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Christian Universalism is an absolutist doctrine. It is an “all or nothing” proposition without room for a single exception to an absolutely effectual plan of redemption, which is why its proponents adamantly insist on a non-exceptional interpretation of the word “all” relative to salvation, as if thereby to prove salvation's unconditional unthwartability. If there can be any exceptions to “all,” and/or salvation can be shown to have even just one conditional component subject to possible irretrievable reversal, then the doctrine fails. By extension, this also means that Christian Universalism must be able to defeat “every” rebuttal to its case without exception, or the doctrine fails.

As in the law of odd numbers, where no matter how many even numbers are added to just one odd number, the result will always be an odd number, so too, no matter how many “Universalist-sounding” verses divorced from the organic thought flow of the writers are added to but one “negative” verse of direct apostolic testimony that flatly denies the possibility of universal reconciliation, the result can only be a disproving of Christian Universalism. 

In proving the truth or falsity of Christian Universalism then by its own standard of absolute non-exceptionalism, only one of the more than 200 abstract points from the following survey of biblical cosmology must survive scrutiny to prove Christian Universalism false, while every point must be convincingly rebutted to prove Christian Universalism true.

FOUNDATIONS OF TRUE DOCTRINAL BELIEF

§ The Common Faith

1. The Christian faith including its perspective of cosmological destiny is one of “common” understanding using plainly defined words delivered completely (“once for all”) by the apostles (Jude 3→5; II Cor. 1:13) under competent oversight of the Holy Spirit for re-translation into the tongues of all future generations (see II Tim. 3:16 with I Cor. 14:9; Rev. 5:9; 7:9 (“every language”)).
   
   
   
   • The apostle Paul pointedly and repeatedly testifies that his commission is to completely and clearly reveal to his churches (not in parables or prophetically hidden language) all cosmological truth pertaining to the gospel not previously understood (Rom. 11:25; 16:25-26;  (I Cor. 2:7→10→12→16→→II Cor. 1:13[NIV]); (Eph. 1:9→3:2-5,8-10→6:19-20)→(Col. 1:25-27→2:1-4→4:3-4)). 
     
   
   
   (What we believe from scripture about cosmological destiny must be defensible in terms of the commonly understood meanings of words and concepts as spoken by the apostles to their first hearers and in turn as commonly re-translated to us today in every language. In particular, the doctrine of Christian Universalism may not legitimately defend itself by a) transmuting common words and concepts to mean their opposites in the name of "prophetic language" that is "hidden" from the believing church at large, b) isolating and force-defining particular words outside the mental contexts of the writers, c) assailing the integrity of all common translations of the Bible left us by the Holy Spirit, d) building cosmological assertions upon scriptural silence or e) depending upon extra-biblical sources for defining the parameters of salvation. If a doctrine purporting to change our entire cosmological perspective on universal destiny cannot stand on the overt canon-confined apostolic testimony according to commonly apprehended word meanings and flows of thought as handed down to all generations by the Holy Spirit, it is indefensible and must be rejected as false.) 

2. Doctrines formed on the parsing of words outside the contexts of commonly understood apostolic intent leading to disputes are to be rejected (I Tim. 6:4; II Tim. 2:14; Tit. 3:9) → II Pt. 3:16). (Christian Universalism is a philosophy of cosmic destiny superimposed upon scripture almost entirely dependent on disputing the definitions of commonly understood words and enforcing an altered state of linguistic comprehension upon them. If all such arguments were removed from discussion, the doctrine would have no real textual basis for challenging the forest of open-ended universal enmity statements left upon the damned by all the writers (as will be shown). Therefore the teaching is not of the Holy Spirit.)      

3.      The scriptures reject humanly rationalized questioning of divine justice, equity and fairness as a basis for establishing or proving spiritual truth. (Job 38:1-41:34; Ezk. 18:25,29; Rom. 9:18-19). (Therefore no Christian Universalist argument built on such questioning stands as a valid basis for justifying its assertions. This applies to all questions of God’s righteousness and fairness regarding a) the “numbers” of people consigned to the Lake of Fire compared to those who come to salvation in this life, b) the “length of time” to which the damned are sentenced to destruction compared to the length of time they sinned in earthly life and c) the inability of entire generations of populations to have ever heard the gospel.(See APPENDIX F for specific discussion of this point.) Christian Universalism must be able to appeal only to the organic intramural apostolic reasoning found within their complete testimony to make its case, one that includes a full accounting for each and every statement of universal enmity left unclosed by the writers.)

• All the apostles testify and demonstrate that God’s truth of salvation from judgment is confrontive, is inherently offensive to the unbelieving (“natural man’s”) reasoning and that saving belief must come through one’s surrender to God’s unbending truth in spite of the offense—not by appeasing man’s offense to win his belief and favor (e.g. Mt. 5:11-12;  13:54→57; 15:12-14; 23:33-35;  Lk. 6:22→26; 7:23; 21:12→16-17; Jn. 3:31-32→36; 5:16-18→39-46; 6:41-44→60-61→65-69; 7:7,16-23; 8:14-15→21-24, 37,40,43,46-47,51-55→59; 10:19-20; 15:18-25; Ac. 2:36-41; 3:13-23; 4:10-12,19-20.29-31; 5:27-33,40-42; 7:51-58; 13:38-41→45-46,50-52; 17:30-31; 18:5-6; 20:18-24→26-27; 24:24-25; 26:16-17; Rom. 2:2-6→8-9→11; 8:7; 9:32b-33; I Cor. 1:18-25→2:14; II Cor. 2:15; 5:11; 6:7; 7:5; 10:1-5; Gal. 1:9-12→2:5; 5:11; Eph. 6:14,17,19; Php. 1:27-30;  Col. 2:8; I Th. 2:14-16; II Th. 1:4-10; II Tim. 3:10-12; 4:2-5, 14-15; Heb. 12:3; 13:3→13; Jas. 4:4-5;  I Pt. 2:6-8; I Jn. 3:13; 4:4-6; Rev. 2:2,6,9-10,13-16, 20-24; 6:9-11; 11:3-10; 12:17). (Therefore all Universalist argument based in appeasing human offense regarding the apostolic witness to unclosed damnation is rendered null and void, but instead evidences that Universalism is not inspired by the fearless Holy Spirit.)     
  
  
  

4. As the repository of the complete testimony to the common faith, the terrestrial scriptures provide the only account to man of cosmological destiny and the means to salvation, and no other cosmological outline is available to the damned thereafter (see Lk. 16:31). (This means that whatever spiritual intricacies and dynamics are required to effect a supposed post-damnation universal reconciliation, they must be provably describable from within the terrestrial scriptures as we already have them prior to entrance into damnation. For instance, “How are the hearts of the damned changed by hellfire? How do their burning worm-eaten bodies become transmuted to eternally living bodies? What event(s) triggers their release from the Lake of Fire? How does a state of anti-existential damnation transmute to one of living salvation before the face of God?” Universalists must be able to apostolically (not speculatively) exposit all this from the terrestrial scriptures delivered to the terrestrially living generations that were specifically written for entrance into salvation under terrestrial conditions. This abstract will prove that the terrestrially preached and apostolically detailed salvation given us now in the common scriptures does not and cannot be used to posit, describe or spiritually effect any possible eventual “universal reconciliation” with the inhabitants of the netherworld domain.)   

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