@Saint Steven Alright, I'm going to address your argument now. As much as I appreciate the reactions to my posts, I do not think you're going to like what I have to say, but I must say it regardless. (it may also be a tad bit long, since I can't condense my thoughts very well, but please try to bear with me)
Firstly, as others have stated, you do not have evidence that the Bible--any translation--is not true. But, we can assume it is true by the fact that it does records certain events correctly; and in recent years, we have even found historical mention by a Roman senator/historian named Tacitus, in this quote;
“the persons commonly called Christians, who were hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius.”
source:
https://www.history.com/news/was-jesus-real-historical-evidence
Another note is that we do have historical records of what was changed in the bible and what was not--because all such occasions would have been VERY significant, of course. The best part about there being so many bibles is that you can always compare it to other copies to see what has been changed.
Furthermore, if there is no Bible, there is no God. Without God's words, we are left with man--and when left with man...well, why are you even Christian? Why are you not Buddhist, Islamic, or any of the other made-up religions? What makes Christianity any different, when any man can claim to know the word of God? At that point, it's no longer a truth, it's a philosophy. A way of life. Something optional.
That's just touching on the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the bible's authenticity and why it is necessary. I'm sure you can find more resources, but this isn't my main point for this post.
My main point is the unstable foundation that Universalists have built their faith on. As a precaution, though, I'd like to point out that I'm no expert on this branch of theology--so feel free to correct me if I make any wrong assumptions.
Moving on...
You asked 'What happens to those without excuse, who have never heard of the Gospel?'.
The answer is simple; they are not saved. Even if they've never heard of God, they are not saved.
Now then, let me explain a bit more.
We know that idolatry is a sin, right? Right. And idolatry is when we place anything above God, especially other 'gods'. Idolators can not inhabit the kingdom of God; this is truth from both the old and new testaments.
Now, perhaps if one did not have the capacity to believe in
anything , such as the case with newborns or those who cannot hear & see, they might be spared God's wrath, as it is he himself who has made them that way. However, I'd be hard-pressed to find a group of any people, at any point in history who did not believe in ANYTHING. Even Atheism, the belief in no God, is a belief nonetheless. Even more so, it's attributing God's work to someone or something else--which is blasphemy.
A leering issue with universalism is that, in essence, it is claiming that idolators and blasphemers(which are really one and the same, in many ways)can inherit the kingdom of God. That does not make sense, because God and Jesus have both made it very clear that those who practice idolatry and blasphemy, among any other sin, will be forfeiting their share in the tree of life. You may say that 'they must be worshipping because deep down they're worshipping God', but if that were the case, why would God so strongly condemn idolatry? Because they're not worshipping God. They're worshipping a counterfeit of God, which more than likely somewhere earlier along the lines of history, through their ancestors...rejected Christ. That's how all other religions come into existence, denial of the one true God. We are not hard-wired to love God. In our flesh, we are hard-wired to desire sin and to be further from God until we repent. It is God that changes our hearts, and how can we know him if we do not know His word?
Another issue is that universalism dismisses the importance of the Great Commission. If everyone was to be saved, then why would we need to evangelize in the first place? If people aren't getting saved, it is in part, due to not all of us partaking in this commission as we should.
Mark 16:15 ESV
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
Matthew 28:19-20 ESV
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Finally, you say that the bible is biased towards damnationism, or whatever it is called. I disagree. The bible is full of terrible events, sure--but do you forget what kind of awful things the wicked people of the times long gone committed? There were people placing their children on burning hot idols, letting them writhe in pain burning alive while their parents were drunk in a crowd of revelry, tricked into thinking they were going to be blessed by some 'god'. If God is perfect and just, do you think he would not administer punishment for such a thing? God is very loving, but he does what he knows is for the best...and that does not always align with what WE want. Our selfish 'me me me' views really block our understanding of scripture.
Think back to when you were a child. Perhaps there was a time that you wanted to eat a bunch of candy, but your parents told you 'no'. You probably were mad at your parents at the time, thinking they were being unfair--but in all reality, they were doing it because they loved you and they didn't want you to get a stomach ache.
God would much rather as many of us be saved as possible. But he did give us the choice to choose our paths, and not all of us will choose him. Do you never wonder why if all are so enamored by God and his goodness, why they had to create false Gods to worship in his place? There is a lot of good in the bible. Just the fact that none of us deserve salvation, that God allowed His only Son to die just so that the price for our wickedness could be paid so that he can justly declare us clean, makes the sacrifice of giving up some honestly less-than-healthy sinful habits that could send us to hell seem like a drop in the bucket in comparison. All he asks is that we love and obey his rules--not out of fear, but because we love him and we trust him.
In any case, God sending people to hell doesn't make him less loving either. If a judge sentences a murderer or thief to jail, he isn't unloving for doing so. That person knew the punishment for doing something like that, but they did it anyway knowing the consequences. God is just; if he did not punish people for wrongdoings, he would no longer be just. Hell is the punishment--but salvation, repentance, and belief in him is an offer to have those charges paid by someone who loved us enough to take the punishment for us.
