This series is based on a paper I wrote for my Systematic Theology class on Christocentric Universalism. It was called, “Assessing the Biblical, Theological, and Practical Implications of Christocentric Universalism and Exclusivism.” I’ll be posting the sections of the paper over the next 2 weeks. I hope it helps you wade through the weighty topics of the nature of salvation, the character of God, and final judgement. Also, please share your own thoughts to help me continue wrestling.

The Series
1. Introduction
2. Biblical Assessment
3. Theological Assessment
4. Practical Assessment
5. Assessing the Polarities
6. Conclusion

Christocentric Universalism differs markedly from Pluralist Universalism on one very key point: the centrality of Christ for universal salvation. Unlike Pluralist Universalism, which insists all people will be saved through which ever religious system they belong to, Christocentric Universalism claims that all individuals will be saved through the work of Christ and are committed to working within a Christian biblical and theological framework. Jesus Christ and His once-and-for-all sacrifice is at the center of this idea and still acknowledges one true God. In fact, Christocentric Universalists believe in and affirm most of the same historic Christian orthodox beliefs as Exclusivists. They believe in one God, the creator of heaven and earth, in the goodness of the created order, the severity of sin and its terrible consequences, the necessity of divine action to effect redemption. They believe that salvation is found only through Christ’s work in becoming flesh, suffering the consequences of our sins on the cross, being raised to new life in the power of the Spirit, and ascending to reign in heaven. Jesus Christ is still at the center of God’s plan to rescue and re-create the world. Evil and sin and rebellion are real objective realities that had to be dealt with, and were atoned for through the event of the cross. They even affirm the biblical necessity of an explicit faith in Jesus Christ, a final judgment, and hell.

Where they differ, however, is in their interpretation of the broad biblical narrative and key biblical texts, insisting that such texts as Colossians and Revelation provides the contours of a grand theological narrative with universal endings and in fact teach universalism. They also insist that: 1) it is possible to be saved from hell, and do not think that, when it comes to salvation, there is such a thing as a point of no return and it is never too late to be the recipient of grace and mercy; 2) in the end, everyone in hell will turn and receive divine mercy through Christ. They emphasize the exclusivity of Christ right along side the hyper-sufficiency of Jesus’ victory, obedience, and substitution. They also acknowledge the severity of human rebellion and need for rescue, while insisting on the exhaustive grace of God. Ultimately, Christ’s sovereignty is for a purpose, the universal reconciliation of all things to God, which is accomplished in Christ.

Since the early church, scholars and students alike have found a universal reconciliation embedded within the text of God’s Holy Scripture. While not the dominant view, it has grown in popularity in recent years as the culture has shifted toward inclusivism through postmodern thought, embracement of a multiple faiths through multiculturalism, and our collision with different people groups because of globalization. Origen, an Alexandrian church father and theologian, first offered the church Christian Universalism through his idea of apokatastasis, the idea of ultimate reconciliation. According to Origen, such texts as Colossians 1:20 and 1 Corinthians 15:28 imply an eventual perfection and blessedness of all creation that will rest in God without any hint of sin, evil, or temptation.

God will be ‘all,’ for there will no longer be any distinction between good and evil, seeing evil nowhere exists; for God is all things, and to Him no evil is near. So then, when the end has been restored to the beginning, and the termination of things compared with their commencement, that condition of things will be re-established in which rational nature was place, when it had no need to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He who alone is the one good God becomes to him ‘all,’ and that not in the case of a few individuals, or of a considerable number, but He Himself is ‘all in all.’ And when death shall no longer anywhere exist, nor the sting of death, nor evil at all, then verily God will be ‘all in all.’

For Origen and other Christocentric Universalists, verses in Romans 5:18-19 and 11:32, 1 Corinthians 15:24-28, and Colossians 1:20 argue that in the end God will not allow anything to fall outside the scope of His saving love in Christ. Like Origen, contemporary philosopher and theologian Thomas Talbott insists that Colossians 1:20 is universally salvific. In the same way “all things in heaven and on earth…” are created in Christ, so also are they re-created in Him. For Talbott, Paul applies the concept of reconciliation, which is explicitly redemptive, to all of the spiritual principalities and dominions and all humans in Colossians 1:20. For these theologians, Colossians 1:20 expresses the majestic reality that “all things”—human and non-human beings—will find ultimate restoration in Christ under the same sovereignty that brought them into existence in the first place.

Some argue on the basis of this passage that because God’s eternal plan and purpose was reconciliation then nothing in His creation would be lost; from the beginning of time God’s desire was to restore the cosmos, including all humans, to the way they were intended to be at the beginning. They believe that 1:20 can be taken to mean that Paul looked for ultimate reconciliation between God and all humans, indeed all hostile spiritual powers, too. This very point was made by a 19th century commentator. Eadie, the author of in an older commentary of Colossians from T & T Clark, declared:

The humanity of Jesus bringing all creatures around it, unites them to God in a bond which never before existed—a bond which has its origin in the mystery of redemption. Thus all things in heaven and earth feel the effect of man’s renovation; unnumbered worlds, so thickly strewn as to to appear dim and nebulous masses, are pervaded by its harmonizing influence; a new attractions binds them to the throne.

Gregory MacDonald, a pseudonymous author of a book on Christocentric Universalism, said that the same Christ by which “all things” are created in verse 16 are later reconciled in verse 20; they are without a doubt the same “all things.” We find in Colossians, then, a theology that places both creation and reconciliation in Christ; just as the good creation was crafted by the creator in Christ, so to will rebellious creatures find peace with God in Him. Everything, then, finds complete renewal and reconciliation to God through Christ. All of creation, to its farthest spot, could not but be affected by the grace and the death of Him who gave it its original life and being. Because Christ gave the universe and all therein its existence, many believe Colossians 1:20 reveals a re-creation that extends throughout the universe, too. Similarly, many argue that since all have sinned in Adam, all will be raised to life in Christ. Romans 5:18-19 says, “Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” A growing number of scholars believe that we must conclude Paul meant Christ’s act has truly brought justification and life for all, just as Adam’s brought condemnation to all. A. Hultgren, for instance, has suggested that this passage directly states a universal justification of humanity; while some are justified in this life by faith, others who do not accept God’s gift will still be justified at judgement. Thomas Johnsons recently wrote, “Just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation of all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. The theological basis for this claim is universal application of the death and resurrection of Jesus. He died and rose for all. All people have been put right with God through Jesus Christ.”

Likewise, Christocentric Universalists make claim to Romans 11:32 as a final universalism text. It says, “For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.” Similarly to Romans 5:18-19, many suggest that just as God has confined every single person in sin, He will have mercy on and save every person. While not explicitly saying it is a universalism text, Cranfield maintains it is difficult to rule out this interpretation. Johnson goes a step further by insisting that Paul maintains that God will, in the end, be merciful toward all; there is a wideness in God’s mercy that is incomprehensible to humans, leading ultimately to universal salvation. This passage, along with Romans 5:18-19, 1 Corinthians 15:32, and Colossians 1:20 form the biblical foundation for a defense of Christocentric Universalism that is based on a broad universal salvific thread throughout the Holy Scriptures.

Exclusivists, on the other hand, believe that only some will be saved and find ultimate re-creation, while many others will experience everlasting punishment for their sin and failure to embrace Jesus as Lord. While Christocentric Universalists believe the New Testament teaches that God desires and will ultimately achieve universal salvation, Exclusivists—scholars, teachers, and laypeople who are mostly Augustinian and Calvinistic in theological persuasion—believe that the bible teaches a general offer of salvation to the world with a specific effectual calling of only some to salvation. They counter the above mentioned biblical claims by insisting two things: 1) these texts do not mean what these thinkers say they mean; and 2) the broad teachings of Jesus and Paul reveal a final judgement at which people will be separated as believers and non-believers.

First, biblical scholars provide pointed response to universalistic claims in such passages as Colossians 1:20, 1 Corinthians 15:24-28, Romans 5:18-19 and 11:32. Regarding Colossians 1:20, instead of it referring to universal human salvation, Lohse insists that Paul is saying that the universe has been reconciled in that heaven and earth have been brought back into their divinely created and determined order; the universe is again under the head of Christ and cosmic peace has returned. Rather than “all” signifying all creatures of every kind will eventually be saved, he says the universe will one day be at peace. Moo explains that the point of Romans 5:18-19 is that there can be an assurance of justification and life that is just as strong as the assurance of condemnation. “Paul wants to show, not how Christ has made available righteousness and life for all, but how Christ has secured the benefits of that righteousness for all who belong to Him.” While Cranfield insists the door to an universalist interpretation of Romans 11:32 must be left open, Moo insists such interpretations are ripped from their context. He reminds the reader that such an interpretation is contrary to Paul’s teachings elsewhere that there are people who will not in the end be saved, and Paul is instead referring to the mercy of salvation to varying groups of people upon which God grants. Finally, Gordon Fee responds to universalist interpretations of 1 Corinthians 15:28 in the same way others respond to those of Colossians 1:20: in the same way Paul refers to the reclaiming of the entire universe through Christ, he is explaining that God’s will will be supreme in every quarter and in every way when He has subdued His people’s final enemy at the time of resurrection. “At the death of death the final rupture in the universe will be healed and God alone will rule over all beings, banishing those who have rejected his offer of life and lovingly governing all those who by grace have entered in God’s ‘rest’.”