The Evangelical Universalist Forum

SNIPPETS FROM MY HARD COPY UR LIBRARY

Evangelical Universalism Arguments for Evangelical Universalism
#301

FROM THE DOCUMENTS OF RODGER TUTT #65

Love’s Goal

All that love is, God is, for God is love. As the negative side of love is unselfish - seeketh not her own - so her positive side is concern for others, a deep, ardent, all consuming concern: dauntless, self-sacrificing, invincible. “Love never faileth.” Such is the divine essence and this it is that is imparted to the creature.

There can be no self-complacency with God, neither could He provide a self-satisfied salvation. Divine joy is in the fullness of love, and love is all-embracing. To speak of a happy shepherd with an incomplete flock, or even of a happy flock with comrades missing, would be to malign both sheep and shepherd.

Heaven’s joys will be full only when sin’s sorrow cease. “Tis of mine” will be the yearning cry of the Good Shepherd spirit in the bosom of both saint and Saviour until the last of all the lost has been gathered home. Love cannot omit; His soul travail was for all. Neither can love abandon or forget. His purpose, as His promise, is “until He find it”. Thus it is that He is yet to “see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied.” And surely we too shall be satisfied when conformed to this likeness. Oh, the fullness of heaven’s joy when sin’s sorrows shall have ceased!
D. Buchanan

#302

FROM THE DOCUMENTS OF RODGER TUTT #66

WHY?

Why did God make the universe, the earth and sky above?
Scripture gives the answer when it says that “God is Love”.
Before God made the universe He worked out a master plan.
He knew how everything would end before it all began.

He made mankind so He could have an object for His love,
But man was blind and did not see that it came from above.
So God created evil as He had created night,
So man could see the good in Him - In darkness we see light.

He made the “blackboard” very black, with evil, sin, and woe.
He made an adversary to be His cunning foe.
He made the earth to be a “stage” to show the hosts above,
By all of our experiences, His wisdom and His love.

He locks up all in stubbornness to make His mercy clear;
Lets Satan lure all men away so He can draw all near.
He gives His only firstborn Son to die and save us all.
Yet each in his own class we read; we’re blind until our call.

You ask me why God made the earth, the glittering stars above?
The Scriptures give the answer when they say that ‘God is love”.
Ray Prinzing

#303

FROM THE DOCUMENTS OF RODGER TUTT #67

THE PLAN OF THE MASTER WEAVER

Our lives are but fine weavings
That God and we prepare,
Each life becomes a fabric planned
And fashioned in His care.

We may not always see just how
The weavings intertwine,
But we must trust the Master’s hand
And follow His design,
For He can view the pattern
Upon the upper side,
While we must look from underneath
And trust in Him to guide…

Sometimes a strand of sorrow
Is added to His plan,
And though it’s difficult for us,
We still must understand
That it’s He who fills the shuttle,
It’s He who knows what’s best,
So we must weave in patience
And leave to Him the rest…

Not till the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why —
The dark threads are as needed
In the Weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.

—Author Unknown

#304

FROM THE DOCUMENTS OF RODGER TUTT #68

Is God a Failure? - Eleanor Garrod

Now that’s a pretty poignant question. Or is it an insinuation? An inference? Or implication? Or is it truth, as many would have you believe? Have you ever heard a sermon by that title? I doubt if you have. But I’m certain you have heard many a sermon which has been riddled with such implications.

Allow me to rephrase the question: Have you ever heard a sermon stating that if you don’t accept Jesus, you’ll burn forever in hell? Ah, I knew I’d touch a raw nerve. You have, haven’t you? If you heard that God is going to lose so much as one individual to the devil forever, then God is a failure.

If you have heard that the heathen (who have never had an opportunity to hear of Jesus) will be tormented forever for not believing in Him, then you’ve heard that God is a failure.

If you’ve heard that man’s puny will can withstand the omnipotent will of God, and that man’s will can paralyze God’s will, then you have heard that God is a failure.

If you’ve heard that the Adversary outsmarted God in the garden of Eden, if you’ve heard that God did not want Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, then you’ve heard that God is a failure.

If you’ve ever heard anyone affirm that God will lose 95% of His created beings that He’s placed on planet earth, and will torment them forever, then you’ve clearly heard that God is a failure.

If the Good Shepherd is not willing that any should perish, and yet gets weary and gives up before He finds the last sheep that’s lost, then you know that God is a failure.

If no one can come to Jesus except the Father draws him, and if the Father - eventually - does not successfully draw every single person, then God is a failure.

What is the response of your heart to the poised question: Is God a failure? Ah, my heart says, “Nay, a billion nays.” My heart has fallen in love with a God who does all things perfectly, and one day all will be made plain, and in the end He will become ‘All in All’ and for that day my heart does wait and meanwhile I rejoice and endure because I see Him, the invisible One.

By faith I see a Master Plan for the ages and beyond, and I know I am part of that plan, and for this I whisper, “Thank you, Jesus.” I sing a song to my Beloved, Hallelujah!

In Love with Him, Eleanor Garrod

#305

FROM THE DOCUMENTS OF RODGER TUTT #69

A Message Of Comfort

Let Nothing be Worrying You!
William Mealand

“Let nothing be worrying you, but in every prayer and petition let your requests be made known to God with thanksgiving, and the peace of God, being superior to every frame of mind, shall garrison your hearts and your apprehensions in Christ Jesus” Phil 4:6-7.

There is an elixir of life in words like these. Touching life at all points, they embrace every experience, and affect every problem. How positive they are, how emphatic! There is no room left for the smallest doubt to intrude. The words are just an exquisite echo of the Psalmist’s thought - fret not thyself!

How complete, how inclusive the injunction is! Let nothing be worrying you. Not a single thing. But can we realize it? Is it possible to live up to such a counsel of perfection? A thousand times, yes! And for the great reason that this rare paragraph enshrines a God given assurance. There is a promise, a pledge of a superior peace - the peace of God, His perfect provision for the keeping, the steadying of our hearts in Christ Jesus.

What an expression of God’s solicitude! And for each of us to make true in the circumstances of life. How true, rests with the quality of our reliance upon God. In how far we leave things to Him, for His working out. And His appointment is never a disappointment. Therefore, on no account are we to worry. It does no good, changes nothing, nor ever gives us back the thing we prized. It enfeebles and wastes our strength, keeps the brain excited, the blood feverish, and the heart beating wildly.

If, then, we must not worry, and there are things in life calculated to make us anxious, how may we displace worry? By taking God into our confidence as we voice immediate needs. “Let your requests be made known to God, with thanksgiving.” Note the proviso - with thanksgiving, which in itself affects the burdened mind. Indeed, thankfulness for the simple things of life, the ordinary, forgettable things, means much.

The tragic indictment of the ancient world was that, “knowing God, not as God do they glorify or thank Him.” Stars in the heaven are thanked, the saints in the calendar, but not God. So many occasions call for it, and a voiced acknowledgment deepens our consciousness of His daily care.

No aspect or department of life is outside the interest of God, our Father. He is at all times an interested Listener. Our requests, therefore, may be unreservedly made known. Let them flow forth, without any concern as to how they will be met. That rests with God’s will and wisdom. Seeing all the intricacies of life, He appoints in accord with them. Has He not ordered them, both good and ill?

There are some things in life God would not have us change! And happy are we, if, in the acceptance of them, we see the Father’s own rare ordering. Let us so live, in the spirit of a line from a hymn: “I do not ask to see the distant scene, one step enough for me.” It suffices that we make our requests known to God, and leave them with Him. This done, with thanksgiving, there will come to heart and mind, God’s own wonderful peace.
“And the peace of God, being superior to every frame of mind, shall garrison your hearts and your apprehensions in Christ Jesus.” Here, in a peace which surpasses all power of thought, lies the strength and joy of Paul’s counsel of perfection. It is the peace of God, in contrast with, and superior to, all human counsel, palliative, or panacea.

Gift of the God of peace, it is the only calm in a world of unrest. But oh, how this peace differs from that which the world offers! WE see the word used all around us. Yet how little it conveys, how far short it falls, of all that such a word should stand for! Does it not look lost, as a wandering star from it’s orbit?

Only as linked with God and His ministering grace does the word hold real comfort and consolation. In such union it has vital power, confirming its frequent and heartening occurrence in the calm of a rich content. The peace of God. Grace and peace. Yes, yes. In spite of all around us, and the tangle of daily events, For our hearts shall be as a citadel, gloriously kept. “The Lord is thy Keeper.”

What a glad secret of life! One that Christ Himself exemplified. He did not worry or fret impatiently. He trusted, He rested supremely in God. He gave Himself completely over to God. He prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup be passing by from Me. Moreover, not as I will, but as Thou!” A second time He prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this to pass by from me except I should be drinking it, let Thy will be done!” Matt. 26:39,42.
How sublime an example of utter submission to God’s will! There has been but One, and there will never be another so altogether acquiescent to the Father’s will. The purpose, will, and majesty of God, the Father, was everything to Him. How much so we have yet to see. In the meanwhile, let us hold by this superior peace. It is resident in Him. He is our peace, and He is on the throne, even the throne of the universe.

Therefore, “let nothing be worrying you.” Rather, “let your requests be made known to God, with thanksgiving.” In these two statements we have first a prohibition, then an injunction. Is it not that prayer should be the death of care? It follows, however, that the source or cause of worry should not be self-made. It should be that imposed on us, and not something fashioned by ourselves which we persist in carrying. This we must throw away. Life, to be happily lived, must have in all its aspects, a felt consciousness of God. At all times there should be a sense of God’s ruling. For, not only is God operating the universe in accord with the counsel of His will, but Christ is carrying it on by His powerful declaration. What control is here, and how complete! Just to feel that we are entirely in God’s hands, flung upon His care and control, is to know a peace inviolate.

What small resemblance to the faith of Christ our faltering trust displays! Self looms so large with us, and hence disquietude. Not so with our Lord. He displayed the dignity of complete assurance. Rejecting His disquietude, He puts in its place the thought of the majesty and power of God the Father.

Let us learn of Him to quietly accept our Father’s will. Let us be disposed to that which is above,where Christ is, enthroned at God’s right hand. Then we shall know the peace of God, and how superior it is to every frame of mind. And the God of peace shall be with you, in every moment, every hour.

“Drop They still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease:
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.”

#306

A SNIPPET FROM REDEMPTION ALL IN ALL - RAY PRINZING (my earthly hero and mentor)

“Aionian punishment means of the age, or age during. It is a period of time designated by God for the bringing to naught that which is wrong. God will mete out exactly the amount of time necessary for correction, but it will not be prolonged beyond that which is needed. All of God’s punishments are corrective in nature, motivated by His love, and used to work into our good and His praise.” 1

This book can also be read online here
sigler.org/sirius8/rpredemption.htm
or here
hellbusters.8m.com/contall.htm

#307

A SNIPPET FROM ALL IN ALL – A.E. KNOCH

“The terms translated ‘forever’ and ‘everlasting’ and ‘never’ are human perversions which could never have deceived us if they had been consistently rendered. They denote definite divisions of time called ages or eons. All together they form a distinct portion of time called eonian times. Destruction, like salvation, is eonian. It is not the end or aim of God. God destroys nothing that He will not restore. He loses nothing that will not return to Him laden with praise and glory for Himself. Destruction is a passing process, not a finished goal. Through God it will work out the welfare of all of His creatures and the glory of our Saviour." 2

(Editor’s note: Scriptures that seem to disagree with this conclusion are addressed in his book)
lighthouselibrary.com/read.p … or=||KNOCH, ADOLPH E||&type=&what=author

#308

A SNIPPET FROM THE PROBLEM OF EVIL AND THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD – A.E. KNOCH

“I, for one, freely confess that, without a knowledge of the consummation, when God will reconcile all and become All in all, I could not have confidence in a deity who allowed the world to work itself into such a mess, and who can do little more for most men than to sweep them into destruction, extinction or torment.

But now, how can I distrust God? Mankind is just where He has brought it. The effect of all the present evil and distress will be salutary. God will get glory out of it, and men will be prepared by it to appreciate the gifts He has in store for them all.” 3

#309

A SNIPPET FROM THE INESCAPABLE LOVE OF GOD – THOMAS TALBOTT

“The corrective effects of kolasis aionios last forever. But as a means to an end, it will not last any longer than is necessary to produce the end for which it exists in the first place.

When we finally weary of our own selfishness, petty jealousies, and lust for power; when we learn at last, perhaps through bitter experience, that these lead only to ruin and cannot bring enduring happiness, that nothing short of union with God and reconciliation with others will satisfy our own deepest yearnings; when we discover that the Hound of Heaven has finally closed off every alternative to such a union, we shall then, each of us, finally embrace the destiny that is ours.” 4

#310

ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTE

"I used to think that it took the smartest kind of man to preach and defend Universalism;
I now think entirely differently.
It is the easiest faith to preach that I have ever heard.
There is more proof in its favor than in any other doctrine I have ever heard.

I have a suit in court here tomorrow and if I had as much proof in its favor
as there is in Universalism, I would go home, and leave my student to take charge of it,
and I should feel perfectly certain that he would gain it."
-Abraham Lincoln

scuniversalist.blogspot.com/2009 … alist.html

#311

“Hippolytus (about A.D. 220) enumerates and comments on thirty-two heresies, but universal restoration is not named among them. And yet, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen- then living- were everywhere regarded as the great teachers of the church, and their view of man’s future destiny was generally prevalent, according to Augustine, Jerome and others. It could not then have been regarded as a “heresy” or Hippolytus would have named it. What a force there is in fact that not one of those who wrote against the heresies of their times ever named universal salvation as one of them! Hippolytus mentions thirty-two. Epiphanius wrote his Panarion and epitomizes it in his Anacephal’osis or Recapitulation, but not one of the heresy-hunters includes our faith in his maledictions. Could there be stronger evidence than this fact that the doctrine was not then heretical?” -A snippet from Universalism the Prevailing Doctrine of the Christian Church During its First Five Hundred Years, by J. W. Hanson, 1899

truth.info/future/universalism.htm

#312

GOD’S “CONVERSION” – Kenneth Larsen

God’s “Conversion” : A mythological saga of our Heavenly Father’s change
of character,
as told by theologians, ancient and modern

In Adam, all are dying, for the creation was subjected to vanity.
1Cor. 15:22; Ro. 8:20. It was through one offense for all mankind for
condemnation. Ro. 5:18. We were all constituted sinners through the
disobedience of one man. Ro. 5:19. This collective perdition came
through no choice of ours as individuals, but is our inheritance, our
fate.

Nevertheless, so the story goes, there came a time when God, wanting
to conform His doings to the highest ethical standards, set Himself
upon a radically different course. Henceforth, He would not act
arbitrarily, but only in accordance with the rights and sovereign
choices of the individual; from then on He was to obtain permission
from His creature before acting on his or her behalf. In contrast to
the collective loss, salvation was to be an individual matter, and
subject to obtaining cooperation from His subjects. No more “spiritual
collectivism”; now God had enthusiastically embraced the “spiritual
free market”. Our Heavenly Father was now, henceforth and officially,
a “Gentleman”, and would no longer force anything upon anyone; He
would subject His will that all mankind be saved to the whims of the
very creation He had formerly confined under collective condemnation.
1 Tim. 2:1-6. The “plan of salvation” would consist of Christ offering
salvation to all, and then being satisfied with whatever percentage He
could manage to save. Isaiah 53. He would be honorifically titled “the
Savior of all mankind”, but that would really amount to nothing more
than wishful thinking, for He would especially (that is, only, as the
story goes) save those who believe during this life. 1 Tim. 4:9-11.

Did God truly change His dealings with mankind? Does He really change?
Of course not! Mal. 3:6; Heb. 1:12; 13:8; Jn. 14:9; 10:30. “For even
as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be
vivified.” 1 Cor. 15:22. “Even as… thus also…”- In similar fashion to
the collective death, is the collective life! Romans 5:15- “But not as
the offense, thus also the grace. For if, by the offense of the one,
the many died, much rather the grace of God and the gratuity in grace,
which is of the One Man, Jesus Christ, to the many superabounds.” Who
are the many who died because of Adam’s offense? All mankind. And so,
much rather, God’s gratuity in grace, through Christ’s perfect life
and obedience to the death of the cross, SUPERABOUNDS to the many- all
mankind! Does the salvation of some of those lost suggest a
superabundance of grace? No! Does a collective, obligatory
condemnation to sin and death, coupled with an individual, optional
justification of life constitute a superabundance of grace? Not by a
long shot! God subjected the creation to vanity in HOPE! Ro. 8:20. Did
He hope that the entrance of sin would cause even one to be
permanently lost? Of course not! Lk. 15:3-32.

Ro. 5:18, 19- “Consequently, then, as it was through one offense for
all mankind for condemnation, thus also it is through one just award
for all mankind for life’s justifying. For even as, through the
disobedience of the one man, the many were constituted sinners, thus
also, through the obedience of the One, the many shall be constituted
just.” As it was through Adam (a collective condemnation), THUS ALSO
it will be through Christ (a collective justification of life)! God
promises a universal reconciliation. Col. 1:15-20; Phil. 2:5-11. He
will draw all creation to Himself, using whatever loving means He has
at His disposal, including judgments. Jn. 12:32; 1:9-13; 1 Cor.
3:10-15; Lk. 12:45-49. Our Heavenly Father will confer faith and
repentance upon all, at the time He chooses. 2 Pt.3:9; Acts 5:31;
11:18; 17:31; 2 Tim. 2:25. Obviously, our stubborn will must be
subdued, but take heart, for “Not stronger that He are we!” 1 Cor.
10:22; Is. 45:22, 23. Our unchanging God will be All in all! 1 Cor.
15:20-28.

EDITOR’S NOTE

Some ask, Why does it say “the many” instead of “all” in Roman 5:19?

This is because the one disobedient man (Adam), and the One righteous Man (Christ) are put in a class by themselves. They are in contrast with “the many.”

We may put it as follows:
The one disobedient man plus “the many” equals all mankind made sinners.
The One obedient Man plus “the many” equals all mankind made righteous.

That “the one” plus “the many” made sinners includes all mankind no one will deny.

Even so, “the One” plus “the many” made righteous is all-inclusive and guarantees the salvation of all mankind.

#313

A SNIPPET FROM A TREATISE ON ATONEMENT – HOSEA BALLOU

“We are told of a god who created millions of beings whom he intends for endless torments and puts His whole design into execution; and this is called supreme goodness.
In millions of cases this god finds it most for his glory to make his rational, hoping, wanting creatures endlessly miserable.

We are likewise told of a devil who acts for his own gratification, and who delights in making God’s creatures miserable; and this is called badness.

Shall we thus represent our kind and merciful Father from Whom streams of goodness continually flow to His wanting, needing creatures? No; let every vibration of sense within us acknowledge His bountiful hand which will never close.”
5

#314

A SNIPPET FROM SALVATOR MUNDI: OR, IS CHRIST THE SAVIOUR OF ALL MEN? – SAMUEL COX

“By insisting on an interpreted translation of a Greek word, would you have the vast majority of men damned to an everlasting torture in order that you may feel quite sure that your timid soul will sit and sing itself away in everlasting bliss?

The main object of this book is to encourage those who faintly trust “the larger hope” to commit themselves to it wholly and fearlessly by showing them that they have ample warrant for it in scriptures of the New Testament.”
6

#315

A SNIPPET FROM GOD’S RULES FOR SCRIPTURAL INTERPRETATION AND MAN’S PLACE IN GOD’S PURPOSE – CHARLES J. PEART

“Sinners do not go away into everlasting punishment. They go into eonian correction. Thank God for the Concordant literal translation, which some in their blindness are condemning. When leaders in the church today condemn something I would be the first one to rush out and get it and examine it for myself. Do not make the mistake of thinking that the majority have the truth. It has never been that way and it is not now.

The unscriptural tradition assigning a limit beyond which Christ has no power to save the obstinate sinner has spread universally. It is worldwide. It claims that the will of man can successfully oppose the power and will of God. “God wills all mankind to be saved” (1Tim.2:4). Let us follow our Lord in His denunciation of tradition that makes void the word of God. Let us revel in the full extent of Christ’s work and God’s victory for all mankind.”
7

#316

A SNIPPET FROM THE PURPOSE OF GOD’S WILL – GUY MARKS

“God prearranged it all, from the fall of man to the glory of the consummation. Not one thing was left to chance. All was founded on His wisdom.

To some, evil is never to cease. God is never able, as they see it, to bring about so much good that all evil will vanish. They try to justify God with the false teaching that man is a free moral agent, whereas the only freedom of man which the scriptures affirm is the freedom of deliverance we find alone in Christ Jesus.”
8

#317

A SNIPPET FROM A CLOUD OF WITNESSES – J.W. HANSON

“The deliverance of the whole human family from sin and sorrow, its final holiness and happiness, has been the thought of multitudes, even when the prevailing doctrines around them were wholly hostile.”

A book of quotes by more than 500 believers in universal salvation.
9

#318

FROM THE DOCUMENTS OF RODGER TUTT #71

Gary Amirault interviews Greek scholar Louis Abbott about his belief in universal salvation (in eight parts)

youtube.com/watch?v=HJoNxjUAAi8
youtube.com/watch?v=UuoRnAsugew
youtube.com/watch?v=IAsVTXJYEHY
youtube.com/watch?v=H_sblmYiX4I
youtube.com/watch?v=Bfx6tcwq3M4
youtube.com/watch?v=iM5fSRDxVwg
video.google.com/videoplay?docid … 308877255#
youtube.com/watch?v=NoWeKXdNhyg

AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF WORDS - Louis Abbott
tentmaker.org/books/asw/index.html

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Louis Abbott
tentmaker.org/books/asw/AboutAuthor.html

#319

NEW SNIPPETS

#1. A snippet from Universalism the Prevailing Doctrine of the Christian
Church During its First Five Hundred Years, by J. W. Hanson, 1899:

(Origen Adamantius)
“This greatest of all Christian apologists and exegetes, and the first
man in Christendom since Paul, was a distinctive Universalist. He
could not have misunderstood or misinterpreted the teachings of his
Master. The language of the New Testament was his mother tongue. He
derived the teachings of Christ from Christ himself in a direct line
through his teacher Clement; and he placed the defense of Christianity
on Universalist grounds. When Celsus, in his “True Discourse”, the
first great assault on Christianity, objected to Christianity on the
ground that it taught punishment by fire, Origen replied that the
threatened fire possessed a disciplinary, purifying quality that will
consume in the sinner whatever evil material it can find to
consume….God will act the part….Origen says, “not like a cook but like
a God who is a benefactor of those who stand in need of discipline of
fire.””

#320

#2. A snippet from Whatever Became of Melanie? (2005), pages 138-139, by
Allan Ernest Chevrier:

(Romans 5:18-21)
“Now what was the result of Adam’s transgression? It was universal
condemnation of all, without first consulting them or asking for their
contribution. The result of Adam’s disobedience was complete and
universal in its scope and consequence, plunging each and every member
of his race into sin and spiritual separation from God.

Now, just as Adam’s sin had a direct, powerful, irresistible effect on
the whole for evil, so the righteous act of Christ has a direct,
powerful, irresistible effect on the whole for good. Just as one sin
resulted in universal, real, actual condemnation, so the one act of
righteousness performed by Christ, the second Adam, results in
universal, real, actual justification, not just an opportunity to cast
your lot in with Jesus, not just the offer of life, but the real,
actual, powerful impartation of life! The real actual, powerful
communication of righteousness! The plain language of the text allows
for nothing less!”