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Explain this

"Indeed, God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." (John 3:17)

"Therefore, just as one man's [Adam's] trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's [Christ's] act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all." Rom. 5:18

"For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all." (Rom. 11:32)

"For as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ." (1 Cor. 15:22)

"He [God] has made known to us the mystery of his will ... as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth." (Eph. 1:9, 10)

"Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. 2:9-10)

"... through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross." (Col. 19-20)

"Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, 'To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever.'" (Rev. 5:13)

Then follow this link  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_reconciliation

And use the "see also"

Let me know what you think. It is always nice to be the who belong alone to the club.

Trust me I know

sorry for taking a long time to reply. i've been really busy. :redface:

Proverbs says that God desires everyone to be righteous. does that mean that all are righteous? of course not. most theologians agree that God has a perfect will and a permissive will. the perfect will is a result of His character, meaning that because He is perfect He wills and desires all to be saved and be righteous. obviously, not all are saved. then there is the permissive will. this means that God leaves room in His plans for sin, since God does not purpose sin. Adam and Eve sinned because God made room for it, i sin because God allows it, and so on and so forth. therefore, it is God's perfect will that all will be saved, but that does not mean that all will be saved, since God's permissive will allows room for people to disobey and ignore the call of salvation.

the John text you quoted does not support universalism, since it says "might be saved." as God's perfect will proves, this does not mean all will be saved. it merely means that God sent His Son in the hope of all being saved, but His permissive will means that He allows disobedience.

the last three mean only that people will eventually see God in His full majesty. this does not mean, however, that all will be saved simply because they believe that Christ is God. this is after they have died. humans have thousands upon thousands of chances in this life to turn and repent, so why should they be able to repent in death?

the 1 Corinthians text simply says that those saved will be made alive.

"The first question that must be asked is HOW... How did people become IN ADAM and how do people become IN CHRIST? It would seem obvious that ALL men are born in Adam via natural birth, but NOT all men are born in Christ.  Does this contradict the text?  Not in the least bit.  The text is NOT saying all who are in Adam will be in Christ, but rather it is contrasting that all that were in Adam were under death, and thus all who are in Christ (which is not everyone) will be made alive." - Confronting Universalism

i'm pretty new here, and i'll assume fairly young (sixteen) compared with the majority of members on here, so i guess that this might be the best place to start. first i'd like to say that i was, and still sort of am, considerably interested in and fascinated by astral projection. i am still trying to find a way to balance this with my faith, however, so i can't exactly answer why Christianity is incompatible/compatible with AP. some rather smart Christians have said that AP is dangerous and could open oneself up to demons (negative entities, whatever you like to call them). on the other hand (i'm starting to take this opinion as my own, which will be proven once i actually AP haha), it could be used as a way to draw closer to God. i'm not too sure of either yet, but we shall soon see!

also, i apologize in advance for my "Christianese". if further clarification on any subject is asked, i will gladly give it. :]

as for my faith, i don't know where to begin. i attend a non-denominational church mostly because i like and because, while the people might be great, i'm not a big fan of having different denominations. i feel that we, Christians, should be unified and not given various titles. we should be Christians, and not Baptists or Methodists or Lutherans. however, in no way am i saying that one is wrong for going to a Lutheran/Baptist/Methodist/whatever church. it's just my personal feelings about the subject.

i guess i'll start with the Bible. i believe it to be the divine Word of God, written by humans under the influence of the Holy Spirit. i don't think, however, that this leaves room for error on the part of man, because that is in a way implying God to be imperfect. if He wanted the Bible to be infallible, then He would make sure that it would be. the canon was not made at the Council of Nicaea, since that wasn't even on the list of topics to be discussed (the big thing was refuting Arianism, which says Jesus was created). and, i guess i'll throw it in, Jesus being God was not even an issue. it was Arius who was arguing that Jesus was created and not God. the vote was 300-something to 1 (1 being Arius). anyway, the canon was merely reflecting the view of what Christians held to be the Word of God for a little over three centuries. so the Gnostic Gospels, which A) were written too late to be seriously considered (many scholars agree that the four gospels were written as early as two years after Jesus' death), and B) contradicted many of Jesus' teachings (Gospel of Thomas says women have to become men to enter Heaven), were already viewed as ludicrous.

also, i share Martin Luther's view of sola fide (saved by faith alone), sola scriptura (the canonical Scripture alone holds authority), and sola Christu (Christ's sacrifice and our faith in it alone saves)(dunno if i spelled Christ's name in Latin right).

as for the afterlife, i believe in Heaven and Hell and nothing more. Purgatory, as far as i understand it, was an invention of the Catholic Church at the time and unsupported by canonical Scripture. i am not going to immediately bash them and say that they created Purgatory to get money. there is another possible motive, such as them thinking that a merciful God could not make people suffer eternally, so they made Purgatory as sort of a way around Hell. in Purgatory, people suffer a bit, but eventually they can get to Heaven. as i said before, Purgatory is not supported by Scripture.

Hell is the ultimate end result of man's utter rejection of God. i believe that God is merciful, but at the same time He is just and righteous. God is merciful by allowing men 70-90 years to live and giving them hundreds of chances and signs of Him (Romans 1 states that creation attests to the attributes of God). but as He is just, He must give the unsaved their penalty. this does not make Him evil, as Ezekiel somewhere says "God does not delight in the death of the wicked." also, God does not send anyone to Hell. rather, if one was already hardening their heart towards Him, He, who's very essence is love, would not keep them from that path. free love and all that.

Heaven really isn't much of a reward as it is a rest for Christians who have "ran the race". the old idea of "do good things and you can get to Heaven" is simply not true. it is by the very grace of God that He would stoop to save us from the mire and save us. and if we could do nothing to save ourselves, then what can we do to get to Heaven? nothing. before i go off on a tangent about good works, i'll say that Heaven is spent eternally worshipping God. now don't get the idea of everyone standing in front of a giant alter or throne singing forever and ever. that's not exactly what i meant, because worship is verb, and can be applied to different things. and here i go down a rabbit trail again. but my point is that we will not only worship God in praise, but also in our actions, being freed from sin and becoming utterly perfect. also, Heaven is not clouds and whatnot.

good works is also a subject of controversy between Catholics and Protestants. as i said earlier, self-righteous deeds accomplish nothing. however, Christians don't do good things to gain anything, but rather out of gratitude for what God has done. also, Protestants believe that one's capacity to enjoy Heaven is effected by this. this does not mean that one who does no good things, but is saved, will be miserable in Heaven, but rather it's more like they'd be content by lesser things, like a child playing with pots and pans.

sex, as i see it, is a natural human function. in itself, it is not bad. i'm planning on saving myself for my future wife simply because i think that it'll make her feel more special. i don't really believe in sex outside of marriage, since while it's the highest expression of one's love, i feel that it would be better to have it with someone who you've pledged to live your life with.

communion is basically a reminder of what Christ suffered and accomplished on the cross. and transubstantiation is not something i believe in.

as for men and women ... well. men and women are equal in the sight of God. man is not higher than woman, nor vice versa. however, i believe that God created men and women quite differently and, because of such, they are inclined to take different roles. therefore when it comes to marriage, i think that, when it comes to a decision, they both must discuss it. the wife is to give her opinions, and possibly argue her position, but the decision is to be left to the husband. also, i think that when the man realizes that he is making a decision for both of them, God will give him the wisdom and humility to consider both options and go the right way. but, as i said, women and men are still equal.

anyway, i'm in the middle of something, so if you have any questions feel free to ask.

a conservative open to AP, who would've thought. :B