You said:
Paul's theology seems to be that Christ has already saved everyone. That unbelievers in this life will experience that salvation after they die is the obvious and logical conclusion to draw.From 1 Timothy Chapter Four, demonstrate that Paul taught God will save unbelievers after they die.
If we're only going to focus on the text of 1 Timothy 4:9-10, then it seems that the use of the word "especially" (malista in the Greek) is of paramount importance.This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.
Malista means most of all; in the greatest degree; more of the same. Paul uses the word again in 2 Timothy 4:13 when he writes, "When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments." The parchments were a subset of the scrolls. Paul wants the scrolls and most of all the parchments. This is consistent with how malista is used everywhere else in the NT (Acts 20:38; 25:26; 26:3; Gal 6:10; Phil 4:22; 1 Tim 5:8, 17; Titus 1:10; Philemon 16 and 2 Peter 2:10).
Notice how malista is used in Acts 25:26 (beginning at v. 23):
The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room with the high ranking officers and the leading men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. Festus said: "King Agrippa, and all who are present with us, you see this man! The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. I found he had done nothing deserving of death, but because he made his appeal to the Emperor I decided to send him to Rome. But I have nothing definite to write to His Majesty about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially [malista] before you, King Agrippa, so that as a result of this investigation I may have something to write. For I think it is unreasonable to send on a prisoner without specifying the charges against him."
Paul is brought before the entire audience, but most of all Agrippa. Paul is not brought before Agrippa and potentially before the rest of the audience. Agrippa is among the audience, but is of special note.
To claim that Paul's use of malista in 1 Timothy 4:10 means something other than how he uses it elsewhere in the same letter, how he uses it in other letters, and how it is used in the rest of the New Testament, is to strain credibility. The onus is on you to show that you are not eisegeting this verse by applying an inconsistent meaning to malista.
If this singular verse were the only inkling of Paul's universalism, it might be one thing, but we find the following statement in the same letter (Chapter 2, verses 1-7):
I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.
Paul makes it clear that he believes that:
a) God wants all men to be saved.
b) Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for all men.
The clear implication is that if all men are not saved, then:
a) God doesn't get what He wants.
b) Jesus' sacrifice fell short.
If we only found such apparently universalist statements in one Epistle, it might be one thing, but we find similar statements throughout the Pauline corpus. In fact, what we find is a consistent pattern of universalist statements in Paul's epistles (the obvious ones being Rom 3:23-24; Rom 5:6-18; Rom 8:38-39; Rom 11:32; Col 1:15-20; 1 Cor 13:4-8; 1 Cor 15:22; 2 Cor 5:14; Eph 1:9-10; Phil 2:10-11; Titus 2:11).
Dr. Thomas Talbott wrote:
I have been unable to find a single example, drawn from Paul's theological writings in which Paul makes a universal statement and the scope of its reference is unduly fuzzy or less than clear. Paul's writing may be cumbersome at times, but he was not nearly as sloppy a writer (or a thinker) as some of his commentators, in their zeal to interpret him for us, would make him out to be. (The Inescapable Love of God)
If we only found such universalist statements by Paul, it might be one thing, but we find similar statement made throughout the New Testament by Luke (3:6, 19:10); John (John 1:9, 1:29, 3:17, 4:42, 12:32, 12:47; 1 John 2:2; Rev 5:13); Peter (2 Pet 3:9) and the writer of Hebrews (2:9, 9:12).
If we only found such universalist statements in the New Testament, it might be one thing, but we also see hints of it in places like Genesis, Job, the Psalms, Isaiah and Joel.
I've already mentioned on other posts how the earliest Christian theologians (the ones who spoke Greek) like Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, etc., believed in universal reconciliation. My point in bringing it up again is to stress that this is not some new-fangled, post-modern, romanticist, liberal teaching. It seems to me that the shift from a reconcilation-based theology to a Hell-based theology occurred with Augustine, 350 or so years after Christ. But even after Augustine, there have been learned theologians who have held to -- or at least held open the possibility of -- salvation for all. I was surprised recently to come across the following quote:
Maybe someone more familiar with Luther's works can verify its authenticity?“God forbid that I should limit the time for acquiring faith to the present life. In the depths of the Divine Mercy there may be opportunity to win it in the future state.” Martin Luther (Letter to Hansen von Rechenberg, 1522)
