Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!bcm!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: betsyp@apollo.com (Betsy Perry) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Starry starry night . . . Message-ID: Date: 24 Jan 91 08:44:58 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Apollo Division; Chelmsford, MA Lines: 24 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article Teri wrote: >.... The ending to the story was the prophesy >had been fulfilled so accurately that this was why there are relatively few >Zoroastrians, they became followers of Christ as a fulfillment of >Zoroaster's revelation. I can't speak to the rest of the story, but the reason there are relatively few Zoroastrians today is quite simple: They don't accept converts. You're either born Zoroastrian, or you're not. (There was an article in the Wall Street Journal within the last few years about a Canadian who is trying fervently to become an accepted Zoroastrian convert. He's not succeeding.) As to the question of what do Universalists believe about the fate of sinners, I suspect it depends on the Universalist. I reason by the parenthood analogy: I love my daughter. There is nothing that she could do to alter this fact. We are told that God loves us as His children; I therefore believe that we cannot permanently alienate ourselves from that love. (And for those who would argue that it's wrong to judge God's love by human standards, I answer that surely his love is greater, not lesser, than ours.) Betsy Perry