Background to the Project

Heaven or hell?

Eternal paradise or never-ending torment?

For many religious believers, these are the only two options for human beings after they pass on from this life, death, divine judgement and then reward or punishment.

However, a growing number of people are thinking deeply on the subject of ‘what next?’

Two such people are David Bell and Dave Griffiths, friends who met online while exploring exactly these questions.

Over the course of weekly in-depth conversations, David and Dave have shaped and developed their convictions and named them ‘Progressing Reconciliation’. This has resulted in a project called ‘Love Above All Things’, which is creating and compiling resources to present the belief that Everyone is Loved and that eventually Everyone will love Everyone to people who are exploring what they believe. Two books (Emerging from the Rubble and Hope for Everyone) have been produced to help illustrate a possible future for humanity.

The theology of Progressing Reconciliation is based on biblical scripture and the teaching and beliefs of early Christianity. It does not seek to negate divine judgement, chastisement or correction but it affirms the the complete victory of love and the ultimate restoration of all things.

Essentially, Progressing Reconciliation is founded on the observable fact that process is hard-wired into creation. David and Dave are convinced that this will not change in the ages to come and that all humans are unfailingly loved as they progress along a path of reconciliation that leads to harmony with their divine source. 

Believing that divine agape love provides the necessary balance of justice and mercy, grace and truth, we can visualise how everyone could be transformed to want to live by agape love. Progressing Reconciliation is a theological framework that offers a rich, hopeful message for every life ever lived.

Why Form the Love Above All Things Project?

We set up the project to present the concepts Love is Above All Things, that Everyone is Loved and that eventually Everyone will love Everyone. We present many resources, both our own and by others, to explain these concepts. We have no specific ‘target audience’, as we are hoping to communicate to people across the spectrum of beliefs and faith. Some readers will find this material heretical, while some will think it doesn’t go far enough. It may or may not change minds, but if you’ve got this far, please do investigate further. Our heart is not so much to argue and convince, rather it is to share and celebrate. We want to provoke pondering and incite investigation. We have no denominational dog in this race. We are not recruiting for a church or even a particular religion - and no purchases are necessary! We are convinced that you are already part of the exciting story that we seek to explain.

Both of us come from mainstream evangelical Protestant Christian backgrounds, and the Pentecostal/Charismatic side of it, at that. That’s a lot of wordy words! Put more simply, we come from the version of conservative church in the West that believes in and practices the ‘gifts of the Holy Spirit’. There is a lot we are both grateful for in our experiences of this tradition, but there are distinct reasons why both of us have withdrawn from that culture and some of its core tenets of faith.

In our material you’ll find that sometimes we point out differences between what we used to believe and what we hold to now. Many of you reading this may have trodden a similar path. We are far from alone. Indeed, we met on an online forum full of people who have been on a journey in their faith during which their beliefs have shifted, evolved, changed, progressed. Some call this process ‘deconstruction’, but we prefer ‘renovation’.

For a while we wondered if we were ‘progressive’ Christians, but in the end, as with so many labels, the movement known as ‘Progressive Christianity’ has developed its own problems. The forum on which we met was called ‘Progressive Church’, but to get away from assumptions and associations, it was changed to ‘Progressing Church’. The word progressing retains the idea of forward movement, but roots it in the here and now.

We have called our theory regarding where creation (that’s everything) is going ‘Progressing Reconciliation’. This neatly sums up our commitment to process being at the heart of how God carries out the restoration, renewal and reconciliation of all things.

You now know more of where we are coming from. If you would like to investigate our resources, we present Love Above All Things and in particular Progressing Reconciliation for your consideration…