Universalism? Predestination?

Brodie's very helpfully posted some background theology to his Stanley Hauerwas quote I recently commented on:

"just as there is no God who is not the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, so there is no God who must be satisfied that we might be spared. We are the spared because God refuses to have us lost”.

I hadn't even heard of Hauerwas before reading Brodie's quote, so let that be an indicator of how deeply I've thought and read about anything you find on this blog! I voiced my concern that while I agreed with the sentiment, it sounded a bit like universalism, and I struggle to square that with what I read in the Bible. Brodie makes a very valid point: "Perhaps the questions we are left with, the why’s and how’s are there to draw us more into the mystery of God where in glimpsing something of His glory where the importance of the questions fades and we become transfixed by Him." I've experienced that more than once. However, that doesn't mean that the questions aren't important or that we should stop thinking about them. (To be fair that's not what Brodie's saying either). "A retreat into mystery should be a last resort".(I'm paraphrasing an alleged repeated quote of a lecturer at Glasgow Bible College/ICC/Scottish Baptist College).

My struggle with all of this isn't for me - I'm so grateful to God that he's so real in my life (I do get angry with him at times - but that's another post). My struggle is for those who God has, in a very real sense, allowed to be lost. I refuse to have the Calvinist attitude that the bottom line is "I'm alright Jack". Why did God choose Abel and not Cain? Why Jacob not Esau? Why David not Eliab? Why Israel not Egypt? Why me and not (until now at least) my cousin? God showing mercy seems so unjust. I'll continue to wrestle with this and maybe post again later.