The limitation of universalism
I’ll just come out and say it… I’m a universalist. I believe that God has not created one molecule, one quark, one animal, one human, one plant, or one rock without chaining His love to it eternally.
And…
Universalism is severely limited and does not live up to the standards of the human soul. It does not sink like a flung arrow into the fleshiness of the human heart.
Universalism might be an accurate statement about God’s nature, but it’s not how God works because it’s not how love works.
As Gerhard Forde quipped, when you ask your special someone if they love you, the last thing you need to hear is the universalist statement: “Well, yeah… But I love everyone and everything!”
What you need are the three words that make the world go around…
I love YOU.
The for-you-ness in the Eucharistic Rite is what delineates Christianity from theology, philosophy, or good advice.
Not, “Everyone gets bread and wine!” But rather…
This is my body, broken for YOU.
This is my blood, shed for YOU.