Punitive Love

Love Divine ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 184-218
Author(s):  
Jordan Wessling
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
Spiritual Transformation ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Universal Salvation ◽  
Contemporary Philosopher ◽  
God's Love ◽  
Divine Punishment ◽  
Communicative Theory

While a number of theologians maintain that the motives resting behind God’s love and punitive wrath are often opposed to one another, Chapter 6 argues that God’s just wrath is a facet of His love and that God’s punishment of sinners is an expression of this relentless love. To make this case, it is first contended that God’s creation out of love as well as the ministry of Christ support the notion that God’s love and punitive wrath are fundamentally one. Next, the work of Gregory of Nyssa and the contemporary philosopher R.A. Duff are built upon to construct a communicative model of divine punishment. According to this model, God’s punishment intends to communicate to sinners the censure they deserve, with the aim of persuading these individuals to start down the path of spiritual transformation. In the final section, the communicative theory of divine punishment is applied to the doctrine of hell. There it is suggested that, given the communicative theory, hell is best seen as a place where God tries to reform sinners and enable them to exit hell and join the glorified saints. But, it is shown, this conception of hell does not by itself entail universal salvation.

scholarly journals Divine Love as the Reason for Creation in Islam—An Exploration of Nursi’s Epistles of Light

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 667
Author(s):  
Nasrin Rouzati
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Spiritual Journey ◽  
Divine Love ◽  
God's Love ◽  
The World ◽  
Magnum Opus ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Shed Light

This paper aims to answer the question “why did God create the world” by examining Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s magnum opus, the The Epistles of Light (Risale-i Nur), to demonstrate that, from a Nursian perspective, divine love is the raison d’etre for the creation of the world. The first section will investigate the notion of divine love as reflected in the wider Muslim scholarly literature. This will be followed by a discussion on the theology of divine names, with special attention to Nursi’s perspective, illustrating the critical role that this concept plays in Nursian theology particularly as it relates to cosmic creation. The third section will explore the metaphysics of love, the important implications of God’s love in the creation of the world, and its role as the driving force for the dynamism and activities within the structure of the universe. The Qur’anic presentation of love, maḥabba, as well as the significance of the reciprocal nature of love between God and humankind will be explored next. The final section will shed light on the synergy between divine love and the Qur’anic notion of ibtilā, trial and tribulation, to demonstrate its instrumentality in man’s spiritual journey.

scholarly journals Gregory of Nyssa’s Life of Gregory Thaumaturgus and the Conversion of Neocaesarea

Scrinium ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 281-290
Author(s):  
Byron MacDougall
Keyword(s):  
Conversion Narrative ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Universal Salvation ◽  
The People

Gregory of Nyssa’s Life of Gregory Thaumaturgus concludes with a scene describing how the people of Neocaesarea, while crowding together at a festival in the city’s theatre, bring a plague upon themselves by praying to their ancestral god. The prayer uttered by the citizens is itself a text from Isaiah in the Septuagint, and moreover a verse which Gregory of Nyssa expounds in one of his homilies. Gregory’s exegesis of that verse in the homily reveals the significance of the same verse’s appearance in the Life’s conversion narrative. In the Life, Gregory Thaumaturgus stops the plague, and his behavior evokes a subsequent verse from Isaiah with a soteriological meaning of its own. The account of the conversion of Neocaesarea, a scene which has otherwise puzzled commentators, is thus structured so that its people and Gregory Thaumaturgus together dramatize Isaiah’s prophecy of universal salvation as it was understood in Christian exegesis.


Universal salvation

Theology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-15
Author(s):  
Richard Harries
Keyword(s):  
Free Choice ◽  
Julian Of Norwich ◽  
Karl Barth ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Universal Salvation ◽  
Historical Figures

The article looks at the moral considerations that indicate all shall be saved and the difficulties to this view presented by both a belief in free choice and the Scriptures. It considers two historical figures who point in the direction of universalism, Gregory of Nyssa and Julian of Norwich, and also some modern theologians such as Karl Barth and Austin Farrer who do not rule it out. It draws on the insights of poets and a novelist, and examines the concept of invincible grace, what it might mean and what it might imply.

Re-imagining Redemption: Universal Salvation in the Theology of Julian of Norwich

Horizons ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-207
Author(s):  
Maureen L. Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Julian Of Norwich ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Universal Salvation ◽  
God's Love ◽  
The Church

ABSTRACTThe revelations Julian of Norwich received in 1373 provided her with unique insight that transformed her understanding of the Christian faith and prompted her to re-imagine traditional notions of sin, God's love, and salvation in new ways. Her re-interpretation of these doctrines causes great anxiety for Julian inasmuch as what she learned from her showings was at odds with church teachings, particularly her new understanding of God's plan of salvation for all humanity. I argue that Julian develops a theology of universal salvation characterized by an open understanding of who will participate in the salvation of Christ, and this openness places Julian in tenuous relationship with the church of her day. Ultimately, Julian's trust that “all will be well” allows her to push beyond the tension between her insight and church teachings, in effect challenging the official teaching of no salvation for those outside the church.

Christian Soteriology and Christian Platonism: Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, and the Biblical and Philosophical Basis of the Doctrine of Apokatastasis

2007 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria Ramelli
Keyword(s):  
De Anima ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Philosophical Basis ◽  
Universal Salvation ◽  
Greek Myths ◽  
Christian Platonism

AbstractPaul's statement that God will be all in all and other NT and OT passages are taken by Origen and by Gregory of Nyssa as the scriptural basis of their eschatological doctrine of apokatastasis and eventual universal salvation. At the same time, their doctrine rests (1) on philosophical arguments mainly deriving from Platonism (Gregory's De anima et resurrectione is deeply influenced by Platonism both in form and in content, and so is Origen, although both are Christians first and Platonists second), and (2) on the allegorical exegesis of Scripture, another heritage of Hellenistic culture: Origen was very well acquainted with the Stoic and Platonic allegorical interpretations of Greek myths.

God's Justice and Mercy: What Can We Hope for?

1992 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-95
Author(s):  
John O'Donnell
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Universal Salvation ◽  
God's Love ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Cross Of Christ ◽  
The Cross ◽  
Justice And Mercy ◽  
The Church

Is the theology of universal salvation reconcilable with the New Testament warnings about the possibility of damnation and with the long-standing teaching of the Church on hell? Does it take into account the doctrine of the last judgement where the just God gives to each man and woman according to his or her deeds? How can God be both just and merciful? Did God punish Jesus for our sins? If the greatness of God's transcendence consists in the infinite quality of God's mercy and God's saving justice, may we not hope that God's love made visible in the cross of Christ will wear down the heart of even the most hardened sinner.

scholarly journals Some Notes on the Schemes of Temporal Logics in Late Neoplatonism and in the Works of Origen and Gregory of Nyssa

Scrinium ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 178-192
Author(s):  
Aleksey Kamenskikh
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Temporal Logics ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Physical Time ◽  
Universal Salvation ◽  
Time Relationship ◽  
Integral Time ◽  
History Of

Abstract The article analyzes some key moments in the history of temporal logics in late antiquity (conception of integral time, relationship between temporal and eternal, extended and instant in the systems of Iamblichus, Proclus, Damascius and Simplicius), and genesis of Christian forms of temporal logics, which transform the everlasting homogenous time of κόσμος into history of universal salvation, alterate unextended νῦν, moment of psycho-physical time of late Neoplatonists, with καιρός, eschatologically charged instant of decision and act that can interrupt the continuity of time and to achieve instantaneously the end, τέλος of history.

scholarly journals The Concept of Universal Salvation

1970 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-122
Author(s):  
Wojciech Szczerba
Keyword(s):  
Natural Process ◽  
Original Sin ◽  
Traditional View ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Friedrich Schleiermacher ◽  
Reformed Tradition ◽  
God's Love ◽  
Per Se ◽  
Divine Punishment ◽  
Theological Concept

The article analyzes the concept of universal scope of salvation in the thought of Friedrich Schleiermacher especially with the references to his early Speeches on Religion and the later treatise The Christian Faith. It moves from Schleiermacher’s understanding of religion per se to his soteriological and eschatological theories.  It can be said that he understands the nature of religion apophatically as the feeling and intuition and points to an aspect of mystery, which religion contains. He rejects in the Speeches on Religion the anthropomorphic understanding of God and speaks of God-universum. Finally, in the treatise Christian Faith, he reinterprets the theological concept of the original sin and depravation, and points to a natural process of development of humankind from the Godless-consciousness to the God-consciousness. This leads the German thinker to universalistic beliefs. From the Protestant-reformed tradition Schleiermacher adopts the concept of predestination. However, he rejects the so called “double predestination” to salvation and condemnation. According to him, all people are chosen to be saved “in Christ”. This way, Schleiermacher continues the Reformed tradition, however he understands the election in the universal categories. He rejects the God, who choses for salvation only some people, but accepts God-universum, who maintains the unity of humanity and leads people to the perfect, eschatological communion.  In the convictions pointing to the final unity of humankind, Schleiermacher exposes his deep humanism. He assumes that it is impossible to reconcile the traditional view of the eternal hell with God’s love. Divine punishment can serve as an aspect of overall paidagogia, leading to the maturing of humanity. However, it cannot be understood as a retribution, based on God’s wrath and cruel lex talionis. Such an understanding of God is for Schleiermacher unacceptable. 

scholarly journals THE PROBLEM OF VIKTOR NESMELOV’S PSYCHOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD IN THE CONTEXT OF HIS CHRISTIAN ANTHROPOLOGY: “PRO ET CONTRA”

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-31
Author(s):  
A Yu Berdnikova
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Existence Of God ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Universal Salvation ◽  
Christian Anthropology ◽  
Abstract Knowledge ◽  
The Future ◽  
Unity Of God ◽  
Main Ideas ◽  
The Universe

The article is devoted to the analysis of “psychological” argument for the existence of God of Viktor Nesmelov, professor of Kazan Theological Academy, represented in his fundamental work “Science of Man”. The main interpretations of this argument, formulated both contemporaries of Nesmelov (Nikolay Berdiaev, bishop Anthony (Khrapovitsky)) and modern researchers of his legacy (priest D. Lushnikov, bishop K. Goryanov) are considered. The basic prerequisites and origins of Nesmelov’s anthropological doctrine are analyzed. The main of them were V. Snegiryov’s psychological doctrine and anthropological ideas of St. Gregory of Nyssa. The main ideas of Nesmelov’s Christian anthropology, related directly to his formulation of “the idea of God” (the doctrine of consciousness and self-consciousness of man; idea of man as the “main riddle” of the universe; idea of the fundamental “duality” of human nature; doctrine of Theosis and God-manhood, doctrine of sin and universal salvation (apokatastasis), etc.) are revealed. Besides that, Nesmelov’s criticism of the main existing arguments for the existence of God (ontological, cosmological, teleological, psychological, etc.) is analyzed. The main conclusion based on the analysis of Nesmelov’s anthropological system is made: his argument for the existence of God represents rather a methodological program for creating such argument in the future. The base of this argument should be made of not only by an “ abstract knowledge”, but the “living worldview” and the “living unity of God and man”.

Universal Salvation: A Reply to Mr Bettis

1971 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-249
Author(s):  
Marilyn McCord Adams
Keyword(s):  
Ordinary Sense ◽  
Universal Salvation ◽  
God's Love

In his article ‘A Critique of the Doctrine of Universal Salvation’, J. D. Bettis criticises the argument that all men will be saved because ‘God's love is both absolutely good and absolutely sovereign’ (p. 330). I would like to argue that either some of Bettis's criticisms are confused, or else that he is not using ‘love’ in anything like its ordinary sense. I will not attempt a full defence of universalism here, however. In particular, I will not try to defend it against the sort of criticisms Bettis says an Arminian might raise (p. 336).

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