I had a theological idea the other day. It gave me great enjoyment when it occurred to me, but it also worried me. In 2,000 years of church history, I can’t be the first person to think about this, but I’ve never heard it discussed in these terms. Probably because the idea is fraught with danger. And I do care about orthodoxy.
One of the things that troubles me, in my long sleepless nights, is the thought of all the “wasted” people who’ve ever lived. Not wasted in the modern sense of being destroyed by alcohol or drugs. Wasted in the older sense – people simply thrown away. Discarded. The Gospel teaches us that there is nothing more precious than a human soul (think of the parable of the Lost Sheep). But uncounted millions of people have been born into slavery or peonage, worked without respite all their short lives, and then left to die… or killed. Like animals. Also, so many have died young, with no chance to live. Not to mention those aborted.
“What will the Lord do with such people at the Last Judgment?” I’ve often wondered.
And then I remembered an important Christian doctrine. It’s even in our creeds. The Resurrection of the Body. When I was a kid I thought that meant Christ’s resurrection, but it doesn’t. It refers to the resurrection of our bodies, the bodies of every human being who’s ever lived.
At the Last Judgment, every human who ever lived will get their bodies back.
And a picture came into my mind, of a great throng of those “wasted” children, crowded around the throne of Christ, who will do the judging according to Scripture.
I remembered that in the Old Testament, judgment doesn’t always mean condemnation. It also means the place where the poor can get justice against their oppressors.
And then the picture of Jesus surrounded by little children gave me a strong sense of peace.
I can’t make a doctrine out of it. It would be wrong to do that. Universalism must be resisted at all points.
But I feel good about this.
Reminds me of the book of Ecclesiastes where, in my mind, the key phrase is, “under the sun.” When life is only considered from the perspective of under the sun, it is found to be meaningless, vanity, lived in vain. The concept of doing something in vain is to do it without achieving your purpose or intent. The same idea is brought out in the Second Commandment, to not take the Lord’s Name in vain. In other words, don’t use it without effect or accomplishment.
Only when we live life in the light of eternity, taking into account the existence of a transcendent spiritual realm, in other words, the resurrection of the body, do we find meaning or purpose in life. Ecclesiastes approaches that from several different angles – accomplishment, wealth, pleasure, and others with every angle resulting in meaninglessness and vanity when considered from the perspective of “under the sun.”
So, Lars, your idea isn’t new. It just hasn’t been stated in those terms recently.