„Not many”, or the Salvation Historical “pessimism” of Jesus Christ

Abstract

In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, a 
kind of „happy-endism” is gaining ground in 
theological thought, in which the assumption 
of universal salvation and the questioned 
possibility of damnation (e.g. the „empty hell” 
theory) are gradually becoming more and more 
widespread. Theologians such as Karl Rahner 
and Hans Urs von Balthasar are among those 
who are prominent examples of this. One of 
the most frequently cited dictum probantium 
in 1 Timothy 2:4 emphasizes God’s universal 
saving will. In my study, I will show that the 
arguments based on it proceed from the a priori 
assumption of the singularity of the divine will. 
At the same time, there is a tendency to defend 
almost always only those New Testament verses 
that seem to be weak points of the thesis, such as 
Jesus’ statements on the Gehenenna. In my study, 
I will examine three examples - mostly sliding 
under the radar of those arguing for universal 
salvation - where the problem is not the threat 
of damnation, but rather Jesus’ assumption of 
a positive outcome for the ‚few’ (oligoi). These 
include the image of the narrow gate and the 
hard way, the motif of the many called but few 
chosen, and the distinction between the sons of 
this world and the sons of light.