title: Come Right Out and Say It by Relient K

i thought i should write about this after kayla and i had a lengthy conversation on the same topic. i have adopted a new religion/denomination/philosophy of sorts. it's called Christian Universalism. it's largely rooted in Christianity, but it deals with some of the issues i've had with teh religion since day one.

the universalist way of thinking is quite simple: everyone goes to heavan eventually. everyone. it states that all people will go to heaven. those that do not believe in God, or who follow other religions will have a period of suffering in hell in the afterlife, but will eventually come to God Himself in heaven. this makes a lot of sense to me. i could never understand why a God who supposedly loves all His children would condemn some to hell, because God knows everything right? He knows before birth whether or not you'll be a Christian, so why would he love some more than others?

also, this addresses the issue of the uninformed. what about children in remote villages taht never hear the gosple? do they go to hell? does a person like ghandi go to hell? these are all issues i've had with the church.

some Christians may say that universalism doesn't work, that it makes the cross and the call obsolete, but i disagree. the cross is still amazingly important. the cross is God's promise to ALL people of salvation. the cross tells us that if we try our hardest to be like Jesus, we go to heaven. that if you accept Jesus, you get to come right away. you skip hell altogether to be with you savior. the call is to tell the others the good news. to tell them they dont' have to suffer.

i dont' know, i guess it works for me. i've thought this ways for years, it's just nice to know there are others (besides kayla) who agree with me.

that is all
-katie*