The Evangelical Universalist Forum

SNIPPETS FROM MY HARD COPY UR LIBRARY

#93 - WHENCE ETERNITY? – ALEXANDER THOMSON

“The inspired scriptures never speak of eternity. They describe nothing as eternal. They contain no term which itself bears our time sense of everlasting. As eternity is not a subject of revelation, our present object is to discover how and when this unscriptural term gained entrance into theology, with most disastrous results.

It may be stated, without fear of contradiction, that the more one explores into the early centuries of Christendom, the clearer does it become that a corrupt theology was alone responsible for displacing the teaching regarding the eons by a dogma respecting ‘eternity.’”
tentmaker.org/books/OriginandHistory.html

#94 - MUST AION MEAN ETERNAL? – PHILIP SCRANTON

“There are many texts in which aion and aionios cannot bear the meaning of eternity. And there are no texts in which the meaning of a limited period of time does not make reasonable sense. Our great loss is that when we ascribe the meaning of eternity to these words, we obliterate from view God’s purpose of the eons. Further, the character of God is slandered, making Him the inflictor of incomprehensible woe.

It does not say that “all in Christ shall be made alive.” It says, “in Christ shall all be made alive.” The word for made alive means to be made immortal. After the great white throne, the unbelieving will participate in the second death – the lake of fire. Finally, at the consummation, when death is abolished, all will be made alive in Christ.”

God is working all things after the counsel of His will and according to His perfect schedule. But the improper translation of “for the ages of the ages” ignores the purpose and climax of history.

The holies of the holies (plural/plural) were the two inner confines of the tabernacle. (1Kings 8:6 literal translation instead of the most holy place.) They were more holy than the outer court and the camp and all the places outside the camp. In like manner, the ages of the ages (mistranslated forever and ever) are the two greatest ages of history because of what will transpire during their time.
It does not cast the smallest shadow on the brilliance of God’s glory to say that glory be attributed to Him during the climatic eons when His purpose will be realized by all and His glory seen more clearly than ever before.”

#95 - TARDY OF HEART TO BELIEVE ALL – F. NEIL POHORLAK

Do you find your heart tardy to believe that God will have all mankind to be saved?” 1Tim. 2:4

“Those who would not yield an inch from the position that all have sinned means all, do not hesitate to rob God of His all in all shall be justified, all shall be reconciled, all shall be vivified, that God may be All in all.

This is God’s grand goal: all saved, all justified, all reconciled, all vivified, that God may be All in all. This goal will see fruition when the eons have run their course. Do not confuse God’s goal with His process.”

#96 - MARTIN ZENDER GOES TO HELL – MARTIN ZENDER

“The world hates God because of the picture Christianity has painted of Him. The doctrine of eternal torment is a teaching of demons; a myth. It infects the world via a series of false expressions, printed onto tracts and forced into sermons. Those who espouse and teach it are in full heed of deceiving spirits, though they know it not.

There must be a remedy, and there is. 2Timothy 2:15, ‘Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.’

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit of God is saying.”
Origin of Endless Punishment
tentmaker.org/books/OriginandHistory.html

#97 - THE DEPTHS OF GOD WILL RETRIEVE ALL - ANTHONY J. BORRELLO

“Without God’s Spirit the ‘depths of God’ remain unknown. What an essential factor this is in the believer’s quest!

When God’s immense love evokes us to a higher plain, nothing will thwart our yielding to Him. Our past illusions must fade away with all of its façade in order that a more accurate realization of God and the depths of God can be grasped in prelude to the ultimate retrieving of all to God through Christ so He truly will be All in everyone. He shall be ‘All in all’ in the total kaleidoscope envelope of LOVE. This is the Spirit-Reality Whom we should unabatedly proclaim to those who have ears to hear.”

#98 - NONE LOST, NONE DESTROYED – ANTHONY J. BORRELLO

“It is not a matter of if, only a matter of when each individual will respond to the irresistible call of God’s love – a love filled with such peace and calmness that no one will be able to withstand its comfort indefinitely.

The power of God’s love will attract like a magnet EVERYONE to their safe consolation within the confines of reconciliation. This, my dear friends is what ‘God being All in all’ is all about. The happy tidings are that none will be eternally lost or destroyed.

When the Holy Spirit’s vision arrives within us, then and only then will we be able to grasp the fact that God’s love does not contain the words ‘eternally lost or destroyed’ in its vocabulary.”

#99 - SOONER OR LATER GOD ALL IN ALL - ANTHONY J. BORRELLO

“As hostile and objectionable our dear brethren may be, there are answers and explanations for every argument and/or insinuation presented against the undeniable fact, That God indeed is a God ‘Who will have all men to be saved, and come into a knowledge of the truth (1Tim. 2:4). As greatly as man and their religious attempt to fight this utterly dynamic evangel (good news), God shall eventually be All in all (1Cor. 15:28)."
EDITOR’S ADDITION:
BIBLE THREATENINGS EXPLAINED
tentmaker.org/books/BibleThr … ained.html

“But God is in no hurry. He has specific eons, and administrations within the eons, to fulfill His universal purpose and intention of universal reconciliation. All came out of Christ, including Adam. Consequently all shall be restored by and through Christ, ‘yet each in his own class’ (1Cor. 15:23).”
EDITOR’S ADDITION:
GOD’S PLAN FOR THE AGES OF TIME
THE EONS OF THE BIBLE WITH CONCORDANCE
saviourofall.org/Tracts/Eons2.html

"Annihilation is only one step from its false associate ‘eternal torment.’ When clouds of confusion gather regarding God’s plan for mankind, and despair comes showering down upon our studies, turn to God’s word originally rendered, then, like a searchlight in the darkness of night, His love, and His light of understanding will surely beam forth. God will not allow any to be eternally lost. He is a loving Creator, working out His purpose for the universe, Who will get love from all in return, so that He can and will be ‘ALL in all,’ to all, ‘later.’”
EDITOR’S ADDITION:
Eternal Death (Conditional Immortality, Annihilation): One Step Out of Hell; One Step Short of Glory
tentmaker.org/books/EternalDeath.html

#100 - A snippet from 125 NUTS FOR CALVINISTS TO CRACK – C.R. Bierbower

“Although a Calvinist myself for more than thirty years, the scriptures declaring God’s infinite love, and the plain teachings of Jesus my Lord on the subject of love, mercy and truth, finally sank my theological ship. This left me searching for the truth as it is in Jesus. Finally I was convinced by the overwhelming number of Scriptures that our great God and Heavenly Father truly does, without partiality, love the whole world, and He will in His own time and in His own way finally reconcile all men unto Himself.

Arminianism and Calvinism both represent each other as the method for God’s work in salvation, and both vigorously reject the final reconciliation of all men. It is my purpose in this book to point out to my Calvinistic brethren the inconsistency of their interpretation of Scripture.”

#101 - 100 SCRIPTURAL PROOFS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAVIOR OF ALL MANKIND – THOMAS WHITTEMORE
INTRODUCTION: “The Scriptures analyzed in this book declare that much more was accomplished by Christ than traditionally taught. May your eyes be enlightened to see the joy that Jesus saw as He hung on the tree of crucifixion. May the traditions of the elders fall as scales from your eyes to see the full magnitude of the victory of Jesus Christ! When they do, your Bible will appear to be a brand new book, full of the power of God’s love to be victorious over all things.”

#102 - A TRUE REVELATION AND A SECOND WITNESS – TRAVIS OGLETREE
“ ‘For we must needs die, and are as water spilt upon the ground which cannot be gathered up again, yet doth God devise means that His banished be not expelled from Him’ (2Sam.14:14). The entire passage from 2Sam.14:1-21 shows that no matter how far one may stray from the Lord and undergo internal banishment from a sense of acceptance, nevertheless, our merciful Lord God Himself has devised means whereby His banished ones would not be expelled forever from Him. ‘For out of Him, and through Him, and for Him are all. To Him be glory for the eons! Amen!’ (Rom. 11:36). ‘For God locks up all together in stubbornness, that He should be merciful to all.’ (Rom. 11:32 CLNT).”

#103 - THE CHRIST OF GLORY – MARVIN W. RICE
“May we get a glimpse of Christ’s wondrous Person as we peer into Sacred Writ. As we go back before the ages of time, through the eons of the Scriptures, forward to the grand finale, to the consummation of the ages, to that day when total reconciliation is completed and eternity continues.

‘every knee bowing, celestial
and terrestrial and subterranean,
and every tongue acclaiming that
Jesus Christ is Lord, for the
glory of the Father’

God would receive no glory merely to see the unbelievers agree that Jesus is Lord, but too late, thus going off to destruction. Nay! The blood of the cross will prevail in every situation, eliminating all sins. What august glory this will bring to the Father as every last one of His creatures acclaim His beloved Son as their Lord!”

#104 - JUSTIFICATION – DONALD G. HAYTER

“Although God introduced sin through the agency of His creatures, yet He did not sin in so doing. For it was no mistake, no failure of His. It was in accord with His intention, and it will be justified by the beneficial results obtained for everyone through its agency. In the brilliant glory of His ultimate the most somber and gloomy features of earth’s history are transformed into a brilliant display of His power and wisdom and love.

During the final eons every creature in the heavens and on the earth and under the earth will have learned of the sufferings of the Christ, and of the depths of the Father’s love revealed in them, and every knee will bow to Him Who died, acclaiming Him Lord, for the glory of God the Father. Thus will all ultimately be justified.”

#105 - THE “EVIL” FROM THE LORD – MICHAEL KILLIAN
“All men will be saved. But God isn’t trying to redeem everyone in this age, only that chosen generation that Paul spoke of.

Believing that the evil in this world has its purpose for good will bring much peace to your heart. And then to realize that God in someway, somehow, will eventually use evil to bring about good for everyone, will further add to your peace. As this revelation of the Prince of Peace is unfolded to your turbulent, battle-weary heart, you will start to more continuously abide in His love.

God not only ‘allows’ evil in this present world, but rather ordains it. No more, and no less evil than God Himself determines, will happen to anyone during any certain day.”

#106 - THE FEET MINISTRY – DON BRUCE
“The mission of Christ was to destroy the enemy and to set the prisoners free. Now this word ‘destroy’ does not mean to annihilate. In the Greek it means to make of no effect. When Christ took the keys from the prison keeper he, Satan, lost all power and authority. Christ made his office of no effect (Heb. 2:14&15).

While prophets of doom forecast calamity and destruction, the mind of Christ speaks and lights our world with the vision of universal restoration and reconciliation.

Paul told of a great victory where every knee would bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Paul did not say that only a small number will bow and confess, but he said every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess. And no man can call Jesus Lord but by the Holy Spirit. What a glorious day that will be when every foot steps forth in the river of life up to the ankle, and from the ankle up to the knee. Every knee shall bow!

We are not an accident! We are not a mistake! No one has been overlooked by the Creator. All of us are His jewels, the apple of His eye, His purpose, reason and will.
When we see God in all things, and realize that all things are in His hands for the eventual good of everyone, then our lives will flow as peacefully as a river.”

#107 - HELL – J.W. WILLIAMS

“Who could have peace in the Christian hope while overwhelmed with the consciousness that many of those dearest to us are even right now shrieking hopelessly for watery relief from fiery torments? If any can be happy under such a burden of woe, are they hardened to insensibility; or do they really take their creed seriously?

Do believers in eternal hell torment really believe it, in their careless unconcern for the unsaved, or do they just give formal and thoughtless assent to their creeds. A sincere contemplation of such an infinite spectacle of woe as they present about hell is enough to unseat the reason of every believer of it if it weighs on his mind as it should if true. It would be appalling to know the number of all those who thought they had committed ‘the unpardonable sin,’ another erroneous tradition, and that they were hopelessly hell-bound because of it, and as a result became maniacs and suicides.

Yet in utter disregard of the frightful results of their hideous pagan ideas, the eternal hell torment evangelists would like to unchristianize those of us who dare to question their views by turning the searchlight of truth on their errors.

After hell is ended in the lake of fire, where can the previous inhabitants of hell go? Not back to hell, for it then will be no more. Not back into death, for ‘there shall be no more death.’ Only one destiny will be possible for them, and that is the one declared in Is. 26:9, and that is correction through judgment.”

#108 - LIFE FOR ALL - CHARLES W. COTTON

“The lake of fire will be abolished when it burns itself out because there is no evil left for it to feed upon, and the whole universe will throb with joy when the second death is abolished with the successful completion of the great and glorious work the Lord Jesus will bring to full fruition with the perfecting of all in the heavens and on earth.

What a prospect! God’s purpose of the ages (Eph. 3:11) fulfilled in perfect accord with His irresistible will. ‘And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, ‘Unto Him Who sits on the throne, and unto the Lamb be the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the dominion, for the ages of the ages (Rev. 5:13) – a grand Hallelujah Chorus echoing through the boundless universe and proclaiming that God IS Love.”

#109 - UNIVERSAL RECONCILIATION – MINNIE ALBERTSON

“The original scriptures taught final universal salvation; but translators usually rejected that theme. So they added to, or dropped words, to make the text conform to their wrong thinking. They could not eradicate the original theme; but we inherited their wrong thinking in our translations, and so we have the resulting direct contradictions. Unknown time periods they made endless.

Salvation is for angels also. ‘All things were created by Him, and for Him’ (Col. 1:16).
‘For Thy pleasure they are and were created (Rev. 4:11). So He ‘reconciles all things unto Himself, whether they be on earth, or things in the heavens (Col. 1:16-21).

Even the devil is not too evil to be corrected. Note who he belongs to, as well as those he deceives. ‘The deceived and the deceiver are His’ (Job 12:16).”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Greek scholar William Barclay wrote concerning kolasis aionion (age-during corrective chastisement) in Matthew 25:46
“The Greek word for punishment is kolasis, which was not originally an ethical word at all. It originally meant the pruning of trees to make them grow better.
There is no instance in Greek secular literature where kolasis does not mean remedial punishment. It is a simple fact that in Greek kolasis always means remedial punishment. God’s punishment is always for man’s cure.”

See what other Greek scholars say about it too.
AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF WORDS
tentmaker.org/books/asw/Chapter11.html

Fifteen literally translated (not interpretively translated) Bibles that reveal what God will do with the sinners in Matthew 25:46
Concordant Literal, Young’s literal, Wilson’s Emphatic Diaglott, Rotherham’s Emphasized, Scarlett’s, J.W. Hanson’s New Covenant, Twentieth Century, Ferrar Fenton, The Western New Testament, Weymouth’s (unedited), Clementson’s, The New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Anointed, The Restoration of Original Sacred Name Bible, Bullinger’s Companion Bible margins, Jonathan Mitchell’s translation (2010).

#110 - 125 NUTS FOR CALVINISTS TO CRACK – C.R. BIERBOWER

“Although a Calvinist myself for more than thirty years, the scriptures declaring God’s infinite love, and the plain teachings of Jesus my Lord on the subject of love, mercy and truth, finally sank my theological ship. This left me searching for the truth as it is in Jesus. Finally I was convinced by the overwhelming number of Scriptures that our great God and Heavenly Father truly does, without partiality, love the whole world, and He will in His own time and in His own way finally reconcile all men unto Himself.

Arminianism and Calvinism both represent each other as the method for God’s work in salvation, and both vigorously reject the final reconciliation of all men. It is my purpose in this book to point out to my Calvinistic brethren the inconsistency of their interpretation of Scripture.”

#111 - ALL AND ALL IN ALL – VINCE HOLLANDER AND HENRY BULLER

“This is a power packed and mind shaking question!!
To wit:
How can every creature which is in the heavens and on earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea and all that are in them (describing every living soul made by God) which includes everyone that has come from every dimension of life or death, or everything that came out from God … say, Blessing and honor and glory and power unto the Lamb Jesus Christ the heart of the Father, if they are not all going to be enjoying Him as we who now believe are? Does this not describe and give witness to the day of the reconciliation of all unto God where they came from?”

God will not be defeated in the slightest — for ‘There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God Who worketh all in all (1Cor. 12:6).

#112 - THE WAY TO SALVATION IN THE CHRISTIAN GOSPEL – ERNEST L. MARTIN
“The traditional interpretation of an everlasting hell fire for sinners is as wrong and as senseless as believing that a three dollar bill is legal tender.

Ultimate salvation is something that has been secured by Christ for all mankind without the works of man (either good or bad) being involved in the issue. Everyone will finally be saved and brought to a full knowledge of the truth of God. All humans will finally be forgiven for their sins and they will become reconciled to God. All things in the heavens, on earth and under the earth (the angels who are kept in chains in the bowels of the earth) will one day proclaim the Lordship of Christ to the glory of God the Father.

But it will not only be all humans who are reconciled to God (now that God has reconciled Himself to mankind). The reconciliation will reach out to embrace all the hostile powers which have been out of harmony with God over the centuries. There is prophesied, according to Paul, a full reconciliation between all the antagonistic beings throughout the universe. Even they will be reconciled amongst themselves,
Between themselves and mankind, and between themselves and God the Father (Col. 1:20). All grievances, both divine and human, are disposed of through the life and death of Christ our Saviour. Peace has been, or will be established between all hostile parties throughout the universe.