Hi everyone. To preface

Hi everyone. To preface, I am a Christian Universalist. Faith alone in Jesus Christ only saves you. God will save everyone; all people will go to Heaven.

1 John 2:2: "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world."

Background Information

I was talking to a family member in the conversation below. They have seen Christianity before, but unfortunately only through the perspective of an extreme fundamentalist, another family member of mine, who would talk about and believes in ECT. She’s the type that’s turned away from even the mention of specific Bible verses, so I had to still reference them, but phrase them in my own way of speaking. I had tried to mention specific Bible verses to her, but she had doubts about it, so I had to take a different approach with this evangelism. (By the way, any Bible verses I do mention were not said in the conversation, but I added to this post as support for what I said to her).

Isaiah 44:6 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.

Absurdism

So, I was talking to her while sharing a meal and she mentioned that she recently read a book titled “The Outsider” by French Author Albert Camus that she was recommended by someone else. I didn’t recognize the book. However, she said that the author believed that everything in life was absurd and I instantly recognized the concept as Absurdism. Absurdism is wrong. Jesus Christ is the truth of this world, and He will save everyone through faith alone in Him!

1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,

Nihilism

I know it because I studied it long ago alongside Nihilism by Friedrich Nietzsche with his Übermensch concept, which I mentioned in the conversation. Nihilism is wrong, which I explained with the reasoning along the lines of “If you believe everything is meaningless, then why do good, since that too would be meaningless? Why did Nietzsche create the concept of the Übermensch, the idea that humans should follow a subjective concept of good he made, if good shouldn’t exist be his logic? It completely contradicts itself. That is why I don’t believe in Nihilism”.

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

Religious

She replied saying that she at least believes that there should be some religion that humans follow. This was a good start. I had stopped the belief of absurdism from spreading at least. She then said that “People tend to believe in religion when they are struggling. There were many poor people in the past who would believe in an afterlife as relief from their suffering”. I agree with this from a Christian perspective, in the sense that, oftentimes it’s during intense periods of pain that people start to turn to God. That suffering is unfortunate, as I do not wish for people to go through unnecessary pain. I said “If people are suffering and the belief of religion makes them good, then that is good.” She agreed with this. This helped pave the way that at least the concept of religion is good. I would need to take further steps to bring her to Christ.

Psalms 107:1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Hinduism

I then had to mention her about the negatives of karma from the Hinduism belief to disprove it. “The problem with karma is it says that bad things happen to bad people because they deserve it.” I talked about some people who were Hindu who would withhold treatment from people who were suffering because they believed that they deserved that suffering for some evil in their past life. “I don’t care if that person was Gandhi or Hitler in their past life, if they’re suffering, I’m going to help them” I later said. Fortunately, she agreed with that statement, which is good since Hinduism is a false belief, it’s wrong.

Hebrew 9:27 Just as people are destined to die once

Catholicism

She talked about liking the Catholic Pope more than other Popes, calling him “cooler”. I replied “Yes, I’ve heard him mention that even those who are not Catholic can still be saved” and she said “Yeah, that’s really good”. I addressed this to try and lead the conversation towards faith alone salvation. I don’t want her to think that you need specific work requirements, like the Catholic sacraments of baptism or doing good works to be saved. You can only be saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ. Some Catholics also worship Mary more than Jesus, which is wrong. God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is the only one who deserves our worship. He is the only and true source of good. There are some people that identify as “Catholic”, or call themselves by any other denomination name and still believe in Christian Universalism. For me, the most important thing is that they believe in faith alone to be saved by Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:12-13 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

Other Denominations

“It’s strange that Catholics would say that only Catholics are saved. They won’t even include other Christians in that.” She then agreed with this statement. Later, she mentioned “Scientists said the universe started with a big bang, but honestly, I can see that as God creating the universe”. Then I replied “Yeah, like big explosion of light compared to the verse in Genesis mentioning ‘Let there be light’, I see that as evidence as well.” I talked to her about the different denominations that exist, like Quakers, comparing them to the Quaker Oat brand, or Presbyterians, and talking about how the important thing is that they’re all Christian. I was then hoping to mention how everyone is saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ.

Genesis 1:3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

1 Corinthians 1:10 ESV I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment

Faith Alone and Universalism

I was so close to mentioning Faith alone and subsequently Universalism, but then she suddenly had to leave for work. At this point we had been talking for over an hour, and we had already finished our food. Don’t worry, we are still on good terms with each other, same as ever, and she was convinced by the things I mentioned. I can only hope that this conversation leads her in the right direction towards Christ. It feels bittersweet honestly. Even though there are a lot of supports of Christian Universalism that I have met online, I have never met a Christian Universalist physically face-to-face, of course other than myself. So, while the experience was a net good, I can’t help but feel a bit empty after it. I feel I was so close to revealing the truth to her. But I must trust in the Lord that she can be led to the truth eventually.

Psalm 145:17 "The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.

Closing Thoughts

The expression “Rome wasn’t built in a day” fits here, I think. As much as I wish I could have evangelized her in the moment, there wasn’t enough time. I at least dissuaded her from pure atheism, so it’s progress. Though, I am in no position to judge, since I too was an atheist, even a nihilist at one point before I was saved. It took me years to be saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ and then years after that to learn of Universal Salvation through Jesus Christ. So, I must be patient. That’s the reason I made this post. So, someone can maybe find this information useful. So, I hope it can helpful.

Ephesians 1:10 As a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.