IN TO D A Y ’S THEOLOGY
UNIVERSALISM
by Robert L. Saucy, Th.D. Professor of Systematic Theology, Talbot Theological Seminary
Barth, if not more so, in America, because o f his shorter more usable works. He is not free from this tendency himself. While attempting a final paradox, he piles all the weight on one end, assert ing emphatically that God has revealed one plan in the Bible, a plan of universal salvation. Coming closer to home, Nels Ferre, an Ameri can theologian, asserts without any paradox, “ to attribute eternal hell to any God is literally blas phemy, the attributing of the worst to the best. From such blasphemy may God deliver everyone.” The universalistic theology, of necessity, in fluences the activity of the church. The outward ministry o f the church is always the product of its inward look or, perhaps better, its upward look. With the loss of the urgency in the message of eternal issues at stake, it is only logical that the church turns to secular, social, and political issues. But, in so doing, it loses its identity as the unique ambassador of the eternal world and takes its place among the many social quasi-religious organiza tions attempting to get men to live together in peace. This is not to deny social ramifications for the gospel. But the biblical message is first the call for man to find his eternal peace with God through Christ. Then, and only then, can he properly let that peace radiate to his fellow man. The church without a message of eternal life to gain and eter nal hell to shun has lost its relevance. The Christ who came to seek and to save is the primary teacher of an eternal punishment. To Him the preparation for the next life takes clear pre cedence over this one so much so that it would be better to be maimed now if necessary to gain the life hereafter (Mark 9:43-44). It is fitting that this urgent warning should come from the lips o f Jesus, for He will one day sit as Judge over man and issue the solemn words to those who are unpre pared, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlast ing fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41). The message o f the church is the message of God’s love in providing salvation from eternal punishment, through simple faith. But it must also make clear the cost o f spurning that love. Only then does salvation have real meaning and produce effects in life here and now.
^ o n f u s io n r e ig n s t o d a y within the church as ^ to its mission in the world. While vigorous attempts are being made to unify and thus am plify the voice of the church, many within its fold are not sure of. the message it should speak with a louder sound. So desperate has the situation be come that for some, the church, as an institution, has gone out o f date. It no longer serves any useful purpose and therefore should be discarded for a secular Christianity. Religion must be sought in the religionless walk of everyday life, not in the cloister of the church. That much o f the church has lost its relevance to the man on the street cannot be gainsaid. But the' reason behind this sad spectacle is not that the true ministry of the church has become out moded in a world that has come of age, but that the biblical message of an eternal redemption has been reduced to a gospel for a temporal great so ciety. Perhaps the critics o f the church are right when they feel that such a ministry can be car ried on equally well when released from the con fines of the church. Behind the modern reorientation o f the biblical ministry and certainly a natural corollary with it, lies the doctrine of universalism. The message of the church is no longer a call for decision be tween eternal life and eternal separation from God, but rather the announcement that all men are al ready vertically reconciled. They must now be rec onciled on the horizontal level within society. Although this universalistic concept is often only mutely presented to the laity of the church by contemporary theologians, it lies embedded in their theologies which affect church life and creed. Karl Barth, regarded generally as the father o f the so-called neo-orthodox movement, has done much to advance this cause. Although he denies universalism and attempts to be paradoxical on the subject, his doctrine of universal election in Christ leads inevitably to that conclusion. Accord ing to Brunner, men o f Barth’s thinking are “like people who seem perishing in a stormy sea. But in reality they are not in a sea where one can drown, but m shallow water, where it is impossible to drown.” Brunner is perhaps equally influential with
17
SEPTEMBER, 1966
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker