LEMMINGS

The lot of lemmings – Martin Zender

“Lemmings are rodents that supposedly run
off cliffs together, committing mass suicide.
This is what happens, metaphorically,
to members of religious sects. Because
they are continually surrounded by
each other, and mindlessly accept whatever
they are taught by institutionally
trained “experts,” they get the sense that
they are “all right.” And yet they are not.
They are simply all wrong at the same
time and in the same place.

One of the largest religious sects, Christianity,
is so deceived that it thinks its members
are the only ones who will be with
God for eternity. This sort of exclusivity
(the eternal variety) is a sure sign of
religious sectarianism.

The common lot of humanity is death.
But—thanks to Christ—the common lot of
humanity is also eternal life. The difference
between those who believe truth and
those who don’t is timing; it is a difference
of when each person emerges from death,
into life. Those who believe now emerge
early; they live—and some of them reign
with Christ—for two future eons. The rest
of humankind remain dead until the great
white throne judgment. After this judgment,
some go to the new earth as mortals,
some to the second death. When the second
death is abolished, however, all will
have eternal life.

For now, the mass of humanity—religious
and otherwise—is rushing over the cliff of
death. The only thing able to stop this tide
is the miracle of God-given faith. For now,
God gives faith to few. Later, He will give
it to all.

If you have escaped lemminghood, thank God.”

LESLIE WEATHERHEAD

THE CHRISTIAN AGNOSTIC – DR. LESLIE D. WEATHERHEAD

The following is my all-time favorite quote. I’ve had it memorized for many years and I quote it frequently. As a staunch universalist, Dr. Leslie Weatherhead meant it to include everyone without exception, after everyone who needs it experiences kolasis aionion, or age-during corrective chastisement.

“God’s purposes are so vast and glorious, beyond all guessing now, that when they are achieved and consummated, all our sufferings and sorrows of today, even the agonies that nearly break our faith, the disasters that well nigh overwhelm us, shall, seen from that fair country where God’s age long dreams come true, bulk as little as bulk now the pieces of a broken toy upon a nursery floor, over which, thinking that all our little world was in ruins, we cried ourselves to sleep.”
Dr. Leslie Weatherhead

LOVE WINS

Here is an analogy that I got from Ray Prinzing (my earthly hero and mentor)

A man courts a lady by continually expressing his love for her week after week, both verbally, and by bringing her gifts.

If he stops trying to persuade her to marry him, he loses everything.
But if he never stops trying to convince her until she says yes, then he goes to her place, gathers up all the gifts he gave her AND HER, and takes them back to his place for the rest of their lives.

Human love sometimes fails to elicit a loving response, but God’s divine love is not hampered by the limitations of human love.

Even if takes kolasis aionios (age-during corrective chastisement) which is a negative expression of His love, God will sooner or later elicit a loving response from everyone.

That is what I believe.
LOVE WINS
lovewins.us/388/an-analytical-study-of-words/

A POEM BY WIILIAM WORDSWORTH (1770-1850)

One adequate support
For the calamities of mortal life
Exists, one only; - an assured belief
That the procession of our fate, howe’er
Sad or disturbed, is ordered by a being
Of infinite benevolence and power,
Whose everlasting purposes embrace
All accidents, converting them to good.

Thanks for that - I’ve read Wordsworth but had not come across that lovely and encouraging poem.

You are welcome Dave.

Alexander von Humboldt (1767-1835) wrote
“The conviction, arising from a firm confidence in Almighty goodness and justice – that death is only the termination of an imperfect state of being, whose purpose cannot be fully carried out here, and that it is the passage to a better and higher condition, should be so constantly present to us, that nothing should be able to obscure it, even for a moment; it is the groundwork of inner peace, and of the loftiest endeavors, and is an inexhaustible spring of comfort in affliction.”

The age following The Great White Throne Judgment is sometimes called by theologians ‘the age of consummation,’ or ‘the age of Jubilee,’ or ‘the age of the New Heaven and New Earth.’
By the time that age has ended, all fallen creatures will have been saved from everything from which they need to be saved, including their stubborn will.

A snippet from THE OUTCOME OF INFINITE GRACE – DR. LOYAL F. HURLEY
“Only as one sees God’s Plan of the Ages do they see the beauty of God’s Program for the redemption of the race.

Heb. 11:3 should read, “Through faith we understand that the ages were planned by the Word of God.” The ages will collectively end. A literal translation of Heb. 9:26 is, ‘But now, once for all, with a view to the end of the ages, has He been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.’ (Alexander Thompson’s translation)

Throughout the eons there is sin and evil, condemnation and death. At the end of the eons all will be justified (Rom. 5:18,19), and all will be reconciled through Christ’s blood (Col. 1:20).

GOD’S PLAN FOR THE AGES OF TIME
THE EONS OF THE BIBLE WITH CONCORDANCE
saviourofall.org/Tracts/Eons2.html

CHRIST TRIUMPHANT – THOMAS ALLIN

It is true that aionios may be applied as an epithet to things that are endless, but the idea of endlessness in all such cases comes not from the epithet, but only because it is inherent in the object to which the epithet is applied, as in the case of God.

‘This is life eternal’ should be ‘the life of the ages,’ i.e. peculiar to those ages in which the scheme of salvation is being worked out. The ‘eternal covenant’ is the ‘covenant of the ages,’ the covenant peculiar to the ages of redemption. The ‘eternal purpose’ is really the purpose of ‘the ages,’ i.e. developed and worked out in ‘the ages.’

We who teach the larger hope believe that not in this brief life only, but through future ages, Christ’s work shall go on till the last straying sheep shall have been found by the Good Shepherd. Then, at the expiry of these ages ‘cometh the end’ when Christ shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, and God shall be All in all (1Cor. 15:28).

1 Cor. 10:11; and Heb. 9:26 have been mistranslated.

1Cor. 10:11 should read “end (singular) of the eons (plural),”
NOT "ends (plural) of the world (singular) KJV
and
Heb. 9:26 should read “end of the eons (plural),”
NOT "end of the world (singular) KJV

When literally translated both of these scriptures reveal that the eons COLLECTIVELY come to an end.

As Dr. Loyal Hurley points out in THE OUTCOME OF INFINITE GRACE
“Only as one sees God’s Plan of the Ages do they see the beauty of God’s Program for the redemption of the race.
Heb. 11:3 should read, “Through faith we understand that the ages were planned by the Word of God.” The ages will COLLECTIVELY end. A literal translation of Heb. 9:26 is, ‘But now, once for all, with a view to the end of the ages (plural not the singular “world” of the KJV), has He been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.’
Throughout the eons there is sin and evil, condemnation and death. At the end of the eons all will be justified (Rom. 5:18,19), and all will be reconciled through Christ’s blood (Col. 1:20).

GOD’S PLAN FOR THE AGES OF TIME
THE EONS OF THE BIBLE WITH CONCORDANCE
saviourof…acts/Eons2.html

Rodger - I can’t open that last link. Is it bad or is it me?

Thanks for the heads up on the link Dave!

saviourofall.org/Tracts/Eons2.html

MARTIN LUTHER

Martin Luther said: “God forbid that I should limit the time of acquiring faith to the present life. In the depth of the Divine mercy there may be opportunity to win it in the future.” (Martin Luther’s letter to Hans von Rechenberg, 1522.)

“I frankly confess that, for myself, even if it could be, I should not
want free-will to be given me.…But now that God has taken my salvation
out of the control of my own will, and put it under the control of
His, and promised to save me, not according to my working or running,
but according to His own grace and mercy, I have the comfortable
certainty that He is faithful and will not lie to me, and that He is
also great and powerful, so that no devils or opposition can break Him
or pluck me from Him.” -Martin Luther

“for the power of “free-will” is nil, and it does no good, nor can do,
without grace. It follows, therefore, that “free-will” is obviously a
term applicable only to Divine Majesty; for only He can do, and does
(as the Psalmist sings) “whatever he wills in heaven and earth”
[Psalms 135:6]. If “free-will” is ascribed to men, it is ascribed with
no more propriety than divinity itself would be - and no blasphemy
could exceed that! So it befits theologians to refrain from using the
term when they want to speak of human ability, and to leave it to be
applied to God only.” –Martin Luther

“How ironic that those who believe God will not violate the ‘free’
will of man have no problem believing He will violate His own free
will—that all men should be saved!” - David Nuckols

“God does not save men by arbitrary force. He saves by our wills,
through moral influence. God has resources in his universe, the all
conquering agencies of love, to make the unwilling soul willing! He
has light enough to make the blind see, and love enough to melt the
hardened heart.” -Quillen Hamilton Shinn

MOTIVATION

Philippians 1:15-18

“Some preach Christ because of envy and strife, and some of good will.
One preaches Christ out of contention, not sincerely, the other out of love.
What then, notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being preached.
And I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.”

ETers and ANers preach Christ out of the false motivation that if they don’t preach many
will suffer forever in “hell” or be annihilated.
But even so, like Paul, I rejoice and, yea, I will rejoice that Christ is being preached.

ETERNAL PUNISHMENT CHRISTIANS VERSUS ETERNAL PUNISHMENT MUSLIMS

As most Christians already know, millions of Christians believe that millions of Muslims (and all other non-Christians too) are going to suffer forever in hell.
They believe it because that’s the way they were taught by their parents and by other people on whom they relied to tell them the truth.

What many Christians do not know is that millions of Muslims believe that millions of Christians (and all non-Muslims) are going to suffer forever in hell too.
And they also believe it because that’s the way they were taught by their parents and by other people on whom they relied to tell them the truth
Quote from THE AFTER LIFE IN ISLAM
“Being a Muslim does not keep one out of Hell, but non-Muslims (kafir), however, will be punished eternally.”
That is why they believe they are doing God’s work when they make a project out of killing non-Muslim “infidels” if they refuse to convert to Islam.

I think the entire dichotomy is ridiculous!
I think that the idea of “eternal hell” may be the cause of more suffering on this earth than any other idea that exists.

In my opinion the greatest of all manifestations of God’s grace in action on this earth is that anyone can believe that God will let anyone choose themselves into an inescapable state of everlasting suffering and not go insane thinking about it.

For anyone who is interested, the following is a very informative link
what-the-hell-is-hell.com/topics … rs-corner/

GOD’S PLAN FOR THE AGES OF TIME

While believers are enjoying life eonian, unbelievers will experience kolasis eonian which means age-during corrective chastisement. When the corrective chastisement has been achieved in everyone who needs it, then both life eonian and chastisement eonian will come to an end and eternity will continue with everyone saved from everything from which they need to be saved, including their stubborn will.

A snippet from
GOD’S PLAN FOR THE AGES OF TIME
“During the present wicked eon (Gal.1:4), Sin reigns, Satan who is said to be “the god of this eon” (2 Cor.4:4) blinds and deceives mankind, and death swallows up the race (1 Cor.15:22). But notwithstanding, God is over all and is in supreme control. He is the eonian God. In due time He will deliver the entire creation and bring good out of all the suffering mankind is called upon to endure (Rom.8;18-23).”

GOD’S PLAN FOR THE AGES OF TIME
THE EONS OF THE BIBLE WITH CONCORDANCE
saviourofall.org/Tracts/Eons2.html

The age following The Great White Throne Judgment is sometimes called by theologians ‘the age of consummation,’ or ‘the age of Jubilee,’ or ‘the age of the New Heaven and New Earth.’
By the time that age has ended, all fallen creatures will have been saved from everything from which they need to be saved, including their stubborn will.

A snippet from THE OUTCOME OF INFINITE GRACE – LOYAL F. HURLEY

“Only as one sees God’s Plan of the Ages do they see the beauty of God’s Program for the redemption of the race.

Heb. 11:3 should read, “Through faith we understand that the ages were planned by the Word of God.” The ages will collectively end. A literal translation of Heb. 9:26 is, ‘But now, once for all, with a view to the end of the ages, has He been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.’

Throughout the eons there is sin and evil, condemnation and death. At the end of the eons all will be justified (Rom. 5:18,19), and all will be reconciled through Christ’s blood (Col. 1:20)."

GOD’S PLAN FOR THE AGES OF TIME
THE EONS OF THE BIBLE WITH CONCORDANCE
saviourofall.org/Tracts/Eons2.html