I'm not sure about restoration. But universal reconciliation is a belief I hold based on the writings of the bible and other core religious texts, as is the belief that GOD is all knowing. Neither of them lean on the other or are required for the other as far as I am concerned. To be completely honest; through revelation it was made obvious that GOD is all knowing and coincidence/ chance is not an actual real thing. The same cannot be said for universal reconciliation; though it is supported by nearly all texts I have read, it wasn't made apparent through the initial help and guidance I was given.
So I guess if one had to be chosen to be of more significance or truth, it would have to be the belief that all is ultimately ordained by GOD.
Hope that helps
Could you explain the significance of your question please?
Peace
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First I offer the disclaimer that I am not sure what you perceive as the difference between Universal Restoration, Universal Reconciliation, and Universalism. That said, I'll do my best to explain. I was weighing your reaction against a related topic.
Most Calvinists that I have met (or read) are staunch defenders of Eternal Conscious Torment. I have met the one or two that uphold the literal destruction of the wicked to ashes, which does lessen the whole injustice angle that this thread is discussing, because at least then God shows man the same consideration as every other created creature, the mercy inherent in death. God created cattle with no other options than to graze and live and die, but he does not torture 90% of the cattle over a never-ending barbecue because He chose to be offended by the way He made them.
Now with the disclaimer that I consider Calvinism to be a massive twisting of the scripture and against the whole gospel, I think that if it was followed consistently that it would lead to Universalism... or perhaps as you would say, Universal Restoration. It does clearly say that God is willing that all men should repent and come to a knowledge of the truth, that God is not willing that any should perish, but all should come to eternal life, that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. If Calvinism is true and God can and will make anything and everything happen as he prefers best, then the only logical outcome for the Calvinist is that of Universal Restoration. God wants all to be saved. Ergo, all will be saved. So the consistent Calvinist becomes a believer in Universal Restoration.
However, I have also noticed in my observation of Universalist forums that pretty much all of them seem to embrace the denial of free will aspect that (to me) defines Calvinism. I think that the Universalist has no other option, because if God did create man with free will, then that free will (by definition) could be used to reject his creator. The Universalist says that no one can for ever reject the Creator, so therefore free will must be an illusion. So the philosophical Univeralist must essentially adopt Calvinism and the denial of free will.
As to which is the cause and which is the effect, I suppose it depends on the person. So I was wondering as to your personal experience and perspective, which element was the foundation and which was built on top of the other. The application would be as follows: assuming your faith was biblical, would biblical evidence against Universal Reconciliation leave your Calvinism intact? Or what if the hypothetical situation were reversed, and you were persuaded that not all things were yet determined... would this still allow for faith in Universal Reconciliation?
Like I said earlier, even if I do not agree I at least appreciate your consistency.
