Product Description

God will not abandon lost people, in this life or the next, but will continue to work for their conversion and transformation until everyone is saved. This view was widely held by early Christians, and is supported by many passages of Scripture and by the contention that God is more patient, loving and forgiving than human parents who would not punish their own children without end.

This is important because the teaching of a God of eternal damnation causes many people to reject God and consequently experience hell. On the other hand, the message of an unconditionally loving, forgiving and saving God leads many previously disillusioned people to cheerfully embrace God. Also, people's perceptiion of God determines how they live their lives. If they believe God is judgmental, vengeful, and unforgiving they can easily justify acting that way themselves. But if they believe God is loving, kind, patient and forgiving, people are more likely to act that way as well.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #863934 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 170 pages

About the Author
Kalen Fristad is the Director of Destined for Salvation Ministries, through which he speaks to churches and other groups across the country, planting seeds of hope and spreading the wonderful news of God's unconditional love and unlimited salvation. He is a United Methodist minister, who has served churches in Iowa for twenty-seven years.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
PREFACE

I have written this book to let the workd in on a secret that the Church has kept away from most people for the last 1,400 years. This is the secret: God will eventually save everyone. This truth, supported by the Bible, was widely accepted by early Christians for over 500 years. The belief in universal salvation was threatening to some Church leaders and the teaching was banished in the sixth century. In the eighteenth century, Christians once again began to affirm Universalism. Since then, many theologians, church leaders and millions of Christians have espoused it. God promises to save everyone, so there is hope for us all.

The hope of universal salvation stands in bold contrast to what many people claim to be good news. That is, God succeeds in saving those who have the good sense to become converted before death, but for the others, God throws them into hell and tosses away the key.

Thoughtful people are justified in rebelling against a God who would do such a thing. They seem to instinctively know that God is not condemning, but loving and saving. They consider the perception of the God of eternal damnation, as commonly taught by most Christian churches, to be incredibly bad news. The belief that God will not or cannot save everyone, and even imposes and enforces everlasting punishment, turns many people against God. That often results in spiritual tragedies, such as atheism, meaninglessness, meanness, and Satanism.

I too rebel against the teaching of a God of eternal damnation. Two of the most basic tenets of my faith are that God is unconditionally loving and is all-powerful. It is because of those two foundational beliefs and the specific support of universalism in the Bible that I am compelled to believe in it. A God who, out of love, desperately wants to save everyone but is unable to accomplish, it, isn't much of a God. By the same token, A God who is quite capable of saving everyone but callously chooses to not do so is not much of a God. But the all-powerful and all-loving God as presented in the Scriptures, and in whom I believe, has enough love and power to save all of humankind.

This book is for those who are not content with the common teachings regarding God and everlasting punishment in hell, for those who are seeking more profound spiritual truth, and for those who are in outright rebellion against the Church, and even against God. I invite you to join me in exploring the issue of universalism and why it is so important for the people of today and will be for those in the generations to come.

Customer Reviews

Destined for a Good, Thoughtful Read
If you buy and read this book, I think it just may shift your thinking a bit. It is a wonderful book that presents God as very loving, and concerned about each and every one of us. It is easy to read plus Biblically based. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it to all, particularly to those who are tired of hearing God presented as a damning God, fire and brimstone. This is a much more reasonable understanding of, who I think, God is.

What is Christian Universalism??? Rev. Kalen Fristad presents a clear, thoughtful answer
Suppose there was a rural tribe in the farthest reaches of the world who had never seen a Bible, been visited by a missionary, or even heard of the name of Jesus Christ. Would a loving God condemn such people to an eternity of agonizing punishment for what basically amounted to an ignorance of his existance? In thousands of (well-meaning) Evangelical Churches across America, the shocking answer to that question would be a "Yes". Fortunately, their ARE Christians who feel quite differently!...While I have always been a voracious reader of spiritual/Christian books, over the last few years I have taken an specific interest in learning about Universalist Christian theology. How my personal faith journey lead me to embrace Universalism is a long story that I don't have the space to recount here, but let me just say I feel blessed to have discovered this small, growing (but still largely misunderstood) faith movement. Luckily for me, during the period when my interest began growing, several new books on Universal Salvation hit the market - and I have now taken the time to read most of them. What's interesting is that each of these books has a slighlty different approach to Universalist Christianity (sometimes also refered to as 'Universal reconciliation' or 'the wider hope'), and therefore each seems geared towards a different niche audience...Theologian Thomas Talbott's "The Inescapable Love of God" is probably the most exhaustive and scholarly work in this field, and makes it's case based heavily on theological minutia, philosophy, and Church history. Minister/writer David Lowes Watson's "God Does Not Foreclose" deals mostly with discipleship, and contends that Universlaism is the way forward for the modern Church. Randy Klassen's "What Does the Bible Really Say About Hell?" argues convincingly that the mainstream Church (throughout history) has greatly distorted the Biblical texts on hell, judgement, and salvation. And Quaker pastors Phillip Gulley & James Mullholland ("If Grace is True") argue from a humanistic, common sense standpoint (although, based on some of the reviews here on Amazon, a few of the duo's non-traditional ideas, well apart from their Universalism, have proven problematic for more conservative readers)...However, of all the works I have read, I believe that the one that works best as an introduction to the basic tenets of Christian Universalism would be THIS book; Rev. Kalen Fristad's "DESTINED FOR SALVATION". Fristad is a United Methodist minister who travels the country in a van, speaking in any church or public place that will have him. He does this, in his own words, "to spread the message of God's unlimited love and salvation". He is the founder of the Iowa-based 'Destined for Salvation Ministries', and wrote this namesake book to (again, in his own words); "Let the world in on a secret that the Church has kept away from most people for the last 1,400 years...that God will eventually save every person". In just 160 pages, Fristad lays out all of the basic teachings of (and arguments in favor of) Universal Reconcilation, and does so in a way that is clear, consice, and not weighed-down by the type of theological jargon that can make other books a bit too 'dry' for the average layman reader. In one of the book's masterstrokes, Fristad begins his discussion, right in chapter one, by answering and rebutting all of the common objections and "clobber passages" often used against Universalists. His rebuttals are thorough, convincing, and never demeaning to those who would disagree. This then allows the reader to leave some of their preconcieved notions at the door and focus on the evidence at hand. Fristad then builds a strong case based around familiar New Testament texts (quoting heavily from the teachings of Jesus and the epistles of Paul), examples from early church history (including writings from Origen, Tertullian, & Clement), and the most basic tenents of orthodox Christian theology (God's undying love for every person, God's merciful nature, God's omnipotence, etc.) I particularly found the sections about the early-Church to be facsinating. Although many Modern Evangelicals (including Billy Graham) are quick to label Univeralism as heresy, the facts show that the 'salvation of all mankind' was one of the most predominant and well-documented beliefs of the first 500 years of the Christian faith! Fristad also tells how the teaching of Universal Reconciliation was surpressed & banished (often by force) when militaristic emperors such as Justinian & Constintine (heavily influenced by the vengence-based theolgy of Augustine) gained control of the Church in the 6th century. Also fascinating is the information on how poor translations (from ancient Greek into modern English) of only a few key words in the NT have lead to many of the modern misunderstandings about the true nature of Hell, judgement, and damnation (although it must be said that this particular subject is given far more in-depth coverage in Randy Klassen's "What Does the Bible Really Say About Hell?") While some Fundamentalist critics contend that Universalists do not take judgement seriously enough, I doubt they would still feel that way if they took the time to read Rev. Fristad's thoughtful take on the subject. (I would counter that it is the Fundamentalists, who flippantly consign entire races & religions to hopeless eternal suffering, who don't take God's judgement all that seriously!) In fact, towards the end of the book, Fristad devotes a chapter to the question; "Why do some Christians cling so tightly to the idea of eternal damnation?" While I don't have the space here to do his answer any justice, I will just say that any person who has tried to spread the good news of Universal reconcilation, only to recieve a negative, angry responses from fellow-Christians, will find some great food-for-thought in his insights! Actually, the book closes with a chapter on how Universalist-believers can do a better job of spreading the news of God's unlimited love and salvation, even in a World that isn't always willing to listen!...All in all, I believe that Rev. Fristad has created a book that shows quite powerfully that Universal Reconciliation is not simply "wishful thinking", but is a historical Christian position built upon a sound theological foundation. If you are one who is undecieded and curious about Universal Salvation, then this book will provide you with a solid understanding of the subject. If you are already a Universalist, then you will no doubt find your views validated (and even deepened) by Fristad's excellent presentation. Finally, if you are one of those who rejects the idea that God will save all people, (or even thinks all we Universalist-types are crackpots!), I would challenge you to read this book anyway. Will it change your mind???...Perhaps it will, perhaps it won't....But either way, at least you'll hear the case for Universalism presented honestly & completely by a professing Universalist author. The fact is, there is a lot of false information about Universalism to be found in various Evangelical publications & websites. So, if you want to judge the validity of Christian Univeralism, please at least make that judgement based on what Universalists REALLY believe!...Well, thanks for taking the time to read this review, and blessings to all in the name of Jesus Christ, "the saviour of ALL men, especially those who believe" (1 Timothy 4:10)

Universalist Circuit Rider
DESTINED FOR SALVATION: God's Promise to Save Everyone

by Rev. Kalen Fristad



Rev. Fristad is a dedicated Universalist who writes about Christian Universalism in a logical and loving fashion. The strength of his book comes from his twenty-seven years' experience as a United Methodist minister in communicating to parishioners rather than to academics. He feels so intensely about the need to spread the Good News of Universal Salvation to everyone that, in the tradition of St. Paul and John Murray, he has been traveling around the country in a mobile home speaking to groups from various denominations. When he was recently in Houston, I had the privilege of hearing him speak and conversing with him.



Interestingly, he begins his book by presenting the scriptures that are commonly sited as raising questions about Universal Salvation. After dealing with these questions, he moves on to a sampling of major verses supporting Universal Salvation. Additional Universalist proof-texts are scattered throughout. Next, he deals with Judgment and the fact that all punishment is "to make the wrong-doer a right-doer". Rev. Fristad sites Biblical verses stating that God's love is eternal and that God does not give up on us, even in Hell. He notes that after Jesus' crucifixion, Jesus went to Hell to bring out "all the people who in former times did not obey" (I Peter 3:18-20, 4:6). He adds that modern-day near-death experiencers report that such rescues are still occurring. Rev. Fristad says that God is more gracious than the best of we human parents and that God is always waiting for us to come home --- not only Here but in the Hereafter. Rev. Fristad uses M. Scott Peck's developmental theory of four stages of spiritual growth to illustrate how humans at different stages of development view God. He notes that people at Stage II (formal/institutional level) are the ones most likely to oppose Universalism. Those who oppose Universalism are sometimes doing so because of the theological lens through which they view Biblical verses, but more often their opposition is based on wanting to be in God's exclusive club. (This problem is as old as Jesus' disciples jockeying for position in the Kingdom of God.) Next, the history of Universalism is presented from the 2nd Century to the present. The final chapter deals with how the traditional message of Christian exclusivity alienates people from God. The book ends with an Appendix on how to spread the word of Universal Salvation.



This easily readable and well-organized book is a "must" for any Universalist and a source of comfort for all traditional Christians who have agonized over the fate of their non-Christian loved ones.


This article originally appeared in the UNIVERSALIST HERALD, May/June, Vol.156, No.3.