I am a convinced universalist. I believe that in the end all men will
be gathered into the love of God. In the early days Origen was the great name connected
with universalism. I would believe with Origen that universalism is no easy thing. Origen
believed that after death there were many who would need prolonged instruction, the
sternest discipline, even the severest punishment before they were fit for the presence of
God. Origen did not eliminate hell; he believed that some people would have to go to
heaven via hell. He believed that even at the end of the day there would be some on whom
the scars remained. He did not believe in eternal punishment, but he did see the
possibility of eternal penalty. And so the choice is whether we accept God's
offer and invitation willingly, or take the long and terrible way round through ages of
purification.
Gregory of Nyssa offered three reasons why he believed in universalism. First, he believed
in it because of the character of God. "Being good, God entertains pity for
fallen man; being wise, he is not ignorant of the means for his recovery." Second, he
believed in it because of the nature of evil. Evil must in the end be moved out
of existence, "so that the absolutely non-existent should cease to be at all."
Evil is essentially negative and doomed to non-existence. Third, he believed in it because
of the purpose of punishment. The purpose of punishment is always remedial. Its
aim is "to get the good separated from the evil and to attract it into the communion
of blessedness." Punishment will hurt, but it is like the fire which separates the
alloy from the gold; it is like the surgery which removes the diseased thing; it is like
the cautery which burns out that which cannot be removed any other way.
But I want to set down not the arguments of others but the thoughts which have persuaded
me personally of universal salvation.
First, there is the fact that there are things in the New Testament which more than
justify this belief. Jesus said: "I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all
men to myself" (John 12:32). Paul writes to the Romans: "God has consigned all
men to disobedience that he may have mercy on all" (Rom. 11:32). He writes
to the Corinthians: "As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all
be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:22); and he looks to the final total triumph when God will
be everything to everyone (1 Cor. 15:28). In the First Letter to Timothy we read of God
"who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth," and of Christ Jesus "who gave himself as a ransom for all"
(1 Tim 2:4-6). The New Testament itself is not in the least afraid of the word all.
Second, one of the key passages is Matthew 25:46 where it is said that the rejected go
away to eternal punishment, and the righteous to eternal life. The Greek word for
punishment is kolasis, which was not originally an ethical word at all. It
originally meant the pruning of trees to make them grow better. I think it is true to say
that in all Greek secular literature kolasis is never used of anything but
remedial punishment. The word for eternal is aionios. It means more than
everlasting, for Plato - who may have invented the word - plainly says that a thing may be
everlasting and still not be aionios. The simplest way to out it is that aionios
cannot be used properly of anyone but God; it is the word uniquely, as Plato saw it, of
God. Eternal punishment is then literally that kind of remedial punishment which it befits
God to give and which only God can give.
Third, I believe that it is impossible to set limits to the grace of God. I believe that
not only in this world, but in any other world there may be, the grace of God is still
effective, still operative, still at work. I do not believe that the operation of the
grace of God is limited to this world. I believe that the grace of God is as wide as the
universe.
Fourth, I believe implicitly in the ultimate and complete triumph of God, the time when
all things will be subject to him, and when God will be everything to everyone (1 Cor.
15:24-28). For me this has certain consequences. If one man remains outside the love of
God at the end of time, it means that that one man has defeated the love of God - and that
is impossible. Further, there is only one way in which we can think of the triumph of God.
If God was no more than a King or Judge, then it would be possible to speak of his
triumph, if his enemies were agonizing in hell or were totally and completely obliterated
and wiped out. But God is not only King and Judge, God is Father - he is indeed
Father more than anything else. No father could be happy while there were members of his
family for ever in agony. No father would count it a triumph to obliterate the disobedient
members of his family. The only triumph a father can know is to have all his family back
home. The only victory love can enjoy is the day when its offer of love is answered by the
return of love. The only possible final triumph is a universe loved by and in love with
God.
[Quoted from William Barclay: A Spiritual Autobiography, pg
65-67, William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1977.]