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divine ownership

Definition

Divine ownership (also: God’s ownership right) is the doctrine that God owns all things and all people by right of creation. God created everything; whoever creates something owns it. Humans are made from dust (Gen. 2:7) that God created and owns; therefore no human can permanently sell his soul or bind himself forever to evil. God’s eminent domain transcends human free will: no absolute, perpetual sale to darkness is possible.

Core Thesis

Jones argues that God’s ownership is the foundation of Universal Reconciliation:

It means that God OWNS all things by right of creation. One owns what one creates.

The argument:

  1. Gen. 1:1 — God created heaven and earth → God owns both
  2. Gen. 2:7 — Humans made from dust → part of God’s creation
  3. Lev. 25:23 — “The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine” — land ownership as a type of ownership over persons
  4. Consequence: Because God is the owner, no human can bind himself permanently to chains of evil. The law sets limits on what can be sold (Lev. 25:23–54).

Lev. 25:23 (The Constitution of Ownership)

The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me. 1

Jones applies this as: The human is like the land—God’s property. Who has the right to claim he can sell himself permanently? Lev. 25:47–55 establishes the laws of redemption: even an impoverished Hebrew who sells himself as a servant can be redeemed in the Jubilee year.

Implications

1. Free Will Limited by Ownership

Man is part of the ‘land’ that God owns by right of creation. That means man does not have the authority, right, or even the ability to ‘sell his soul to the devil’ for all time.

Human free will exists, but is bounded by God’s ownership. A person can temporarily align with evil, but not permanently. God’s law sets limits on bindings.

2. Foundation for Universal Reconciliation

Because God owns everything, God MUST:

  • Be responsible for what He owns (see: divine-liability)
  • Not allow His property to be permanently lost
  • Ultimately recover all people, because they are His possession

If you had the lawful right to redeem all men, and you had the cash to do so, and you loved them as much as God loves the world, what would YOU do?

3. Christ as Redemption of God’s Possession

Christ is God redeeming His own property. This does not require (in the traditional sense) payment to Satan, but rather: God paying God’s debt (liability) to God Himself for what He owns.

  • goel — redeemer; relative with the right to repurchase property
  • Jubilee — jubilee year; when land returns to original owner
  • divine-liability — God’s obligation because He is the owner
  • eonian — why debts (including sin) cannot be eternal (God’s ownership forbids permanent loss)

Core quotation:

It means that God OWNS all things by right of creation.

Footnotes

  1. Lev. 25:23 ↩

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