The Problems With General Atonement Evagnelism — A Conversation

Did Jesus Die For Everybody?

Here is an exercise in thinking through the implications of holding to a hypothetical universal view of the Atonement (also sometimes referred to as General Atonement Theory). This view of the Atonement teaches that Christ died for each and every person who lives, has ever lived or will live. Those that hold to such a view are the majority report in American Evangelicalism.

Genera Atonement (GA) Preacher — “God loves you and showed that love by sending His Son to die for your sins.”

Sophisticated Unbeliever(SU) — “You mean to tell me that Jesus died for all my sins?”

GA Preacher — “That is accurate, Jesus died for your sins.”

S. Unbeliever — “Thanks for telling me that. That is a helpful thing to know.”

GA Preacher — “Your welcome. Now you must repent and believe.”

S. Unbeliever — “Why is that necessary?”

GA Preacher — “Because the Scripture says you must.”

S. Unbeliever — “Would it be a sin if I didn’t do that?”

GA Preacher — “Oh yes, a most terrible and grave sin.”

S. Unbeliever — “But the fact that it is a sin doesn’t really matter does it?”

GA Preacher — “Of course it matters! Why would you say that?”

S. Unbeliever — “Well, if Jesus died for all my sins then that would include the sins of my refusing to believe and refusing to repent, and so I am ok. But like I said thanks for the information.”

GA Preacher — “Wait a minute. Thats not the way it works.”

S. Unbeliever –“Oh, so what you are telling me is that Jesus died for all my sins except the sins of unbelief and lack of repentance?”

“But if He didn’t die for the sins of unbelief and lack of repentance then how could anybody be saved, and how could it be that God loves me if God sent Jesus to die for all of my sins except the ones I most desperately need forgiven?”

“It sounds like what you are saying here is that Jesus died for some of the sins of all of the people, but you can’t be saying that cause if that is true then all people will be damned since according to you one sin can separate us from God.”

GA Preacher — “No, no, no. Jesus died for all of the sins of all of the people.”

S. Unbeliever — “Well, that is not what you said earlier but if that is what you believe then I don’t know how it is that not all of the people are saved if Jesus died for all of their sins.”

GA Preacher — “They are not all saved since they don’t all believe.”

S. Unbeliever — Isn’t unbelief a sin for which Jesus died? But let’s leave that alone for now. So what you’re saying is that some people will have had all their sins paid for and still end up damned?”

GA Preacher — “Yes.”

S. Unbeliever — “Just curious. If that is the case then isn’t it at least theoretically possible that Jesus could have died for all the sins of all the people and that without not one person ever being saved”?

GA Preacher — “What do you mean”?

S. Unbeliever — “Well, if Jesus died for all the sins of all the people but His death wasn’t effective to the end it was designed then you have to admit that at least theoretically Jesus could have died for the World without anybody in the World being saved, since obviously His death wasn’t enough to do what needed to be done.”

GA Preacher — “No, that is not what I mean at all.”

S. Unbeliever — “I am sure it isn’t.”

GA Preacher —“Jesus paid for all the sins of all people.”

S. Unbeliever –“What was the sense of paying for their sins if they were going to end up damned anyway”?

GA Preacher — “That’s how much God loves you.”

S. Unbeliever — “God loves me enough to send his Son to die for my sins but doesn’t love me enough to make sure that I don’t end up damned anyway”?

“I’ll wait for a God who makes sense.”