"Lean not on your own understanding"

I found out recently that an old friend of mine from years ago (not a Catholic) recently came out and told everyone that he still believed in Christianity (in some protestant form), but that he had finally come to accept universalism. Universalism is the belief that there is no real Hell, but that in the end all people will be saved. His rationale was this: it did not make sense to imagine that if God loves everyone that He would send anyone to Hell, regardless of their sins.

I wish I could speak to him about this. His error here (and it is a grave one) touches so many other areas of the faith. In fact, it is an area that each of us should give consideration to, because we may very likely be making the same error in other areas. What exactly is his error? The universalist argument, to my knowledge, is never made from a theological or scriptural foundation. It is made from the argument that "it does not make sense" for God to send people to Hell.

Here is the problem with the "doesn't make sense" argument. It is a presumption that the individual has enough knowledge, understanding, and wisdom of all of creation to determine what is possible. In other words: "if I don't get it, it cannot be true". That is, possibly, one of the most prideful and arrogant presumptions that anyone can make. It places one's mind on the throne of judgment over every doctrine. I have never actually heard anyone say "my mind is perfect and if the doctrine cannot fit in my head then it is a lie", but that is what they are proposing.

At the barest minimum when we encounter a difficult teaching we should respond with, "I do not understand that, but there certainly could be a way that it could be so." That acknowledges a desire to understand, while also being honest about one's mental limitations. Yes, it is true that the revelation of God is reasonable, and therefore not irrationally confusing. Yet, we cannot fall into the error of believing that if we do not understand something that no one else could possibly understand it either.

Let us each be prepared to humble ourselves and do some good self-examination. You likely already know what teachings of the Church you find the hardest to understand. Have you rejected one because of its difficult nature? Do you humbly accept that there are truths that God has revealed that you may not be able to understand? Do you acknowledge that all truth about the person and behaviors of God have to be "simplified" for us to understand them at all? That should help each of us to be thankful and to trust more in the profound wisdom of our Lord.

As the biblical book of Proverbs warns us: "Lean not on your own understanding". This is not saying we cannot ever trust our own understanding, it is saying not to "lean" on it. In other words, we are being warned that presuming on the accuracy of our own understanding (of most anything) is 100% wrong. We need more than our own understanding. We need the grace of God, and only when we accept that fact, can our understanding become truly clear. If we accept our limitations, and submit our minds to God, then we will be able to understand those things that might confuse us; even if we cannot fully comprehend them perfectly.