Precondemned by [the Christian] God

The only assumption which my opponent asks us to make is that the Christian God exists and, as a corrolary, that this God is omniscient. Pro argues that the existence of an omniscient Christian God logically requires that some people must be pre-condemned to hell. Although not expressly stated, this debate as framed by my opponent is really just a rehash of the old question of free will vs. determinism - if God knows our decisions before we make them, are we really free to choose? This particular theological culdesac has been turned over a thousand times, and is mostly unresolvable. Fortunately, we need not address it to defeat the resolution. Pro's position rests on an unstated assumption - that the Christian God condemns people to hell at all. Assuming a belief in a Christian God, however, does not necessarily require a belief in hell, or a belief that any human soul will be condemned to hell. If one can assume the existence of the Christian God without assuming the existence of eternal punishment, then the resolution is false. Certainly, there are branches of Christianity that believe, consistent with my opponent's position that some number of people - probably most - will be condemned to hell. The Reformed tradition, or Calvinism, is expressly based on the belief that God expressly chooses who to save and who to condemn. [1] But of course, not every Christian is a Calvinist. There are also Christian Universalist traditions, which believe that all people will be reconciled to God, and that no one will be condemned to hell. Universalists argue that this doctrine was the early common understanding of most Christians, and that hell is a relatively modern religious innovation. [2] They may be right in this regard - no less a luminary than St. Augustine, though himself a believer in eternal punishment, acknowledged that "There are very many in our day, who though not denying the Holy Scriptures, do not believe in endless torments. " [3] Thus, even in the early history of Christianity, it was possible to believe in a Christian God but not eternal condemnation. Today, even traditions that believe in the concept of hell and the possibility of eternal damnation allow for the possibility of universalism. For instance, although the Catholic Church - the largest body of Christians on the planet - clearly teaches a belief in hell, it also allows the possibility that all humankind can be saved - hell, under orthodox Catholic teaching, may well be empty. [4]Since universalism is consistent with the teachings of many Christian churches and has intellectual roots from the earliest Christians, we cannot say that a belief in a Christian God requires anyone to adopt a belief that any person be condemned to hell. As long as universalism remains a possibility within orthodox Christian theology, then no Christian must definitively conclude that any person will be condemned to hell eternally. I thus stand opposed to the resolution - one may assume the existence of an omniscient Christian God, but this assumption does not logically require one to conclude that any person will be pre-condemned by God to hell. [1] . http://www.calvinistcorner.com...[2] . http://www.christianuniversalist.org...[3] . http://www.tentmaker.org...[4] Catechism of the Catholic Church 1058, 1821