Definitely Maybe
On not being a universalist
This from Addison Hodges Hart is the best thing I’ve read on universalism of late, precisely because he diagnoses the speculative temptation so acutely. He helps me articulate why I’m not a doctrinaire universalist either. I am occasionally amused, by the way, to see some of the most ardent universalists finding themselves in a position similar to Addison’s when actually pressed (even if these remarks may be made off the record owing to the censure they might endure in the present theological climate).
I also attempted, however clumsily—but with art history—to articulate the same reticence both here (Untangler of the Web of the Athenians) and here (Two Loose Threads) at the kind invitation of Fr. Al Kimel. As I see it, better than universalist speculation, thrilling as that may be, is the present hope of the universal gospel that, without question, applies to all. The danger of refusing such an invitation (as Origen, Evagrius, Gregory of Nyssa and Sergius Bulgakov will also tell you) may be inexplicable, but it is very real. As the late Angela Volan, my beloved former colleague, has related, countless narthex paintings in the heartland of Orthodoxy make precisely the same point. But by the time theologians come around to accepting the validity of art history as a theological deposit, the eschaton will have arrived, when we shall swap all speculation for sight.
And O, What a day that will be.
