Two extremes, fundamentalism vs. universalism, co-exist, not always peacefully, within the church. Both perspectives have merit, the basic difference being that the former allows salvation to be chosen by an individual, the latter declaring that all people will automatically be saved regardless of personal transgressions or rejection of Jesus as saviour.
It never ceases to amaze me that such diametrically opposed doctrine can be formulated from the same 66 books of the Bible. But it’s happening … diversity in spades.
Religious customs, unique to each denomination, abound. The convention Baptists support baptism by immersion, the Pentacostals speak in tongues, the Jehovah Witnesses reject blood transfusions, the Seventh Day Adventists celebrate the Sabbath on the Sabbath, the Jewish are still waiting for their saviour. Cults handle snakes, and so on. Bible based diversity in action.
So, back to the Bible, and it’s revealing nature. My personal belief is that salvation is open to anyone who by choice believes in the resurrection and the promise of everlasting life. I’m secure in that belief. But I have trouble with the eternal hell component. To quote John 3:16: Whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
The dictionary definition of perish is “to be destroyed.” That exempts sinners and those who reject God from eternal damnation by a loving God, yet promises Christians hope for heaven. The fate of an atheist’s soul may, I suggest, be annihilated upon the body’s physical death.
Pragmatically, literal and liberal beliefs may not be mutually exclusive, not as far apart as the two letters might indicate. There’s room in the church, I suggest, for both schools of thoughts.
