(robin)
I’ve been observing this site, for some time now, and here’s what I’ve noticed … a couple points actually:
a) Although, evangelical “Universalism,” really only begins with the gospel of Paul, the apostle to the nations, there’s really
not much interest, here, in his epistles. That’s not to say, that they aren’t touched upon, now and then, but dollars to donuts,
any topic thread talking about UFO’s, or should we tithe, or what, exactly is adultry, or sexual perversion … such topics would
get far more participation, then say, anything Paul happened to say about our beliefs needing to be Christ-centered …
b) Almost, to a fault, the topics which are presented, and certainly, those that get any ongoing participation, are all “puff”
and silly stuff … when, exactly, was there a topic thread, from our apostle Paul’s epistles, that engendered any real, pithy
conversations … discussions of the actual words of scripture, rather than just random rambling of the rabble … Ummmm?
That is, for a site that calls itself, “A christian forum for discussing Evangelical Universalism” … you all suck!
(robin)
Ya … but I, too, did admit that I wasn’t so sweet, so now that we’ve got that all hammered out,
tell me true, haven’t you too noticed that there’s more about OT connundrums, than Pauline scriptures …
And one, certainly, does not hear Paul’s gospel in the OT, nor for that matter in the rest of the NT,
so how can this, truely be a “Evangelical Universalism” forum, if most of it’s participants dont talk about Paul’ s letters …?
“how can this, truely be a “Evangelical Universalism” forum, if most of it’s participants dont talk about Paul’ s letters …?”
Maybe because it’s not called the “Evangelical Pauline” forum. And if that is what you want, maybe you should start said forum.
It sounds like you are a hyper Pauline kind of guy, and that’s okay with me. But that is not the purpose of this forum.
If you have a thought or a question related to the Large Hope, Ultimate Reconciliation, etc., please feel free to post.
Sorry if this group has not meet your high expectations.
Feel free to stay, but please stop the name calling.
I believe we have a pretty high caliber of folks who head this forum, who could and can stand toe to toe with just about anyone on just about any biblical subject you want(and do it a whole lot better than I ever could).
But to say that we “suck”, well that’s just rude.
Sorry, after I read your comment this morning, before I even had my second cup of coffee I’m with Paidion… WOW… WOW… WOW!!!
(a) Some of us think evangelical universalism begins in the OT, and continues through the Gospels, and ends with RevJohn. Which includes Paul’s epistles, too. That’s a lot of material to cover, and we’ve covered a lot of Pauline material over the almost-8 years the forum has been active. Sometimes repeatedly. Sometimes from different angles; there’s a grammatic/punctuation discussion about 1 Cor 15’s eschatological aside going right now, which has a bearing on theories about how the general resurrection fits into the submission of all to Christ as Christ submits to the Father.
Very few if any of us think Paul’s epistles are the only or major Biblical things to discuss for evangelical universalism. You’re welcome to think so yourself, of course, but if you expect a lot of people to follow you on that you’re going to be disappointed. We care about the whole Bible.
(b) I don’t see any puff or silly stuff in the current active topics list, although of course members may joke with each other and/or the topics may have moved on to something else meanwhile – I don’t keep track of all the topics all the time. Most topics have a bearing on Christian universalism one way or another, and a few are about other points of theology. The members here have different interests and like to talk about different things, usually but not always theological.
If you aren’t happy with what gets talked about here, you can always go somewhere else. Or search for the many Pauline discussions in the past already.
The problem is that you can’t put universalism into a box. Unless you have a lot of duck tape.
Pretend the people in the astronaut video, are trying to fit all my suggested topics (square peg), into the round hole of universalism.
Should we just think this way? Hum. It doesn’t matter what canon of scripture we use, how we treat others ethically, whether or not we have free will, whether we fight in wars or not, what science has to say, how God is related to “evil”, should we partake of alcohol or mind altering drugs, etc. I can smoke the sacred weed with the Rastafarians, shoot people with A-K 47’s - like ISIS, become a soldier of fortune (i.e. the TV western Paladin or the A-team - can you think of a better occupation, for a universalist? ) and ride a mule. And take care of people, that insult my mule:
All that matters is that everyone is saved. Let’s just focus on that.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of topics that come up, when discussing universalism. Just as there are when discussing Christianity in general. Like:
How do you reconcile Genesis, with the discoveries and theories of modern science (i.e. Big Bang, Evolution, Old Earth, etc.)?
What do we do with **related **philosophical topics, like the problem of evil, how God is related to “evil”, free will, ethical decisions (i.e. ethical or moral dilemmas), metaphysics, epistemology, etc.?
Which canon of scripture do we use - the Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, etc.?
How do we deal with contemporary theological positions - like heaven and hell being states or places, is theism open or closed, how will the earth end, etc.?
How do we regard other movements and their relationship to Christianity - like Gnosticism, etc.?
How do we view other religions, like Mormonism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.?
What do the wisdom traditions, like Holy Fools and P-Zombies, have to teach us?
Etc.
Should we just use duck tape, like they did in the video
But if you **really **want to see a topic discussed, then open up a thread on it.
One of the things I greatly appreciate about this message board is that I can discuss things with others who also assume universalism. It’s nice to not have the “Hell card” whipped out during a conversation. (“You believe what? Buddy, you’re going to Hell.”)
Ah, we’re used to pointed points here, we are, many of us having pointedly pointed them our very own selves, we have.
It is your ‘observation’ itself which is faulty, imo. There’s plenty of Pauline fodder for them’s that seek it, on this Forum. There is in fact a rich tapestry of all kinds of thought, not systematic for the most part, ‘tis true,but no less rich for a’ that.
The admins have cast a wide net, far and wee, and with the mods have mainly kept the cats herded. Applause.
The particular emoticon is called “shocking.” I don’t remember just where I found it online, but throughout the years, I have found a number of emoticons and then uploaded them to a storage site online. From there I posted the link to a photo storage site online (there are many of them). On my computer, I have a list of the storage site URLs for the items I have uploaded to the storage site. When I want to post one of the emoticons, I post the appropriate URL.
By the way, MM, if you want to use that emoticon, just right click on it, and select “copy image location.” Then paste that location into your post.
Or if you select “save image as,” you can save the image to your computer.
The word “with” in this context means that in at least one matter, URPilgrim is of the same or similar mind with me.
I bring this up because I think the word “with” is used in this same sense in John 1:1.
“The Logos was with God” does not mean that He dwelt in God’s vicinity (though He may have). It means that the Logos was of the same mind as the Father, not merely in one or a few matters such as may be the case with URPilgrim and me, but the Logos is of the same mind as the Father in EVERY respect. So He is ABSOLUTELY WITH God."
(robin)
Ahhhh … I rest my case, as yet I knew, full well, that this would, indeed, be the case … just a lot of silly stuff, purposefully intended to distract.
This, the currently most active posting, on this so-called “Evangelical Universalism” forum …
That is, there is … NO evangelical effort, herein … and, obviously, there is no …NO attempt to even whisper at Universalism… THERE IS NO WAY OF DOING SO WITHOUT A TOTAL DEPENDANCE UPON PAUL’S EPISTLES …
That someone, suggests, that I’m inordantly and mistakenly focused on Pauline epistles … only, goes to show you, the depths of their confusion.
The main purpose of this site, is to distract … round up any stray truth seekers, gather them in, into this sham, and then distract, distract, distract …
That, I touched on a nerve, here, by supposedly “insulting” the main “characters” by calling things as they, truly, are … “sucking” … is only confirmed,
by all the random, and silly responses … That is, dear readers, truth seekers, you are being “taken” for a ride … this aint NO evangelical forum, this aint NO site that, truly, advocates Universalism … this is just a sham, and a shame …you are being taken, and distracted; and shunted aside from the evangel of Paul, your Apostle, THE apostle to the nations; you are being sold a bill of goods … A void, an empty place, a vacuum … a subtle “sucking”… by empty-voices. WAKE UP! This is being done, on purpose, a very diabotical purpose…This is not the place for true spirtual edification … it’s a void, a vacuume, a place of “empty-voices” and “knowledge, falsely-named” (1Tim 6:20)
You dont “need” to debate and comprehend OT stuff, nor any of those other also-ran authors of the NT … you, only, need, to read your Pauline epistles … WAKE UP!
Well robin… I get a distinctly strong sense you are about to take your bat and ball and shaking the dust off your sandals, leave… don’t let the door hit you on the way out, because if anything “sucks” it has been your self-righteous attitude amply demonstrated!!
I’m with Paidion… WOW… WOW… WOW!!!
