Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
Universalism : A Look at the Truth
Christian Universalism is the belief that all of mankind will be saved in the end. Some believe that hell does not even exist, and though many do believe hell is real, they don't believe anyone will stay there forever. They believe that they will suffer for a period of time to pay for their sins and then will be reconciled with God and let into heaven. With this teaching gaining momentum in these last days, I decided to find out the truth according to God's Word.
As always for me, I set some strict rules in my studies and I stick to them.
1) The entire Bible is to be considered the truth of God's Word. We cannot read some verses that fit what we believe and ignore the verses that don’t. The truth will always be the truth that allows the entire Bible to line up with it.
2) Primary verses are considered to hold the truth above any quantity of interpreted verses. A primary verse is any verse that has only one possible meaning. It means what it says and cannot be interpreted to mean anything else.
3) There can be no contradictions in God's Word. Especially with a primary verse. If an interpreted verse seems to contradict a primary verse, it must be recognized as the wrong interpretation.
4) Logic is secondary to primary verses. If there are no primary verses, then logic can be considered along with interpretation.
With these rules in place, I will also lay down a temporary rule. I am not going to debate on what "Hell" is. In the KJV Bible, it is used loosely and can mean the grave, Hades/Sheol, and is even used for the Lake of Fire once. Because this article is speaking of the Lake of Fire, I will use "Hell" to reference that location.
Does Hell exist?
Revelation 20:11-15 (NASB)
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
When one reads this passage, it is very clear that Hell is a real place. To deny the existence of hell, is to deny that the entire Bible is the truth. You would have to take a stand that the book of Revelation is not true.
Revelation 21:5-8 (NASB)
5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” 6 Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. 7 He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. 8 But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Matthew 25:41 (NASB)
41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
This last verse is from Jesus Himself. These verses makes it clear that hell is in fact a real place. I think one would have to be stubborn to the point of illogical to read these verses and believe that the Bible is the true Word of God and still think hell is not a real place.
Is Hell Temporary or Eternal?
There are several verses that claim the fires of hell will burn forever or that they are unquenchable. The problem is they do not say those in hell will stay there forever. Here are the most common verses used to prove that they will suffer for eternity.
Matthew 25:46 (NASB)
46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
2 Thessalonians 1:9 (NASB)
9 These people will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
These verse clearly state their punishment is eternal.
Some will argue that the YLT Bible translates it differently. It uses the terms "age-during" instead of eternal. So they choose to believe the YLT must be right and the others are wrong. However, there is a flaw with that as well. In Matthew 25:46, it uses the same Greek word for both, the eternal punishment and the eternal life. So you need to use the same translation for both. Either hell and heaven are only temporary, or both heaven and hell are eternal. What you cannot do is pick and choose how to translate two words differently in the same sentence. Since there is no question that it is eternal life, then we must translate the other use of the same word in the same sentence the same way. Eternal punishment!
The simple truth however, is even though I use good logic, there will be some who will argue that I am not using enough evidence. So I will also leave a link to an article that I found to be excellently written on this subject. If you read the article in this link, and still belief it is not meant to be eternal, then there will be nothing I can say that changes your mind. However, if you are looking for the truth and not just trying to stand up for your beliefs, you will at least read this article to see the evidence he gives for yourself.
http://parresiazomai.blogspot.com/2017/12/what-does-aionios-mean-in-matthew-2546.html
If that article is not enough, I will give yet another bit of logic for you to consider. The YLT Bible had many good scholars pour over the translation in its day. Yet that would not compare to the multitudes of scholars at every level who have poured over the KJV, NASB, NIV, and dozens of other versions. All of the scholars of most all of the top versions of the bible agree that the correct translation is “eternal”. Only the scholars for the YLT believe it should be “age-during”. When the vast majority of experts agree on one thing and only a few believe it is something else, the odds are very high that the vast majority have it right. When those few who believe different all belong to the same denomination or source, it adds support to them only believing what they do, to support their beliefs and not to find the truth.
At this point, in order to believe that the punishment in hell is not eternal, you must....
1) Accept that the few scholars are correct and the many are wrong.
2) That the same word is translated one way for reward but another way for punishment.
3) Believe that the clear and logical reasoning used in the article I linked to is false.
I personally believe that the evidence that the word should be translated as "eternal" is near overwhelming. It simply is not logical to accept the Universalist translation as being correct when it is not even consistent.
Universalist Arguments
Universalist have some common arguments they make that I have found to be quite flawed. I think it is best to hit on these real quick.
A1) God is all-knowing. God is love. God would never create an intelligent being that He knew was going to fail and have to spend an eternity suffering.
This one is actually easy to prove wrong. Just to be fair, I will even use a verse from the YLT version of the Bible.
Revelations 20:10 (YLT)
10 and the Devil, who is leading them astray, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where [are] the beast and the false prophet, and they shall be tormented day and night -- to the ages of the ages.
I do not think “to the ages of the ages” can be translated as being temporary. This is clearly in the eternal sense. There is no doubt that the devil will suffer in hell forever. Yet God created all of His angels. He created His angels with a free will, just like He created us, and the devil (Lucifer) rebelled and many of the angels rebelled with him. God created the angels. The angels are intelligent beings. The fallen angels will suffer for all eternity. So if God would do it with the angels, what makes you believe He would not do it with us?
This argument from the Universalist does not come from scripture or from truth. This scripture comes from man’s opinion of what love is and his desire to hold God to the rules of that opinion. The truth is, God does not have to constrain Himself to man’s beliefs and opinions. Man is supposed to change his beliefs and opinions to what God says.
God is God. He is the one who makes all the rules. If God should decide it is fair to kill off everyone and let them all burn forever, we do not have a choice on the matter. What God says is what matters and what we think doesn’t matter. The truth is, God is willing to create an intelligent being and let him suffer for all eternity. The devil proves that.
A2) According to Malachi 2:10, God is the Father of all mankind. A loving Father would not punish His children but for their own good. He would not make them suffer for eternity.
There is something being ignored in this argument. Scripture. They give scripture that God is the father of all mankind. What they fail to do is show scripture to back up the claim that a loving father would never punish his children unless it is for their good.
Does God ever say this? Does Jesus ever elude to this belief? If a child is a serial killer, and the dad knows of it, and he also knows the state has the death penalty, should he turn his son in? A loving father may not be able to do so. A loving father who is just and true, would! What if the son who is a serial killer decides he is going to kill his brothers and sisters? Should the loving father just let him kill his other kids? If he is a loving father, he would be willing to even kill his own son in order to save the rest of his kids.
Once again, this argument is based strictly on man's interpretation of what love is. Not what God says. Our interpretation of what a loving father is, doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what God's Word says and God's Word never says that a loving father would never punish his children except in a way that is good for them. I don't even believe it. Sometimes a loving father needs to make a decision for the better of his children who obey him over the children who rebel.
A3) "God is love." 1 John 4:8. "Love worketh no ill." Rom. 13:10. If love worketh no ill, God can work no ill; and, therefore, God cannot be the author of endless evil.
Those who suffer in hell will be doing so for their evil. Nowhere in the Bible does it say their punishment is evil. That someone would suffer in hell is considered evil is strictly the belief of the universalist, derived by man's own opinion of what is evil. God says that those who reject His Son will suffer in hell. The Bible never says their punishment is evil.
The thing I come to realize is that Universalist tend to make up their own opinion of what is right and wrong. What is good and evil, and it doesn't often coincide with scripture. They get a certain logic that they want to believe is correct and try to hold God to that concept of what they believe instead of changing what they believe to fit what God's Word says. That is wrong to do and I don't care who it is that is doing it. I don't care what belief they are standing for, if it does not line up with the Word of God, it is not correct. Someone who is looking for the truth will always look to what the Bible says first and never try to hold God to their own concept of what is right or wrong.
Universalist love to throw some verses out there that they believe proves their beliefs.
1 Corinthians 15
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
Again the key to this scripture is it says "in Christ" all will be made alive. This is not saying everyone will be made alive, but those who are in Christ. How can one be made alive in Christ, if they don't even believe in Him?
Romans 11:32 (NASB)
32 For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.
This is purely depending on who it is addressed to. If you read this in context, you learn it is speaking to the believer. Not all of mankind. Mercy to all who believe. Paul was not writing this letter with the intent it would be placed in the Bible and read for all time for all believers. He was writing a letter to a church.
2 Peter 3:9 (NASB)
9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
There is no doubt that God's will is for everyone to be saved. Now can you show me where in the Bible it says God will get everything He wished for? God knew that if He gave us free will, some would fall short and make bad decision and choose sin over Him. God knew if He gave us a free will, He would not get everything He wants. He chose to give us free will rather than make us chess pieces on a checkered board. Even though it also meant He would not get what He wanted.
Now let me give you a couple more verses that say Universalism is wrong....
Revelation 20:7-10
7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. 9 And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
The False Prophet and the Antichrist are human. They are nothing more than great sinners who the devil uses. Not really different than Charles Manson or Hitler. Yet it says clearly they will suffer forever. Not for an age, but forever. Even the YLT text says "ages of ages" which is clearly speaking in the eternal sense of the word.
Revelation 14:11
11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
This does not say the smoke of the fires goes up forever. It says the smoke of their "torment" goes up forever and ever. Once again the YLT Bible says " and the smoke of their torment doth go up to ages of ages;" It is clearly speaking in the sense of eternity and not just an age. So now the Bible is also clear that all those who take the mark of the beast and those who worship the beast will suffer for all eternity.
Take these two verses and put them with the two verses that are debated over whether they mean eternal or for an age, and that is now four verses that clearly say hell is an eternal suffering. Two of them there isn't even a debate over what they mean.
When you put it all together, the only reason anyone is willing to stand by the belief that all of mankind will be saved is because they want to believe it. Not because that is what God's Word says. They need to do it in direct contradiction to scripture. Not contradiction to an interpretation but contradicting plainly stated primary verses. They have to do it by putting the logic of their own desires above what the Bible says. When it comes to serving God, the most important decision we need to make is that we will follow God's truth and not try and interpret God to fit the truth we want to believe instead.
What God's Word says is what matters. What we like does not!
As always for me, I set some strict rules in my studies and I stick to them.
1) The entire Bible is to be considered the truth of God's Word. We cannot read some verses that fit what we believe and ignore the verses that don’t. The truth will always be the truth that allows the entire Bible to line up with it.
2) Primary verses are considered to hold the truth above any quantity of interpreted verses. A primary verse is any verse that has only one possible meaning. It means what it says and cannot be interpreted to mean anything else.
3) There can be no contradictions in God's Word. Especially with a primary verse. If an interpreted verse seems to contradict a primary verse, it must be recognized as the wrong interpretation.
4) Logic is secondary to primary verses. If there are no primary verses, then logic can be considered along with interpretation.
With these rules in place, I will also lay down a temporary rule. I am not going to debate on what "Hell" is. In the KJV Bible, it is used loosely and can mean the grave, Hades/Sheol, and is even used for the Lake of Fire once. Because this article is speaking of the Lake of Fire, I will use "Hell" to reference that location.
Does Hell exist?
Revelation 20:11-15 (NASB)
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
When one reads this passage, it is very clear that Hell is a real place. To deny the existence of hell, is to deny that the entire Bible is the truth. You would have to take a stand that the book of Revelation is not true.
Revelation 21:5-8 (NASB)
5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” 6 Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. 7 He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. 8 But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Matthew 25:41 (NASB)
41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
This last verse is from Jesus Himself. These verses makes it clear that hell is in fact a real place. I think one would have to be stubborn to the point of illogical to read these verses and believe that the Bible is the true Word of God and still think hell is not a real place.
Is Hell Temporary or Eternal?
There are several verses that claim the fires of hell will burn forever or that they are unquenchable. The problem is they do not say those in hell will stay there forever. Here are the most common verses used to prove that they will suffer for eternity.
Matthew 25:46 (NASB)
46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
2 Thessalonians 1:9 (NASB)
9 These people will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
These verse clearly state their punishment is eternal.
Some will argue that the YLT Bible translates it differently. It uses the terms "age-during" instead of eternal. So they choose to believe the YLT must be right and the others are wrong. However, there is a flaw with that as well. In Matthew 25:46, it uses the same Greek word for both, the eternal punishment and the eternal life. So you need to use the same translation for both. Either hell and heaven are only temporary, or both heaven and hell are eternal. What you cannot do is pick and choose how to translate two words differently in the same sentence. Since there is no question that it is eternal life, then we must translate the other use of the same word in the same sentence the same way. Eternal punishment!
The simple truth however, is even though I use good logic, there will be some who will argue that I am not using enough evidence. So I will also leave a link to an article that I found to be excellently written on this subject. If you read the article in this link, and still belief it is not meant to be eternal, then there will be nothing I can say that changes your mind. However, if you are looking for the truth and not just trying to stand up for your beliefs, you will at least read this article to see the evidence he gives for yourself.
http://parresiazomai.blogspot.com/2017/12/what-does-aionios-mean-in-matthew-2546.html
If that article is not enough, I will give yet another bit of logic for you to consider. The YLT Bible had many good scholars pour over the translation in its day. Yet that would not compare to the multitudes of scholars at every level who have poured over the KJV, NASB, NIV, and dozens of other versions. All of the scholars of most all of the top versions of the bible agree that the correct translation is “eternal”. Only the scholars for the YLT believe it should be “age-during”. When the vast majority of experts agree on one thing and only a few believe it is something else, the odds are very high that the vast majority have it right. When those few who believe different all belong to the same denomination or source, it adds support to them only believing what they do, to support their beliefs and not to find the truth.
At this point, in order to believe that the punishment in hell is not eternal, you must....
1) Accept that the few scholars are correct and the many are wrong.
2) That the same word is translated one way for reward but another way for punishment.
3) Believe that the clear and logical reasoning used in the article I linked to is false.
I personally believe that the evidence that the word should be translated as "eternal" is near overwhelming. It simply is not logical to accept the Universalist translation as being correct when it is not even consistent.
Universalist Arguments
Universalist have some common arguments they make that I have found to be quite flawed. I think it is best to hit on these real quick.
A1) God is all-knowing. God is love. God would never create an intelligent being that He knew was going to fail and have to spend an eternity suffering.
This one is actually easy to prove wrong. Just to be fair, I will even use a verse from the YLT version of the Bible.
Revelations 20:10 (YLT)
10 and the Devil, who is leading them astray, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where [are] the beast and the false prophet, and they shall be tormented day and night -- to the ages of the ages.
I do not think “to the ages of the ages” can be translated as being temporary. This is clearly in the eternal sense. There is no doubt that the devil will suffer in hell forever. Yet God created all of His angels. He created His angels with a free will, just like He created us, and the devil (Lucifer) rebelled and many of the angels rebelled with him. God created the angels. The angels are intelligent beings. The fallen angels will suffer for all eternity. So if God would do it with the angels, what makes you believe He would not do it with us?
This argument from the Universalist does not come from scripture or from truth. This scripture comes from man’s opinion of what love is and his desire to hold God to the rules of that opinion. The truth is, God does not have to constrain Himself to man’s beliefs and opinions. Man is supposed to change his beliefs and opinions to what God says.
God is God. He is the one who makes all the rules. If God should decide it is fair to kill off everyone and let them all burn forever, we do not have a choice on the matter. What God says is what matters and what we think doesn’t matter. The truth is, God is willing to create an intelligent being and let him suffer for all eternity. The devil proves that.
A2) According to Malachi 2:10, God is the Father of all mankind. A loving Father would not punish His children but for their own good. He would not make them suffer for eternity.
There is something being ignored in this argument. Scripture. They give scripture that God is the father of all mankind. What they fail to do is show scripture to back up the claim that a loving father would never punish his children unless it is for their good.
Does God ever say this? Does Jesus ever elude to this belief? If a child is a serial killer, and the dad knows of it, and he also knows the state has the death penalty, should he turn his son in? A loving father may not be able to do so. A loving father who is just and true, would! What if the son who is a serial killer decides he is going to kill his brothers and sisters? Should the loving father just let him kill his other kids? If he is a loving father, he would be willing to even kill his own son in order to save the rest of his kids.
Once again, this argument is based strictly on man's interpretation of what love is. Not what God says. Our interpretation of what a loving father is, doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what God's Word says and God's Word never says that a loving father would never punish his children except in a way that is good for them. I don't even believe it. Sometimes a loving father needs to make a decision for the better of his children who obey him over the children who rebel.
A3) "God is love." 1 John 4:8. "Love worketh no ill." Rom. 13:10. If love worketh no ill, God can work no ill; and, therefore, God cannot be the author of endless evil.
Those who suffer in hell will be doing so for their evil. Nowhere in the Bible does it say their punishment is evil. That someone would suffer in hell is considered evil is strictly the belief of the universalist, derived by man's own opinion of what is evil. God says that those who reject His Son will suffer in hell. The Bible never says their punishment is evil.
The thing I come to realize is that Universalist tend to make up their own opinion of what is right and wrong. What is good and evil, and it doesn't often coincide with scripture. They get a certain logic that they want to believe is correct and try to hold God to that concept of what they believe instead of changing what they believe to fit what God's Word says. That is wrong to do and I don't care who it is that is doing it. I don't care what belief they are standing for, if it does not line up with the Word of God, it is not correct. Someone who is looking for the truth will always look to what the Bible says first and never try to hold God to their own concept of what is right or wrong.
Universalist love to throw some verses out there that they believe proves their beliefs.
1 Corinthians 15
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
Again the key to this scripture is it says "in Christ" all will be made alive. This is not saying everyone will be made alive, but those who are in Christ. How can one be made alive in Christ, if they don't even believe in Him?
Romans 11:32 (NASB)
32 For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.
This is purely depending on who it is addressed to. If you read this in context, you learn it is speaking to the believer. Not all of mankind. Mercy to all who believe. Paul was not writing this letter with the intent it would be placed in the Bible and read for all time for all believers. He was writing a letter to a church.
2 Peter 3:9 (NASB)
9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
There is no doubt that God's will is for everyone to be saved. Now can you show me where in the Bible it says God will get everything He wished for? God knew that if He gave us free will, some would fall short and make bad decision and choose sin over Him. God knew if He gave us a free will, He would not get everything He wants. He chose to give us free will rather than make us chess pieces on a checkered board. Even though it also meant He would not get what He wanted.
Now let me give you a couple more verses that say Universalism is wrong....
Revelation 20:7-10
7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. 9 And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
The False Prophet and the Antichrist are human. They are nothing more than great sinners who the devil uses. Not really different than Charles Manson or Hitler. Yet it says clearly they will suffer forever. Not for an age, but forever. Even the YLT text says "ages of ages" which is clearly speaking in the eternal sense of the word.
Revelation 14:11
11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
This does not say the smoke of the fires goes up forever. It says the smoke of their "torment" goes up forever and ever. Once again the YLT Bible says " and the smoke of their torment doth go up to ages of ages;" It is clearly speaking in the sense of eternity and not just an age. So now the Bible is also clear that all those who take the mark of the beast and those who worship the beast will suffer for all eternity.
Take these two verses and put them with the two verses that are debated over whether they mean eternal or for an age, and that is now four verses that clearly say hell is an eternal suffering. Two of them there isn't even a debate over what they mean.
When you put it all together, the only reason anyone is willing to stand by the belief that all of mankind will be saved is because they want to believe it. Not because that is what God's Word says. They need to do it in direct contradiction to scripture. Not contradiction to an interpretation but contradicting plainly stated primary verses. They have to do it by putting the logic of their own desires above what the Bible says. When it comes to serving God, the most important decision we need to make is that we will follow God's truth and not try and interpret God to fit the truth we want to believe instead.
What God's Word says is what matters. What we like does not!