Exposing Universalism

In recent decades universal reconciliation (UR) has sharpened its attack on evangelical faith. By their fiction and nonfiction, and by film (The Shack), universalists such as Paul Young, Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, and others are propagating the idea that the love of God trumps all other attributes of God including his holiness and justice. From this starting point universalists believe that all people are born as children of God, that all are going to heaven, that all must embrace God's love. Those who reject God in this life will repent after death and escape hell. Even the devil and his angels will repent from hell and go to heaven. Universalism is an old idea. Christians have confronted UR since the third century and refuted it as heresy--heresy because UR believes that faith in Jesus is unnecessary. Thus, the death of Jesus Christ as an atonement for sin becomes unnecessary. Through his acquaintance with Paul Young, De Young is increasingly concerned that Young and other universalists are misleading many. In this book De Young challenges all the arguments that universalists make--their appeals to the Bible, to logic and reason, and to church history--and shows that they are unconvincing. ""James B. De Young does the church a great service by refuting the appeal of Universal Reconciliation in this thorough and scholarly work. In doing so, he clearly shows that if there is no everlasting hell, there is no need of the 'good news', and that this last day's apostasy must be revealed for what it is, a betrayal of the gospel of Jesus Christ."" --Dwight Douville, Senior Pastor Calvary Chapel, Appleton, Wisconsin ""I am delighted to endorse James B. De Young's new book addressing Universal Reconciliation. Jim is a gifted thinker and communicator and perhaps the single most knowledgeable source of information in the church today on this topic. I praise the Lord for his clarity and adherence to scriptural truth during our radio and television interviews and most of all, for his heart to warn those lost in aberrant ideas."" --Eric Barger, Take A Stand! Ministries ""Dr. James De Young has written another book to expose the far-reaching effects that universal reconciliation/salvation is having on Christian belief, especially as propagated in The Shack. Many have not thought through the consequences of embracing a view of the love of God that distorts the meaning of God's holiness and justice and that admits all humanity into heaven even apart from faith. Such a view violates the total teaching of Scripture and ends up slandering the love of God as revealed in the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. De Young here presents the fruit of his study that began eight years ago and is probably unmatched by anything else in print. If you are searching for the truth on this issue, read this book."" --Janet Mefferd, Nationally syndicated Christian radio host ""Universal Reconciliation, the teaching that all will eventually be reconciled to God and saved eternally regardless of life lived or faith professed during this lifetime, caters to the sentimentalities of people who are troubled by the idea of eternal torment in hell. I get it. There is nothing pleasant or happy about the destruction of the wicked. But there is nothing pleasant or happy about sin and rebellion either. And that is precisely what makes the gospel of Jesus Christ so wonderful. As James De Young makes clear, Universal Reconciliation is biblically groundless and is untethered from the historic teaching of the church. Further, it offers false hope to the lost and, in turn, undercuts the church's commitment to missions. With characteristic thoroughness and scholarly precision, De Young offers a devastating critique of the poisonous teaching of Universal Reconciliation. Exposing Universalism is an excellent one-volume guide and faithful response to Universalism's most prominent false prophets."" --Todd L. Miles, Professor of Theology, Western Seminary James B. De Yo

James B. De Young is Professor of New Testament at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of Women in Ministry: Neither Egalitarian Nor Complementary: A New Approach to an Old Problem (Wipf & Stock 2010) and Burning Down the Shack (2010).