Madeleine L'Engle believed in universal salvation: everyone will ultimately be reconciled with God. She did not pretend to know how it would work, but she believed it to be true. The Bible supports this view, but it also contradicts this view. Madeleine gloried in contradiction.
Madeleine's believed separation from God was the punishment promised in the Bible. Unity with God was the reward.
Like Madeleine L'Engle, I know that I don't know all the answers, but I like this idea. My heart breaks when I think of people, even terrible people, being punished forever. Can even the worse sins on earth be worth eternal punishment? This does not seem compatible with a loving God. I also do not thing getting a an external reward or punishment can really provide lasting motivation to live a godly life. We should obey because the life we live when we obey is the best reward and the life we live when we don't obey is the worst punishment.
Universal salvation just gives us the chance to repent after death as well as before; death is not some arbitrary boundary between when you can repent and the time you can't. We always have the opportunity. If we have all eternity, we will all eventually repent. That, I believe, is what a loving God would want.
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