Quote:
Originally Posted by rodgertutt
If you cannot love an eternal torment god (without links)
For the first 500 years of the Christian church, universal salvation was the prevailing doctrine of a large majority of the Christian church. To find the evidence that this is so, type into Google
books prevailing
Universalism The Prevailing Doctrine Of The Christian Church During Its First Five Hundred Years
The author, J.W. Hanson wrote “The purpose of this book is to present some of the evidence of the prevalence in the early centuries of the Christian church, of the doctrine of the final holiness of all mankind. The author believes that the following pages show that Universal Restitution was the faith of the early Christians for at least the First Five Hundred Years of the Christian era. He has aimed to present irrefragable proofs that the doctrine of Universal Salvation was the prevalent sentiment of the primitive Christian church.
The salient statements and facts in all which will be found in these pages show that the most and ablest of the early fathers found the deliverance of all mankind from sin and sorrow specifically revealed in the Christian Scriptures.” And they were reading the Bible in its original language. This online book also explains why and how this changed.
Up until now, after reading this post, many believers in eternal torment have said something like, “I truly sympathize with your sufferings, but it’s what the Bible says that matters, not whether or not it makes you suffer.” That’s why I want to say right at the outset that all of the links referred to but not posted here show that a correctly (literally, not interpretively) translated Bible actually teaches universal salvation, not eternal torment, or even annihilation.
I’m 69 years old. The idea that God lets anyone suffer forever has caused me more suffering, including a twelve year nervous breakdown 1966-78, than all the other sufferings of my life combined.
This suffering was caused by the fear produced by not being able to love a god who would let anyone suffer forever and wondering what this god would do to me for not being able to love him. Even though I was and am trusting for my salvation in what Jesus accomplished by His death and resurrection, through the power in the blood of His cross, I was, and still am unable to love a god who would let anyone suffer forever.
You can Google up many similar testimonies by typing in
tentmaker hells fruit (small case letters)
If you are like me and cannot love a god who would let anyone suffer forever, you can Google up THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD SERIES and find out that a literally (not interpretively) translated Bible actually teaches universal salvation, not even annihilation.
THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD SERIES (Google it up)
THE GOD THAT CALVINIST AND ARMINIAN ETERNAL TORMENTORS PROFESS TO LOVE
The eternal torment theology of the Arminian Christian relies on so-called “free will” and luck.
The god that Arminian eternal tormentors profess to love says to his fallen creatures
“Unless you are lucky enough to find out about my son during this lifetime, and even if you are that lucky, if you don’t have the good sense to cooperate with my son properly before you die, then I am going to raise you from the dead and I will sustain you alive in an inescapable state of eternal torment forever.”
The eternal torment theology of the Calvinist Christian relies on God alone, not “free will” at all. It is summed up by the word TULIP: Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, and the Perseverance of the elect.
The god that Calvinistic eternal tormentors profess to love says to his fallen creatures
"I created most of you for the purpose of torturing you forever. However, I am going to choose a few of you undeserving ones to go to heaven where you will be happy forever." John Calvin said there will be infants a span long in hell because they were not among the elect. (A span is the distance between the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger.)
And then both the Arminian and Calvinistic eternal tormentors say that the feelings that they have for this god of theirs is “love.”
To read a description of eternal torment combination Calv-Arminianism Google up
ABSOLUTE ASSURANCE IN JESUS CHRIST
Without God’s sustaining power everyone would cease to exist. So if anyone were to suffer forever, our all-powerful God (Who is Love in essence, not just loving) would be fully 100% responsible for it. We would have to conclude that any definition of the manifestation of “love-in-essence” includes eternally sustaining people alive in an inescapable state of suffering.
What a travesty; what a revolting definition of love it is that God, Who is love personified, would grant any creature a will so strong that they can choose themselves into an irreversible state of never ending suffering (Arminian), or deserve to suffer forever just by being born into the human race (Calvinistic).
Thank God the Bible does not teach such insane ideas! Yes, God is just but He is not justice personified. However, God is Love personified. That is why He will temper all of His administrating of justice only to be for the good of the individual being judged.
Here is what the God that universal transformationists love and worship with complete abandon will do. He will complete the process of salvation for the first fruits of election, (the remnant chosen by grace), after the first resurrection. Then He will complete the process of salvation for the non-elect after the great white throne judgment. For some, it will include an experience in the lake of fire.
Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead to guarantee that any necessary "kolasis aionian" (age-during corrective chastisement) will be 100% effective in changing wrong attitudes. All acts of sin have been forgiven for everyone. Attitudes cannot be forgiven. Attitudes must change. This is what the lake of fire which is the second death will do. It will last no longer than God sees is good for everyone involved. Google up
lake of fire eby
You can also Google up good articles on this subject by typing in kolasis aionian
Or, they will go to the search engine at the top of TENTMAKER (Google it up), and will type in a key word or phrase from any argument or scripture passage. Ten articles will come up refuting the claim that the Bible teaches eternal torment. Then they may click to the next page and ten more articles will come up, and so on and so on for many pages.
This was the information that enabled me to recover from a twelve year nervous breakdown 1966-78, and it gives me great joy to keep learning that it is helping more and more other people too!! I’m 69
I am also going to guide you to the testimony of a man whose experience was almost identical to mine. Even the thought processes that took him into, through, and out of his breakdown are the same as mine. His name is Charles Slagle. He responds to the question, "Which view of salvation is true?"
You can Google up his answer by typing in ABSOLUTE ASSURANCE IN JESUS CHRIST
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Which view of salvation is true
Answer: The one you choose for in doing so, that is what you will experience
Anyone who wishes to debate that can do so.. but you will need to produce some form of evidence as proof beyond a book or scripture which is meant to be Gods direct Approved view on it.
If I had to recommend to a person where to begin in regards to questioning christianity.. it would be too look at Universalism.. this is a prime example of the differences of opinions and interpretations, yet at least it would help them step away from some of the fear based sense of REQUIREMENT of belief and service to God. Which when you realize your not Required to do so ( without punishment / True free will ) then your view of God will change and what had originally been done because you were told it was a REQUIREMENT ( serve, worship ) will become something done out of Great Joy and Choice. Service to Life ( God, others ) no higher purpose
Universalism though still exists or is experienced in the illusion of a God of Need, and still many who hold to it are attempting to Serve God out of a sense of REQUIREMENT/COMMAND/DUTY..... though at least it begins to pull away some of the fallacies about God. If they dont think they are doing it out of REQUIREMENT, then test yourself.. Stop doing it for a time and see what feelings you begin to have about your not contining to do what you did before. ( you can always come back to doing it again ) but see.. if the reaction/feeling you feel in your self is anything less than still a sense of Love, Joy, Appreciation and Peace that God is still Pleased with you no matter what you are or are not doing.. IF NOT then what you have been doing previously has come out of a sense of Requirement and I might say, even Fear
Yet it stops at Jesus and Sin which is fine
Yet if one thing is called out, you really have to look at the rest of the story that has been given
Universalism rests on that the reason God will not punish non believing people for Sin is because Jesus has dealt with it regardless of peoples belief in Jesus
And if that works for some great..
But for others the reason God does not punish anyone for sin is because their never was Sin to begin with, or seperation and God has no Need
Lets not get mixed up here and assume I am saying that there is not Right and Wrong, though intrinsically there isnt. There is only Cause and Effect, and no cause could create the effect of real seperation from God, as the very substance of Life, time and space is God.. Now thats not to say that No Cause could create an effect which is an Illusion of seperation from God
The seperation that exists in reality is not seperation but an illusion that no longer becomes an illusion when we see it for what it is, which in turn changes our persepective about it, this effects our perception which effects our belief which effects our experience, which effects our reality and the new perspective we now hold.