Our view of hell and Universalism may be based on our studies, horror stories from our youth, our theological outlook, and it may be based on experience. It may be a combination of any and all or exclusive to one spectrum or theory. If one has experienced or worked with victims who have experienced evil then one may wish to believe in hell as a result of a just God. Again the same may apply in regards to a just God that at the end, all will come to realise the difference of evil and good and enlightenment finally come to all. Is that possible?
Universalism is defined by Sachs as the doctrine of Apocatastasis which maintained that the entire creation, including sinners, the damned, and the devil would be restored to a condition of eternal happiness and salvation (p 227). Hell is described as the self-chosen state of alienation from God (p 235).
In the sixth century, the Synod of Constantinople condemned the view that there would be a final restoration and reintegration of all creation – Apokatastasis. This view from certain followers of Origen included demons and any human beings condemned to hell. The Synod concluded that anyone condemned to hell remains there for eternity. (Hayes, p 179)
Augustine talks about mass damnata: large numbers of people being lost for all eternity while Lane indicates that the “universal savific will of God.””The New Testament speaks of “”God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth””(1 Tim. 2:3-4)”. Scriptures praise the loving mercy of God that reaches out to humanity universally (Rm. 11:32) (Hayes, 122). Hoping for an end where all evil transforms into goodness because God provides the appropriate insight, how realistic is that? Hell is prevalent in scriptures. Dogmatic Theology indicates that “Hell is so real that it reaches right into the existence of the saints.” (p 218) What do the saints have to say? St. Irenaeus of Lyons states that when the Antichrist has devastated all things in this world…the Lord will come…sending this man and those who follow him into the lake of fire…[1]
People have a free will. There are choices made each day whether it is to wake up early in the morning, to work, to kill or just to be oblivious of evil, to be evil or to deny evil. We have choices. Many believe that there is no Satan, that Satan is a myth so why would there be a hell? Why is it easier to believe in heaven than to believe in hell? There is polarisation is our daily lives, day and night, North and South, negative and positive, hot and cold etc…Does having a hell seems contrary to God? War, starvation and disease, is that not contrary to God? What happens to evil that prevails our planet? What happens to those who choose evil over good as their rightful choice? Some people are just plain bad to the bone. Is that a judgement only for God? Yes it is. There may be an empty hell as there may be an empty heaven. Perhaps all are still in purgatory, a state in-between? One of the great deceptions of Satan is to secularise our minds, so that we can rationalise away the very meaning of the words of Jesus. The kingdom of Satan is explained away as meaning that there is no struggle with Satan, but only with the evil in man’s heart. Any existence of an adverse Kingdom of darkness and evil is labelled as
fundamentalistic and ignored.[2] The souls in hell do not possesses God’s love. However, the saints in heaven and the souls in purgatory do.[3]
[1] J. Reverend Iannuzzi. Antichrist and the End Times. (Missionaries of the Holy Trinity: USA, 2005).P 21.
[2] G. Reverend Kosickie, C.S.B. Spiritual warfare. (Faith Publishing Co: Ohio, 1990) p 3.
[3] Hogan Richard, and Levoir, John. Faith For Today: Pope John Paul 11’s Catechetical Teachings. (Doubleday: New York, 1988). P 210.
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