Thanks for your detailed reply. I appreciate it. Of course, I have heard all these rebuttals before. Not too many years back, I would have responded this way as well.
Someone on this forum that I have a lot respect for told me they didn't believe in a forever burning hell. Of course, I wanted to know more, and fought tooth and claw to defend hell initially. Regurgitating all the common hell apologetics.
After further study, I began to see holes in the hell argument. Next thing I knew, I was defending UR. (Christian Universalism) Anyway... let's take a look at your offering...
Is it fair to say that "children of the light and those who are of the darkness" are subsets of "the whole world?
1 John 2:2
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for
the sins of the whole world.
How does a forever burning hell with no hope of escape fit in that paradigm? What is merciful about an infinite punishment for a finite transgression? Hell didn't appear out of nowhere, it is part of God's creation. How could a God of mercy create such a sadistic consequence.
How does that square with these scriptures?
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 NIV
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set
his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit,
guaranteeing what is to come.
2 Corinthians 5:5 NIV
Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has
given us the Spirit as a deposit,
guaranteeing what is to come.
Ephesians 1:13-14 NIV
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
When you believed,
you were marked in him with a seal,
the promised Holy Spirit, 14
who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
You overlooked the all important word
THE. It doesn't just say "many", it says "
the many", which changes the meaning dramatically.
Romans 5:15-16
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to
the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
Same thing here, "the many" not just "many". (vs 19) And what about vs 18?
Romans 5:18-19
Consequently,
just as one trespass
resulted in condemnation for
all people,
so also one righteous act
resulted in justification and life for
all people.
19 For
just as through the disobedience of the one man
the many were
made sinners,
so also through the obedience of the one man
the many will be
made righteous.
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There are several more if you would like to continue.