NeoTheism
Universal Salvation???
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
NKJV
The modern church still shows
remnants of liberalism, but a new theology is emerging along the fringes
of Christianity. This theology is alternatively called Open Theology
or Neotheism. At its heart, this new theology denies the power of God
and opens the door for universal salvation. The frightening part of this
theology is that so much of it remains orthodox, that many will be innocently
swayed by its teachings and led astray, for too much of the church fails
to study and understand God&s Word sufficiently to recognize false doctrine.
(2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV)
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,
a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the
word of truth.).
Christian universalism teaches that all people will be saved through Jesus, whether or not faith is professed in Him during a person's lifetime. The conclusion of such a teaching is that all religions lead to Jesus. In other words, Jesus is the only way to heaven, but there are many roads, not one narrow gate to find Jesus. Justification by faith (Romans 3:21-28) is not necessary.
Such a doctrine emerges from one's view of God. One of the tenets of liberalism is the elevating of God's love above all other attributes. In other words, God's love always controls and since God loves all people, God will save all people. One is saved not from eternal punishment but from sin.
Punishment, depending upon your brand of universalism, may come in this lifetime as trials and tribulations, or it may come in the future state. In either case, punishment is moral and, as such, physical, and does not prevent one from entering heaven. In the final analysis, hell simply does not exist, so there can be no eternal punishment.
Universalists generally do not accept the doctrine of the Trinity. Many see God as one person. Thus, Jesus is either a created being or is the manifestation of God for that age, meaning that God takes on different forms at various times in history. The first position is the ancient heresy of Arianism, while the second is the ancient heresy of modalism.
In addition, most univeraslists do not believe the Holy Spirit to be a person.
