Is Universalism a Damnable Heresy? - A Response to Answering Judaism

Bobo aka the owner of the "Answering Judaism" blog, has persistently attempted to undermine my Exclusivitic/Inclusivitic (but non-pluralistic) Biblical Trinitarian Universalist position since the publishing of an older post of mine defending the position as a possible Christian Trinitarian view (1). Bobo does not appear to be happy with my debate on the subject which can be found on his YouTube Channel (2) but also available on my Blog/YouTube Channel (3), (thanks Bobo). In this post, I will not be addressing the Patristic or Ecclesiastical resources, definitions or proclamations but strictly speaking from my perspective of the Bible along with sound reasoning as is so common in our post-modern society. 

Throughout his blog he has published multiple posts responding to me and addressing Universalism in general. In this post I would like to address his latest in a series of these types of posts. (4,5,6). But I will start off addressing an older comment in our debate commentary exchange (7). 

Bobo asserts the following: 

"No, Calvinism isn't on trial and never has been in our conversation, not the article I wrote, Universalism is on trial. You are the one who months ago wrote an article on it and I refuse to repeat what I have told you about my criterion since you refuse to take it on board. You are misusing and abusing my criterion. Consistency is important, I am not going to dispute that. Again, your argument is akin to someone saying that if the Trinity is true, Roman Catholicism must also be true, It's an absurd argument."

Bobo alleges I abuse and misuse his criterion, even candidly reject it, however is this true? 

In a comment made from the same post Bobo asserts:

"If Universalism is true, Then we can happily embrace it and those who teach such, but if it can be shown that Universalism is in fact false and that the scriptures teach to the contrary, then those who teach it are teaching a doctrine of demons and those who believe in the heresy of universalism need to repent and shun it."

I responded:

"The ONLY CRITERION Bobo specifies is that something is in fact false if it is contrary to Scripture, THEN it's demonic. Well, Bobo, is Calvinism contrary to Scripture or not? According to Bobo it is, hence it's a doctrine of demons."

Again (as I previously stated), Bobo makes his criterion clear:

"Addendum: If Universalism CONTRADICTS THE BIBLE, IT IS FALSE, period, ERGO, condemned as FALSE TEACHING and A FALSE GOSPEL."

As I pointed out:

"Does limited atonement contradict the Scriptures or not? Does unconditional election contradict the Scriptures or not?"

And:

"In context you are referring to Universalism, however I am extracting the criterion you use to judge Universalism. The very standard you use to reckon Universalism as a demonic-non-Christian heresy. The only criterion you give to show that universalism is unbiblical was that it is a doctrine contrary to scripture and/or that it contradicts Scripture. However this is as equally as applicable to Calvinism since according to you Calvinism is contrary to the Scripture, yet you say one is a heresy but not the other. It's time to be consistent"

Now Bobo thinks he has an answer to this by asserting that one is a "disputable matter of faith" and one is not. However, that is not (I repeat not) what I can infer from Bobo's comments about his criterion to determine what constitutes heresy. 

Heresy according to Bobo is anything (or something, meaning "a doctrine") which contradicts and/or is contrary to Scripture, and Calvinism fulfills this criterion since it is not taught in the Scripture according to Bobo. If Bobo wishes to make an exception for Calvinism, then he must provide a definition of heresy that would logically exclude Calvinism from meeting the very parameters of heresy, so far I have nothing, squat to work with. We cannot beg the question. That is; make a logical fallacy and assume both doctrines are disputable (or non-disputable) matters of faith without sound justification, as this would violate consistency, and according to Bobo: "Consistency is important, I am not going to dispute that". 

If anything that opposes or is contrary to Scripture is heresy (and Bobo clarifies he uses this word as "damnable" heresy) then Calvinism must fit into this category. So what Bobo has to do, is to argue: "Anything that opposes or is contrary to Scripture is heresy unless it is Calvinism". Now without begging the question: why should anyone make an exception for Calvinism but not Universalism? They are both unbiblical according to Bobo, they are both contrary and contradictory to Scripture. Ah but one is allegedly "disputable" while one isn't. Yet how do we know this without assuming our conclusion instead of arguing for it? 

As analogy if someone deemed that eternal security (E.S) was a disputable (or indisputable) matter of faith (as some Calvinists argue the latter), how would we know this, Biblically speaking? Well one of the most sensible and reasonable answers is whether the doctrine is Biblical or non-Biblical. This is the one that Bobo implicitly attests to in his posts, and the one I inferred from reading his posts, but pointed out to Bobo we must apply consistently, and not cherry pick whatever we want and/or hope to be the case. 

Finally I must point out his representation of my argument is nothing other than a strawman, since it does not represent the reality of what I propose. I do not argue that if the Trinity is true, Universalism must also be true. No I argue if Arminianism is true, Calvinism (and Universalism) are both false, and therefore both can be defined as heresies.    

However recently in my assessment, Bobo has finally come up with something that at least attempts to give an explanation for the previous dilemma in his most recent posts. He tries to explain why Arminianism can still be true, whilst Calvinism is not heresy, but Universalism is. Confusing? That's because it is.   

Bobo makes the following points:

1. Genuine Calvinism carries out evangelism
2. Genuine Calvinism teaches evangelism is a divine mandate 
3. Genuine Calvinism asserts a regenerated person must hear the Gospel 
4. Genuine Calvinism teaches holiness, 
5. Genuine Calvinism teaches repentance from idolatry and sin
6. Genuine Calvinism has concern for lost souls/fallen men and desires repentance
7. Genuine Calvinism believes sin itself cuts you off from having a relationship with God
8. Genuine Calvinism says sin as a serious problem that needs to be rectified.

Bobo has therefore construed a possible criterion for what is to be deemed heretical versus a disputable matter of faith. Allegedly because Universalism fails to successfully achieve these conditions (albeit unintentionally for the most part) or affirm these propositions in the correct manner as expressed by God, then it must fall into the domain of heresy, where as Arminianism and Calvinism successfuly achieve these conditions (and affirm them as revelatory propositions) and therefore the differences between these last two can be considered merely disputable. 

Bobo makes other interesting objections towards Universalism (which I will address later on, Lord Willing), but first I will address his objections to how Universalism fails to carry out these 8 bullet points. 

Now i'm not exactly sure how many of these propositions Bobo is expressing Universalism manages to fail to conceptually assert or appropriately (successfully) execute. Possibly he thinks Universalism at-least asserts these ideas in words but not in practice (given the Universalist framework). But I suspect ultimately Universalists fail to "achieve" all of them (possibly excluding 3 and/or 6). I will now therefore go ahead and quote his prime objections. 

He says:

  

"Universalists cannot consistently preach holiness and evangelism despite that claim. Whether or not a universalist believes that all paths lead to God or they believe that hell is a cleansing process that purifies a person so they can go to heaven, they are not presenting a true Gospel at all and they are presenting a Gospel that essentially says to the person "You can believe in idolatry and live in sin and still be saved" (not the Universalists intention but that is a conclusion the unbeliever could draw) "

Firstly, I'm not exactly sure how what an unbeliever thinks about or construes a doctrine is pertinent to how the Bible defines heresy or what constitutes heresy. For example many Muslims relentlessly misconstrue the doctrine of the Trinity, that does not mean Trinitarians are affirming tri-theism or modalism (a common false dichotomy). Origen made it clear that Universalism was not for laity either (meaning non-believers or babes), but rather for when a babe in Christ becomes spiritually mature over-time and realizes the profound deeper spiritual mysteries and insight contained within Scripture. Hence "Universalism" is not part and parcel with the Gospel according to our view, it's not a necessary Christian belief. Bobo himself concedes this is not what we are advocating conceptually (perhaps excluding the pluralist), so we certainly can't be advocating explicit heresy in this way. This leaves us with a kind of functional discrepancy, Universalists say one thing but the practical implications cannot be achieved due to an overall insufficient framework. Some responses are in order.

I am not personally convinced that heresy is about sinners failing to adhere to and/or practice doctrines. Rather heresy is about doctrinal error. Meaning certain conceptual formulae and propositions must be affirmed or negated by Orthodox Creeds that are Biblically sound. This would mean even if Bobo is correct and we fail in this regard, we would still not be affirming heresy. 

Additionally I think there are Universalists who repent, reject idolatry and accept salvation and affirm these are necessary conditions for entry into God's kingdom. Remember there are many Universalists who accept free will, so these Universalists would understand that belief and repentance are two perpetual and necessary conditions, but they would also extend those conditions to the sinners in the after-life. There are also Universalists who accept E.S. or Calvinistic type positions and so they would accept the doctrine of Lordship-Salvation, that by "faith alone" a proposition according to them including both "belief and repentance" meaning Jesus is Savior (the God-man who died for and paid for our sins and rose again!) and Lord (we must submit to him as Lord of our entire life via the power of the Holy Spirit and regeneration). So how would any of these Arminian/Calvinist type Universalists who affirm and practice repentance be considered heretics?

This also raises another question for Bobo. If a Christian accepts the Free Grace doctrine, often called by it's detractors "hyper-Grace" (this position advocates "once saved always saved" meaning: no matter how much idolatry/sin is committed by a person who had received Christ (they) remain saved by the initial confession of belief. However "repentance" is viewed as an altogether different matter. Meaning a Christian can be faithful/repentant or an unrepentant sinner, e.g. Solomon but still remain in God's family despite deviation). Now as an example of this, I will present to Bobo, Kent Hovind's critique of Ray Comfort. Ray appears to be an Arminian who appears to advocate a doctrine almost identical with "Lordship-Salvation", meaning faith and repentance are both viewed as prerequisites for salvation. The Arminian/Calvinist view appear to be very similar in this regard hence the over-lap of the term "Lordship-Salvation" with an Arminian (this is however, formally/technically though a Calvinist conception).

Now would Bobo say that Kent Hovind is an explicit heretic since he seems to suggest Christians can practice idolatry and live in sin and yet still be saved because of a one time salfivic confession that made them recipients of eternal life? Obviously what Hovind is proposing is incompatible with Arminianism and Calvinism, but is it truly damnable heresy to believe that Christ's righteousness is not only imputed to us (justification) but also his righteousness is our very possession and sanctification. That is that we cannot vindicate our salvation through our own sanctification since our own deeds are filthy rags, where as Christ's sanctification is pure and perfect. 

Now personally I don't think Kent is a heretic, I think he has a different conceptual framework of the Bible. But my question for Bobo would be this. If a Universalist condemned and explicitly rejected Kent's "free ticket to sinning and still enter paradise", would Bobo then denounce that Universalist or admit that the Universalist rejects heresy and therefore could potentially be saved? And how is the explicit Universalist proposition "all men will be reconciled to God in Christ" necessarily advocating free-license to sin like Hovind's view is?

Bobo's next objection is:

"Universalism does NOT seem to take into consideration how righteousness will impact our relationship with God. Sin itself cuts man off from salvation and the severity of sin is there."

I think all positions would affirm this view including the Universalist (even the extreme hyper-Grace adherents would accept this). Basically righteousness would effect our relationship with God, he wouldn't be pleased with us, but according to the O.S.A.S "Hovindian" (coined ~ MB) view this wouldn't mean we have not been adopted into God's family, because our deeds don't determine the adoption into God's kingdom, rather Christ's righteousness does and our historical confession and belief in his finished work on the cross. According to this view this is a one time transaction for all time. signed, contracted with the deal being sealed. We can be bad kids or good kids, but we are still God's kids according to Hovind (and many other evangelicals who accept the "Free-Grace" view).

The Universalists however would have a broader spectrum than that of Hovind. Universalists usually take the Arminian/Calvinist stance that indeed righteousness does separate us from God, which is why it is necessary that God sends Christ and we conform to his image. Nothing within Universalism necessarily entails a hyper-grace view because regeneration and repentance are fundamentals of the Gospel accepted by Universalists.

Bobo also says:

"Universalism doesn't provide that in this life, it doesn't provide hope or liberation of sin, it unintentionally encourages it. Notice I said unintentionally, because there are Universalists that teach repentance from sin, though even then that is rather inconsistent to hold to."

I'm not really aware (given the above analysis) that Universalists would under-rate sin in the sense that Bobo wants to attribute to them. I don't really know of Universalists who accept the Free-Grace view (perhaps other than the pluralists, who think all roads lead to rome). Hence the implication then is that Universalists not only preach repentance from sin but also continual fellowship and communion with God and sanctification by God's Holy Spirit. This would not necessarily be inconsistent, because I don't think Trinitarian Universalists think you just get a free ticket/pass to paradise. Rather even those disbelievers (on earth) and even in the after-life, must repent from sin and believe on the Lord Jesus to be recipients of God's salvation.

Bobo also brings to our attention some other Universalist related issues. Firstly I will comment on the use of "eternal" in time Lord willing, so I will skip that for now (I need to read the articles cited by Bobo).

But regarding these questions:

"Does a denial of Universalism mean that God is weak and powerless? No. As I have said previously, He could save all if he so choose, but the question is, Why should he?"

I think I answered this question sufficiently in my original post that began this entire controversy. I will provide several citations:

"But just how does a sovereign omnipotent savior who intends to save every lost soul fail to accomplish just that which he sets out to do? That is to save every last and lost soul? I will let the libertarian explain that one."

"But then why would Christ die for the whole world if God did not intend to save everyone? This might as-well be a rhetorical question, which means the answer is indisputable. The answer is clear. Christ intends to save everyone, the most magnificent omni-benevolent God we could possibly conceive of actually exists. Christ loves everyone equally as his own and God shows no partiality between any lost sinner."

"If out of God's boundless love mercy flows to the most unrepentant and stubborn sinners, they must then be reconciled to God in the same way an elect creature would be the object of the exact same kind of love and mercy. If God's love and mercy are literally boundless, and his desire to save obstinate unrepentant sinners is unrelenting, this leaves God with no lack of intent to save these very sinners with his full range of divine mercy."

1. "If God has the intention to save someone he will indeed save that someone (desire, will and intention: Ezekiel 33:11; power, ability, sovereignty and accomplishment: John 6:35-40)
2. But God has the intention to save everyone (John 3:16-17)
3. Therefore God will indeed save everyone. (see section on Biblical Proof for Universal Reconciliation)
4. Conclussion: Universalism is true"

"My view is that God's intention to save someone means that it will be done. If God intends something we are talking about a guaranteed outcome."

"In conclusion, then there is no question. God has the desire, the power and the will and intention to save all people, everywhere. And so our omnipotent sovereign savior without question: will."

To add to this splendid view, Universalism is most consistent with a God-centered theology, one of the most magnificent possible conceptions of God that could conceivably exist: 

"Christianity today is man-centered, not God-centered. God is made to wait patiently, even respectfully, on the whims of men. The image of God currently popular is that of a distracted Father, struggling in heartbroken desperation to get people to accept a Savior of whom they feel no need and in whom they have very little interest.

To persuade these self-sufficient souls to respond to His generous offers God will do almost anything, even using salesmanship methods and talking down to them in the chummiest way imaginable. This view of things is, of course, a kind of religious romanticism which, while it often uses flattering and sometimes embarrassing terms in praise of God, manages nevertheless to make man the star of the show." - A. W. Tozer Man: The Dwelling Place of God, P 27

To God belongs salvation, and hence he is sovereign over all souls. 

Finally Bobo raises another interesting point:

"Can heresy be condemned? Despite the varying views of universalism, they all have the consistent point that all will eventually be saved, whether a person is saved after death via Jesus Christ or believe all paths lead to God, How can they contest doctrines to be false? There is a level of inconsistency here that is often not taken into consideration. A charge of heresy cannot be made from their tongues consistently and it baffles me if and when someone in the universalist camp does that. How does it even work? A question to the Universalists, Why do you believe non-universalists are wrong when in the end it doesn't matter? Or does it matter?"

Bobo proposes a really interesting thought experiment, if everyone turns out to be saved, that is to inherit eternal life in the kingdom of God and his Christ, then why does anything matter? We are all going to reach eternal salvation in God's kingdom, so nothing we do here matters in the end. And on what basis can a Universalist declare someone or some position to be heretical? I suppose my answer to this is similar to what I stated in my original post:

"If Christian Universalism is true: why be a Christian? 

The first part almost answers itself. If Universalism is true, and you whom possess a truth seeking and truth bearing property have no choice but to value and desire truth (the contrary is impossible), then you will participate in the truth and be a Christian Universalist. This reason alone is sufficient but what are some other factors? If Christian Universalism is true, then the Triune God created you to be loved by him with his image bearing property inferred on you to love others, to love your Creator and seek and desire God’s love, this nature you possess then is inescapable and only fulfilled by the Triune Lord of the Creation. Your spiritual and emotional needs would be best met in full abundance by your Creator. The unique Christian Triune God exists and no other uncreated Creator exists, hence all other religions are incomplete, inadequate or incompatible with reality, aka: false.

But if there is no eternal hell fire, or eternal hell in any other sense, then why be a Christian? Why not sin and live like a hedonist?

Other than the above reasons that apply to the same question I would like to add some additions. I believe there is an immediate and fundamental compulsory obligation and requirement on all humanity to return and reconcile with God. Sinners must repent, all humans are required to repent. If you do not repent you are already condemned. If you are already condemned you are leading yourself to hell, you only perpetuate your own suffering by persistently rejecting God. In short: sin and death lead to suffering (and separation from God - MB), suffering leads to anger and misery, sadness, depression, the depravity existence without being alive. (partaking of God's full divine abundance of living being - MB)"

Unfortunately this doesn't come close to adequately giving a comprehensive answer to this question, but it's a start. I will have to do justice at a later date, Lord willing. In conclusion, while I am perhaps not as certain of Universalism as Bobo may perhaps be of Arminianism, or Keith Thompson is of Calvinism, I do find it to be within the realm of Christian Orthodoxy. This means it is not a belief that makes me or any other Universalist a formal heretic. And in this way I agree with Sam Shamoun, Jai Habor, Vladimir Susic, Dr Chris Claus, Matt Slick and Jose Joesph (CTW24) who also see no apparent explicit discrepancy between fundamentals, (the Trinity, Hypo-Static Union, Gospel) and some Christian forms of Universalism. 

All glory to our God and Father, his Logos and his Ruach Ha Kodesh

NOTES:

1 http://www.answeringabraham.com/2015/05/introduction-and-defense-of-trinitarian.html
2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0uviu5k4ug
3 http://www.answeringabraham.com/2016/01/does-bible-teach-universalism-dr-chris.html
4 http://answering-judaism.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/universalism-extra-points-to-note.html
5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-h1R7NEwbE
6 http://answering-judaism.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/universalism-extra-points-to-note-2.html
7 http://answering-judaism.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/after-debate-quick-response-to-dk-man7.html