January 21
ETERNAL TORTURE “?”
( This theme and quotes taken from: I Am A Convinced Universalist, William Barclay )
According to William Barclay:
-"When you think of God, what is the first thing that comes to mind? God is the Creator, Savior, Judge, King, Lord, and
Supreme Sovereign Ruler of the universe. God is all these things, but above all, GOD IS LOVE! As well, God is our FATHER!
So … GOD IS A LOVING FATHER! With that being said, let this statement sink down deep into your heart … No father
could be happy while there were members of his family forever in agony. No father would count it a triumph to obliterate the
disobedient members of his family. The only triumph a father can know is to have all his family back home. If one man remains
outside of the love of God at the end of time, it means that that one man has defeated the love of God - AND THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE
… !" ( William Barclay )
-Here is why we are obligated to condemn the teaching of eternal torture, which did come from the Catholic Church during
the Dark Ages:
1. By believing it, we smear the character and nature of God, Who is our Father, Who is LOVE, Who is merciful, Who is FULL
OF FORGIVENESS, and Who is GOOD.
2. By believing it, we must declare evil, Satan, and the will of man as STRONGER than God Who created all things.
3. As well, there are MANY mistranslations in the dearly beloved King James Version, which has been used to establish the
doctrine of Evangelical Christianity. Of the MANY mistranslations to be found in the King James “VERSION” of the
Bible, those that have done the most damage are the English words "eternal", "everlasting", "for ever", and "for ever and
ever", which when researched will be found to be an INCORRECT TRANSLATION of the Hebrew and Greek words "OLAM", "AION", AND
"AIONIOS", which do not refer to eternity, but rather to ages and time. The passages in the King James Bible that are translated
to speak of eternal or everlasting punishment, in actuality do speak of AGE-LASTING PUNISHMENT ( correction ), or THE PUNISHMENT
OF THE AGES. IT IS PUNISHMENT WITHIN THE AGES OF TIME FOR THE PURPOSE OF CORRECTION, BUT IT IS SURELY NOT ETERNAL TORTURE!!!
We must also see that the purpose of punishment, judgment, vengeance, and the wrath of God is CORRECTION, NOT VINDICTIVE,
ENDLESS, AND SENSELESS TORTURE. This type of punishment would have to be characterized as INSANE, and would serve no purpose.
4. The Bible is FULL of scriptures and passages that do declare the salvation of all men. This is taking place now and
will continue in the ages to come. Here are just a few:
-Genesis 12:1-3
-Psalm 22:27-29
-Psalm 65:2
-Psalm 66:3,4
-Psalm 86:9
-Isaiah 25:7,8
-Isaiah 45:22-25
-John 12:32
-Romans 11:32
-1st Corinthians 15:22-28
-1st Timothy 2:4-6
( For a list of over 600 scriptures, refer to: Read And Search God’s Plan, Dr. Harold Lovelace.
)
-The Bible clearly talks about the ultimate and complete triumph of God, when God will be everything to everyone ( 1st
Corinthians 15:28 ). God is patient with His creation. He awaits the day when His love is answered by the return of love.
The end result is this: …
-A UNIVERSE LOVED BY AND IN LOVE WITH GOD!-
