Are Your Students Universalists?

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Scot McKnight is on campus this week.

I’m really excited about how God is already using him to challenge our campus community to reconsider some of our traditionally held beliefs — in part — because I know that in order for us to really claim ownership of our faith we need to be willing to explore the set of beliefs that was likely given to us by our families of origin.

So, his topic for our opening service: Hell.

Yep.

No wading slowly in to the shallow waters on this Monday morning…

McKnight jumped head first into the deep end of the pool!

And from what I could tell,  our students went with him.

After talking briefly about some of the different philosophies and theologies people have about hell, McKnight made this statement:

I think 70% of us (North Americans) are “soft Universalists.” We want to believe that most of us will go to heaven, and that the only people who really deserve to go to hell are people like Hitler and child molesters.

He admitted that he didn’t have any statistical data to point to that would back up his claim, but I dare say that had he asked for a show of hands in that student-packed room, that at least 2/3 of the crowd would have corroborated his statement.

I think our students want to believe that if God is truly good, and all loving, that he’ll make a way for most everyone to make their way to Him.

Even their friends who seem to be snubbing their noses at God right now, or their friends who profess a different faith, or even for they themselves and their own struggle to live out a committed, faithful life.

In some ways it’s as if they don’t believe this life counts — at least not towards the next one.

And then McKnight read this passage from the Gospel of Luke:

16:19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

The rich man.

Not Hitler or a child molester.

He let us sit with it for a few quiet seconds, then said: YOU and I are the rich man! What we do in this life matters.

You could feel the weight of his words.

You and I are the rich man.

What we do in this life matters.

Our students left thinking… and so did I.

What about you?

  • Do you know what your students think about hell — and who, if anyone, will go there?
  • How do you talk about the love of God, and God’s justice, with students?
  • How do you talk with students about the tension between the ‘American dream’ and the kind of life that Jesus calls us to?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!

And to read more posts inspired by Scot McKnight’s visit to campus, click on:

 

← Wars, Rumors of War, Hell & College Students
Social Justice and the Church as 3rd Way →
About the Author

Guy Chmieleski

Guy is the Founder of FaithONCampus.com. He is also the University Minister, at Belmont University, located in Nashville, TN. FaithONCampus.com is designed with campus and college ministers in mind, and is here to serve as: a resource, catalyst for conversations and encouragement for our shared work with today’s college students.

  • http://www.grace-bible.org/mattsblog Matt

    Thanks, Guy, this was interesting stuff. I actually have been preaching on this very topic with my students this semester. I’ve found that for many of them this is one of their biggest challenges and stumbling blocks in their walk with Christ. Given the publicity around the topic lately, I feel it’s a critical subject to address with our students. One great book from a scholarly perspective is called Hell Under Fire, by a number of professors and theologians. There’s a great chapter on how the subject of hell disappeared from pulpits around 250 – 300 years ago, largely because pastors and Christians were embarrassed to talk about it. 

    If 70% of people are soft universalists, I wonder what those numbers are for pastors and church leaders. My guess is that it’s a pretty high number, and that’s probably why so many avoid discussing it altogether — fear of orthodoxy and heresy at the same time!

    • http://faithoncampus.com Guy Chmieleski

      Fear of orthodoxy and heresy… that good Matt! Thanks! I’ve not heard of Hell Under Fire… I’ll have to check that out.

  • Nick

    Interesting start to EMERGE, but Scot is a well known theologian so I give him full credit for his willingness to strike on issues quickly.  I do wonder, however, if he gave due diligence in his conversation regarding hell.  What always struck me in my studies was the context of the man rather than a point about hell’s existence.  Even in hell, the rich man still feels privileged and empowered over the poor man Lazarus.  I never saw this text as a midrash of the existence of hell – rather an eye-opening revelation of the power of human stubbornness.  Even in hell, the rich man thinks he should be offered water, and asks for the poor man to bring it to him.  It seems to be a story of repentance of one’s current ways… not a get-out-of-hell story.  I’d hate to think our Christian lives are solely the avoidance of hell, but maybe that’s just the liberationist in me.

    • http://faithoncampus.com Guy Chmieleski

      Hey Nick! Interesting perspective you bring to the conversation… thanks! I think, more than anything else, McKnight was hoping to get students to consider what life is like as an “other” — someone on the outside. We all want to see ourselves as Lazarus in this story — but why? We’ve likely never found ourselves in such humble circumstances. The story definitely has a number of layers to it.

    • http://faithoncampus.com Guy Chmieleski

      Hey Nick! Interesting perspective you bring to the conversation… thanks! I think, more than anything else, McKnight was hoping to get students to consider what life is like as an “other” — someone on the outside. We all want to see ourselves as Lazarus in this story — but why? We’ve likely never found ourselves in such humble circumstances. The story definitely has a number of layers to it.

  • Anonymous

    Thank you, Guy, for this post.  I think Scot McKnight’s hunch fits well with the conclusions Christian Smith and others have drawn about students adopting a position of “moralistic therapeutic deism.”  God is nice (and we’re supposed to be nice, too, but if we mess up, God, who is nice, forgives us and helps us do better).  A nice (loving) God would not send anyone to hell.  It makes me think of the description of Aslan.  When the children are hearing of him ask, “Is he safe?” Mr. Beaver replies, “Of course he isn’t safe.  But he’s good.”

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