CabinetMaker said:
No. Universal salvation has been around for s long time. There has always been a group of people who choose to believe tis the original because it is easier to deal with that the truth of Bible as the Bible presents it. Universal salvation is a whole lot easier to sell than Biblical truth. And that truth is that rejection of Jesus carries a harsh penalty. he good news is that Jesus has paid that penalty for you IFF you accept His offer of salvation here and now.
Nope. Eternal torment was not believed by the Jews. Jesus did not teach it, the Old Testament doesn't teach it, and Neither does the New Testament. Eternal torment was belived by other nations, particularly those under Roman Rule. This belief was clung to even after some were converted to Christ.
The first to utilize eternal torment sysematically in the formulation of Christain doctrine formally was Augustine, who converted from manicheanism to Christ, and using the Latin translation used unending misery as an interpretive grid while reading scripture. Augustine went so far as to say he hated Greek. I wonder why :think:
The Roman Church then set out to dtermine what was "true" Christian doctrine, and imposed eternal torment on the rest of the believing world. Those that taught otherwise were declared heretical. The rest is history.
The majority of the Greek speaking world did not see eternal torment spoken of in scripture at all. I wonder, why? :think:
Both of these beliefs have been around for a long time. But I'm iterseted in what the scriptures actually teach, and their effects. Fact is, when it comes to the Hebrew and the Greek employed in scripture, it is very easy to see why the Greek speaking world did not see eternal torment in what was written.
The problem, clearly, arose when translations were employed...not the Hebrew and Greek scriptures themselves.
Look at how much you need to change in scripture for your "original" eternal torment doctrine. This should tell you something.