Tritheism - Ever heard of it?

[marie glen]

When light goes through a prism, it refracts into 7 colors. Are there 7 lights? or 7 elements of one light? Is that worth arguing about? Maybe, as long as one is polite about it.  :laughing7:

Oh man I love that! I'm going to try to remember it! maybe I can use it one day... :gsmile:

[CST]

Extracted from:

Universalism: The Prevailing Doctrine Of The Christian Church During Its First Five Hundred Years
By J.W. HANSON, D. D.

Augustine's Acknowledgment.

Augustine brought his theology with him from Manichæism when he became a Christian, only he added perpetuity to the dualism that Mani made temporal. "The doctrine of endless punishment assumed in the writings of Augustine a prominence and rigidity which had no parallel in the earlier history of theology and which savors of the teaching of Mohammed more than of Christ. 3 Hitherto, even in the West, it had been an open question whether the punishment hereafter of sin unrepented of and not forsaken was to be endless. Augustine has left on record the fact that some, indeed very many, still fell back upon the mercy and love of God as a ground of hope for the ultimate restoration of humanity 4 he is the first writer to undertake a long and elaborate defense of the doctrine of endless punishment, and to wage a polemic against its impugners. He rallies the 'tender-hearted Christians,' as he calls them, who cannot accept it." About 420 he speaks of his "merciful brethren," 5 or party of pity, among the orthodox Christians, who advocate the salvation of all, and he challenges them, like Origen, to advocate also the redemption of the devil and his angels. Thus though the virus of Roman Paganism was extending, the truth of the Gospel was yet largely held. And it was the immense power Augustine came to wield that so dominated the church that it afterwards stamped out the doctrine of universal salvation.

The theological battling has been going on for a long time indeed! I believe that, one day when theological sensibilities are more adapted to the powerful underlying workings of the Holy Spirit, and a better understanding of the Christ Who is Love is given to the would-be followers of Jesus, then Love shall enter the collective consciousness in Christendom in such a powerful way that the doctrine of endless punishment will become as much a part of history in the way that public executions were once a form of entertainment. But that time is not yet as I understand it, much, much cleansing must happen first, and also awareness that there is a spiritual reckoning of sorts must also rise, indeed that there is a life after physical death - and more. Peace

Sadly, I expect that won't happen in this life time which tend towards decay and wickedness. That makes it a particular worry because on balance of statistics the 144000 are more likely to be ET people than UR people.

When light goes through a prism, it refracts into 7 colors. Are there 7 lights? or 7 elements of one light? Is that worth arguing about? Maybe, as long as one is polite about it.  :laughing7:

I think it technically splits into 9 colours but we can't see two of them