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So, let's begin our journey down the Broad Path that leads to Destruction: In this case Universalism. We'll start with passage I quoted several days ago to which Light had no answer (as ususal)!

1. The Whole World has Gone After Jesus

John 12:18-19
18 Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!"
NIV

Don't forget: To a universalist, terms or phrases such "world", "whole world", "all men", etc. always mean each and every person without exception. So, to be consistent with their interpretation of these kinds of terms and phrases, they must interpret the above passage the same way they do Jn 3:16, for example. Therefore, everyone in this world, without exception, went out seeking Jesus. People in North America, South America, Antarctica, Asia, Central America, Europe, they Pygmies in Africa, headhunters in the Amazon -- wherever there were people on this planet, they all, without exception, went out seeking after Jesus. However, some thinking people might balk at this kind of absurd interpretation. Honest, thoughtful people would interpret this passage in its immediate context and see that "many people" puts a limit on the "universal" term "whole world". After all, the whole world didn't see Jesus' "miraculous sign" -- only "many" did. So, it is eminently reasonable to conclude that the Pharisees spoke hyperbolically out of their frustration with Jesus' growing popularity among the masses, who the Pharisees generally despised.

2. The Faith of Christians in Rome was Proclaimed Throughout the Whole World.

Rom 1:8
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.
NIV

We have a similar situation with this passage as with the preceding one. But the solution is different, for Paul wasn't speaking hyperbolically. Again, the immediate context of the passage helps us to understand Paul's meaning. Verse 5 tells us that Paul received his apostleship "to call people from among all the Gentiles". Notice carefully that Paul was not commissioned to call each and every person in the world. He wasn't charged with calling ALL people from all the Gentiles!

Paul went on to say in v14 that he was obligated to both Greeks and non-Greeks -- two main subsets in the Gentile world.

So, when Paul told the Church in Rome that their faith was being proclaimed all over the world -- he meant the known Gentile world within the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was essentially the world really known among the ancients in Paul's day. And this makes sense because Paul traveled extensively throughout the Roman Empire on his missionary journeys to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. This is how he would know that the faith of the Christians in Rome was well known throughout the Roman Empire, i.e. "all over the world". Also, we shouldn't forget that Gentiles is a class of people in this world.

3. The whole World is Accountable to God

Rom 3:19
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
NIV

So, again, who is the "whole world"? Paul again tells us in v.9 "Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin". I'm not making it up when I say this was (and to a great extent still is today) the mindset of Jews. When they think "world" they think Jews and Gentiles. Of course, in this case every Jew and every Gentile will stand before Christ on Judgment Day, but it will only be the unbelievers who will be condemned.

4. Whole World is Under the Power of Sin

Gal 3:21-22
22 But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
NIV

But does this mean everyone in this world without exception? Did Paul contradict himself in Romans 6 wherein he teaches that Christians were formerly slaves of sin but now they are slaves to righteousness? Christians have been set free from the power of sin - from the dungeon of darkness that used to be the state of their souls. Even Jesus taught that He has set the prisoners [of sin] free (Lk 4:18-21)!

But perhaps even more importantly, once again Paul right in the context of the above Galatians passage tells us: "Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed" (v.23).

Therefore, when he said the whole world IS held prisoner by sin (present tense), he is talking about an entire class of people in this world, i.e unregenerate sinners. He's talking about a class of people who share a common characteristic, i.e. their sinful, corrupt nature. These people are prisoners to sin. They are under its power.

I'm going to stop here now and pick this up later. I still have important passages to share -- one of them being John 17 in which Jesus did not include the world in his intercessory, high priestly prayer to his Father.