Corpse & DaveB,
I overstated: I don’t think that universalists tend to be prooftexters, sorry if I gave that impression. But we can be confident of the interp. of a verse supporting our position. I don’t know what the line is b/w prooftexting and “confidence”…
I am curious about annihilationism or conditional mortality b/c, while it still a ways from full-fledged UR, it has some things going for it. For instance, I think one could still affirm God’s love never fails and subscribe to anni, if we have true libertarian free will, and somebody just never wanted to be in God’s presence, that in the end, God would let that obstinate soul perish as opposed to either allowing it to torture itself and others for all eternity - or- God punishing it with Hell (all this depends on one’s conception of the afterlife, obviously and whether we can accept God/Jesus postmortem).
A deficit with universalism, and a possible “plus” to non-universalist schemes: as long as there are sinners/rejectors/people refusing God’s grace, there can be Hell Those God has saved may be free from this Hell w/ unlocked doors but everybody else will be in agony. Naturally, it would be horrible if somebody really wanted to go their own way, even after second, third, fourth … x opportunities in the afterlife - but - at that point (for, like you, I do think God’s love is extremely patient and God will save people, postmortem, even after rejections), but if there are some people that clearly never want to go to heaven period - at that point (and not b4), I think anni might b the humane thing 4 God to do (and granted, this hearkens the capital punishment debates, for some espouse that life imprisonment is fundamentally for merciful than the death penalty and vice versa - and the stakes obviously are raised when we’re talking about eternal punishment).
I think that Tom Talbott is right for the most part in that, as illusions are stripped away from people, it will become very hard in the afterlife for one to want to cleave oneself from God and others as the false motives will b shown for what they are. I do not know if it is impossible, as opposed to highly unlikely, for some even in that clarity to reject God. If you think that we lack “free will” and/or to secure UR, God can use some kind of determinism, then obviously annihilationism would not be preferable at all. If ultra-universalism is possibly T, then annihilationism would be clearly morally inferior (r u ultra-universalists or more “purgatorial” univs?)