I have spoken to this problem in many places, including
here,
here, and
here.
@All4Christ's
question is spot-on, "Why ask if your opinion is fully formed and set?" The Universalists on this board have decided, before any discussion ever begins, that Universalism must be true and that nothing will ever convince them otherwise. They are like Hart,
who claims that even if an ecumenical council condemned Universalism, he wouldn't care. Elsewhere he says that if Christianity is incompatible with Universalism, he will abandon Christianity. This is why arguing with a Universalist is like arguing with a flat-earther, but worse. My interactions with Universalists have shown that there is no conceivable argument in the realm of logical possibility that would convince these folks that Universalism is false, or that it is incompatible with Christianity. "Intransigent," "unserious," "immovable," and, "implacable" are a few of the words we have to describe such people.
As we have seen in this thread, they will cling to absurdities if their position requires it. They will claim that it is a "
divided opinion"* when 999 people are on one side and 1 person is on the other side. They will
claim that* the conciliar phrase, "Neither will there be any end of punishment," has nothing to do with eternal punishment. Or, failing that, the
translation must be faulty (despite the fact that they know nothing about Greek, and have read nothing even second-hand about
8th century Greek). It is worth no one's time to interact or argue with a person who behaves in this manner. They have no interest in examining the evidence and seeing where it leads, and therefore they have no interest in truth. Infinitely intransigent individuals have no love for truth.
* These quotes capture the unedited versions.