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The Catholic/Protestant theological argument is complex, with a number of denominational variations, but the doctrine of universal inclusion goes something like this: God loves everyone, playing no favorites. This He has demonstrated through the sacrifice of His Son and His universal gift of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, it is His will that mankind, His agents on the earth, collaborate with Him in showing love to everyone. Everyone is included in His love, and everyone should cooperate with His purposes. The ramifications of this thinking—its effects on social, political, and economic policy—are staggering. For instance, through the application of universal inclusion, capital punishment becomes an evil because it denies God His chance to bestow His saving grace on the felon. Capitalism becomes demonized because it can marginalize the poor, excluding them from the physical benefits of God's love. Tolerance to all, no matter what his beliefs may be, becomes valuable because it reflects God's freely given grace to everyone. In practical terms, inclusivity is the backdrop to many major decisions and directions we see today. For example, universal inclusion provides the rationale for ordaining women into the priesthood. Ideologically, it explains a good part of the thinking behind the election of an unabashed homosexual to the leadership of the Episcopal Church USA. One can think of any number of other examples. This doctrine, as understood by most Catholic and Protestant churchmen today, flies in the face of God's revealed truth. God's Word teaches that God works on a timeline—He follows a plan, which excludes some from His grace at certain times in history. God is working only to bring salvation to some individuals today. Peter's comment that "the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God" (I Peter 4:17) implies that such judgment has not come for those currently outside that house. We recognize that God takes the prerogative to exclude some from His grace today: "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated" (Romans 9:13). The apostle Paul alludes to God's plan when, in I Corinthians 15:22-23, he affirms, "All shall be made alive. But each in his own order." Ultimately, all people will be included in God's work of grace, but only in His time.
Charles Whitaker
The Blood Libel and the Holocaust: The Cost of Wrong Doctrine
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