Hello all,
My name is Nina and I'm a married mum of two from Australia. I have grown up with very strong Christian roots, mainly Christian Brethren (open) and still currently attending a Christian Brethren church, my father being an elder. Needless to say the doctrine of eternal torment has been prevalent in our strain of Christianity and I've always grown up believing it to be so, though for as long as I can remember it has scared the wits out of me.
I have struggled on and off again with worrying about the unpardonable sin/blasphemous thoughts, though have been a Christian since I was 7 and deeply desire to love and please God with my life.
I have only recently come across the "Saviour of All" doctrine and am intrigued...have recently read "the Origin and History of the Doctrine of Eternal Punishment" By Thomas B Thayer and have also got "Hope Beyond Hell" that I am planning to read. I am all at once intrigued, confused and hopeful that there actually may be some truth to this. I have always struggled with the fact of a loving God sending millions of people to hell for eternity I just can't understand it and have always thought surely there must be another way God could have punished mankind, even a temporary punishment, why does it have to be eternal with no end?
Anyways, I guess I'm here to learn more about this stance on Universalism and maybe clear up some confusion and questions in my head..having grown up with the doctrine of eternal torment as fact for 26 years, it is going to be hard to be open-minded about changing, I'm not even sure I know what's true anymore and am just lost.
Thanks for letting me be here.
Nina
Hello Nina, and welcome...Hope Beyond Hell :thumbsup:.
Sometimes we may feel lost (I call it being emptied out) prior to God filling us with better things.
I posted the following a little earlier in another thread that I'll share here with you.
God's blessing, James.
"With a nod to ET, I've inserted an interesting word...
1 Cor. 15:22
"For as in Adam the many [some] die, so also in Christ the many [some] shall be made alive. But each in his own order; Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all [some] rule and all [some] authority and power."
1 Cor. 15:28
"And when all [some] things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all [some] things under Him, that God may be all [some] in all [some]."
1 Timothy 2:4
"For this is good and pleasing in the eyes of God our Saviour; who will have all [some ] men to be saved and come to an increasing knowledge of the truth."
On a serious note...I ran across this today, that both times "the many" is used in I Cor. 15:22, it is the exact same "the many" in the Greek, (I'd read that before, but didn't know the word). It's the Greek word POLUS. So with the word translated back into Greek, it would read "For as in Adam POLUS die, so also in Christ POLUS shall be made alive. But each in his own order;
Good News!"
QuoteQuoting jabact here....
Letting go of old believes can be hard. I understand that.
Some have come to UR by trying to disprove it from a ET POV.
So what about trying to refute the many articles found on the main site of tentmaker.
Then you are sticking to your old believes but slowly you get submerged in the love of UR (God)
Welcome
Welcome to Tent!
I'm excited for you! Please know that it has been because of the desires of your heart to know truth of Christ that you have been led to this site. It is not the all cure, but it is a great source of support and hopefully, maturity as others here can share with you their experiences to further advance you into letting go of what brought you here, so that you can embrace where God is taking you.
You are not alone on this. There are more and more that are coming to a realization that there is a huge different between the noise of religion and the sound of Truth . . .may you see his love in us as we grow further with you into the vast and wonderful ways of God's truth for every man.
Blessings.
:cloud9: Hello and welcome......
I asked God to show me Him, his heart, and He showed me His love. I know orthodox Christianity says that He is love but He is also justice, yet the bible says mercy triumphs over judgment and that His kindness leads us to repentance. I just finished reading The Shack. I certainly don't agree with all the author's viewpoint, but He certainly hits the nail on the head with how much God loves us all.
Welcome to the forum, I hope no matter what you determine to be the truth, you will find God's love here.
Thank you everyone for your kind welcomes. :) I am half-way through the "Hope Beyond Hell" book and finding it very interesting and opening my eyes.
God bless you all.
Nina :)
Great! God's blessings as He reveals...