What Is This Universal Fatherhood Of God?

God that made the world and all things therein, 

seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, 

dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 

neither is worshipped with men's hands, 

as though He needed any thing, seeing He giveth 

to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath

 made of one blood all nations of men for to 

dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath 

determined the times before appointed, 

and the bounds of their habitation; that they 

should seek the Lord,...

Acts 17:24-27a 

     This is part of the speech Paul gave to the men in Athens, those philosophers and when Paul pointed out that they had an image depicting an unknown god, one whom they worshipped. Paul gave to them who this unknown God really is and how they are to understand that this unknown God is the only God. Throughout history, and throughout nations, in the many religions, God is known as Father, so then, it is not just a Christian theology. The problem is the doctrine, or belief in the Fatherhood of God. The problem of this Fatherhood of God is in a person(s) conception of God. Jesus in all of His teachings brought this incomparable enrichment of this term as is taught outside of Christianity. Yes, Jesus brought this incomparable term, this enrichment as to God as our Father, that it is a correct instinct in regards to our belief as God as our Father. Some Christian men, some denominations have become so obsessed with this term "Father" and regard it as the sum total and substance of the Christian religion. When the Gospel is replaced, at least in some way, that is, the doctrines of sin, and salvation, not interested in the Creeds of Orthodox Christianity and lesson the doctrine of the Atonement and only hold to the simple teaching as truth in priority of a Christian life, the Fatherhood of God, and its corollary, the brotherhood of man. It is true that all men are of the same blood, God made man in His image, and in this sense that He is the creator of man He is the Father of mankind. This does not mean that every man has God as His personal Father, for only if a person is adopted by God can a man/woman say that God is truly their Father. Remember once again, Jesus never taught this modern doctrine of the universal fatherhood of God, or the teaching of the universal brotherhood of man. God will save sinners from their sins but this does not mean that every man has God as their Father. God is good to all men, for men of every sorts has the sun, the wind, the rain, able to grow food and this is for the good and the evil, but God is not called to be Father of all. God then cares for those who are not a child of His, even those who persecute His children, but they are not a child of God, and God is not their Father. This teaching of the universal fatherhood of God, this universal brotherhood of man is not to be found in the New Testament. Yes, we all offspring of God for He is the creator of mankind (Acts 17:28) Those words that are recorded form part of an hexameter line and are taken from a pagan poet, they are not represented as part of the Gospel, rather they merely belong to the common meeting ground which Paul discovered in speaking to his pagan hearers. 

      This lofty term "Father" is used to describe a relationship, a relationship of an intimate kind, that relationship in which God stands to the company of the redeemed. This distinctive term "Father" or the "Fatherhood of God" only concerns those who have been brought into the household of faith. This term as applied by Christians may bring up an objection that this is a narrow teaching: well it is narrow for narrow is the road leading to salvation, but this road is open to all who wish to travel down that road and not the wide road to destruction. Yes, there is a similarity to this "Brotherhood of man," or this "fatherhood of God", but there is a wide chasm between the Christian use of the term and that of the world, for this term "the Fatherhood of God" offers infinitely more. 

     Socialism, Communism, this progressive movement teaches the world' understanding of the "brotherhood of man," and the the "fatherhood of God," and is a major problem within liberal Christianity. This world' teaching is not of Christianity, it is heresy. Run from such a teaching, return tot the truth: God will be your Father if you believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, repent of your sins, and deny yourself and pick up your cross and follow Jesus. This means that you are adopted by God and now are a child of His, and He is your Father. 

Know ye that the LORD He is God:

      It is He that hath made us, 

and not we ourselves; we are His

     people, and the sheep of His pasture.

                     Psalms 100:3

Build upon this relationship with God

Richard L. Crumb