Encountering the tentmaker website and forum has been a very moving experience for me. Reading the articles on universalism brought tears of joy to my eyes again and again. My sense of joy and homecoming deepened when I discovered a well populated, well managed forum :thumbsup:, and felt the openness and warm welcome extended to joyful1 when she expressed interest in "history, archaeology, physics, medicine and law, and how these topics relate to God's plan for the salvation of all." Likewise, the open-minded exploration of physics, multiple universes, and historical aberrations by Martin is music to my ears because these are closely related to the way I came to belief in Jesus and Universalism. For me it has been a long lonely journey in which I came to belief in Jesus the "wrong way," believed the "wrong things" (Christian universalism included), and hung out with the "wrong people." It was a journey that took me deep into the Bible, and left me with a real thirst for fellowship with those who share the vision of radical beneficence that I found therein.
It started fourteen years ago when I read an inspired treatise on space colonization written by a young English professor who was somehow blessed with an understanding of fourteen engineering disciplines. He had a vision of a body of life so great that it compares to the current ecosystem of the Earth in the same way that a towering oak compares to an acorn. I was a cross between a pagan and a hard-core rationalist at the time. But when I saw where his vision led, my instant gut reaction was that this had to have something to do with the second coming of Christ or it would never come to pass, a reaction to inspired me to go out and buy a Hebrew-Greek study Bible. I had never heard of Christians promoting space colonization, but I knew the Bible would affirm a transcendent cosmic destiny, and after years of Spirit-filled study I came to see how this destiny is systematically woven into the message of the Bible, thus beginning my career as a heretic believing all the wrong things.
At the same time I read the book on space colonization, three other writings converged to reveal the secret of time-symmetric causation (i.e. the application of quantum wave-particle duality to the definition of "entropy"). With this, I saw that the Holy Spirit propagates backward in time from an Omega state in which the universe is no longer a radiation blasted waste, but a transcendent Garden of Eden more vibrantly alive than the heart of the Amazon. In particular, I encountered a system of logic in which: a) the entire cosmos will eventually be transmuted/uplifted into an extension of the "higher heavens," b) God can and will create as many "versions of history" as needed for every single person ever conceived to find faith in God, surrender, participate in the uplifting/transmutation, and receive eternal life, and c) the crucifixion and resurrection is a focal point in which Jesus defeats all evil via a beneficent ordering to the multiplicity of history. The upshot was that not only did I know the supposedly unknowable internal logic of intelligent design and salvation, one of the worst heresies of all, but via this logic I wholeheartedly subscribed to the heresy of Christian Universalism. :bigGrin:
In those same Spirit-filled years of study, I came to see that the axioms and logic of time-symmetric causation are also systematically woven into the message of the Bible. Being a heretic of the worst sort, I needed those years of study to be free from the fulminations of those preaching hellfire and damnation. Since I remained thoroughly repulsed by the fear-mongering of both Roman Catholicism and mainstream evangelism, it was not hard to steer clear of these aspects of Christianity. Instead, my need for fellowship was fulfilled by the Holy Spirit guiding me to two non-mainstream churches that truly honor the Bible, but de-emphasize it because they've been called to new works of Spirit to better write the law of universal salvation directly on people's hearts. The heart-centered work was a good balance for the intensely intellectual work described above, but it led to the paradoxical result of growing into a deep appreciation of the Bible that I could not effectively share.
I wholeheartedly agree with Molly that "the Bible contains both the literal and the spiritual, and finally merges both." Indeed, it is clear to me that the Bible is a faithful testament to the intersection of Spirit and matter (i.e. the intersection of higher-dimensional reality and mundane reality), and as such, is a faithful testament to the intersection of literal physical truth and inward spiritual truth. In addition, I see the seamless merging of inward and outward dominion to be a life or death challenge for the current generation. And since God is not limited to one version of history, I feel the message of the Bible is of great significance re its warnings of apocalyptic destruction, and our need to trust God and seek His counsel in deciding the outward actions to take or not take.
In regard to Biblical exegesis, I feel Biblical prophecy is not a simple string of linear events and/or spiritual symbols, but an enduring Truth resonant with the very structure of spacetime that can appear in different forms during the course of history. For example, I see a preterist/futurist duality in which: a) a semi-literal millennium has already come and gone via the almost exact 1000-year reign of the Holy Roman Empire and the subsequent "end-time" release of Satan inherent to the economic and cultural free-markets that now dominate the world, and b) an even more significant but distinctly different Millennium awaits the worldwide Pentecost of Joel 2:28-29, an "end-time" Pentecost akin to that in the book of Acts that will take us far deeper into the gifts of Spirit and speaking in tongues than ever before. In regard to "end-time" prophesy, I feel the range of possible outcomes is far greater than what many Christians believe due to the overall Biblical message that the turning of humanity's heart to God can prevent apocalyptic destruction, even as we enter the 1000-year "Day of the Lord."
The quest to understand the possibility of an "end-time" Pentecost is what finally brought me to the Tentmaker website. During these same years of study, I have been applying the logic of intelligent design (ID) not just to the question of biological "evolution," but also to the physical and cultural crises of humanity. In particular, I was using the logic of ID to ground high-tech futurism and utopian ideals in Biblical Truth, and thereby map out the preternaturally intelligent solutions prearranged by God for war, poverty, terrorism, abortion, cultural degeneracy, resource availability, global warming hysteria, peak oil, economic instability, ecosystem destruction, population and energy growth, space migration, etc. Because of our proximity to the final destruction of Babylon spoken of in Revelation 18, I felt immense urgency to testify to the fullness of God's beneficence, but all of a sudden a "quiet voice" told me that I had not yet documented the Bible's support for universal salvation.
Since universal salvation is integral to my vision, I googled "Christian Universalism" with the intent of scouring the Internet and documenting the Biblical support for this as thoroughly as I had for the cosmic destiny. I expected to have to do real work like I did with my previous research. Instead, I am overjoyed to find such a well documented convincingly argued case that I don't have to do any work at all! In fact, I find it so well documented that I am moved to suggest a lifting of our sights from the already well settled issue of Biblical Universalism, to the challenge of taking this message out into the world. In particular, I see the possibility of Spirit-filled Bible study unleashing an extremely potent feedback loop between the inward and outward aspects of universal salvation pursuant to the full inward and outward establishment of God's dominion. I can't really convince people of what I see, but I trust the Holy Spirit to fully reveal the Truth of God's Word.
Love to You All :boyheart:
:popout: :welcome: :newb: :goodpost: :omg: :Urock: :2thumbs:
Hi TB
Well that's another fine mess you got us into :laughing7:
Good opening post and look forward to getting to know you.
:welcome:
I have created the biggest website in Bulgaria promoting space research. It's BG Space and it's available here: http://www.space-bg.org/ ; http://www.cosmos.1.bg/
Welcome, True Believer! :icon_flower:
Indeed, I HAVE received a warm welcome here and found a great variety of believers and seekers from all walks of faith who contribute daily to my understanding! The freedom in expression and exploration of topics not necessarily "allowed" in other forums is not only managed well here, but handled with respect to the person questioning what "this life" is all about! This is, IMO, an earmark of those souls who are so "free" in Christ that they "fear not" conversing on nearly any topic carrying with them the full assurance that God is in control of not only the entire physical universe, but the destiny of our souls as well.
I look forward to your posts and understanding better your ideas!
Sincerely,
Joyce :)
Thank you all for the warm welcome. Glad to be here. :icon_flower:
B_T, I looked at your websites but could read Bulgarian!
Do you have an English version available?
Hello and welcome,
You're in good company :Sparkletooth:
blessings,
- Byron
Quote from: True Believer on August 09, 2008, 10:04:16 PM
Thank you all for the warm welcome. Glad to be here. :icon_flower:
B_T, I looked at your websites but could read Bulgarian!
Do you have an English version available?
Oh, no. I'm sorry. English is not my mother tongue.
But you can use the Google translator. Try this:
http://translate.google.bg/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.space-bg.org&hl=bg&ie=UTF8&sl=bg&tl=en
The translation is quite bad, however.