A Possible Interpretation
Hegemony: “the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group”
Joel continues his proud posts on universalism and how God is love and if God love everyone (blah blah blah) God will save everyone (yada yada). For the record, I do not consider universalism to be a heresy; just a misreading of Christian tradition, Scripture, and a habitual tendency to separate God’s love from God’s justice. But as a theologian who is dedicated to justice, I do not see a reason why universalism is protected from a just critique. So, here is my theory:
In universalism, God super-imposes HIS (yes, his, because universalism as a see it favors the very phallocentric, Enlightenment perspective of a universal destiny) love on all of humanity, even those who continue to reject God, or a higher power/the big Transcendent in general. Never one have I heard universalists talk about justice since it is sort of a shibboleth when it comes to discussing the end times for them. To believe that everyone, in the end, will wind up in the same place really means this: they will all have to, by necessity, either make the same religious choices as I argued in my Fanon and universalism piece or that it is by God’s predetermination from the beginning that everyone is “saved and sanctified.” Universalism is predestination with a smile on its face.
It is my belief that Christianity is at its best when it works as both a counter-hegemonic force as well as a community that seeks to transcend the counter-hegemonic/hegemonic divide. For more on my views, see here.
P.S.: I understand that there are some Christians on the biblioblogosphere who see hegemony as a good thing, and that’s okay, too. Just know, God still loves you.
Related articles
- Some Thoughts on Universalism (diglot.wordpress.com)
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Wait…since when is it OK to disagree with you?
uh never, i want to impose my own form of orthodox Christian/left-wing libertarian hegemony world-wide
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That everyone is going to heaven does not mean that we do not face judgment from God. On the contrary, everything is judged. Thus we must seek to please God in all that we do, and live as morally as we know how with the light we have. Nonetheless, everyone is going to heaven as I layout in The Biblical Case for Everyone Going to Heaven: http://wp.me/PNthc-i6
Tradition is wrong; the Scripture is right on this subject, as it is all others.
There isnt a heaven. Only a new creation.
And I would appreciate it if you addressed the question at hand rather than promote your book.
Thanks.
You said in your post, “For the record, I do not consider universalism to be a heresy; just a misreading of Christian tradition, Scripture, and a habitual tendency to separate God’s love from God’s justice.”
I responded that justice was not at all negated by everyone going to heaven. I further addressed your assertion that Scripture did not support my assertion by giving you my biblical case. Also, I distinguished tradition from Scripture because they don’t always say the same thing (and certainly aren’t in this case).
I don’t know by what standard you say that I did not address the question at hand.
P.S. Doesn’t the new creation include a new heaven?
The content of my post isnt about the afterlife implications of universalism, per se, it is about the this-worldy implications of it. I do not share your concerns with “salvation” nor do I find YOUR biblical attempt persuasive.
As for the new creation, yes, a new heaven comes with a new earth, but as I argue in my post, no one is going to have the same experience.
My problem with universalism is the notion of a universal experience at all, which leads to hegemony in the here & now. No one is really wanting to address this issue because they do not share my concerns, and that’s fine; it all leads up to proving to me that universalists and calvinists alike are quite incapable of confronting neo-colonial empire.
You impute views to me that I do not hold. I have never studied universalism nor have I ever spent time with folks who do.
I dispute your notion that because I believe everyone is going to heaven, that I am forecasting an undifferentiated experience for everyone. On the contrary, there are going to be great differences in our outcomes – just as on earth, so in heaven also. Only there, as Jesus said, many who are first will be last and many who are last will be first.
There are many aspects to my message besides what you have heard, including the needlessness of going to church, the Second Coming as fait accompli in the late 1st Century AD, the present reality of the kingdom of God, the full deity of Jesus Christs – and more. But if I were to sum up my entire message in one word, it would be “Repent!” – which should be a an impediment to every sin, including hegemony.
@Mike,
You have never studied universalism, but yet argue everyone is going to heaven, which is a universalist argument?
Hmmm interesting.
Your belief system is quite interesting, but not without its problems.
It was good
dialoguingsorry, exchanging monologues with you, but clearly your concerns are not mine. Your theories hold no sway with me, mostly because we have two differing starting points.Thank you for stopping by.
By the way, Rod, what do you mean by “different starting points” and what you deem our respective starting points to be?
My starting point for theology is the criticism of empire, large scale domination, etc., i.e., this-worldly concerns.
From your comments on Joel’s blog, and your blog, it seems like you are concerned with the church’s traditional stances, and other-worldly concerns, something that is somewhat irrelevant to what I am doing and the approach I take.
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