I grew up as a charismatic and I found this refreshing for the whole charismatic world. He’s not a universalist but he’s not that different… It’s a long video but well worth the watch. alturl.com/2xdb9
I grew up charismatic too. I kinda have an opposite reaction to Crowder. My time in the charismatic church was one fraught with abuse and spiritual manipulation. The tenets of the faith as taught by them were so flimsy and the experience so bad, it nearly destroyed my faith. Ironically, I think the Father saved me from this by leading me towards the theologians of traditional churches (not the naff ones tho 
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Weirdly enough, I found my change to universalism made me more of a lover of robust theology. So I tend to have an instinctive negative reaction towards Crowder and his ilk. This probably is an unfair prejudice in me, particularly as he seems like a joyful, kind type. But when I see videos of him “toking the Holy Ghost”, it revolts me. And probably reminds me of extremes I saw growing up.
So in the name of not being judgemental, I’m going to watch this later when I get a moment
Thanks for sharing
can’t watch the vid as i’m at work, and streaming at home is a non starter lol
but i have heard a bit of what he has to say…a friend is a bit of a fan.
i liked the video he sent me, but i was cautious as id heard the “toking the Holy Ghost” thing and thought that was rubbish (though on reflection, that might just be my prejudices against stinky marijuana emerging! technically there’s no reason why this is any more scandalous an idea than being “drunk” on the Holy Spirit, though i’ve issues with that terminology and people high on emotion at strange meetings too if i’m honest)
but Crowder…i liked what i heard. he said he’s a hopeful universalist, so that’s pretty cool!
It’s an interesting video. I’ll have to finish it later; I got about 1/2 the way through. I’d love to sit down with him and share why I’ve come to not only hope that Jesus saves all, but have faith in Jesus to save all, to fully accomplish what He set out to do. And for me a big part of that faith came through studying scripture concerning judgment and the penalty of sin. I started my study of Hell assuming that the doctrine of Hell was rock-solid, a castle made of blocks of granite, only to find that when I examined each of those blocks they were just hardened muddy sand that crumbled when I applied pressure to them. I’ve come to understand the passages concerning the judgment and punishment of sin to be about reconciliation, a reconning, making things rights, not forever locking someone in evil but delivering them from evil.
Also, John indicates that he thinks being “dogmatic” about universalism or calvinism or arminianism is wrong, that ultimately we should walk in humility and say that we just don’t know for sure anything, though he “hopes” universalism is true while embracing the concept of a mitigated hell, a dynamic tension in scripture. To me though, there is not a dynamic tension because I do not understand scripture to affirm ECT, but a Present Evil Age that will one day come to an end.
The videos of him toking the holy ghost are quite a few years old and I have yet to find a recent one. I really think this new theology that he has embraced is a very recent revelation for him. I remember reading his books when I was only sixteen and I see quite a difference in him now. He still does mystical schools across the world and I’m sure they are still pretty crazy.
I wouldn’t mind sitting down and chatting with him either. Universalism and christian mysticism are two topics that I can discuss for hours.
“Scripture is pretty clear on the existence of hell. The issue is that it’s time to stop blaming God for it.”- John Crowder
For those who don’t want to sit through the whole video. John takes a C.S. Lewis sort of stance on hell but claims he is a hopeful universalist. His attitude towards universalism is very light and almost accepting (from my impression). He also doesn’t take a strong stance against escaping hell after death which most ECT brothers do.
that’s quite an interesting thing for him to say, considering it isn’t at ALL clear about the existence of hell. in fact it’s pretty clearly not a part of Scripture at all.
Hi Jeremy,
I grew up in a fellowship that affirmed cessation of the manifestations of the Spirit, but when I was 24 I experienced, after 3 months of study and prayer, the baptism with the Spirit along with various manifestations of the Spirit. If I was to label myself today it would be a charismatic evangelical universalist Christian. I’m a Christian in that I’m a follower, disciple of Jesus Christ, a charismatic in that I believe people can be filled with the Holy Spirit today like in the 1st century, an evangelical in that I believe in being born of the Spirit, and universalist in that I believe in universal reconciliation.
Yep, I’d love to sit down with John and show him why I’ve come to believe that the doctrine of Hell is nothing but a sand-castle; it looks solid and unassailable, but it washes away with just a little water.