"Let’s get right to it. You have been accused in a lot of the coverage of your book of being a universalist. A universalist, in theological terms, means that everybody gets to go to heaven – everybody is allowed to go to heaven. That means Buddhists, Hindus – you can reinterpret my definition when I’m done – Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Atheists, all get to go to heaven. Are you a universalist?" Lisa Miller
"No – if by universalist we mean there’s a giant cosmic arm that swoops everybody in at some point, whether you want to be there or not." Mr. Bell
At this point, if I were Lisa Miller, I would have interrupted and interjected this question: "What I mean by universalist in the context of your book is, God love will "melt everyone's heart". What do you mean by "everyone"? Your book talks about Buddhists, Hindus, and Baptists from Cleveland, with the strong insinuation that people will be uncomfortable when others find them in heaven. Do you believe life long Buddhists, Hindus, and even Baptists from Cleveland will be in heaven? Do you believe that people who die still have a chance to find Jesus post mortem? Essentially saying that everyone will eventually want to be at the party?"
To me this is universalism. You can say that universalism means that God swoops down and grabs everyone, or you can say that everyone will be saved eventually, through God's love melting their hearts, they are essentially the same things. Wouldn't it be God's loving arm that swoops down and grabs everyone? Mr. Bell needs to quit with the tap dance and just come out and say that one way or another everyone will be saved from hell in the end, because hell's not eternal or forever.
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