UNIVERSALISM, Ravi P.

Universalism "You may possess only a small light, but uncover it, let it shine, use it in order to bring more light and understanding to the hearts and minds of men and women. Give them not Hell, but hope and courage.  Do not push them deeper into their theological despair, but preach the kindness and everlasting love of God."                      John Murray             Universalism is the unbiblical doctrine that states that God will eventually bring everybody who has ever lived into a saving relationship with Him.  In other words, it states that everybody will be saved, and that God will condemn nobody to Hell.  It is understandable how such a doctrine could gain wide acceptance among today's pluralistic, liberal society. Universalism is not in any way compatible with Biblical Christianity Universalism in its primary meaning refers to religious, theological, and philosophical concepts with universal ("applying to all") application or applicability. Religion in this context is defined as a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs. Universalism is a term used to identify particular doctrines considering all people in their formation. Universalism in the religious context claims that religion or religious man (sic) is a universal quality.             In Christianity, Universalism can refer to the beliefs that all humans either may or will be saved through Jesus Christ and eventually come to harmony in Gods kingdom. This salvation is expressed as offered both to the Jew, and also to the Gentile (Romans 1:16,Romans 9:24-25,Revelation 7:9).             The Greek term apokatastasis came to be related by some to the beliefs of Christian Universalism, but in early Patristic usage is distinct. Additionally the term Catholic is derived from the Greek word katholikos, which means universal. The Catholic Church is universal in the sense that it embraces individuals "from every race, nation, language, and people", but does not teach Christian Universalism as a sanctioned doctrine.             Hinduism embraces universalism by conceiving the whole world as a single family that deifies the one truth, and therefore it accepts all forms of beliefs and dismisses labels of distinct religions which would imply a division of identity Hindu Universalism denotes the ideology that all religions are true and therefore worthy of toleration and respect Veneration for all other religions was articulated by Gandhi:             While Islam recognizes to a certain extent the validity of the Abrahamic religions, the Qur'an identifying Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, and "Sabi'un" or "Baptists" (usually taken as a reference to the Mandeans and related Mesopotamian groups) as "people of the book". However, the Ash'ari school of Sunni theology holds that those who were not reached by the message of Islam can still be saved by the grace of God.