Read
the words - ‘His Name’ shall ‘endure for ever’(Psalm 72:17) - and think
of Christ. His Name is ‘the Name above all other names’. He is ‘the
King of kings and Lord of lords’(Philippians 2:9-11; Revelation 19:16).
Read the words - ‘all nations call Him blessed’(Psalm 72:17) - , and
think of Christ. ‘From every tribe and language and people and nation’,
God’s people have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ
(Revelation 5:9). Read the words -‘May His glory fill the whole
earth!’(Psalm 72:19) - and think of Christ. In the ‘new heaven and new
earth’, ‘the holy city’ will shine with ‘the glory of God’. ‘Its
radiance’, ‘like a very precious jewel’, will be shining from this
‘lamp’: Jesus Christ, ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world’(Revelation 21:1-2,10-11,23; John 1:29).
The question of universalism in Barth’s theology has been raised directly by J D Bettis in his article, “Is Karl Barth a Universalist?” (Scottish Journal of Theology, Vol. 20, No. 4, December 1967, pp. 423-436). This article requires to be carefully discussed not only for its significance as an interpretation of Barth’s thought but also because it presents a serious misrepresentation of Berkouwer’s criticism of Barth. Bettis writes, “Modern protestant theology has defined three basic answers to the question of the particularity of election: double predestination, Arminianism and universalism” (p. 423). By attempting to fit Berkouwer into “this structure of alternatives” (p. 423), he misrepresents completely Berkouwer’s criticism of Barth. According to Bettis, Brunner and Berkouwrer hold that “because Barth fails to accept either Brunner’s Arminianism or Berkouwer's double decree, he must be a universalist” (p. 426). There are two misrepresentations of Berkouwer here. (...
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