Saviour of All Fellowship April 1999
Dear Friends in Faith,
A friend from Warrenville, Illinois, recently compiled a group of questions for those from traditional, conservative Christian backgrounds who oppose the truth of universal reconciliation. Here are a few of them: 1. How could Jesus teach “hell”; without ever mentioning “hell,” and how can it be said that He frequently talked about “hell” when He never used the word? 2. In believing that Jesus died for you, do you also believe that His work actually saved you? 3. Precisely what are we commanded to believe about God's work in the cross of Jesus? Did God's work deliver us from sin's penalty or did it not? Did His work save us, or does our "belief" in His work save us? Are we saved by God's work, or by our “belief-work”? 4. Why would God perpetuate sin, evil, Auschwitz-like horror, forever, after He has destroyed both death and the grave at the end of the ages? For what purpose? For revenge? Won't God eliminate all opposition to His will by making friends of His enemies? 5. Why do you talk about “endless ages” when God states that the ages will end? Tony was apprised of an “error” he had made when conversing with someone on an internet bulletin board concerning 1 Corinthians 15:22-28. Supposedly he made the mistake in saying that the verse was speaking absolutely of all mankind, as it pertains to both Adam and Christ. The critic claimed that while it may be true that in Adam all are dying, it is not true that the same “all” mankind will be in Christ. He said that only believers are in Christ. So his understanding of the verse would go something like this: “even as in Adam all are dying, thus also in Christ shall all [believers] be vivified.” But is he correct? In verse 21 Paul wrote that “Through a human came death, through a Human also, comes the resurrection of the dead. For (the reason why this is so is) even as, in Adam all [humans] are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all [humans] be vivified. Yet each [human] in his own class . . . .” Paul is showing the Corinthians that if there is no resurrection then there is a hopelessness which is universal. Please note also that where Paul wrote in verse 21 “through a Human comes the resurrection of the dead” that he was writing concerning all dead humans and not just dead believers. Paul is right after all. “Even as in Adam all [humans] are dying, thus also in Christ, shall all [humans] be vivified.” We are sorry the conference here on March 20 had to be cancelled because of muddy roads and illness, but as it turned out a few friends from Ohio and from our local area joined in an afternoon of informal fellowship. We expect to follow the usual schedule for conferences in Waterloo, Ontario. Our theme for these meetings is: Foundations of Faith. A good statement of some of our basic beliefs is given in Jim Coram's editorial in the March issue of Unsearchable Riches. Yours in God's grace, Dean Hough and Tony Nungesser |