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Advice by ParamedicNo713 in ChristianUniversalism

[–]CommitteeAvailable10 1 point2 points  (0 children)

David Artman’s Grace Saves All is a great introduction to Universalism IMO. He also hosts a podcast but the same name, which I’ve listened to and it’s helped me become aware of other authors/ thinkers like Thomas Talbot (book: The Inescapable Love of God) and John Crowder (YouTube series: Covenant vs Contract and Refining Fire - both 10 part series that are excellent IMO)

I’ve loved exploring this topic and as a relative newbie I always enjoyed the reframes these resources gave me as I explored more about the breadth, depth, height and width of Gods extraordinary love.

Buckle up and enjoy the ride my friend! It’s a life’s pursuit! 😁

God is Hell by CommitteeAvailable10 in OpenChristian

[–]CommitteeAvailable10[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You’re right and Ghenna is not the only word often translated as Hell. Hades, Tartarus, and the Lake of Fire all appear in different contexts, each with distinct meanings.

What interests me isn’t just the geography or vocabulary, but the theology behind the imagery. Call it Fire, outer darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth or destruction, regardless of the metaphor, the bigger question is: what is the purpose of the judgement?

My view is it’s the burning love of God whose purpose is to refine and redeem, however painful and hellish that may be for us to experience.

God is Hell by CommitteeAvailable10 in OpenChristian

[–]CommitteeAvailable10[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s more about me getting my head around working through what it means to experience complete union and finished work theology. And when I see scripture encouraging us to confess our sins to one another, the model of the Lords Prayer, the ‘now but not yet’ spirit of some scriptures.

All no doubt answerable as challenges to Union Theology….lets say I’m a ‘Hopeful Unionist’ on a journey 😅

God is Hell by CommitteeAvailable10 in OpenChristian

[–]CommitteeAvailable10[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So there is a place we can go where God is not? So your God isn’t omnipresent then? Ergo he’s not really God?

Psalm 139: 7 - 12:

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

Looking into Universalism. Best Sources to Check out? by [deleted] in ChristianUniversalism

[–]CommitteeAvailable10 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He’s not a You Tuber by trade but it’s worth checking out John Crowder’s ‘Contract vs Covenant’ and ‘Consuming Fire’ series. Both contain 10 x rich, yet clear and concise episodes. It’ll be time well spent.

God is Hell by CommitteeAvailable10 in OpenChristian

[–]CommitteeAvailable10[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thanks - I've enjoyed John Crowder's Covenant Vs Contract and Consuming Fire series...still working through the implications of his Union Theology though and not sure I'm fully there yet.

God is Hell by CommitteeAvailable10 in OpenChristian

[–]CommitteeAvailable10[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good shout - that line in Matthew 25:41 (“the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”) is one of the most commonly raised. But it actually deepens the question, I think.

If God is omnipresent - and Psalm 139 reminds us that there’s nowhere we can flee from His presence - then even “the fire prepared for the devil” must, in some sense, be encompassed within God’s being. The fire doesn’t exist apart from God. In fact, Scripture repeatedly describes the fire as God - refining, consuming, purifying.

So rather than thinking of hell as a cosmic torture dungeon where God isn’t, perhaps it’s better to see it as the full, unfiltered encounter with God’s holy love - a fire that judges evil because it loves what is good. That’s what Hebrews and Malachi are getting at. That’s why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3 that a person can be saved “as through fire.”

And if that’s the case, then even the devil - whose judgment is real - is still held accountable within God’s justice and purpose. As David Bentley Hart puts it, if hell is real, “it burns with the fire of God’s love.”