous a conjunction. From the perspective of Christian belief, the very notion of a punishment that is not intended ultimately to be remedial is morally dubious, and he says in parentheses, and I submit anyone who doubts this has never understood Christian teaching at all. But even if one believes that Christianity makes room for the condign imposition, [and condign means proper or fitting], imposition of purely retributive punishments, it remains the case that a retribution consisting in unending suffering, imposed as recompense for the actions of a finite intellect and will, must be by any sound definition disproportionate, unjust, and at the last, nothing more than an expression of sheer pointless cruelty. And of course, I do find that attitude on the part of Christians I talk to and try to explain the idea of universal salvation being Christ's true mission, that all shall be redeemed, every knee shall bow. They'd much rather send people to hell, and when you see their faces as they're saying it, it's not, oh, you know, I'm so sorry that it's this way and my heart breaks, but I'm afraid they're all going to hell. It's not like that at all. It's like, damn straight, they deserve to go to hell. Now, you take that kind of anger and cruelty when you consider that they are advocating unending, excruciating pain and punishment, and then you try to say that that is God's will, that goodness incorporates unending punishment. And Hart's saying, indeed, especially unending punishment that isn't for remediation, isn't to make them a better person, but simply to make them hurt. And who are you punishing? Finite beings with limited time and intelligence and ability to reason with things that happened in their past. Maybe they were brought up by someone very cruel who taught them cruelty, and so they carry on cruelty. And then that the God of all love and the God of all justice would send them to hell for eternal torment. And up until quite recently, even babies who were unbaptized would be sent to hell for eternal torment. And then someone came up with the idea of a baby purgatory where unbaptized babies never get to go to heaven, but they're not going to be eternally punished either. They're just going to go to a baby land where they're held apart from the rest of the redeemed. Well, really? That's hardly any better. I mean, it's somewhat better, but why shouldn't these pure babies who pretty much incorporate the Fullness of the Self and love of God, why wouldn't God want them back? You see, it doesn't make any sense. And if you're a Christian listening to me today who has had niggling doubts about certain things, and one of them being this idea of grandma being in hell and in the midst of eternal torture now because she wouldn't listen to your preaching, you can relax about it. Because we are the sower of seeds, but we are not the harvester. It is Christ who harvests the souls, who brings them all home. Back to Hart here again. On page 47, he says, Once more, not a single one of these attempted justifications for the idea of an eternal hell actually improves the picture of God with which the infernalist orthodoxy presents us. And he uses the word infernalist for like the infernal torments of hell. So an infernalist is someone who believes folks are going to hell for eternity. So he says, Once more, not a single one of these attempted justifications for the idea of an eternal hell actually improves the picture of God with which the infernalist orthodoxy presents us. And it is this that should be the chief concern of any believer. All of these arguments still oblige one to believe that a benevolent and omnipotent God would willfully create rational beings destined for an endless torment that they could never, in any rational calculus of personal responsibility, earn for themselves. And to believe also that this somehow is essential to the good news Christianity brought into the world. Isn't it true? When you're in church and you hear the preacher preaching a very nice, very good message about relationships or about moral virtue, and then there is a plea and a threat at the end that if you are sitting in the congregation and you have not accepted Christ as your personal Savior, you may go out and die this afternoon and go to hell. It's not right. It's contradictory. It is not the pure will of God. Page 47 goes on to say, In the end, there is only one logical terminus toward which all these lines of reasoning can lead: When all the possible paths of evasion have tapered away among the weeds, one has to stop, turn around, retrace one's steps back to the beginning of the journey, and finally admit that, if there really is an eternal hell for finite spirits, then it has to be the case that God condemns the damned to endless misery not on account of any sane proportion between what they are capable of meriting and how he chooses to requite them for their sins, but solely as a demonstration of his power to do as he wishes. Now, by the way, when I read the Old Testament, I see that that is often the attitude that Jehovah has towards his subjects. He commands things because he can, and he wants obedience because he wants obedience. Remember, the Demiurge controls through strong strings. He does not approve of willpower. Willpower is messy. Willpower means not obeying the will of God, and he wants to be the sayer of our souls. But the God Above All Gods, the Gnostic God, outranks the Old Testament God. The God Above All Gods is the Father who begat the Son. The Demiurge keeps chaos at bay by forbidding free will in his subjects And so when Jesus says, I and my Father are one, he's not talking about the Old Testament God. He's talking about the God Above All Gods, the originator of consciousness, of love, of life, of free will. And we are all fractals of that Father. Through the Son, through the Fullness of God, we are fractals of all of those powers of the Father–stepped down, because we're smaller fractals. So we all have to return to the Father in the end. When we loose these mortal coils and we're no longer bound to the material that deludes us, then we can finally return to the Father again. So onward and upward is not a trap. Onward and upward is freedom. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. So back to this idea of the Old Testament God enjoying his omnipotent sovereignty. On page 48, Hart is talking about Calvin and predestination. And he says, in book three of Calvin's Institutes, he even asserts that God predestined the human fall from grace, precisely because the whole of everything, creation, fall, redemption, judgment, the eternal bliss of heaven, the endless torments of hell, and whatever else, exists solely for the sake of a perfect display of the full range of God's omnipotent sovereignty, which for some reason absolutely must be displayed. He goes on to say he doesn't know how to respond to that, because, I know it to be based on a notoriously confused reading of Scripture, one whose history goes all the way back to the late Augustine, a towering genius whose inability to read Greek and consequent reliance on defective Latin translations turned out to be the single most tragically consequential case of linguistic incompetence in Christian history. In equal part, however, it is because I regard the picture of God thus produced to be a metaphysical absurdity, a God who is at once supposedly the source of all things, and yet also the one whose nature is necessarily thoroughly polluted by arbitrariness. And no matter how orthodox Calvinists might protest, there is no other way to understand the story of election and dereliction that Calvin tells, which would mean that in some sense he is a finite being, that is God, in whom possibility exceeds actuality, and the irrational exceeds the rational. A far greater concern than either of these theological defects, either the deeply misguided scriptural exegesis or the inept metaphysics of the divine, it is the moral horror in such language. So that's as far as we're going to go today. In next week's continuance of this train of thought, Hart will talk about the difference between the God Above All Gods, essentially, even though Hart's not calling himself a Gnostic. When he speaks of God, or Goodness with capital G, he is speaking of the God Above All Gods. And when he contrasts it with the God of Calvin and Augustine in the Old Testament, that is the Demiurgic God. I've noticed that many modern people seem to think of God as a yin-yang type of completion, that is, where evil balances good, where darkness is necessary to balance light, where the purpose of humanity, or what happens here in humanity, is that we are instantiating strife and struggle and evil for the teaching of God, for the completion of God. That is not right. That's wrong theology, folks. Our God is all goodness, and there is no evil that emanates from God. Well, where did evil come from then? It's merely the absence of good. So evil is the absence of goodness. The archons are the shadows of the Aeons. And when the light fully comes and fills all of space, the shadows will disappear, and the light comes along with the love. And so that's our job, to realize that universal and ethereal love, and to so let our light shine and our lives shine with love, that the Demiurge will be eventually won over. And as for the shadows, every time we bring light into the world, we're diminishing the power of the Demiurge. We're shining light onto a shadow and evaporating it. Next week, we'll pick this up for part three of That All Shall Be Saved by David Bentley Hart. Let me know what you think of this. Send me some comments. Onward and upward. God bless us all. »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»> Please buy my book–A Simple Explanation of the Gnostic Gospel. In this book you will find the original Christian theology as taught by Jesus before the Catholic Church and the Emperor of Rome got their hands on it. A Simple Explanation of the Gnostic Gospel is for seekers and scholars alike. The language is as simple and accessible as I could make it, even though the subject matter is profoundly deep. The book is available in all formats, including paperback, hardcover, and kindle. The audio book narrated by Miguel Conner of Aeon Byte Gnostic Radio is also available on amazon. And please request that your local library carry the book—it's available to all libraries and independent book sellers. Buy the book! Available in all formats and prices…

I thought today I would share with you a book by David Bentley Hart. Hart wrote that translation of the New Testament that I'm very much enjoying, because it mirrors the same language that the Gnostic gospel uses in the Nag Hammadi codices, particularly the Tripartite Tractate, which is what I share with you here at Gnostic Insights. David Bentley Hart is extremely eloquent and erudite. His prose puts me to shame. He is a great writer and a brilliant mind. He's an Eastern Orthodox scholar of religion and a philosopher. And the deal is, he does seem to love God. So his philosophy and his theology goes through what seems to me to be a very Gnostic heart and orientation on his part. So I'm reading this book now called, That All Shall Be Saved, Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation, because I could tell from reading the footnotes in his New Testament that he and I agree on this universal salvation. I seem to be coming at it from a different place than he does. My major reason why everyone and everything that's living now will return to heaven is that everything comes from heaven. So if everything doesn't return to heaven in the end, if most of it, as a matter of fact, was thrown into eternal fires of torment, well, God itself would be lessened. The Father would be less than he was at the beginning, and that's an impossibility, because the Father was, is, and ever shall be the same. He is not diminished by the love and consciousness and life that flows out of him. But if that life, love, and consciousness winds up in a black hole at the bottom of an eternal pit of torment, well, there's so many things wrong with that statement, just absolutely wrong. And that's what David Bentley Hart's book is all about, and he has several ways he's going to explain why that can't be so. The reason I say it can't be so is that all consciousness, life, and love come from the Father. So in the big roll-up, if we accept the proposition that there will be an end to this material existence, which is what all Christians and Jews profess, and if everything that emanated from the Father in the beginning, beginning with the Son, which is the first and only direct emanation, and then everything else emanates through the Son, well, if it doesn't return at the end of material time, then the Father and the ethereal plane would be diminished, because it poured out all of this love and consciousness into this material realm, and it all has to return. The Tripartite Tractate says that everything that existed from the beginning will return at the end of time. In verses 78 and 79 of the Tripartite Tractate, it's speaking about the shadows that emerged from Logos after the Fall, and it says, Therefore their end will be like their beginning, from that which did not exist they are to return once again to the shadows. “Their end will be like their beginning,” in that they didn't come from above—they were shadows of the fallen Logos. And so when the light comes and shines the light, the shadows disappear. Furthermore, in verses 80 and 81, the Tripartite Tractate says, The Logos, being in such unstable conditions, that is, after the Fall, did not continue to bring forth anything like emanations, the things which are in the Pleroma, the glories which exist for the honor of the Father. Rather, he brought forth little weaklings, hindered by the illnesses by which he too was hindered. It was the likeness of the disposition which was a unity, that which was the cause of the things which do not exist from the first. So these shadows didn't exist in the Pleroma; they were shadows, they were imitations of the unity which existed from the first, and that unity is the Fullness of God—the Aeons of the Fullness of God. And it is only these shadows that will be evaporated at the end of time, that will not go to the ethereal plane. All living things will, because we're not shadows of the Fall. We are actually sent down from the unity, from the Fullness of God, with life, consciousness, and love. And so all of that has to return to the Father. So that is where I'm coming from, that God can't be lessened, made less than it was at the beginning. So everything will be redeemed and returned. And of course, practically all of Christianity nowadays believes that most everything that was emanated from the beginning will be destroyed, or put into a fire of torment for all eternity. Anyone who wasn't baptized, or anyone who didn't come forward to profess a belief in Christ—and that's most of the other cultures and people of the world. The conventional Christian church doesn't even realize that animals are going to heaven. I often comfort people whose pet has just passed away, and they're missing them so badly, and they love them so much, and it hurts so much, and I say to them in comfort, “Well, your pet is waiting for you in heaven, and you'll be reunited when you cross over, and then you'll have them again, and you'll all be very happy forever together.” That's my basic approach. franny and zoey sunset As a matter of fact, I'm waiting for my pack—that's who I expect to greet me. I'm not waiting for my dead relatives, or my late husband. I'm not expecting them on the other shore waiting for me, although perhaps they will be. Who I really am looking forward to seeing are my dogs and cats, every dog and cat I've ever had. And I figure they're all up there together as a big pack, playing on the beach. So that's what keeps me comforted, and keeps me looking forward. I'm very happy to imagine that that will be what greets me when I cross over. So this morning, what I'd like to share with you are some of Hart's writing that he shares in his introduction that's called, The Question of an Eternal Hell, Framing the Question. So this is before he even gets into his various apologetics of how it is that everyone will be saved. But I really wanted to share this with you. Hart writes in a very high-minded manner, so I'll attempt to translate it for us all. So on page 16, Hart says, And as I continued to explore the Eastern Communions as an undergraduate, I learned at some point to take comfort from an idea that one finds liberally scattered throughout Eastern Christian contemplative tradition, from late antiquity to the present, and expressed with particular force by such saints of the East as Isaac of Nineveh, who lived between 613 and 700, and Silouan of Athos, who lived between 1866 and 1938. And the idea is this, that the fires of hell are nothing but the glory of God, which must at the last, when God brings about the final restoration of all things, pervade the whole of creation. For although that glory will transfigure the whole cosmos, it will inevitably be experienced as torment by any soul that willfully seals itself against love of God and neighbor. To such a perverse and obstinate nature, the divine light that should enter the soul and transform it from within must seem instead like the flames of an exterior chastisement. That's pretty interesting. He's saying that after the final roll-up, the glory of God, or the light of God, will fill all of space and eternity, and that we will be able to see it and experience it. We will stand before the glory of God. But anyone who is hiding from God, or that is a hateful person, will experience that same glory as flames of fire that torment. And so that will be their punishment. But it's not coming from God. God's bringing glory and love and light. But they, because they are resistant, they will experience it as those flames of hell. So Hart goes on to say, This I found not only comforting, but also extremely plausible at an emotional level. It is easy to believe in that version of hell, after all, if one considers it deeply enough, for the very simple reason that we all already know it to be real in this life, and dwell a good portion of our days confined within its walls. A hardened heart is already its own punishment. The refusal to love, or to be loved, makes the love of others, or even just their presence, a source of suffering and a goad to wrath. And isn't that true? That a hateful person views everything that's going on around them, and anything that someone else says, to be irritating, and worthy of punishment, or worthy of disdain, because it doesn't agree with their own opinion. He goes on to say on page 17, and so perhaps it makes perfect sense to imagine that a will sufficiently intransigent in its selfishness and resentment and violence might be so damaged that, even when fully exposed to the divine glory for which all things were made, it will absolutely hate the invasion of that transfiguring love, and will be able to discover nothing in it but terror and pain. It is the soul, then, and not God, that lights hell's fires, by interpreting the advent of divine love as a violent assault upon the jealous privacy of the self. Now, we've talked about that a lot here on Gnostic Insights, and I cover that in my discussions of Overcoming Death. My argument about Overcoming Death primarily comes from the Tibetan Buddhist book known as the Tibetan Book of the Dead, and in that book it describes this passage after life. And, by the way, it's not only when the whole entire cosmos melts away, it's every time we die. When your body passes away, suddenly you're in that non-material state. Your ego goes forward without the attachment of the body, and in that state of not being attached to the material world, it is like, at the end of time, when the entire cosmos goes through the same process and is no longer attached to the material world. At that point, delusion drops away, the confusion of this cosmos and the confusion of our culture and the demiurgic culture that we are surrounded with, as well as the pulls of the material upon our bodies. It's gone, it's lifted, it's no longer there, and your spirit is able to see with clear eyes. As Paul said in the first letter to Corinthians, chapter 13, For we know partially, and we prophesy partially. But when that which is complete comes, what is partial will be rendered futile. When I was an infant, I spoke like an infant, I thought like an infant, I reckoned like an infant. Having become a man, I did away with infantile things. For as yet we see by way of a mirror, in an enigma, but then we will see face to face. As yet I know partially, but then I shall know fully, just as I am fully known. But now abide faith, hope, and love, these three, and the greatest of these is love. And in the Tibetan Book of the Dead, it talks about these things called bardos, which are levels of hell, basically, or levels of purgatory that people go through as they are learning to get rid of the mistaken notions that they picked up here during the lifetime. The samskara is stripped away. I would call the samskara the confounding memes that we cling to. We pick up these meme bundles from the people and from the things we read and learn and are indoctrinated into in school and then through the media. Those are memes, meme bundles, and they have to be let go of. You have to drop them in order to get past the ego that's holding on to those memes and rediscover the purity of the Father and the Son in the ethereal plane—rediscover the purity of your true Self. And the longer someone holds on to those memes after death, the more difficult is their passage into purity. And that's explained in depth in the Overcoming Death episode. Well, that Tibetan description of the fires of hell very much resemble the fires of hell that were talked about from these ancient saints of the Christian tradition. By the way, this idea that most everyone and everything is going to hell rather than going to heaven, that is a relatively recent addition to Christianity, but it has been grasped so firmly with the great assistance of the Catholic Church and their doctrines that by now most Christians think that most people won't go to heaven. So even the Protestants who protest Catholicism—that's what the word Protestant means, one who protests—they've lost the original thread of universal salvation that Jesus was teaching. The Anointed came to save everyone, it says, over and over in the New Testament. And in Hart's translation, which comes directly from the original writing rather than down through the Latin that had already been filtered by the Catholics, you don't find the eternal torment of hell. Remember, the word Aeon, which we in Gnostic belief generally translate as ethereal beings or part of the Fullness of God above, Aeon is also translated as a period of time, and throughout most of the translations of the New Testament, which derive from the Latin Vulgate, Aeon is translated as a period of time. And so when it says eternal torment, it's really saying aeonic torment. And in my opinion, it's the torment people bring upon themselves when they return to the aeonic realm. The Aeons aren't the punishers. God is not the punisher. It's our own grasping onto our past lives and the demiurgic culture and the demiurgic memes that we hold onto after death that are experienced like burning flames. But no one's imposing it upon us. It's our own lack of willing to give it up and turn and face the light. The eternal fires of hell are actually the aeonic reckoning that comes at the end of each lifetime and will come at the end of time itself when the material cosmos passes away. At least that's what I think. So when Hart says on page 17 there that “a will, a personal will, sufficiently intransigent in its selfishness and resentment and violence,” intransigence means not giving up, stubbornness, “might be so damaged that even when it comes face to face with glory, it will experience it as torment.” Now, for those of us who have accepted the anointing of the Christ and have come to true gnosis, (that is a remembrance that we come from above and will happily return to the above, that's all you need to know), we will not cling onto this material world. We will not be clinging onto those demiurgic memes that keep us from coming face to face with our aeonic parents in the Fullness of God. We will happily cross over. We will joyfully meet with those who are on the other side, be they family, spouses, or pets, because the grasses and the flowers, the butterflies, the birds, everything that is alive down here on earth will be alive in heaven because all life comes from above. We will not be experiencing that chastening fire—that coming to grips with the lies that we've been holding onto. That's the painful part, coming to grips with our own lies and the harms we have done to other people. If we're not repentant of those harms we have done to other people, we will have to come face to face with those harms after we cross over, and we will see from that other person's point of view what we did to them and how much we hurt them, and that will come back to us. We will experience their pain, and that is the pain and suffering of death, but it's not being imposed by the Father or the Son or our aeonic parents above. On page 18, Hart says, Because Christians have been trained at a very deep level of their thinking, to believe that the idea of an eternal hell is a clear and unambiguous element of their faith, and that therefore the idea must make perfect moral sense. They are in error on both counts, as it happens, but a sufficiently thorough conditioning can make an otherwise sound mind perceive even the most ostentatiously absurd proposition to be the very epitome of rational good sense. You know, there's some big words in that sentence, but I think you can tell by the context what they mean, right? Ostentatiously means open, flaunting. Epitome means the highest. So he's saying that because the Church has taught that everyone's going to hell except those very few, which is an ostentatious point of view, you see, ostentatiously absurd proposition, yet they have been taught that it is the very highest of good sense, and you can't go against it. And so people are conditioned not to question it. And what this book, That All Shall Be Saved, is, is a very thorough and deep description and rationale of how that cannot be true, of how everyone must be going to heaven. I covered my version of why everyone's going to heaven in this episode. Further episodes, I think I'll do a series here, further episodes will each cover chapters in Hart's book, and we'll hear what his rationale is for why everyone is going to heaven. But returning to this page 18 again, he says, In fact, where the absurdity proves only slight, the mind that has been trained most thoroughly will, as often as not, fabricate further and more extravagant absurdities in order to secure the initial offense against reason within a more encompassing and intoxicating atmosphere of corroborating nonsense. In other words, you'll have to spin a bunch of nonsensical rationalizations and excuses about why everyone's going to hell, just to make the story float. Quoting again, Sooner or later it will all seem to make sense, simply through ceaseless repetition and restatement and rhetorical reinforcement. As I'm reading this, of course he's talking about religious ideologies here, but I'm seeing these mechanisms at play in media bias. Do you see that? Just through sheer repetition, over and over, it doesn't matter if things are true or lies. If you say it often enough, people will begin to accept it unquestioningly. And you can see that going on in the politics, can't you? Hart goes on to say, The most effective technique for subduing the moral imagination is to teach it to mistake the contradictory for the paradoxical, and thereby to accept incoherence as profundity or moral idiocy as spiritual subtlety. If this can be accomplished with sufficient nuance and delicacy, it can sustain even a very powerful intellect for an entire lifetime. In the end, with sufficient practice, one really can, like the White Queen (of Alice in Wonderland), learn to believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast. In my limited attempts to discuss Gnosticism face-to-face with people, I discover this continually, that if I present them with the absurdity of everyone going to hell, for example, they will say, Well, it's a mystery. We can't know the mind of God. It's a mystery. Who are you to presume? And this is the way they cover up that it doesn't work, by just shunting it off to God's incomprehensibility. But our God is rational. Our God is logical. Our God doesn't say one thing and do another. Our God doesn't lie. Our God doesn't say it's all about life and living and love and then enslave and slaughter. That is not the God of Gnosticism. The Father that Jesus spoke of is not that God. Going on with page 19, Hart says, Not that I am accusing anyone of consciously or cynically seeking to manipulate the minds of faithful Christians. The conspiracy, so to speak, is an entirely open one, an unpremeditated corporate labor of communal self-deception, requiring us all to do our parts to sustain one another in our collective derangement. I regard the entire process as the unintentional effect of a long tradition of error, one in which a series of bad interpretations of Scripture produced various corruptions of theological reasoning, which were themselves then preserved as immemorial revealed truths and, at last, rendered impregnable to all critique by the indurated mental habits of generations, all despite the logical and conceptual incongruities that this required believers to ignore within their beliefs. He writes with big words. The gist of this entire paragraph was that the church didn't set out to be deceptive. Well, it may have with the Nicene Council when they stripped the Gnosis out, but from about 600 A.D. onward, it's just become such an ingrained thought that by now it's unassailable. By now you can't even question it. But that's what we're doing here at Gnostic Insights. So stay with me for the next few episodes, and we'll go into depth concerning hell, resurrection, salvation, and the ultimate redemption of all living things by the Christ, the Anointed, that will return us all to that paradise above. With love, onward and upward, and God bless us all. This book puts all of this gnosis together in a simplified form. Gnosis is as easy as you want it to be, or as complicated as you desire. This Simple Explanation will guide you through the often confusing terms and turns of gnostic thought and theology. The glossary alone is worth having on your bookshelf. Now available in paperback, hardback, and ebook/kindle, and an audio book narrated by Miguel Conner. Available at amazon.com or through your local independent bookstore. Please remember to leave a review at amazon if you purchase the book there. We need reviews in order to raise the book in amazon's algorithm!

The beautiful truth of Universal Salvation through vicarious work.

A sermon about loving one's enemies on the Feast of All Saints.

In this episode, Father Wesley and Dr. Junius dive deep into St. Anselm's Proslogion, the short yet monumental work that introduced one of the most enduring and debated arguments in the history of philosophy and theology: the ontological argument for God's existence.The hosts explore Anselm's background as monk, abbot, and Archbishop of Canterbury, highlighting his tumultuous life amid royal and papal conflict, his intellectual lineage from Augustine and Boethius, and his place at the dawn of scholasticism. They also reflect on how his prayerful approach to theology—fides quaerens intellectum (“faith seeking understanding”)—blurs the line between philosophical proof and devotional meditation.Endnotes* Junius: The Prayers and Meditations of St. Anselm* Wesley:* “A Gift Exceeding Every Debt” by David Bentley Hart* “Anselmian Apocatastasis: The Fitting Necessity of Universal Salvation in St Anselm's Cur Deus Homo” by Roberto J. De La Noval Get full access to The Classical Mind at www.theclassicalmind.com/subscribe

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Paul Axton preaches: The saving peace of Christ is universal in its cosmic scope, inclusive of the world, all people, and everything about them, delivering from the violence of the world, infected by human violence. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work. Become a Patron!

In this episode of Tiny Pulpit Talks, Rev. T.J. FitzGerald and Rev. Beth Dana dive into the theological roots and modern-day relevance of Universalism within Unitarian Universalism.

The fundamental lesson of the incarnation is that embodiment in general is the carrier of meaning a meaning for death or life, and that His embodiment is the fullness of meaning, life, extended universally.  If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work. Become a Patron!

Original article with citations: https://nathanajacobs.substack.com/p/on-apokatastasis-and-universal-salvationBack to the theological letter series to explore a key distinction that's often missed: universal salvation isn't the same as apokatastasis. Dr. Jacobs dives into what early Christian thinkers really meant by these terms, untangling common misconceptions and showing why it matters for modern discussions of salvation. From the nature of human corruption to the difference between Hades and Hell, this episode will show new ways of thinking about universal salvation through the lens of Eastern Orthodox tradition.All the links: X: https://x.com/NathanJacobsPodSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0hSskUtCwDT40uFbqTk3QSApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nathan-jacobs-podcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenathanjacobspodcastSubstack: https://nathanajacobs.substack.com/Website: https://www.nathanajacobs.com/Academia: https://vanderbilt.academia.edu/NathanAJacobs

In this episode, Dr. Oord discusses an essay from Steve Harper entitled, Amipotence in the Wesleyan Tradition.  This essay is one of many compiled in volume 2 of a 2 volume work interacting further with the ideas of amipotence in Dr. Oord's book, The Death of Omnipotence and Birth of Amipotence.Steve Harper will be one of 30 authors participating in the upcoming ORTLINE25 Open and Relational Theology Online Conference (Feb. 20 - 22, 2025) where he will discuss his new book, It is Finished: God's Universal Salvation. Register today.

Suan Sonna (Roman Catholic - Infernalist) and Hunter Coates (Eastern Orthodox - Univeralist) talk about Hunter's new book in defense of universalism "Grace Abounds: A Holistic Case for Universal Salvation". 

Send us a textUniversal salvation: a beacon of hope or a path to heresy? This episode pulls no punches as we tackle the contentious belief that all people will ultimately be saved, dissecting it through the lens of scripture. We unravel this doctrinal debate by examining the persistent biblical themes of division between God's people and those who are not, drawing on narratives like Cain and Abel and Jacob and Esau. Throughout our discussion, we challenge the interpretations of universalists, contrasting them with more traditional theological perspectives such as Calvinism, and question how they reconcile their views with scriptural references to hell and eternal punishment.Our exploration doesn't stop there. We delve into the crucial biblical concept of division between the righteous and unrighteous, bringing into focus scriptures like Luke 12:51-53. By comparing figures like David and Saul, Moses and Pharaoh, and Peter and Judas, we underscore the biblical stance that salvation is not universal. We highlight the necessity of repentance and redemption in this life to avoid eternal condemnation, emphasizing humanity's inherent guilt before God. This leads us to Titus 2:14, which we interpret as evidence that Christ's sacrifice was intended for a select "us," rather than all, reinforcing the notion of a divide between God's chosen ones and others.Finally, we shift to the doctrine of divine election, examining how being chosen by Jesus creates an inherent tension with the world. Through scriptures in Galatians and John, we explore the distinction between the "children of promise" and others, illustrating that believers are set apart. This discussion touches on the problematic desire some Christians have for worldly acceptance, urging allegiance to God over societal approval. By reflecting on John 17, where Jesus prays for those given to him by the Father, we further underscore the theme of divine selection and the spiritual divide it creates. Come join us on this thoughtful journey through the complexities of salvation and divine choice.Support the show

Send us a textUniversal salvation: a comforting myth or a dangerous deception? Brace yourselves as we confront this bold and controversial belief head-on, challenging the notion that everyone, regardless of their faith or actions, will ultimately be saved. We argue that this belief undermines the core teachings of scripture and the true purpose of the gospel. By exploring the necessity of repentance and turning to Christ, we underline the severity of eternal life and death, warning against the false comfort that universalism offers.Join us in examining the theological and biblical perspectives that distinguish the saved from the unsaved. We navigate through the narratives of Cain, Saul, Nebuchadnezzar, and Judas to highlight the fallacy of the universalist view that all people belong to the same spiritual family. By questioning universalist interpretations and emphasizing faith through hearing the word of God, we invite listeners to ponder the gravity of rejecting the gospel's message. Our discussion aims to provide a deeper understanding of salvation's implications, asserting that the truth of the gospel remains unaltered despite modern misconceptions.Support the show

I'm wrapping up this review of David Bentley Hart's book, That All Shall Be Saved, Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation. And I hope you understand, particularly those of you who are Christians that are listening to this, that I do all of this in the name of the Father. It's not to tear down Christianity. It's to uphold the mission of the Messiah, which has been lost over the past several hundred years of Christianity.

The idea that the God Above All Gods would condemn people to everlasting torment with no goal other than eternal punishment makes no moral or logical sense. It goes against the very nature of a loving and just God.

Even Mr. Spock would find it logical for a human to pursue the good in its own best interests, and that it is illogical, illogical all the way to insanity, to refuse the good, to refuse what is best for you. It's a manifestation of insanity, to refuse the love of God. I've noticed that many modern people seem to think of God as a yin-yang type of completion, that is, where evil balances good, where darkness is necessary to balance light, where the purpose of humanity, or what happens here in humanity, is that we are instantiating strife and struggle and evil for the teaching of God, for the completion of God. That is not right. That's wrong theology, folks. Our God is all goodness, and there is no evil that emanates from God.

In this week's show, we sit down with filmmaker Steven HAuse and philosopher Eric Reitan to discuss the varieties of Universalism within the Christian faith.If you want to call in to the Bonus Show, leave a voicemail at (530) 332-8020. We would love to get to your calls!Pick up Sometimes Matt's new book, Heretic, Too!Today's Sponsor: Religionless Studios is a Progressive Christian video Bible commentary on YouTube. Every single Sunday the channel will move comprehensively and compassionately interpret the Bible through the lens of liberation theology.  In addition to the YouTube channel, Religionless also has devotionals, study guides, and a Discord community that are all accessible via Patreon.LINKSQuoirCast on PatreonQuoirCast on PatheosPANELEric ReitanSteven HAuse

This idea that most everyone and everything is going to hell rather than going to heaven is a relatively recent addition to Christianity, but it has been grasped so firmly with the great assistance of the Catholic Church and their doctrines that by now most Christians think that most people won't go to heaven. So even the Protestants who protest Catholicism—that's what the word Protestant means, one who protests—they've lost the original thread of universal salvation that Jesus was teaching. The Anointed came to save everyone, it says over and over in the New Testament.

Liam becomes a hermit, Waweru confesses to a canonical crime, and we wonder if someone owes their employee or their child more.Magic Mind can be found at https://www.magicmind.com/rashunadvised !Imprimatur withheld by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith for the Following:Promoting the doctrine of Apocatastasis i.e. "Universal Salvation"Discussion of grotesque demonic formsPromotion of SimonyPromoting selfish exploitation of the duty of Lenten FastingSupport the Show.

Patrick clarifies common misconceptions about the term "Roman Catholic" and explores the rich tapestry of cultural and liturgical expressions within the Church. Patrick also tackles how architecture and art can sometimes spark controversy and misunderstandings. Plus, a deep dive into challenging topics like the assumption of Mary and ecclesiastical authority, providing insights and resources for those puzzled by these doctrines.   Patrick continues his conversation with Patty from the end of the last hour. Why are there different Catholic Churches? (00:41) Kip – Is the photo of a building in the Vatican that looks like a snake real? (09:59) Eric - Why don't the Church fathers mention the Assumption of Mary more? (12:47) Carl - How can I meditate on the Wounds of Christ? (28:12) Nick – What is Universal Salvation? (35:36) Dan - I am looking into the Catholic Church. I don't drink alcohol, so how can I receive Christ in the Eucharist if I were to become Catholic? (41:35) Art - Was the Cristero war moral?

The Universalism Booth is a series of interviews on Christian universalism, exploring several different angles from which the theological position is taken up. The interviewees range widely in their approaches to universalism, represented roughly as evangelical, existential, and Catholic. Jordan Daniel Wood earned his PhD in historical theology from Boston College in 2019 and published a book with University of Notre Dame Press, The Whole Mystery of Christ: Creation as Incarnation in Maximus Confessor (2022). He was just recently appointed as Assistant Professor of Theology at Belmont University, to begin August 2024, but spent the past three years as a stay-at home dad of four. * For more universalism content, see our two-part series on the topic with David Artman: - Part 1: https://wipfandstock.com/blog/2023/07/11/david-artman-christian-universalism-pt-1/ - Part 2: https://wipfandstock.com/blog/2023/07/25/david-artman-christian-universalism-pt-2/   PODCAST LINKS: - The Whole Mystery of Christ: https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268203474/the-whole-mystery-of-christ/ - “George MacDonald against Hans Urs von Balthasar on Universal Salvation”: https://afkimel.wordpress.com/2020/04/26/george-macdonald-against-hans-urs-von-balthasar-on-universal-salvation/ - “The Remarkable Unity of Rhetoric and Dialectic in ‘That All Shall Be Saved'”: https://afkimel.wordpress.com/2020/02/23/the-remarkable-unity-of-rhetoric-and-dialectic-in-david-harts-that-all-shall-be-saved/ - Words in Flesh (Jordan's Substack): https://jordandanielwood.substack.com/ - Jordan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/JordanW41069857   CONNECT: Website: https://wipfandstock.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/wipfandstock Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wipfandstock Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wipfandstock/   *The Theology Mill and Wipf and Stock Publishers would like to thank Luca Di Alessandro for making their song “A Celestial Keyboard” available for use as the podcast's transition music. Link to license: https://pixabay.com/service/license-summary/.

A sermon for the 5th Sunday in Lent from John's Gospel.

Recorded on Sunday, March 3, 2024. Other scripture cited: Isaiah 1:11-17; Galatians 5:6.Support the show

Dr. Jenkins welcomes back once again Dr. Joshua Moritz as they discuss the the Question Universal Salvation, what it is, what it is not, why the question keeps emerging among Christians, and what Holy Scripture and the Fathers have to say about it.

Dr. Jenkins welcomes back once again Dr. Joshua Moritz as they discuss the the Question Universal Salvation, what it is, what it is not, why the question keeps emerging among Christians, and what Holy Scripture and the Fathers have to say about it.

Dr. Jenkins welcomes back once again Dr. Joshua Moritz as they discuss the the Question Universal Salvation, what it is, what it is not, why the question keeps emerging among Christians, and what Holy Scripture and the Fathers have to say about it.

Pastor Alan R. Knapp discusses the topic of "Inferences Part One (of Two): The Inference of Universal Salvation!" in his series entitled "Hebrews 2020: We See Jesus" This is Increment 166 and it focuses on the following verses: Hebrews In Toto, Hebrews 6:16-20 & 10:19-22; ESPECIALLY

In episode 3, Gabe dives into the complex and often controversial topic of Universal Salvation, challenging popular beliefs and misconceptions. He examines Selena Gomez's views on faith, scrutinizes anti-Christian sentiments, and question whether we are all part of God's family. The episode also provides a deep analysis on modern Christianity, the cost of disobedience to God, and what it truly means to be a Christian warrior. (00:00) Reactions and Commentary on Various Topics (08:20) Universal Salvation (20:04) Children of God vs. Children of the Devil (37:12) Debating Religion vs. Faith (51:00) Religion, Obedience, and True Worship (01:08:02) The Importance of Having Children (01:22:23) Warrior Soldier and Finding Spiritual Path (01:27:16) Issues With Behavior at Church

Watch 'Cham's Mystery Children': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi414... Support TUC with an all-access pass, TUC Magazine subscriptions, or our monthly Book Readers Club: https://www.patreon.com/noeljoshuahad... Website: The Unexpected Cosmology Link: https://theunexpectedcosmology.com/ Archives page: https://theunexpectedcosmology.com/ar... Contact: noelhadley@yahoo.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnexpecte...

In this episode, Barbara considers one of the two dogmatic documents issued by Vatican II.  A statement of profound mercy, Lumen Gentium (“The Light to the Nations”) considers the question of universal holiness and salvation. Questions addressed in this key text include:  “What is necessary for salvation?”  “Who can be saved?” and “What does holiness look like for the different members of the Church?” 

David Artman is the author of Grace Saves All: The Necessity of Christian Universalism (Wipf & Stock, 2020) and the host of the Grace Saves All podcast. In this second part of my conversation with David, he and I continue our conversation on Christian universalism, address some of the main critiques of this position, and discuss his book and podcast. PODCAST LINKS: David's book: https://wipfandstock.com/9781532650888/grace-saves-all/ Grace Saves All podcast: https://www.davidartman.net/podcast David's website: https://www.davidartman.net/ David's Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidartman?lang=en   CONNECT: Website: https://wipfandstock.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/wipfandstock Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wipfandstock Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wipfandstock/   SOURCES MENTIONED: Artman, David. Grace Saves All: The Necessity of Christian Universalism. Hart, David Bentley. The New Testament: A Translation. ———. That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation. Jersak, Bradley. Her Gates Will Never Be Shut: Hope, Hell, and the New Jerusalem. MacDonald, Gregory (Robin Parry). The Evangelical Universalist. Parry, Robin A., with Ilaria L. E. Ramelli. A Larger Hope?, Volume 2: Universal Salvation from the Reformation to the Nineteenth Century. Ramelli, Ilaria L. E. A Larger Hope?, Volume 1: Universal Salvation from Christian Beginnings to Julian of Norwich. Sarris, George W. Heaven's Doors: Wider Than You Ever Believed! Yancey, Philip. Vanishing Grace: Bringing Good News to a Deeply Divided World. Zahnd, Brian. Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God: The Scandalous Truth of the Very Good News.   OUTLINE: (00:14) – The ultimate question of God's goodness (02:48) – Scriptures for and (apparently) against (13:45) – “Weeping and gnashing of teeth” (22:08) – Resources on Christian universalism (24:38) – Universalism, evangelism, and morality (35:15) – Free will and freedom (43:31) – Universalism in the early church (51:44) – The traumatic impact of infernalist theology (01:02:23) – David's book, Grace Saves All (01:15:49) – What's next for David (01:19:23) – Where to find David

Jim, David, Matthew, Brian, and Paul discuss the nature of radical evil as the underside of the law (as exemplified by Paul the Pharisee and as duplicated in all radical evil), and how Christ defeats this evil by exposing its deception. This is necessarily cosmic and universal. Become a Patron! If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work.

David Artman is the author of Grace Saves All: The Necessity of Christian Universalism (Wipf & Stock, 2020) and the host of the Grace Saves All podcast. On this first of two episodes with David, he and I begin a conversation on the topic of Christian universalism, a conversation which we will continue in a subsequent episode to be released in a couple of weeks. Here we discuss his own journey to Christian universalism, some of the major historic and contemporary figures within this stream of thinking, and clear up some of the common misperceptions and critiques. PODCAST LINKS: David's book: https://wipfandstock.com/9781532650888/grace-saves-all/ Grace Saves All podcast: https://www.davidartman.net/podcast David's website: https://www.davidartman.net/ David's Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidartman?lang=en   CONNECT: Website: https://wipfandstock.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/wipfandstock Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wipfandstock Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wipfandstock/   SOURCES MENTIONED: Artman, David. Grace Saves All: The Necessity of Christian Universalism. Hart, David Bentley. That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation. Hronich, Andrew. Once Loved Always Loved: The Logic of Apokatastasis. Jersak, Bradley. Her Gates Will Never Be Shut: Hell, Hope, and the New Jerusalem. MacDonald, Gregory (Robin Parry). The Evangelical Universalist. Parry, Robin, with Ilaria Ramelli. A Larger Hope?, Volume 2: Universal Salvation from the Reformation to the Nineteenth Century. Ramelli, Ilaria. A Larger Hope?, Volume 1: Universal Salvation from Christian Beginnings to Julian of Norwich. Talbott, Thomas. The Inescapable Love of God. Wood, Jordan Daniel. The Whole Mystery of Christ: Creation as Incarnation in Maximus Confessor.   OUTLINE: (00:14) – Microphones and Monty Python (05:05) – Podcasting and publishing on universalism (08:30) – Private journals: Karl Barth, Jürgen Moltmann, Hans Urs von Balthasar, C. S. Lewis (12:35) – White Russian, English Breakfast-Cocoa elixir (17:26) – From evangelical fundamentalism to Brite Divinity School (22:50) – Discovering Christian universalism (28:20) – Universalism and holding on to faith (30:35) – The logic and history of Christian universalism (35:03) – Historic figures: Gregory of Nyssa, Origen of Alexandria, Maximus Confessor (40:31) – Universalism and (Nicene) orthodoxy (48:48) – Contemporary figures: David Bentley Hart, Thomas Talbott, Ilaria Ramelli, Robin Parry (54:45) – What are the alternatives? (58:49) – Facing the critiques of Christian universalism (01:07:53) – To be continued . . .

We discuss universal salvation, a perennial idea within Christianity – that all of humanity, or maybe even everything in the universe, will be saved through Christ's salvific atonement – with Morwenna Ludlow of the University of Exeter. Starting from Clement of Alexandria and ending with the current state of play in sometimes-unlikely Christian circles, we explore the long history of an esoteric (and sometimes not so esoteric) Christian idea.

Paul Krauss MA LPC and Jef Caine take on the heavy and controversial topics of religious trauma, healthy spirituality, and the psychology of deconstruction. In this 2.5 hour long-form episode, Paul and Jef discuss both the larger zeitgeist of religion and spirituality in the culture as well as their personal experiences with Christianity and other religions. Paul and Jef dive deep into the deconstruction of the Christian faith and theology and many other topics (listed below). This is an episode you are going to want to take time to listen to. Jef Caine, is a skeptic and a host of the podcast: The Forest and the Trees (A Pastor and a Skeptic Read the Bible Together. It's not as boring as it sounds.) Jef is also an amazing graphic designer and former megachurch employee and evangelical.   All Books, Resources, and Articles mentioned available here. Deconstruction: a method of critical analysis of philosophical and literary language which emphasizes the internal workings of language and conceptual systems, the relational quality of meaning, and the assumptions implicit in forms of expression. Also Discussed: Growing up with the Christian Faith, Deconstructing one's experience, Losing the Christian Faith, The Forest and the Trees Podcast, Sapiens (Book), Humans seek meaning, Reason & Logic, Age of Enlightenment, Scientific Method, History of the Christian Church, Violence, Sacred Texts, Reinterpretation of Texts, Biblical Literal-ism versus Metaphor, Creationism, Evolution, Monotheism, Homo-sapiens, Neanderthals, Anthropology, Storytelling, What is a Safe Community, What is Religious Trauma, Power, Control, Abuse of Power, Relationship Advice, Secular Therapy versus Christian “therapy”, Jesus' teaching, Christianity's opinions on divorce, marriage, Evangelicals, LGBTQIA issues and Christianity, How therapy works versus “telling people what to do”, a power stance from a religions, prayer rooms, Christian therapists, Deconstructionism, the big questions: Why are we here? What are we doing?, Joseph Campbell, Tribal rituals, Mythology, hedonism, what truly satisfies people, What is practicing Spirituality, Alcoholics Anonymous, Higher Power, Interfaith, What is Hell, Tribalism, Us versus Them, God is Love, Competing Religions, Nationalism, Cults, Dehumanizing others, God is an idea, Book Clubs, Historical Context, Hermeneutics, Spiritual Practice versus co-opting religion for power, cherry picking versus and issues, historical contexts of the Bible, King James Version, Concordant Version of the Bible, Cultural Context, Learning from the stories, David & Goliath, The Good Samaritan, “The one truth”, heretics, “lost souls”, Hell, Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus, Jonathan Edwards, the religious right, yes we talk about Trump, inner work, Transcendental Meditation, Contemplative Prayer, rites of passage, ritual sacrifice, cultism, selling something, Spiritual Bypassing, Healthy Spirituality, Self Reflection, Colonization, St. Francis of Assisi, Healthy Spiritual Practices, Open-minded Interpretations, Introspection, Dogma, Critical Thinking, Synchronicity, Loving Others, and more!             --->Resources for further learning: Books:  Hope Beyond Hell  multiple FREE books and audio books by Gerry Beauchemin, Protestant Missionary. The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation by David Bentley Hart The Story of Christianity: An Illustrated History of 2000 Years of the Christian Faith David Bentley Hart Bitten By a Camel: Leaving Church, Finding God by Kent Dobson What is the Bible? By Rob Bell Love Wins by Rob Bell The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels  The Occult Book: A Chronological Journey from Alchemy to Wicca The Bible as a Dream by Murray Stein A People's History of The United States by Howard Zinn 11 Books to Read If You're Deconstructing Your Faith Deceptions and Myths of the Bible The True Origins of the Stories of Adam and Eve, Noah's Flood, the Tower of Babel, Moses and Mount Sinai, the Prophets, the Judges and Kings, and the Story of Christ Will Shock and Amaze the Faithful, Atheists, and Agnostics Alike! By Lloyd Graham Resources: The Power of Myth with Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers (audio/ video program) What is Biblical Literalism? https://tentmaker.org/ --lists of books, some books free online, articles, good historical info about Christian universalism and other subjects.  concordant.org    -- lists of books, free online audio & books, articles, books for purchase, free study tools for Greek & Hebrew Young's Literal Translation of the Bible;  Rotherham's Emphasized Bible A documentary on the Gnostic Gospels Eternal Conscious Torment discussed by Emerson Green (lecture) Writers and Scholars Referenced: Joseph Campbell Joseph Campbell Foundation Matthew Fox Rainn Wilson Richard Rohr - The Center for Action and Contemplation Rob Bell  martinzender.com   --free video & audio, articles, books by MZ for purchase. Lesser known critic and Bible scholar. Articles Referenced:  Universalism was the dominant theology of the first 500 years The Crusades: The Complete History Context about “hell” quotes from Christian Leaders If Hell is Real?  Religious Trauma and Leaving the Church How do I know if I am in a cult?  Why Do People Believe in Hell? Hell has shaped modern thought Modeling the Future of Religion in America Lots of Americans Are Losing Their Religion. Have You? The Psychology Of Cults Understanding the basics of Cults Amount of Christian Denominations in The World Podcasts: The Forest and The Trees Podcast You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes Jef Recommends:  Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer   Get involved with the National Violence Prevention Hotline: 501(c)(3) Donate Share with your network Write your congressperson Sign our Petition Looking for excellent medical billing services? Check out Therapist Billing Services. A behavioral and mental health billing service developed by therapists for therapists. Preview an Online Video Course for the Parents of Young Adults (Parenting Issues) EMDR Training Solutions (For all your EMDR training needs!) Paul Krauss MA LPC is the Clinical Director of Health for Life Counseling Grand Rapids, home of The Trauma-Informed Counseling Center of Grand Rapids. Paul is also a Private Practice Psychotherapist, an Approved EMDRIA Consultant , host of the Intentional Clinician podcast, Behavioral Health Consultant, Clinical Trainer, and Counseling Supervisor. Paul is now offering consulting for a few individuals and organizations. Paul is the creator of the National Violence Prevention Hotline (in progress) as well as the Intentional Clinician Training Program for Counselors. Paul has been quoted in the Washington Post, NBC News, and Wired Magazine. Questions? Call the office at 616-200-4433.  If you are looking for EMDRIA consulting groups, Paul Krauss MA LPC is now hosting weekly online and in-person groups.  For details, click here. For general behavioral and mental health consulting for you or your organization. Follow Health for Life Counseling-- Grand Rapids: Instagram   |   Facebook     |     Youtube  Original Music: ”Alright" from the forthcoming album Mystic by PAWL (Spotify) "My Sweet Lord" from All Things Must Pass by George Harrison (Spotify) "Myth" from Bloom by Beach House (Spotify) "Satanist" from The Record by Boygenius (Spotify) "Gotta Serve Somebody" from San Francisco 1980 by Bob Dylan (Spotify) "Get Up, Stand Up" from Burnin' by Bob Marley and The Wailers (Spotify) "Pure Comedy" from Pure Comedy by Father John Misty (Spotify) "Chocolate Jesus" from Mule Variations by Tom Waits (Spotify) "Awaiting On You All" from All Things Must Pass by George Harrison (Spotify) "Whatever Happened to Paul Sand" from Reggae Film Star by Damian Jurado (Bandcamp) "Portrait of God" from Smalltown Stardust by King Tuff (Spotify) "Say God" from Say God by Daniel Higgs (Spotify)

Cheer up everyone, it's an episode all about hell. We reflect on the Staying Defiantly event that Joe hosted earlier in the week. In other news, Joe's been to Bristol, Nick has been to IKEA, God is love and beer is good. Support the podcast Contact the podcast through your email machine Mentioned in this episode: The Housemartins Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2022 Staying defiantly MFC Episode 41: What the hell! Gregory MacDonald, The Evangelical Universalist Robin Parry, 7 Myths About Universalism Robin Parry - Burning Love: The Theological Hermeneutics of Hell Four Views on Hell: Second Edition Inventing Hell: Dante, the Bible and Eternal Torment "The believing faculty": George MacDonald on Universal Salvation

An ancient Christian tradition claims after his death, "Christ descended into hell..." But what did Christ do there? Are there any Biblical references to this? What does the descent into hell have to do with the resurrection? Pastor Adam explains resurrecting through hell in this episode of One Question with Pastor Adam.

Universal Salvation, Damnation, And The Task Of Theology |Simon Francis Gaine, OP by Angelicum Thomistic Institute

Full Text of ReadingsFeast of Saint Luke, evangelist Lectionary: 661All podcast readings are produced by the USCCB and are from the Catholic Lectionary, based on the New American Bible and approved for use in the United States _______________________________________The Saint of the day is Saint LukeLuke wrote one of the major portions of the New Testament, a two-volume work comprising the third Gospel and Acts of the Apostles. In the two books he shows the parallel between the life of Christ and that of the Church. He is the only Gentile Christian among the Gospel writers. Tradition holds him to be a native of Antioch, and Paul calls him “our beloved physician.” His Gospel was probably written between 70 and 85 A.D. Luke appears in Acts during Paul's second journey, remains at Philippi for several years until Paul returns from his third journey, accompanies Paul to Jerusalem, and remains near him when he is imprisoned in Caesarea. During these two years, Luke had time to seek information and interview persons who had known Jesus. He accompanied Paul on the dangerous journey to Rome where he was a faithful companion. Luke's unique character may best be seen by the emphases of his Gospel, which has been given a number of subtitles: 1) The Gospel of Mercy 2) The Gospel of Universal Salvation 3) The Gospel of the Poor 4) The Gospel of Absolute Renunciation 5) The Gospel of Prayer and the Holy Spirit 6) The Gospel of Joy Reflection Luke wrote as a Gentile for Gentile Christians. His Gospel and Acts of the Apostles reveal his expertise in classic Greek style as well as his knowledge of Jewish sources. There is a warmth to Luke's writing that sets it apart from that of the other synoptic Gospels, and yet it beautifully complements those works. The treasure of the Scriptures is a true gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church. Saint Luke is the Patron Saint of: Artists/Painters Brewers Butchers Notaries Physicians/Surgeons Click here for more on Saint Luke! Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

Various questions on Molinism and Middle Knowledge and the likelihood of Pontius Pilate releasing the body of Jesus to Joseph of Arimathea.