Inclusive Faith Community

   Atty. Lal Varghese, Diocesan Council Member, MTC Dallas, Farmers Branch

Inclusive faith means the salvation to all mankind proclaimed in the scriptures by the prophets, Jesus and the Apostles. Inclusive faith community’s mission should be nothing other than Jesus Christ’s mission on the earth. John 12:47 says: “He came not to judge the world but to save the world,” and not just a part of it. Throughout church history, there were always been those who had great faith to take the declarations of Christ’s teachings seriously and literally. Now, this great faith has been ridiculed as ridiculous and questions the authenticity of the scriptures. Most Christians today do not take seriously the scriptures which plainly state that when Jesus is finished with His work on earth, He will “reconcile all things unto Himself…whether in heaven or earth.” (Col. 1:20). Christ is in deed and in fact, the Savior of both the whole world and the “especially” ones, that is, the church. (John 4:42; 1 John 4:14)

In 1 Timothy chapter 2, Paul exhorted to “pray for all men.” Most of the “little faith” churches believe that Jesus will only save a handful of those whom He died for. But Jesus fulfilled God’s will and desire: “God will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:4) Paul warned that most of the church would fall away from this glorious truth. He warned there would be those inside the church who would draw disciples after themselves. (Acts 20:30) Today there are over 30,000 denominations dividing the body of Christ and fighting each other. We ignore Paul’s warnings not to divide, yet we do it anyway, proving that most Christians “honor Christ with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him.” (Isaiah. 29:13; Matt. 15:8)

The early believers of Christ and the church leaders taught universal salvation. St. Basil the Great, in the fourth century wrote, “The Christians say that there is to be an end of punishment to those who are punished.” St. Jerome wrote in the same century, “I know that most persons understand by the story of Nineveh and its king, the ultimate forgiveness of the devil and all rational creatures.” St. Augustine, while teaching eternal torment wrote, “There are very many who though not denying the Holy Scriptures, do not believe in endless torments.”

The history shows that the majority of the early church believed that all would eventually be saved. The Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge by Schaff-Herzog says, “In the first five or six centuries of Christianity there were six theological schools, of which four (Alexandria, Antioch, Caesarea, and Edessa, or Nisibis) accepted universalism; one (Ephesus) accepted conditional mortality; one (Carthage or Rome) taught endless punishment of the wicked.” A most crucial and important point in church history was when Emperor Constantine militarized and politicalized the church. The teaching of Hell became a more powerful weapon of control than a loving God who loved all mankind. At that point the teaching of universal salvation began to be stamped out through severe persecution. That resulted in what the church created due to its deviation from the biblical truth which is known as the “The Dark Ages.”

Before the Dark Ages, the church was vibrant with the teaching of God’s love for all mankind. The second major church council composed of hundreds of bishops from the entire church met in Constantinople in 381 AD and elected Gregory of Nazianzus, an avowed Universalist, as president proving clearly that the great majority of the church leadership in the fourth century believed in universal salvation. But today universal salvation is considered a heresy in most denominations. The early church better versed in the original languages of the Scriptures and stayed closer to the apostles’ teachings and thoughts.

Well-known theologians and great men and women have embraced the “larger hope” for the whole universe through the spread of gospel. Abraham Lincoln believed and practiced it. Perhaps Lincoln’s belief in the salvation of all mankind was his driving force to end slavery in US. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence believed it. Famous theologians like Karl Barth, B.F. Westcott, and William Barclay embraced the doctrine of inclusiveness.

Those who embrace this scriptural doctrine today are conservatives, serious followers of the scriptures and are usually more versed in church history and the original languages of the Bible than the average Christians. They believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and they are very scripture-centered. Those who believe in the “Doctrine of Inclusion” show greater faith in God’s love, mercy, and power to save from sins, and the eternal life. Another trait of these believers in the glorious gospel is that they believed that denominationalism spoils the witness and concept of one Lord and Savior and church as one body in earth. Even within parishes people fight each other for positions, and for self glorification. We need to understand that the teaching and preaching of Lord Jesus Christ never was intended for any selfish motives or self glorification or to attain any position in this world. Jesus incarnated in to this world so that we may be redeemed from our sins so that we can have eternal life in heaven. This is for the whole world and for any selected group of believers of any particular denominations.

Nearly 50 years ago, during his first major crusade, Billy Graham faced different yet similarly daunting impediments to his ministry. Graham warded off withering attacks from Reinhold Niebuhr, fundamentalists, and segregationists. The remarkable response to Graham's preaching effectively marginalized the extreme ends of the theological spectrum and helped carve out a prosperous middle ground for the burgeoning civil rights and evangelical movements. Graham preached Gospel for the universe and not to any particular denomination or church, and he preached the same way for more than 50 years now so that whole world may be saved at the end. Do we preach or practice like the early church did?