Hello I don’t really know how to use tumblr very well but I was curious: as a Christian universalist, what do you believe? Do you read the Bible, and if so, how opposed/in favor are you of biblical literalism?
I’m so sorry I just noticed this! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted about universalism so I’ll try to make this coherent because this is still so hugely important to me.
I think you’ll find that everyone has a different take on both universalism and biblical literalism but I can at least give you my take on them. Christian Universalism to me has always meant that though I still believe in some sort of hell or punishment after death, I don’t believe that this is an eternal thing. People who have not repented from sin (and are therefore being themselves harmed by it) are subject to a certain extent of correction. And I think that this correction may indeed be extremely painful in some way for that person. But I believe that’s just what it is—correction. It isn’t punishment fueled by blind rage or pointless torment that never ends. Its purpose is to heal and refine and redeem...and sometimes that process can feel like hell. Ultimately, I believe that after this corrective period, every single person will be reconciled with God and brought into eternal life. Every single person. And that brings me immense joy.
As far as biblical literalism, I’m assuming that this means that someone would take everything in the Bible 100% literally and at face value, and I don’t subscribe to that. I think while the majority of the Bible IS literal (early stories and accounts, genealogies) there are still portions which I believe are symbolic, such as the book of Revelation. Of course, I’m not a Bible scholar and someone else probably has a better understanding of this than I do. As far as universalism goes, however, there are passages on the subject of eternal punishment which I believe should be taken literally, but that I believe are mistranslated and are originally written to suggest Christian Universalism.
I hope this was coherent and that you were able to get something useful out of it!