- Sep 27, 2019
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Someone who believes in universal reconciliation can be Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal and so on. And all of their views, with the exception of UR, can be very orthodox and comply with their denomination's statement of faith. It's highly likely that most "universalists" keep it to themselves outside of anonymously posting their beliefs on the internet.
My experience of my church - the Church of England, Anglican - is that universalism is not exactly regarded as orthodox but is seen as an “established opinion" and is quite acceptable. I can't imagine any of the laity at least being booted out for believing in UR. The "hopeful" kind of universalism where you retain the belief of an eternal hell but hope that it's empty, possibly excepting the Hitler types, is probably the majority view anyway. This is not really universalism, which believes that all are eventually saved through Christ, but perhaps it's a necessary step towards it.
I've never yet heard a fire and brimstone kind of sermon. The nearest I've come to it was a sermon saying that if we ever came across the Devil we should (politely) remind him that he has already been defeated and will end up in the lake of burning sulphur forever.
Perhaps what's happened is the switch in many people's minds towards seeing salvation in terms of healing rather than as a legalistic courthouse process. I've met quite a few people in church including ministers who are open to discussing it in this way anyway.
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