Universalism: From Universal Salvation to Universal Faith (hell, America, church)

[Davidium]

Hello All!

Well, this will be the last brand new sermon from me for a few months, as in November I am leading a standard UU Liturgy sermon (Guest At Your Table Ceremony) and in December I will be presenting my Christmas Day sermon from last year.

It is entitled "Universalism: From Universal Salvation to Universal Faith". It is the newest installment in my developing "History of UU Theology" series. I wont be doing another on in this series till sometime next spring.

But in essence it is an exploration of the Faith journey of the Universalist side of UU history... Focusing on John Murray, Hosea Ballou, and the Humiliati Religious Order. And also how so much of modern UU'ism comes from the Universalist side of our faith.

It does focus completely on American Universalism.. what can I say, I only had 25 mins to work with.

So, here is the link...

http://dynamicdeism.org/tpst/viewtopic.php?p=303

I hope you enjoy!

Yours in Faith,

David

[Nozem]

A fascinating and inspiring article/talk David, and well written, thanks for giving the rest of us a chance to read it. I would like to add a few comments regarding the historical background to Universalism. My understanding of Calvinism and the concept of 'The Elect' is that it was developed in reaction to Late Medieval Catholicism. The Catholic Church at the time held that all baptised members of the Church would eventually be redeemed, but Purgatory (recognised as from 1270's onwards) functioned as the realm beyond the Afterlife where baptised members of the Faith would go through torments to pay for sins that they had not confessed, but eventually when their souls were purified, would be redeemed. Hell was the everlasting place of torment for non Catholics, but the Catholic faith had a broader view of the numbers of people who could eventually be redeemed.Calvin with his concept of The Elect had a much narrower view. Doesn't the term 'catholic' actually mean 'far embracing' or 'broad'?

[michel]

A very interesting read David - thank you. One of the aspects I find so 'comforting' about UU is the willingness to 'go with the times' - ie to grow and change with the needs of the congregation and times.

[Nozem]

David, I tried to write an overview of Medieval Christendom, looking at how the Roman Catholic Church became so powerful in Western Europe, which has appeared on my website.
http://www.zyworld.com/Oriflammejournal/Christendom.htm

At some point I'd like to look at the early antecedents of Universalism, particularly in ideas of Origen and some of the other theologians that seemed to be distinct from the views of St. Augustine of Hippo, whose perspective ultimately became more dominant. But I haven't the time just now.