The Evangelical Universalist Forum

SNIPPETS FROM MY HARD COPY UR LIBRARY

Evangelical Universalism Arguments for Evangelical Universalism
#61

#53 - SAVIOUR OF ALL MANKIND - JOSEPH KIRK, WILLIAM C. REBMANN, DEAN HOUGH, AND JAMES CORAM

“The use of ‘forever and ever’ instead of the accurate rendering ‘for the eons of the eons,’ is a gross mistranslation. Most translators simply lacked the insight to see the point of many of the passages that speak of the eons. Since they were able, however, to make sense of these passages by translating by ‘everlasting’ or ‘eternal,’ they simply went ahead and did so, any resultant problems notwithstanding. Due to a lack of sensible thinking it was impossible for them to face the fact that the usual translations of this word are quite mistaken and extremely harmful!”
James Coram

1 Like
#62

#54 - ETERNAL TORMENT OR UNIVERSAL RECONCILIATION – A.E. KNOCH

By way of introduction Knoch wrote
“In this little handbook we tear away the false traditions of Christendom first. Then we remove the dark cover which philosophical mistranslations have laid over God’s Book. With these gone all that is necessary is to read God’s message to us more carefully, and its overwhelmingly glorious solution of this vexed problem illuminates our minds and flood our hearts with exultant joy and praise and adoration to the God of all grace and glory.”

Then, by way of conclusion at the end of His book Knoch wrote
“We have considered the traditions of Christendom which darken this subject and found them unscriptural. My love to God and my admiration have increased unutterably since I have seen that He is not the defeated fiend of Christendom, but is fully able to cope with evil and sin, and bind them all to the chariot wheels of love. All His attributes, including holiness, and righteousness, serve in the livery of love. Adored be His Name!”

1 Like
#63

#55 - CREATION, REDMPTION AND THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS – GEORGE R. HAWTIN

“Before the last age is over, every knee in heaven and in earth and under the earth will have bowed to Christ, and every tongue will have confessed to God that He is Lord to the glory of God (Phil. 2:10). ‘In the name of Jesus’ (literal translation) signifies much more than is implied by the simple use of the Name in speech. According to the idiom it signifies ‘in the very nature of Jesus,’ and as no man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Spirit (1Cor. 12:3), we know that there will be no hypocritical confession, nor will there be any confession by compulsion, but a true confession of Christ by every creature in the universe, and that to the glory of God the Father.”

1 Like
#64

#56 - EONIAN - EVERLASTING OR AGE-LASTING – GRACE H. TODD

“That the expression ‘the eons of the eons’ (forever and ever, KJV) cannot mean an endless successions of eons is clearly revealed by comparing Rev. 11:15 with 1Cor. 15:24-28. In Rev. 11:15 our Lord is said to reign ‘for the eons of the eons’ but in 1Cor. 15 His reign is said to end. He does not reign ‘for ever and ever’ though He does reign for the eons of the eons.”

1 Like
#65

#57 - THE PROBLEM OF EVIL – JOHN H. ESSEX

“All creation remains within the care and keeping of its Creator. The vessels which become marred never leave the hand of the Potter; they are marred while still in His hand. The lesson that was taught Jeremiah (Jer. 18:4), though to be interpreted as relating to Israel, nevertheless embodies a principle which is sustained throughout the whole outworking of God’s purpose. He holds all in the hollow of His hand, and though He may allow, and even cause, some of His creatures to temporarily turn away from Him, He never lets them go. That is why Paul can write in Romans 8:20, ‘For to vanity was the creation subjected, not voluntarily, but because of Him Who subjects it, in expectation that the creation itself , also, shall be freed from the slavery of corruption into the glorious freedom of the children of God.”

1 Like
#66

#58 - THE PURPOSE OF GOD – JOHN H. ESSEX

“To those who would challenge the truth of the reconciliation of all, I would reply, ‘It is God’s choice, and praise be to Him that He has chosen it to be so. Let no one deny God the right to choose as He wills.’ ”

“When God’s conciliatory hand of friendship has been grasped by all in complete reconciliation, and when the wisdom of His choosings and His appointments, that is His sovereignty has been universally accepted beyond question – in short, when God is All in all, then every one of His creatures will rejoice in being one of HIS achievements, and all in the heavens and on earth will be both prepared and glad to acknowledge that of themselves they have contributed nothing, but that ALL HAS BEEN OF HIM.”

1 Like
#67

#59 - THE GREATNESS OF SALVATION – WILLIAM MEALAND
(possibly the most eloquent of all the UR writers)

“A time is coming when Christ, the Beloved Himself, stands before His Father Who is Love, with the entire universe in train. What a thrilling reception, what a glorious presentation that will be! The great end for which the God of expectation waited, in perfect assurance, and for which Christ gave Himself. How fully will such a conclusion accord with the delight of His will!

There was a time when such greatness of salvation was more widely believed. But the imposed beliefs of the dark ages spoiled all this. Christendom was held as with iron bands in the grip of priest-ridden assent. And although their teaching is kept in the background, it is still there, giving that fatal bias which so clouds the perception of grace. Thus, we find resort to the limiting of Scripture by Scripture, to the seeing of finality when God’s purpose is in continuance, and the ignoring of those passages which so blessedly bring out the fullness and triumph of saving grace. But how happy should they be who, brought to a present belief, enjoy to the full the prospect of future salvation for all, even the reconciliation of the universe.

Stage upon stage, the Victor of Golgotha will move on His momentous and victorious way. Then will He show that ‘the Father has delivered all into His hands’ John 13:3. And in those capable hands, the world, even though it be by tumult, will be led to peace. What a perfect expression God’s grace finds in such a scene! What a realization of the truth attendant on so great a salvation! How rapturous a vision, too, of the One Who carried it to such a conclusion, Who sought until He found, Who loved until He won!”

#68

#60 - GOD JUSTIFIES, VIVIFIES, SAVES AND RECONCILES ALL – E.G. JONES

“In 1Tim. 4:9-11 we are told that the living God ‘is the Saviour of all mankind, especially of those who believe,’ and with this 1Tim. 2: 4-6 concurs. Many seek to limit it to believers, but they overlook the significance of the double statement. That there is a special salvation for believers is plainly stated, but this does not limit the other part of the statement, rather does it emphasize it. The salvation of believers is a special work; they are a special class in the ‘all mankind.’ God’s will for mankind is salvation, not as an experimental salvation toying with the will and choice of men, but as their Disposer – God.

My dear brethren, let us embrace this glorious truth which God has revealed for us. Let it so become a part of us that our lives will be reflecting it. Let it fill our hearts with the love of God and His glorious Son. Let us be rendering praise to the living God, the universal Creator and Reconciler, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
‘To Him be glory for the eons! Amen!’ ”

1 Like
#69

#61 - TWO STUDIES ON HEAVEN AND HELL – A.E. KNOCH

“Love is the great thing. God loves me. Christ died for me to display God’s affection. It has filled my heart to overflowing. I have tried to share it with my fellows, but O, so feebly and faithlessly. Yet I have known no joy so pure and permanent, no bliss so ecstatic as comes to me when some straying sinner or seeking saint enjoys God’s love through some word of mine. What will it be to be perfectly equipped with inexhaustible supplies of power and grace and fare forth into the celestial realms as an ambassador of peace to proclaim the evangel of God’s limitless love to the celestials of the starry spheres? This — this will be happiness — and heaven.

Not only does Paul see the entire earth blessed and saved, but all reconciled whom God created – even the principalities and powers of the heavens (Col. 1:20). So great is the power of the cross!”

1 Like
#70

#62 - A RANSOM FOR ALL – E.T. SPRINGETT MOXHAM

“We scan the dark ages of man and note how in the most pitiful ignorance, men, women, and children have died without the light of love – bitter, belabored and bereft of hope. All this and worse if the theories of men who limit the Gospel of Christ are right!

But why limit God? Why limit His power? Why indeed limit His plan and purposes for the ages of time? Why take part of His plan and label it as the whole? Why limit the great God of love at all, He Who is infinite love? Why indeed limit the compassion and overflowing love of Jesus ‘who gave Himself a ransom for all’? (1Tim. 2:5,6). Are not the arms of Jesus long enough or strong enough to reach out and snatch the sinner from the jaws of suffering and death, if not in this dispensation, then in the ages to come? God ‘will have all men to be saved and come into a knowledge of the truth’ (Rom. 5:18). Never let it be said that any one of us limited God in any way.”

1 Like
#71

#63 - THE AGES IN THE SCRIPTURES – VLADIMIR GELESNOFF

“Words are inadequate to describe the harm which has resulted from confounding the ages with eternity.

The Greek and Hebrew terms rendered ‘forever and ever,’ ‘eternal,’ ‘everlasting’ never refer to endlessness; but to a series of terminable periods know as age-times. These ages are periods in which God carries on remedial work, but they have a conclusion and pass away when the purpose to be accomplished in them has been realized. The ages are never synonymous with endlessness but always distinct therefrom.

That the words translated ‘forever and ever’ are associated with the hereafter of both believer and unbeliever is true; but in the case of both it is limited to the span of the ages, and has not the remotest reference to the final state of either. Therefore the dogmas of endless agony and endless sin rest on purely imaginary premises and are without the slightest shred of biblical support.”

1 Like
#72

#64 - “HELL” – VLADIMIR GELESNOFF
This writing is a detailed explanation of why the author makes the following statement.

“The barbarous and heathen dogma of endless torment is refuted by the very passages on which orthodoxy depends for its support.”

1 Like
#73

#65 - “ONE” AND “ALL” – JOHN ESSEX

“ ‘This is ideal and welcome in the sight of our Saviour, God, Who wills that all mankind be saved and come into a realization of the truth’ (1Tim. 2:3). This passage shows us what is the driving force behind salvation, the will of God. It is God Who is the Saviour, not us, and it is His will that is the decisive factor that results in the saving of all.

Many believers will have some to be saved, some to be reconciled; God will have all to be saved, all to be reconciled. He will be All in all, not all in some. Many insist on the word ‘some’ because it makes human endeavor a part of salvation; they will not recognize that human endeavor is, of itself, vanity, and that all is of God. He, the One, does everything for the all, that in each He may display His grace. Let us not claim for ourselves the glory of our salvation, but give it wholly to Him.”

1 Like
#74

#66 - ON THESE THINGS MEDITATE – WILLIAM MEALAND
(possibly the most eloquent of all the UR writers)

In summing up his book he wrote
“Christ has truly made peace ‘through the blood of His cross.’ But the clear potency of it is yet to be seen when the ministry of reconciliation has accomplished its beneficial purpose. Then, the salvation of all is at last a wondrous reality. The tendency we see in God’s great stream of the eons has widened and enlarged until all are richly blessed by its satisfying power. Its noble volume, now freed of all obstacles, attains a majestic flow. And so, by seemingly strange and inexplicable ways, the God of all grace accomplishes His purpose. For ‘Grace not in rills, but cataracts rolls.’ How glorious the stream, and how salutary its miraculous power! Sin has affected all, all but One glorious, sinless Being, and He in marvelous grace triumphs completely over it.

There will not be a single creature, then, above or below, who is not ‘lost in wonder, love and praise.’ A scene truly to inspire, and continuously impel to grateful thanks. Transcendent grace indeed, in fullest flow.”

1 Like
#75

#67 - “ETERNAL LIFE” – DR. LOYAL F. HURLEY

“Hebrew and Greek scholars know that there is no word in the Bible corresponding to our ‘eternal,’ which, as commonly used among us, means unending. Most theologians know this too, but they don’t teach it. Only one who is willing to stand for TRUTH for truth’s sake and is willing to be branded a fanatic would dare to challenge the translation ‘eternal life.’

‘Eternal life,’ so called, pertains to relationship and quality. What men are urged to ‘lay hold of’ is ‘eonian life’ or ‘real life’ or ‘true life.’ It is not duration but quality. How tragic that truths like this are covered up by faulty translations!”

The only definition of ‘eternal life’ so-called, in the entire Bible is clearly stated in John 17:3, ‘And this is life eternal (eonian), that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.’ That describes relationship, not duration; it signifies quality, not quantity.”

#76

#68 - TORTURING DOUBTS AND EXULTANT FAITH – JAMES CORAM

“After long years of torturing doubts, God had mercy on me and turned my darkness into light, my despair into joy and my misery into exultation. He brought me into touch with His revelation, just as He had written it, apart from most of the mistranslations of well-meaning men, who were bound by creeds and tradition.

I found out that sin and suffering are confined to the eons or ages, as ‘forever’ and ‘everlasting’ should be translated. There will indeed be an awful judgment, but it will not merely punish, but set right all wrongs.

Not only will God bring all of earth’s inhabitants back into the sunlight of His love, but, through the blood of Christ’s cross, He will reconcile all to Him, whether those on the earth, or those in the heavens (Col. 1:20). The present enmity toward God on the part of terrestrial and celestial creatures will, in due time, be used as a background to display His love. That is why I no longer have torturing doubts, but revel in exultant faith.”

#77

#69 - THE GLORY OF THE HAPPY GOD – ARTHUR CHARLES LAMB

“We read in 1Tim. 1:11 that Paul was entrusted with the evangel of the glory of the happy God. We read in 1Tim. 2:4 that God wills that all mankind be saved and come into a knowledge of the truth, and that Christ Jesus gave Himself a correspondent ransom for all (2:6).

Our God is a happy God. In Ephesians 1:10,11 we learn of the secret of God’s will, and this accords with His delight. It gives God joy and happiness and delight to purpose and bring about ‘an administration of the complement of the eras, to head up all in the Christ.’
Such an evangel is certainly for the laud of His glory.”

#78

#70 - THE CONCEPT OF CIRCULARITY – JACK E. JACOBSEN

“Coming to the close of the last age, we find the earth filled with God’s righteousness. All know Him from the least to the greatest. The earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Through His own blood, Christ has reconciled all back to God. We see every tongue confessing in love and adoration Christ as Lord. This can only be done in obedience and love as it is a unanimous Praise of the Universe to the glory of God the Father (Colossians 1:20).

It is little wonder that all gladly proclaim redemption’s story. God now rises in everyone, bringing the consummation of God’s plan of the ages – a complete circle, from God in Himself to GOD ALL IN ALL.”

#79

#71 - GOD’S PERFECT PLAN – AUTHOR UNKNOWN

“Many attempts have been made to prove that eons are eternal. The Greek word aion and the Hebrew olam, both meaning age or eon, have been translated by terms meaning endlessness. This is a grave error, for the divine Author, Himself has not used them in this way. He has indicated that they were not eternal in the past by informing us that they had a beginning (1Cor. 2:7), and, again, that they cannot possibly be everlasting in the future, for they are to end (Heb. 9:26; 1Cor. 10:11).

God’s plan for creation is confined to time. It is not an ‘eternal’ purpose’ but a ‘purpose of the eons’ (Eph. 3:11). Beyond the ages there will be naught but bliss and perfection for every member of creation (Rom. 8:19-22). Sin and evil and death will then be past; all will be saved and reconciled, and God shall be All, not in a few, but in all (1Cor. 15:28).”

#80

CORRECTION: I have replaced snippet #72 with the following

#72 - A snippet from GOD’S METHODS WITH MAN – G. Campbell Morgan (pages 185-186)

“Let me say to Bible students that we must be very careful how we use the word ‘eternity.’ We have fallen into great error in our constant use of that word. There is no word in the whole book of God corresponding with our ‘eternal,’ which, as commonly used among us, means absolutely without end. Men have divided the church, separated from each other, and persecuted one another, upon a though conveyed by an English word which has no equivalent in the Bible.”
G. Campbell Morgan

In response to that statement, the SCRIPTURE STUDIES CONCERN editor (unnamed) wrote in 1956
“We cannot conceive of a Creator Who knows the end from the beginning, One Who is Love, Who has infinite wisdom, and infinite power, giving to any being life, life which is never to end, but to continue in suffering to all eternity. The Bible does not teach it anywhere in the original languages. God’s punishments are remedial and take place within the span of the ages. Punishment will last no longer than is necessary to bring man to hate his sin and be reconciled to his Saviour.”