Dear Friends in Faith,
     Edward Beecher, a brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a book entitled, History of Opinions on the Scriptural Doctrine of Retribution (1878). Although he did not make a stand for the truth of universal salvation unambiguously, he offered much scriptural and historical support for it.
     He provided good evidence that the Greek words aion and aionios were not understood in the sense of “eternal” or “forever” in ancient times. Concerning the usage of these terms in the Septuagint, he wrote, “Let . . . aion, denote an age or a dispensation, and aionios mean pertaining to an age, and all is consistent and harmonious” (p.150).
     He also observed that of the six earliest “Christian theological schools” only one seemed to uphold a doctrine of future unending punishment, another one apparently favored the idea of annihilation of the wicked, and the remaining four followed teachers who favored “universal restoration” in one form or another (p.189). He had this comment concerning Theodore of Mopsuestia, whose views were taught in two of these schools: “Christ and his cross, . . . he regarded as the centre of the great movement toward universal restitution” (p.224).
     It was not Adam’s intention that, by his one act, all mankind would be condemned and would constitute all mankind sinners. Yet it was God’s hidden intention, unknown to Adam, that, through his one offense, through his disobedience, all mankind would be affected. For thousands of years mankind was swept along a torrid river of sin and death, not voluntarily. But then the Saviour arrived! He Who came into the world to save sinners will, through His one just act, through His obedience, bring all mankind into a justified, vivified loving relationship with God. This is God’s revealed will and intention.

We are Moving
     We are in the midst of moving our office, stock of literature and library about a mile east of our present location. We plan to keep the phone number given above in our letterhead, but many such details need to be worked out yet. The P.O. Box 314 address is the one to use in contacting us by mail.
     And speaking of mail, we see that postage rates are on the increase once again. We want to repeat our request that those readers who have not contacted us in a year or so let us know if they wish to continue receiving the SAF newsletter. We thank you in advance for doing this.

Conferences
     The annual conference in Willard, Ohio, is scheduled this year for June 8-10. To get your rooms in advance we suggest these motels:
Willard Country Inn 419-933-2441
Walton Inn 419-933-2422
Country Hearth 419-935-8817
We look forward to seeing you there!

Yours in God’s grace and peace,
Dean Hough and Tony Nungesser