Grace Saves All

Book excerpt: Grace is amazing. About this all Christians agree. Yet nearly all forms of Christianity put significant limits on grace. Those forms of Christianity which proclaim grace alone actually saves typically don’t believe God gives grace to everyone; while those forms of Christianity which proclaim God gives grace to everyone typically don’t believe grace alone actually saves. Must grace either be that which saves alone but doesn’t go to all, or that which goes to all but doesn’t save alone? In Grace Saves All, David Artman argues that grace saves alone and goes to all. This inclusive approach to Christianity is variously called universal reconciliation, universal salvation, or perhaps most accurately, Christian universalism. He contends that the inclusive/Christian universalist approach is necessary because it offers the only Christian theology which successfully defends the goodness of God. For it logically follows that if God is all-good, all-knowing, and all-powerful, then God must also be all-saving. Often dismissed as a modern feel-good theology, Christian universalism is an ancient, orthodox, and biblical theology which was expounded by early Christians and early church fathers. Artman brings much deserved attention to this wonderful spirituality.