Christian universalism

Christian universalism is a school of Christian theology focused around the doctrine of universal reconciliation – the view that all human beings will ultimately be saved and restored to a right relationship with God.

It is related to, but distinct from, general universalism, which in theological terms considers that there are universal truths contained in the teachings of religion, and is often contrasted with relativism. Under most frameworks of Christian universal reconciliation, the eventual salvation of all people follows from universal claims about God’s nature, and the ultimate purpose of divine judgment.

The term Christian universalism was used in the Christian Intelligencer in the 1820s by Russell Streeter—a descendant of Adams Streeter who had founded one of the first Universalist Churches on September 14, 1785. Some Christian universalists like John Wesley Hanson claim that in Early Christianity (prior to the 6th century), this was the most common interpretation of Christianity.

As a formal Christian denomination, Christian universalism originated in the late 18th century with the Universalist Church of America. Their membership was consolidated with the American Unitarian Association into the Unitarian Universalist Association on May 15, 1961. There is no single denomination uniting Christian universalists, but a few denominations teach some of the principles of Christian universalism or are open to them.

Definitions

Within Soteriology

Christian universalism has been defined as the belief that "all will be saved", such as by Avery Robert Dulles and Justo L. González. Sometimes "all" in this definition can be specified as "all men", "all created beings", or "all souls", like with Ken Jennings' definition. Everybody can be used instead, such as with Russell D. Moore's definition, as can "everyone", "every single person", "all persons", or "all people". This can be expanded to all moral or rational beings. Other times it has been limited to "all humans", or "all human beings", like with John Frame's definition. Other specifiers have included "all mankind", "all of God's children", "all good people", or "all sinners". Some include fallen angels, like Christian universalist historian John Wesley Hanson. This may depend on if angels are seen as intelligent and volitional beings. Some definitions even include Satan's salvation, such as with Randall Sullivan's definition. However, some definitions exclude the Devil and his demons. There also exists disagreements on whether non-human animals are included. It can be defined in the context of reaching heaven, or going there, like with Forrest Church's definition. This heaven was defined as "Spirit Land" by Andrew Jackson Davis.

Redemption may also be included in the definition, such as with Robin Parry's and David Bentley Hart's claims, or reconciliation, or grace. Parry emphasizes a bringing about of God's purpose and creation's destiny. Universal salvation, universal reconciliation, universal restoration, the blessed hope and irresistible grace have also been used as synonymous terms. However, reconciliation and salvation may be viewed as different concepts entirely, as posited by John Murray in the 18th century, who believed everyone already to be saved, yet still awaiting reconciliation after death. Meanwhile "universalist" has been defined as "believing that all will be saved", a "believer in Universalism", or as an "adherent to Universalism". The terms "member of an organized body of Christians" "member of a Christian denomination" exist among these definitions.

It can also be defined as an openness to salvation for all without definitive affirmation or knowledge in advance. Christian universalism has also been defined as a Christian sect, or a religious denomination, such as by Thomas Baldwin Thayer. Merriam-Webster specifies this as an 18th-century liberal Christian denomination, one which later merged with Unitarianism. Triumph has been used in the definition, such as of God's will to save all people, or the triumph of good over evil. Lee Strobel defined Christian universalism as universal forgiveness and adoption through Christ. Another definition emphasizes attainment of perfect blessedness. It has also been defined as that which "overturned Calvinist doctrines of predestination". However, its definition has also included predestination for salvation.

Among definitions of Christian Universalism are those that assert that explicit faith in Jesus Christ is required for salvation and those who hold no such requirement. It has been argued that the claim that Christian universalism is defined as "all roads lead to God" is a straw man. Robin Parry argues that this is "a very recent sort of mangled up liberal version of universalism" that has not existed historically. However, it has been claimed that such pluralism can be included within Christian universalism's definition. Yet James Montgomery Boice rejects this, claiming that all people will be saved through Jesus Christ.

There is debate on whether "hopeful universalism", defined as "the hope that all would be saved" or "the desire that all would be saved" counts as Christian universalism or not. For example, the United Methodist Church rejects Christian universalism being defined as "the possibility that all may be saved". Karl Barth's idea of universal election, where everyone is not saved but only chosen for salvation, has sometimes been seen as hopeful universalism. It has been argued that belief in hopeful universalism makes one a soft universalist, like Hans Urs von Balthasar, and is taught by the magisterium, as opposed to a dogmatic or hard universalist. However, the use of such labels has not been met with universal support.

Christian universalism has been argued to mean that everyone will make the same choice, and has been differentiated from Christian inclusivism, which has been claimed to be more focused on expanding the realm of choice, such as allowing the possibility of salvation without hearing the name of Christ.

Christian universalism has also been defined as an event that has already taken place, like with Billy Graham's definition. The rejection of eternal torment, eternal damnation, or eternal punishment has been included in its definition before. It has been also claimed that there are Christian universalists who believe in annihilationism.

Other theologians reject the universal salvation definition of Christian universalism and instead favor defining it as a universal call to evangelism, such as with John Robert Walmsley Stott's definition. Christian universalism has been defined as a universal opportunity for all to explicitly hear the gospel, either pre-mortem or post-mortem, such as with N. T. Wright's definition. There are disagreements whether it is merely a universal offer, or also universally effective.

Outside Soteriology

Christian universalism without a soteriological meaning ranges from a protection of universal rights, to genuine toleration, to a kind of monotheistic imperialism. Bible scholars Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler used the term Christian universalism in a sentence where they describe what they view as Martin Luther's antipathy towards Judaism. The authors see such views like Luther's as anti-Jewish and ignoring the universalistic message of the book of Jonah. The view of the authors is that Jonah is an antihero who is an example of what should not be done. The authors do not believe that Jesus invented universalism, but instead that "Jonah is in the same universalistic tradition as the first chapter of Genesis, which proclaims that all people are created in the divine image." They argue against the claim that Judaism is xenophobic as they believe universalism existed in the Tanakh in the sense of viewing the judgment being passed by the God of Israel who is the God of the world, and on the basis of ethics rather than ethnicity. Christian universalism, when defined as relating to the idea of the God of Israel being seen as all of creation's one Lord, has been argued to be foundational for the development of Christianity. Paul Johnson describes a universalism of Jesus where all of humanity is loved and where he is everyone's neighbor.

John Barton argues that there is a tension within Christianity between universalism and particularism, as characterized by how God is both the universal creator of all people, yet also chose Israel, a particular people.

Beliefs

In his Plain Guide to Universalism, Christian ultra-universalist Thomas Whittemore writes, "The sentiment by which Universalists are distinguished, is this that: at last every individual of the human race shall become holy and happy. This does not comprise the whole of their faith, but, merely that feature of it which is peculiar to them and by which they are distinguished from the rest of the world."

The remaining central beliefs of Christian universalism are compatible with Christianity in general:

In 1899, the Universalist General Convention, later called the Universalist Church of America, adopted the Five Principles: the belief in God, belief in Jesus Christ, the immortality of the human soul, that sinful actions have consequence, and universal reconciliation.

Views on hell

Christian universalists disagree on whether hell exists. However, they do agree that if it does exist, the punishment there is corrective, remedial and does not last forever.

Purgatorial hell and patristic universalism

Purgatorial universalism was the belief of some of the early Church Fathers, especially Greek-speaking ones such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Gregory of Nyssa. It asserts that the unsaved will undergo hell but that hell is remedial (neither everlasting nor purely retributive) according to key scriptures and that after purification or conversion all will enter heaven.

Fourth-century Christian theologian and bishop Diodorus of Tarsus wrote: "For the wicked there are punishments, not perpetual, however, lest the immortality prepared for them should be a disadvantage, but they are to be purified for a brief period according to the amount of malice in their works. They shall therefore suffer punishment for a short space, but immortal blessedness having no end awaits them... the penalties to be inflicted for their many and grave sins are very far surpassed by the magnitude of the mercy to be shown to them."

Ilaria Ramelli, a scholar of the early Patristic history writes, "In the minds of some, universal salvation is a heretical idea that was imported into Christianity from pagan philosophies by Origen" (c. 185–253/54). Ramelli argues that this view is mistaken and that Christian theologians were the first people to proclaim that all will be saved and that their reasons for doing so were rooted in their faith in Christ.

Eastern Orthodox theologian David Bentley Hart makes the case on the basis of the earliest Christian writings, theological tradition, scripture, and logic, that if God is the good creator of all, he is the savior of all, without fail. In his book, That All Shall Be Saved, he calls opponents of the school, who believe that some or all people are condemned to eternal damnation, "infernalists". However, it has been argued that this term is pejorative.

Eternal hell in Christian history

Christian universalists assert that the doctrine of eternal Hell was not a part of Christ's teachings nor even the early church, and that it was added in.[self-published source?] According to Christian annihilationist theologian Edward Beecher, in the first four centuries there were six main theological schools, and only one of them advocated the idea of eternal hell, while another believed in the absolute annihilation of the wicked.

Origins of the idea of hell as eternal

Christian universalists point towards mistranslations of the Greek word αιών (aion – an epoch of time), as giving rise to the idea of eternal hell. Dr. Ken Vincent writes "When it (aion) was translated into Latin Vulgate, aion became aeternam which means 'eternal'." He also states that the first written record of the idea of an eternal hell comes from Tertullian, who wrote in Latin. However, the first person to explicitly advocate for an eternal hell had actually been Greek-writing Tatian, not Tertullian.

The second major source of the idea of hell as eternal was the 4th-century theologian Augustine. According to author Steve Gregg, it was Tertullian's writings, plus Augustine's views and writings on eternal hell, which "overwhelmed" the other views of a temporary hell. First Augustine's views of hell were accepted in the early Latin Church, up until the Reformation Augustine's view of hell as eternal was not questioned.

Mistranslation of the Greek word aion

About the word aion as having connotations of "age" or "temporal", the 19th-century theologian Marvin Vincent wrote:

Aion, transliterated aeon, is a period of longer or shorter duration, having a beginning and an end, and complete in itself. Aristotle (peri ouranou, i. 9,15) says: "The period which includes the whole time of one's life is called the aeon of each one." Hence it often means the life of a man, as in Homer, where one's life (aion) is said to leave him or to consume away (Iliad v. 685; Odyssey v. 160). It is not, however, limited to human life; it signifies any period in the course of events, as the period or age before Christ; the period of the millennium; the mythological period before the beginnings of history.

The adjective aionios in like manner carries the idea of time. Neither the noun nor the adjective, in themselves, carry the sense of endless or everlasting. They may acquire that sense by their connotation, as, on the other hand, aidios, which means everlasting, has its meaning limited to a given point of time in Jude 6. Aionios means enduring through or pertaining to a period of time. Both the noun and the adjective are applied to limited periods.

Words which are habitually applied to things temporal or material cannot carry in themselves the sense of endlessness. Even when applied to God, we are not forced to render aionios everlasting. Of course the life of God is endless; but the question is whether, in describing God as aionios, it was intended to describe the duration of his being, or whether some different and larger idea was not contemplated.

More recently, universalist theologian David Bentley Hart has undertaken a study of the term, noting how aionios has a wide number of meaning: in addition to the traditional rendering of "eternal" and "age-lasting", it can also mean "of the Age to Come" or "having its source in Eternity", with Eternity intended not simply as something which never ends, but as the perfect, unchanging and always-existing trascendental reality which lies beyond the cosmos, which the Greeks called the "Aion" and the Christians identified with God.

For instance Hart's translation renders Matthew 25:46 as:

And these will go to the chastening of that Age, but the just to the life of that Age.

Arguments against the idea of eternal hell

Author Thomas Talbott states that if one believes in the idea of eternal hell or that some souls will be destroyed, one must either let go of the idea that it is God's wish and desire to save all beings, or accept the idea that God wants to, but will not "successfully accomplish his will and satisfy his own desire in this matter".

Author David Burnfield defends the postmortem view that God continues to evangelize to people even after they die (1 Chronicles 16:34; Isaiah 9:2; Romans 8:35–39; Ephesians 4:8–9; 1 Peter 3:18–20; 1 Peter 4:6).

History

According to the New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (1912), over the first five hundred years of Christian history there are records of at least six theological schools: four of these schools were Universalist (one each in Alexandria, Antioch, Caesarea, and Edessa–Nisibis), one taught conditional immortality (in Ephesus), and the last taught eternal Hell (in Carthage or Rome). However, the Encyclopedia also notes that most contemporary scholars would take issue with classifying these early schools as Universalist.[unreliable source?]

An important figure in early American Christian Universalism was George de Benneville, a French Huguenot preacher and physician who was imprisoned for advocating Universalism and later emigrated to Pennsylvania where he continued preaching on the subject. De Benneville was noted for his friendly and respectful relationship with Native Americans and his pluralistic and multicultural view of spiritual truth which was well ahead of his time. One of his most significant accomplishments was helping to produce the Sauer Bible, the first German language Bible printed in America. In this Bible version, passages teaching universal reconciliation were marked in boldface.

Other significant early modern Christian universalist leaders include Elhanan Winchester, a Baptist preacher who wrote several books promoting the universal salvation of all souls after a period in Purgatory, who founded the first Universalist church in Philadelphia, and founded a church that ministered to enslaved African Americans in South Carolina; Hosea Ballou, a Christian ultra-universalist preacher and writer in New England, his relative Adin Ballou, a Christian universal restorationist who founded the first Christian socialist community in America and Hannah Whitall Smith, a writer and evangelist from a Quaker background who was active in the Holiness movement as well as the women's suffrage and temperance movements.

In 1803, to fulfill State requirements on their churches' legal status, the Universalist General Convention adopted the Winchester Profession. So long as one believed in an all-powerful and all-loving God who could and would save all of humankind, that was enough to be a universalist.

These vague guidelines led to the Restorationist Controversy, a de facto schism within the convention from the 1810s to 1840s. Ultra-universalists believed everyone experienced immediate salvation after death. However, the majority of Christian universalists, the universal restorationists believed that finite postmortem punishment exists after death with verses such as 1 Peter 3:18–20. As a result, the first Christian Universal Restorationist denomination, the Massachusetts Association of Universal Restorationists (MAUR) was formed in 1831, lasting until around 1841. Since then, universal restorationism has remained the majority belief among Christian universalists across centuries.

The Unity School of Christianity, founded in 1889 by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, has taught some Universalist beliefs such as God's total goodness, the divine nature of human beings, and the rejection of the traditional Christian belief that God condemns people to Hell.

In the early 20th century, some Primitive Baptists in Appalachia started espousing Universalist ideas. By 1924, these churches branched off to form the Primitive Baptist Universalists. They are often known as "No Hellers" and believe that temporal punishment and separation from God during life is the only hell.

The logo of Universalist Church of America

The Universalist Church of America gradually declined in the early to mid 20th century and merged with the American Unitarian Association in 1961, creating the modern-day Unitarian Universalist Association, which does not officially subscribe to exclusively Christian theology. Christian universalism largely passed into obscurity for the next few decades with the end of the Universalist Church as a separate denomination. However, the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship remains as an organization for Christians from the Unitarian Universalist tradition and liberal Christians interested in Unitarianism and Universalism.

Some Christians from a Pentecostal background who were involved in the Latter Rain Movement of the 1940s and 1950s came to believe in the ideas of Christian universalism on their own, separately from the Universalist Church tradition. They emphasized the teachings of universal reconciliation and theosis. These ideas were spread primarily through newsletters and traveling evangelists from the 1950s to 1980s, and were not typically identified by the term "Universalism". The only significant organization representing these beliefs that emerged within the Charismatic tradition was the Home Missions Church, a loosely organized network of ministers and house churches founded in 1944.[citation needed]

In May 2007 the Christian Universalist Association was founded at the Universalist National Memorial Church. The founding board of directors included thirteen ministers from diverse denominational backgrounds such as Quaker and Eastern Orthodox as an ecumenical organization promoting a revival of Christian universalism.

Universal reconciliation and pre-modern Christianity

Yale Professor of Philosophy Keith DeRose points out that in the Christian Scriptures there are verses which point to universal reconciliation and verses which point to destruction or eternal punishment for some. If looking only to scripture, he argues that Universalism is not only based in scripture, but has a stronger scriptural backing than the position of destruction or eternal damnation. Like early Christians, he points to Purgatorial Hell, a temporary place of cleansing of sin that will be necessary for some as a way to reconcile these seeming differences.

Modern types

There are three general types of Christian universalism today – Evangelical Universalism, Charismatic Universalism, and Liberal Christian Universalism – which by themselves or in combination with one another describe the vast majority of currently existing and identifiable versions of Christian universalist belief and practice.

Evangelical Universalism

The type of Christian universalism that departs the least from orthodox or traditional Protestant Christian doctrine is Evangelical (Christian) Universalism, also called Biblical or Trinitarian Universalism. Evangelical Universalists hold to conservative positions on most theological or doctrinal issues except for the doctrine of hell, in which case they assert universal reconciliation instead of eternal torment. They tend to emphasize the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ for the sins of all humanity as the basis for their Universalism.

In 2006 a mainstream evangelical writer, revealed as Robin Parry in 2009, under the pseudonym of "Gregory MacDonald" (taken from the names, Gregory of Nyssa and George MacDonald) released a book, The Evangelical Universalist. In 2008 this inspired the creation of a forum, featuring "Gregory MacDonald" and Thomas Talbott, to discuss Evangelical Universalism and related topics. Evangelical Universalists derive a large part of their beliefs from Evangelicalism and Reformed theology. Many of them come from an Evangelical Christian background, but they may or may not identify with this movement and seek to remain with it.

Some Evangelical Universalists avoid using the word "Universalism" to describe their beliefs, perhaps because of the negative connotations of this word among conservative Christians. Alternative terms that are in use among Evangelical Universalists include the "Larger Hope" or "Blessed Hope" and the "Victorious Gospel".

Charismatic Universalism

Some Christians with a background in the Charismatic movement or Pentecostalism have developed a version of Universalism which could be called Charismatic (Christian) Universalism. Charismatic universalists usually do not call their theology "Universalism" but commonly refer to their specific beliefs by the terms "Reconciliation" (shorthand for universal reconciliation, the doctrine of apocatastasis) and "Sonship" (shorthand for "Manifest Sonship" which is a variant of the doctrine of theosis). The term "Feast of Tabernacles" is used by some Charismatic Universalists as a term for their post-Pentecostal spiritual tradition, reflecting a symbolic interpretation of this Jewish festival as an entrance into a fuller knowledge and relationship with God and understanding of God's plan for humanity.

Charismatic universalism is marked by its emphasis on theosis; the idea that the return of Christ is a body of perfected human beings who are the "Manifested Sons of God" instead of a literal return of the person of Jesus; the idea that these Sons will reign on the earth and transform all other human beings from sin to perfection during an age that is coming soon (a version of millennialism); and the absolute sovereignty of God, the nonexistence or severe limitation of human free will, and the inevitable triumph of God's plan of universal reconciliation.

Many Charismatic Universalists meet in house churches or do not belong to a church at all. Most of the evidence of Universalism existing as a school of thought within the Charismatic movement is found in a large number of internet-based ministries that are informally networked with one another.

Liberal Christian Universalism

Liberal Christian universalists include some members of mainline Protestant denominations, some people influenced by the New Age and New Thought movements, some people in the emerging church movement, some Unitarian Universalists who continue to follow Jesus as their primary spiritual teacher, and some Christians from other religious backgrounds.

Liberal Christian universalism emphasizes the all-inclusive love of God and tends to be more open to finding truth and value in non-Christian spiritual traditions compared to the attitude of other forms of Christian universalism, while remaining generally Christ-centered. In contrast to Evangelical Universalism, Liberal Christian universalism views the Bible as an imperfect human document containing divine revelations, is not necessarily Trinitarian, and often downplays or rejects blood atonement theology in its view of the crucifixion of Jesus. Some Liberal Christian universalists believe in mystical philosophies such as panentheism and process theology, Gnostic or New Age ideas such as the preexistence and reincarnation of the soul, and New Thought ideas such as the law of attraction.

The Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship is an organization for Liberal Christian universalists, especially those who belong to the Unitarian Universalist Association. The Unity Church is a liberal Christian denomination which teaches some Universalist beliefs.

The Liberal Catholic Church believes in Universal Salvation. Within its articles of faith it declares: "We believe that God is Love and Power and Truth and Light; that perfect justice rules the world; that all His sons shall one day reach His feet, however far they stray."

Hybrid types

Prior to his death in November 2023, former Pentecostal Bishop Carlton Pearson promoted his "Gospel of Inclusion" with his teachings and beliefs being a hybrid between Charismatic and Liberal Christian universalism. A minister in the liberal Christian denomination of the United Church of Christ, Pearson continued to believe in ideas and practices of Pentecostal or Charismatic forms of Christianity. Pearson incorporated New Age and New Thought teachings into his message. Pearson was declared a heretic by his Christian Pentecostal and Charismatic peers in 2004.

Brian McLaren is a Christian leader in the emerging church movement who is sympathetic to the idea of Universalism but does not embrace it.

A number of ministers and evangelists connected with Restoration Nation conferences are Universalists who draw from both the Evangelical and Charismatic traditions. One notable example is Robert Rutherford, a minister from Georgia (USA) who was a finalist on The Learning Channel's 2006 reality TV series The Messengers. Another example is Dick King, an independent Charismatic Baptist pastor in North Little Rock, Arkansas, whose church left the Southern Baptist Convention in 2004.

Modern proponents

The conversion of Bishop Carlton Pearson to a form of Universalism and his subsequent excommunication by the Joint College of African-American Pentecostal Bishops in 2004 caused Christian universalism to gain increased media attention because of Pearson's popularity and celebrity status.

Since 2007, the Christian Universalist Association has ordained more than 30 ministers in the United States and other countries who believe in Christian universalism.

In 2024, Pope Francis said that "What I am going to say is not a dogma of faith but my own personal view: I like to think of hell as empty; I hope it is." A proponent of the idea of universal salvation is also the Polish Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś, who in an interview on September 26, 2024, claimed that "[...] all people, regardless of which religion they profess, Or Whether They Profess None At All, are saved through the death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus".

Disagreements

There are many religious issues on which Christian universalists disagree with each other, depending on their theological background and denominational tradition. Some examples include:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Russell Streeter 1835, Familiar conversations: in which the salvation of all mankind is…, page 266: "We now come to those distinguished men, Murray and Winchester, who, as our opposers would have people believe, were the inventors and first preachers of Christian Universalism."
  2. ↑ The Christian repository: volume 9, page 218 Church of the United Brethren in Christ (1800–1889), 1829 "In a piece entitled Christian Universalism, in the Christian Intelligencer, volume 3d, page 4, he wrote the following: "The Editor," speaking of himself, "deems it a solemn obligation to protest against proceedings calculated to make an…"
  3. ↑ The journal of Unitarian Universalist history: volumes 26–28 Unitarian Universalist Historical Society, 1999 "The adoption of the name Christian Universalist can, nevertheless, be explained plausibly in the context of Dean's debate with Aesop."
  4. ↑ Hanson, John Wesley (2008) [Boston & Chicago: Universalist Publishing House, 1899], Universalism: The Prevailing Doctrine of the Christian Church During its First Five Hundred Years, Biblio bazaar, ISBN 978-0-55956315-7 – via Tentmaker
  5. ↑ Briscoe, Natalie (2023-05-02). "Happy May! Let's Celebrate Consolidation Day!". Unitarian Universalist Association. Archived from the original on 2023-09-25.
  6. 1 2 Dulles, Avery (1 May 2003). "The Population of Hell". First Things. Archived from the original on 19 November 2025. Retrieved 28 June 2026. He had never taught the doctrine known as universalism, namely that all will be saved. He asserted only that we may hope that all will ultimately come to salvation.
  7. ↑ González, Justo L. (7 December 2010). "27 A Shifting Landscape: The United States | The Independence Of The Thirteen Colonies". The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day. Zondervan. p. 320. ISBN 978-0061855894. Universalism—that is, the doctrine that in the end all will be saved—was introduced in the colonies by British Methodists shortly before the push for independence.
  8. ↑ Scott, Jessica (2024). "On the Practical Implications of Universalism and its Relation to Suffering". The Expository Times. 135 (9): 366–376. doi:10.1177/00145246241251575. Archived from the original on 17 May 2026. The doctrine of universalism, which asserts that all will find salvation in the life to come...
  9. ↑ Websters New Collegiate Dictionary. p. 930. U'ni-ver'sal-ism... The doctrine that all men will eventually be saved.
  10. ↑ Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary. 1828. p. 1641. Universalism, n. In theology, the doctrine or belief that all men will be saved or made happy in a future life. ... Universalist, n. One who holds the doctrine that all men will be saved.
  11. ↑ George, Nathan Dow (1874). Universalism not of the Bible: being an examination of more than one hundred texts of Scriptures, in controversy between Evangelical Christians and Universalists, comprising a refutation of Universalist theology, and an exposure of the sophistical arguments and other means by which it is propagated; with a general and Scripture index (2d ed., rev. ed.). New York, Nelson and Phillips; Cincinnati, Hitchcock & Walden. p. 23. LCCN 35031611. Archived from the original on 29 June 2026. Retrieved 28 June 2026. ...Universal-ism, that is, the salvation of all men in the resurrection state.
  12. 1 2 Webster, Noah (1880). A common-school dictionary of the English language, explanatory, pronouncing, and synonymous : with an appendix containing various useful tables. New York : Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor, & Co. p. 317. [Universalism], n. Belief that all men will be saved. [Universalist], n. An ad-herent to Universalism." and defines Universalist as "An adherent to Universalism.
  13. ↑ Gaustad, Edwin Scott; Schmidt, Leigh Eric (6 July 2004). "Chapter 7 Freedom And Revival | Theology In New England". The Religious History of America: The Heart of the American Story from Colonial Times to Today. HarperOne. p. 157. ISBN 0060630566. Universalism, which proclaimed the 'Salvation of All Men' to be 'the Grand Thing aimed at in the Scheme of God.'
  14. ↑ Walraven, James W. (9 March 2020). Will God Save Everyone? Christian Universalism, Hell, Heaven, and the Scriptures. Redemption Press. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. [Christian universalism] claims all created beings will ultimately be saved through Jesus Christ
  15. ↑ Universalism And The Universalist Church (1915). Kessinger Publishing. 2009. ISBN 9781104518639. Adams explores the theological and philosophical underpinnings of Universalism, which posits that all souls will ultimately be saved, and how these beliefs influenced the church's social and political activism.
  16. ↑ Soukhanov, Anne H.; Rooney, Kathy; Carney, Faye; Jellis, Susan; Clarke, Patricia; Yates, Sarah; Allen, Robert; Costello, Robert B.; Kirkpatrick, Betty, eds. (1999). Encarta World English Dictionary. 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010: St. Martin's Press New York. Microsoft Encarta. p. 1943. ISBN 0-312-22222-X. u•ni•ver•sal•ism ... 1. Comprehensive Range a comprehensive range of knowledge, inter-ests, or activities 2. Universal Feature a universal characteristic or feature ─u•ni•ver•sal•ist n. ─u•ni•ver•sal•is•tic ... adj. U•ni•ver•sal•ism n. the doctrine of salvation for all souls ─U•ni•ver•sal•ist n.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  17. ↑ Jennings, Ken (13 June 2023). "Welcoming Our New Insect Overlords | The Null Revival". 100 Places to See After You Die: A Travel Guide to the Afterlife. Manufactured in the United States of America (First Scribner hardcover June 2023 ed.). 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020. p. 126. ISBN 9781501131585. LCCN 2022037903. Archived from the original on 30 June 2026. Retrieved 25 May 2026. In Christianity, 'universalism' is the belief that God will save all souls─in other words, that everyone ultimately goes to heaven.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  18. ↑ "What is Universalism? Is it Compatible with the Christian Faith?". Youtube. Christianity.com. 21 March 2019. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2026. Universalism is the belief that ultimately everybody will be saved.
  19. ↑ NIV, Quest Study Bible: The Only Q and A Study Bible. In response to Romans 5:18-19. In response to 1 John 2:2. Zondervan. 27 August 2019. If everyone died because of Adam's sinfulness, is everyone saved because of Christ's sinlessness? (5:18–19) From these verses some have erroneously proposed a teaching called universalism—the idea that everyone will ultimately be saved." "If Jesus died for the whole world, will everyone go to heaven? (2:2) Jesus is the personal Savior of each believer, but he is the general Savior of humankind. Forgiveness through Christ's atoning sacrifice is offered to all, but it must be received by faith. This verse does not teach universalism (that all people ultimately will be saved); it teaches that God is an impartial God.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  20. ↑ Rooney, James Dominic (18 October 2022). "The Incoherencies of Hard Universalism". Church Life Journal. Archived from the original on 18 October 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2026. ...the belief that everyone will be saved ("universalism") ... Universalists think that all will be saved.
  21. ↑ Johnson, Darrell W. "Chapter 30 The Time Is Near─ Always Revelation 1:1-8 and 22:6-21". Discipleship On The Edge: An Expository Journey Through the Book of Revelation. In response to Revelation 22:13. pp. 385–386. ASIN 157383212X. [Jesus Christ] is finally irresistible. He is inescapable. Alpha and Omega, first and last, beginning and end, arche and telos. I am not here arguing for universalism—that in the end everyone gets saved. I am here arguing for the great unseen reality of the present. I do not see how anyone can finally resist him.
  22. ↑ Recker, Brian (30 September 2025). "Chapter 7: All in All". Hell Bent: How the Fear of Hell Holds Christians Back from a Spirituality of Love. Printed in the United States of America. (1st Printing ed.). Tarcher, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. p. 101. ISBN 9780593853191. Universalism is the belief that every single person will ul-timately be reconciled to God.
  23. 1 2 Johnson, Adam J.; Gundry, Stanley N. (2019). Five Views on the Extent of the Atonement. Zondervan. pp. 156, 161, 197–200. ISBN 978-0-310-52771-8. [Dr. Fred Sanders defined universalism as]... the actual salvation of all people... the actual salvation of all persons. "[Tom Greggs defined Christian universalism as] the view that the extent of the atonement is such that it is not only universally offered to all human beings but also universally effective for all human beings.
  24. ↑ Nelson, Thomas. "Access to God | A Personal Encounter". In Patterson, Dorothy Kelley; Kelley, Rhonda (eds.). NIV, The Woman's Study Bible. Commentary for Romans 11:25-36. p. 4561. The phrase 'all Israel' includes 'the full number of the Gentiles' (v. 25). A few critical scholars interpret 'all Israel' to include the idea that all people ultimately will experience salvation, which is universalism.
  25. ↑ Chastain, Blake (2024). Exvangelical and Beyond: How American Christianity went Radical and the Movement that's Fighting Back (1st Printing ed.). United States of America: Tarcherperigee, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-593-71707-3. OCLC 1437791126. Archived from the original on 2 May 2026. Retrieved 2 May 2026. Christian universalism, a theological concept which holds that all people will be saved─not just evan-gelicals, not just Christians, but everyone.
  26. ↑ "What Is Universal Salvation: With Michael McClymond". [Quote from Michael McClymond, Timestamp 6:36 to 7:51]. 11 April 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2026 – via YouTube. Sure. Well, universally if you look up the dictionary definition you'll find that the word has different meanings in different contexts, but in the sphere of Christian theology universalism could be just simply defined as the idea that eventually all human beings will find salvation, will be eternally with God in Heaven. And you could you could actually expand it a little bit to say all rational beings, moral beings that would include the fallen angels being saved as well. And once you, you know, you you define universalism that way it's ultimately a doctrine about final outcomes{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  27. ↑ McClymond, Michael (7 December 2022). "12 Questions for the Would-Be Universalist". The Gospel Coalition. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2026. universalism—the belief that all humans will finally be saved into God's blissful presence.
  28. ↑ Kurian, George Thomas (2005). The Testament Christian Dictionary: The Authoritative Compendium of Christian Terms. Random House Value. p. 777. ISBN 978-0-517-22614-8. Universalism 1. Belief that all human beings will eventually be saved. 2. Religious system empha-sizing the universal Fatherhood of God and uni-versal salvation*.
  29. ↑ Wax, Trevin (20 November 2007). "What is Inclusivism and Why Does It Matter?". The Gospel Coalition. Archived from the original on 11 November 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2019. ...universalism (the belief that all human beings will be saved)...
  30. ↑ Riley, Jennifer (18 April 2011). "Many Born-Again Christians Hold Universalist Views, Barna Finds". The Christian Post. Archived from the original on 25 August 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2026. Barna defined universalism as the belief that all human beings will eventually be saved after death.
  31. ↑ Mish, Frederick C.; Morse, John M.; Novak, Madeline L.; Copeland, Robert D.; Lowe, James G.; Pease, Roger W. Jr.; Perrault, Stephen J.; Belanger, Michael G.; Cappellano, Paul F., eds. (1996). Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Made in the United States of America (Tenth ed.). Merriam-Webster. p. 1289. ISBN 0-87779-708-0. Archived from the original on 14 November 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2026. uni•ver•sal•ism ... n(1805) 1 often cap a : a theo-logical doctrine that all human beings will eventually be saved b : the principles and practices of a liberal Christian denomination founded in the 18th century orig. to uphold belief in universal salvation and now united with Unitarianism 2: something that is universal in scope 3 : the state of being universal : Universality ─ uni•ver•sal•ist ... n or adj, often cap
  32. ↑ Frame, John. Apologetics: A Justification of Christian Belief (PDF). P&R Publishing. p. 88. ...universalism, the doctrine that all human beings will be saved.
  33. ↑ Barber, Katherine; Fitzgerald, Heather; Howell, Tom; Pontisso, Robert (2008). Colour Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English. 70 Wynford Drive, Don Mills, Ontario M3C 1J9: Oxford University Press. p. 932. ISBN 978-0-19-542843-8. Retrieved 28 April 2026. universalist n. 1 a person advocating loyalty to others without regard to national allegiance. 2 Theology a person who believes that all mankind will eventually be saved. □ universalism n. universalistic adj. [Say UNIVERSAL ist, universal ISS tick]{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  34. ↑ Bisset, Alex; Barber, Katherine, eds. (2000). Paperback Oxford Canadian Dictionary (1st ed.). 70 Wynford Drive, Don Mills, Ontario M3C 1J9: Oxford University Press. p. 1154. ISBN 0-19-542068-3. Retrieved 20 April 2026. universalist n. 1 a person who is learned in many subjects or who has a wide range of interests etc. 2 a person advocating loyalty to and concern for others without regard to national allegiance. 3 Theol. a per-son who believes that all mankind will eventually be saved. 4 a member of an organized body of Christians who believe this. □ universalism n. universalistic adj.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  35. ↑ Barber, Katherine; Fitzgerald, Heather; Howell, Tom; Pontisso, Robert, eds. (2006). The Paperback Oxford Canadian Dictionary (2nd ed.). 8 Sampson Mews, Suite 204, Don Mills, Ontario M3C 0H5, Canada: Oxford University Press. p. 1136. ISBN 978-0-19-542439-3. Retrieved 20 April 2026. universalist n. 1 a person who is learned in many subjects or who has a wide range of interests etc. 2 a person advocating loyalty to and concern for others without regard to national allegiance. 3 Theol. a person who believes that all mankind will be saved. 4 a member of an organized body of Christians who believe this. □ universalism n. universalistic adj.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  36. ↑ Barber, Katherine; Fitzgerald, Heather; Howell, Tom; Pontisso, Robert (2005). The Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English. Oxford University Press. p. 932. ISBN 978-0-19-542283-2. Retrieved 28 April 2026. a person who believes that all mankind will be saved
  37. ↑ Webster's New Compact Format Dictionary. Exclusively distributed by POP-M Co., a division of Supermarketing Dist. Inc. Ivyland, Pa, 18974. Webster's Dictionary For Everyday Use. ... 1958 by the Literary Press ... 1981 by Ottenheimer Publishers, Inc. Printed in the United States of America (New Revised Edition Of Worldwide Bestseller (1985 Edition) ed.). Ottenheimer Publishers, Inc., 300 Reisters-town Road, Baltimore, Md. 21208.: Book Essentials Publications Larchmont, New York 10538. p. 409.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  38. 1 2 Church, Forrest (12 October 2010). "Chapter 18: Universalism for the Twenty-first Century". The Cathedral of the World: A Universalist Theology. 25 Beacon Street Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press. p. 121. ISBN 978-0-8070-7323-0. [Christian Universalism]...the radical notion that all of God's children go to heaven. ...an inclusive faith, rejecting the divisive notion that people fit into two separate categories: sheep and goats, the saved and damned.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  39. ↑ Hall, Phil. "Universalism & C.S. Lewis: A Very Christian Mystery". Christian Today. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2026. Universalism means, that all good people go to heaven. In some cases it is not just the good people, but everyone.
  40. ↑ Harwood, Adam (19 October 2022). Christian Theology: Biblical, Historical, and Systematic. Baker Publishing Group. Archived from the original on 28 June 2026. Retrieved 28 June 2026. ...universalism, the view that God will eventually save all sinners.
  41. 1 2 "Dangers of Universalism with Dr. Michael McClymond". Quotes from Dr. Michael McClymond. Renewal Ministries. 9 February 2023. Archived from the original on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2026 – via YouTube. [Timestamp 00:15-00:42] "Well, simply put, Christian universalism is the idea that everyone finally will be saved. And there's some universalists who think that universalism includes not only human beings, but even fallen angels as well. So that would mean, if you take that seriously, Satan and demons as long as all as well as all human beings will be saved as too." ... [Timestamp: 6:37-6:59] "...a man named Karl Barth, a Swiss protestant theologian, proposed the idea of universal election, that everyone is chosen for salvation and he hedged a little bit, Karl Barth said that, that doesn't mean that everyone is finally saved, but instead that that that they're chosen for salvation and so that was sometimes became known as hopeful universalism"{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  42. ↑ Hanson, John Wesley (1899). "XVIII. Additional Authorities". Universalism, the prevailing doctrine of the Christian church during its first five hundred years; with authorities and extracts. United States. p. 258. ISBN 9780790518220. LCCN 00000494. OCLC 1158078665. OL 7557754W. Archived from the original on 3 December 2009. Retrieved 15 April 2026 – via Library of Congress and Internet Archive. Stephan Bar-sudaili, Abbot of Edessa, in Mesopotamia, at the end of the Fifth Century, taught Universalism, — the termination of all punishments in the future world, and their purifying character. The fallen angels are to receive mercy, and all things are to be restored, so that God may be all in all. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  43. 1 2 "What Is Universalism | Michael McClymond". Henry Center. 12 April 2013. Archived from the original on 18 May 2025. Retrieved 14 June 2026 – via YouTube. [Timestamp 3:42-3:57] "...let me just define some key terms for the sake of presentation. First of all universalism, simply the teaching that all human beings, and perhaps you might say angels too, we think of them as intelligent, volitional beings, will finally attain the salvation with God in Heaven." [Timestamp 5:02-5:53] "...the whole notion of the larger hope or what sometimes referred to as Christian inclusivism. This is the notion that there will be more people in heaven than many would expect, traditionally think. And I draw a rather clear distinction between universalism and the various forms of Christian inclusivism. And the reason for that is I think that universalism a much strong claim. Many of the universalists ...would say that there's a possibility for people to respond to Christ without actually hearing the name of Christ. Other's might point to some post-mortem opportunity to respond to Christ. But in any case, what inclusivists are often concerned about is expanding the realm within which choice can be made, universalists is in effect saying everyone will make the same choice ultimately."
  44. ↑ The Devil's Best Trick. ...the brink of universalism, suggesting that in time even Satan might be redeemed, because the limitless nature of God's mercy seemed to call for the ultimate salvation of all intelligent beings.
  45. ↑ Helyer, Larry R.; Wagner, Richard (17 February 2026). "Part 3: Taking a Grand Tour of the Book of Revelation Chapter 13: Coming of the Kingdom (19:1-20:15)". In Kucaj, Shannon; Levesque, Paul; Sparrow, Alicia; Connolly, Jennifer; Mukundan, Murari; Murthy, Bharaneedharan (eds.). The Book of Revelation for Dummies (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 276–277. ISBN 978-1-394-37082-5. A more radical solution to what some see as the "problem of hell" affirms that God eventually pardons and receives virtually everyone into fellowship with himself ─ except, perhaps, for the devil and his angels! This position is often labeled as universalism.
  46. 1 2 "Eric Reitan / Limited Salvation and the Problem of Heavenly Grief". Quotes by Eric Reitan. Wipf and Stock. Archived from the original on 30 June 2026. Retrieved 30 June 2026 – via YouTube. [Timestamp 22:45 to 24:03] "...annihilationism and the traditional doctrine of hell view are both doctrines of limited salvation as I as I put it, where salvation does not extend to all. And so there are those who don't enjoy perfect blessedness. And so what's the state of that? Well maybe they're eternally damned maybe they are annihilated? Either way they're eternally lost. Now of course the alternative to either of those views is universalism, and that's the view that all eventually come to experience perfect blessedness. May not be immediate. There may be a finite hell, right, of those who reject God at the end of this life are or who are unrepentant to their sins at the end of this life may not be ready for, you know, won't be ready for that community, but eventually all will come to repentance, right? The idea the universalists is that eventually, after a finite hell, everyone is offered into a perfect blessedness. " [Timestamp 32:09-32:27] "...Universalists agree that all humans are ultimately saved, right? But they don't necessarily agree on whether that extends to non-human animals? Does it extend to fallen angels, right?"{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  47. ↑ Houdmann, Shea Michael (11 November 2025). "Section 7 Questions About Hell". The 100 Most Asked Questions about Heaven, Hell, and the Afterlife. Printed in United States of America. BethanyHouse, a division of Baker Publishing Group. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-7642-4579-4. Archived from the original on 29 June 2026. One alternative theory is universalism, which says that everyone will eventually make it to heaven.
  48. ↑ Miles, Tim R. "Towards Universalism" (PDF). Quaker Universalist Group. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2026. There is a technical theological sense in which universalism is defined as 'the doctrine of universal salvation or redemption' (O.E.D.), a universalist being 'one who believes or maintains the doctrine that redemption or election is extended to the whole of mankind'.
  49. ↑ MacDonald, Gregory (1 January 2011). "1 Introduction: Between Heresy and Dogma". All Shall be Well: Explorations in Universal Salvation and Christian Theology, from Origen to Moltmann. 199 W. 8th Avenue, Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401: Cascade Books, an imprint of James Clarke & Co Ltd. pp. 1–26. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1cg4m9c. ISBN 9781606086858. JSTOR j.ctt1cg4m9c. Retrieved 25 April 2026. At the most simple level Christian universalism is the belief that God will (or, in the case of 'hopeful universalism,' might) redeem all people through the saving work of Christ.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  50. ↑ WOCA (23 October 2019). "David Bentley Hart Interview - That All Shall Be Saved". Paddock Mall, Ocala, Florida. Archived from the original on 31 July 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2026 – via YouTube. [Timestamp 1:45 to 2:03] Well well definitely the latter yeah I mean the tradition of Christian universalism which is just that a that a everything and everyone ultimately enters into redeemed kingdom of God goes back to the earlier centuries of the church...
  51. ↑ "Making the Case for Universalism - with Fr. Aidan Kimel". Youtube. 16 July 2024. Retrieved 28 June 2026. [Timestamp 0:35 to 1:04] "the hope, the confession, that in the kingdom of God... in the eschaton, in the cosmic transfiguration of the cosmos, all human beings will be reconciled to God in and through Jesus Christ."
  52. ↑ Neufeldt, Victoria; Guralnik, David B.; Goldman, Jonathan; Hoolihan, Christopher T.; Kalnins, Andra I.; Kent, Ruth Kimball; Layman, Thomas; Livensparger, Clark C.; Vianna, Fernando de Mello, eds. (1988). Webster's New World Dictionary of American English Third College Edition. Webster's New World Dictionaries A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Gulf + Western Building One Gulf + Western Plaza New York, New York 10024. Dictionary Editorial Offices: New World Dictionaries, 850 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44114. Distributed By Prentice Hall Trade. Database design and creation by Lexi-Comp, Inc., Hudson, Ohio. Manufactured in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data PE1628.W5633 1988 88-1712. Simon & Schuster Inc. p. 1460. ISBN 0-13-947169-3. Retrieved 30 June 2026. u|ni•ver•sal•ism ... n. 1 Universality 2 [U-] the theological doctrine that all souls will eventually find salvation in the grace of God u|ni•ver•sal•ist (-ist) n. 1 a person characterized by universality, as of interests or activities ☆2 [U-] a member of a former U.S. Prot-estant denomination (founded c. 1789), now merged with the Unitar-ians ─adj. 1 marked by universality ☆2 [U-] of Universalism or Universalists ─u'|ni•ver'sal•is'tic adj.
  53. 1 2 "Understanding Evangelical Universalism: Dr. Robin Parry". Quotes from Robin Parry. 17 March 2025. Archived from the original on 30 June 2026. Retrieved 1 June 2026 – via YouTube. [Timestamp 10:21-10:53] "Universalism, in a nutshell, is the idea that, in the end, God will bring about his purposes for all creation and for us that is involves our salvation that bring involves us God bringing us to the destiny for which he created us. And and in fact, most Christians, I argue, are universalists about most aspects of the story. They believe that God created everything that isn't God, right? And that's a kind of universalism. It excludes nothing." [Timestamp 16:30-16:59] "So it's not 'oh, doesn't matter what you do, cause we're all saved anyways, right? It's all. So who cares about sin, right? Who cares about whether you believe in Jesus? Cause all roads lead to God.' I mean that's not evangelical universalism. Or neither is it any version of Christian universalism that's existed historically. It's a very recent sort of mangled up liberal version of universalism. And it's not an actual version historically."{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  54. ↑ Ferwerda, Julie (18 June 2011). "Setting the Stage... | Who Am I to Challenge?". In Ferwerda, Stephen (ed.). Raising Hell: Christianity's Most Controversial Doctrine Put Under Fire. Vagabond Group. p. 5. ISBN 978-0984357826. ...has been referred to as: Universal Reconciliation or Restoration, Universal Salvation, the Blessed Hope, Christian Universalism, Irresistible Grace, and a host of other names. ... Universal Reconciliation is the belief that all people for all time will eventually be reconciled to God—that this lifetime is not the "only chance" to be saved—but that there is only one way to God, through Jesus Christ.
  55. 1 2 3 4 5 Hughes, Peter (2002-02-19). "The Restorationist Controversy". Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography. Archived from the original on 2014-10-02.
  56. ↑ Kwon, Lillian (15 March 2011). "Rob Bell Denies Being a Universalist". The Christian Post. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2026. a universalist – or believing that all people will be saved and enter heaven regardless of whether they accepted Jesus
  57. ↑ Webster's New Dictionary and Thesaurus Concise Edition. Printed in the U.S.A. Geddes & Grosset Ltd., New Lanark, Scotland 1990: Published by Russell, Geddes & Grosset. p. 598. ISBN 1-85534-039-9. universalism, something that is universal in scope; the state of being universal; Universalism, (theology) the doc-trine or belief of universal salvation, or the ultimate sal-vation of all mankind, now united with Unitarianism; Uni-ver'salist, a believer in Universalism{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  58. ↑ Sykes, J. B., ed. (1982). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English. BASED ON The Oxford English Dictionary And Its Supplements. Oxford At The Clarendon Press. Published in the United States. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: 423 PE1625. Printed in Great Britain at the University Press, Oxford by David Stanford Printer to the University. Mr A. R. Babcock of Summit, New Jersey; Mr J. W. Gardner of Bath; Dr I. Grafe of London; Mr V. Petti of Stockholm; and Mr N. Yamagishi of Hirakata City, Japan (Seventh ed.). Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford OX2 6DP: Oxford University Press. p. 1174. ISBN 0-19-861131-5. [universalist] n. one who holds, esp. member of an organized body of Christians who hold, that all mankind will eventually be saved; hence or cogn.~ISM (3) n.,{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  59. ↑ Bisset, Alex; Barber, Katherine, eds. (2004). Paperback Oxford Canadian Dictionary. Published in Canada. Reprint. Originally published 2000, reissued 2004. National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication: PE3235.C37 2004 423 C2004-902027-7. Cover Design: Brett J. Miller. 70 Wynford Drive, Don Mills, Ontario M3C 1J9: Oxford University Press. p. 1154. ISBN 0-19-542068-3. universalist n. 1 a person who is learned in many subjects or who has a wide range of interests etc. 2 a person advocating loyalty to and concern for others without regard to national allegiance. 3 Theol. a per-son who believes that all mankind will eventually be saved. 4. a member of an organized body of Christians who believe this. □ universalism n. universalistic adj.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  60. ↑ Williams, Edwin B.; Stavrou, Christopher; DiBlasi, Sebastiano; Iannucci, James E.; Melzi, Robert C.; Steiner, Roger J.; Traupman, John C.; Glanze, Walter D., eds. (1979). The Scribner-Bantam English Dictionary. Printed simultaneously in the United States and Canada. Bantam Books, Inc. ISBN 0-553-13217-2. Retrieved 30 June 2026. U'ni•ver'sal•ist n member of a Christian denomination (merged in 1961 with the Unitarian denomination) that be-lieves in the final salvation of all mankind || also adj || U'ni•ver'sal-ism n Alt URL
  61. ↑ McClymond, Michael (2 October 2019). "David Bentley Hart's Lonely, Last Stand for Christian Universalism". The Gospel Coalition. Archived from the original on 7 October 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2026. ...hopeful universalism... a view ... that remains open to salvation for all but asserts that the matter can't be definitely affirmed or known in advance.
  62. ↑ Jackson, Samuel Macauley; Foster, Frank Hugh; Chambers, Talbot Wilson (1891). The concise dictionary of religious knowledge and gazetteer. New York, The Christian literature co. Retrieved 28 June 2026. Universalists. This Christian sect, believ-ing in the reconciliation of all souls to God through the grace that is revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ, is, as to its organization, com-paratively modern. The same may also be said of its name. Believers in its distinctive doctrine in the early Greek branch of the church had at first no distinctive appelation. Later they were called 'Origenists' and subsequently they were known as 'The Merciful Doctors'
  63. ↑ Thayer, Thomas Baldwin (1879). The American Cyclopædia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge. Vol. 16. New York D. Appleton. p. 207. Retrieved 25 April 2026. Universalists, a religious denomination, holding the final destruction of evil, and the restoration of all souls through Jesus Christ. Alt URL
  64. ↑ "universalism". Merriam-Webster. Archived from the original on 23 April 2009. Retrieved 28 June 2026. often Universalism a : a theological doctrine that all human beings will eventually be saved ... b : the principles and practices of a liberal Christian denomination founded in the 18th century originally to uphold belief in universal salvation and now united with Unitarianism
  65. ↑ Brandon, Daniel B.; Brewster, Emily A.; Connor, Christopher Chapin; Despres, Joanne M.; Guenter, Joshua S.; Narmontas, Joan I.; Rader, James L.; Bonikowski, Heather Guerrero; Carr, Serenity H., eds. (18 November 2025). Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 1st Printing. Printed in India. (Twelfth ed.). Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Inc. p. 1720. ISBN 978-0-87779-406-6. universalism ... n 1 often Universalism a : a theolog-ical doctrine that all human beings will eventually be saved b : the principles and practices of a liberal Christian denomination founded in the 18th century orig. to uphold belief in universal salvation and now united with Unitarian-ism 2 : one that is universal in scope 3 : the state of being universal : Univer-sality ─ universalist ... often Universalist n or adn (1722)
  66. ↑ Webster's New Encyclopedic Dictionary. Distributed by Workman Publishing Company, 708 Broadway, New York, New York 10003. Printed and Bound in the United States of America. (Third Printing, 1994 ed.). 151 West 19th Street, New York, New York 10011: Published by Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. p. 1138. ISBN 0-9637056-0-1. Archived from the original on 30 June 2026. Retrieved 30 June 2026. uni•ver•sal•ism ... n, often cap 1 : a theological doctrine that all people will eventually be saved 2 : the principles and practices of a liberal Christian denomination founded in the 18th century to uphold belief in universal salvation and now united with Unitarianism ─ uni•ver•sal•ist ... n or adj, often cap{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  67. ↑ Mish, Frederick C.; Gilman, E. Ward; Lowe, James G.; McHenry, Robert D.; Pease, Roger W. Jr.; Bollard, John K.; Collier, Julie A.; Copeland, Robert D.; Doherty, Kathleen M., eds. (1991). Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. Made in the United States of America. Thomas Allen & Son Limited, 250 Steelcase Road East, Markham, Ontario L3R 2S3.: Merriam-Webster Inc. p. 1291. ISBN 0-919028-66-7. Retrieved 30 June 2026. uni•ver•sal•ism ... n (1805) 1 often cap a : a theo-logical doctrine that all men will eventually be saved b : the princi-ples and practices of a liberal Christian denomination founded in the 18th century orig. to uphold belief in universal salvation and now united with Unitarianism 2 : something that is universal in scope 3 : the state of being universal : Universality ─ uni•ver•sal•ist ... n or adj, often cap{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  68. ↑ Wright, N.T. "Universalism and the World-Wide Community" (PDF). Gospel Studies.org.uk. pp. 199–200. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 June 2026. Retrieved 28 June 2026. UNIVERSALISM proper, the doctrine that though hell may exist, it will at the last be untenanted-that God's will to save all men indi-vidually will finally triumph-that, inter alia, Judas will be saved though Jesus did not think he would be..."
  69. ↑ The Encyclopedia Americana. Vol. 27. New York, The Encyclopedia Americana Corp. 1922–1924. pp. 569–570. ISBN 978-1236784421. LCCN 22001305. OCLC 2926217. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2026 – via Library of Congress and Internet Archive. Universalism. Universalism is a be-lief in the final triumph of good over evil in the universe. As applied to the human economy, it is a belief that God is pledged by His good-ness and omnipotence to put an end to sin and ultimately to save the whole family of mankind. Or, as is more commonly stated in later years, Universalism is the doctrine that the destiny of mankind is progress onward and upward forever; that always before man is a chance to develop and that always in man is a power to unfold, always a time and a place in which to grow and always in man a power to respond to the opportunity." "It was at this time also that there arose a group who called themselves Restorationists. Their particular view was that through the sacrifice of Jesus all men would be restored to a state of original innocence. Others said man would receive all punishment in this life, but the larger number affirmed that man would enter the next life with the character he had on leaving this and that the cleansing and purifying process would continue there as here, until man would con-form to the laws of God and that no punish-ment would be everlasting. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) Alt URL
  70. ↑ Strobel, Lee Patrick (14 September 2021). "Chapter 8: Escape from Hell". The Case for Heaven: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for Life After Death. Zondervan Books. pp. 171–172. ISBN 9-780310-35845-9. Retrieved 2 April 2026. Christian universalism says in the end God will forgive and adopt all people through Christ─perhaps after a limited period of restorative punishment in hell for some
  71. ↑ Morris, Adam (26 March 2019). "Two The Chosen Vessel | 8. America's Best-Known Mystic & 4. W. P. Swainson, Thomas Lake Har-ris and His Occult Teaching (London: William Rider & Son, 1922), II.". American Messiahs: False Prophets of a Dammed Nation. Printed in the United States of America. Manufacturing by Lake Book. Book design by Marysarah Quinn. Production manager: Anna Oler. (1st ed.). Liveright Publishing Corporation, 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110 | W.W. Norton & Company Ltd., 15 Carlisle Street, London WID 3BS.: Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company. pp. 73, 75. ISBN 978-1-63149-213-6. Archived from the original on 30 June 2026. Retrieved 30 June 2026. ...Universal-ism, a movement that overturned Calvinist doctrines of predestination by maintaining that all souls are eventually reconciled with God in heaven." "Harris became a regular at Davis's trance lec-tures, during which the visionary recounted the wisdom of departed souls he encountered in Spirit Land─his term for the Univer-salist heaven to which he could transport his consciousness while entranced.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  72. ↑ Hanks, Patrick; McLeod, William T.; Urdang, Laurence; Makins, Marian; Adams, Diana; McGrath, Danielle; Grandison, Alice; Munro, Michael; Shearer, Tom (eds.). Collins Dictionary of the English Language. Original computer data file designed and prepared for typesetting by Laurence Urdang Associates Ltd., Aylesbury. Computer typeset by C. R. Barber & Partners, Wrotham, England. Printed and bound in Great Britain by William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. PO Box, Glasgow G4 0NB. (Second ed.). William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. p. 1659. ISBN 0 00 433135-4. universalism ... n. 1. a universal feature or characteristic. 2. another word for universality. 3. Social welfare. the principle that welfare services should be avail-able to all by right, according to need, and not restricted by individual ability to pay, but funded by general contributions through taxes, rates, or national insurance payments. Universalism ... n. a system of religious beliefs maintaining that all men are predestined for salvation. ... universalist ... n. 1. a person who has a wide range of interests, knowledge, activities, etc. ~adj. 2. char-acterized by universality.
  73. ↑ Miles, Paul; James, David; Stegall, Thomas; Myers, James; Rokser, Dennis; Goepfrich, Daniel (16 March 2021). Current Issues in Soteriology: Papers Presented at a Symposium of The International Society for Biblical Hermeneutics. Grace Abroad Ministries. ISBN 978-1947022072. [Paul Miles defines Christian Universalism (CU) as] Man does not inherently lack merit[.] Only Christian God is legitimate[.] Everyone will be with Christian God in eternity regardless of faith in life[.]
  74. ↑ Goehle, Thomas R. (16 September 2015). "Chapter 19 The Lies of Antichrist and the Apostasy | Christian Exclusivism Will Not Be Tolerated". America's Post-Christian Apocalypse: How Secular Modernism Marginalized Christianity and The Peril of Leaving God Behind at the End of the Age. Aletheia Books. pp. 410–417. ISBN 978-0692397503. Some 'emergent' Christians seem to have a problem with the exclusivity of Christ as well. They have been accused of 'universalism,' which in essence means these particular emergents think everyone will make it to heaven at some point, whether or not they accept Jesus as their Savior. ... To be clear, Christianity is inclusive in that everyone on this planet is welcome to come to God by receiving Jesus Christ as their Savior from sin. But salvation is exclusively through Jesus Christ alone.48 There is no other way.
  75. ↑ Baker, Sharon L. (1 January 2010). Razing Hell: Rethinking Everything You've Been Taught about God's Wrath and Judgment. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. p. 141. ISBN 9780664236540. Archived from the original on 29 June 2026. Retrieved 28 June 2026. universalism comes in many shapes, but basically it is the belief that at the end, after the judgment, all people from all faiths or no faith are reconciled to God.
  76. 1 2 Bar, Eitan (14 March 2026). "The Gospel Before Christianity: A Jewish Perspective on Jesus' Atonement, Sacrifice, and Redemption (Recovering the Original Gospel Series Book 1)". Shamus. A common misconception—and frequent criticism—of Christian Universalism is the claim that it teaches "all roads lead to God" and that actions carry no consequences. This is a strawman that misrepresents the position entirely. Universalism holds that salvation is found in Christ alone, but that His atonement covers all humanity, and that eventually everyone will come to understand and believe." "There are various versions of universalism, annihilationism, and ECT, with some positions even blending elements of more than one view. For example, certain universalists argue that annihilation may apply to a small number of individuals who became so radically evil that they effectively lost the image of God.
  77. ↑ Keppel, Lucus Levy (7 January 2026). "Reforming toward hope: Why universalism belongs in the Reformed tradition". The Presbyterian Outlook. Archived from the original on 8 January 2026. Retrieved 3 April 2026. Christian universalism, as I use the term, is the conviction that God's redeeming work in Christ will ultimately reconcile all people to God. ... Christian universalism is often misunderstood. It isn't the idea that anything goes or that all paths are equal. It's the belief that God's redeeming love will ultimately reconcile all people to God through Christ.
  78. ↑ Todd L., Miles (1 April 2010). "A God of Many Understandings? The Gospel and a Theology of Religions". A God of Many Understandings?: The Gospel and Theology of Religions. B&H Academic. pp. 16–18. ISBN 978-0805448221. Universalism: The hope that in the end, everyone will be reconciled to God. Universalism can be pluralistic (the belief that all paths lead to God) or inclusivist (the belief that God will eventually save everyone). Pluralism: When people say "universalism," they often are really referring to pluralism, which is the belief that every path and every religion leads to God. To the pluralist, Christ's life and death on the cross are powerful examples of a life committed to God. The pluralist says that you don't have to believe in, have faith in, or follow Jesus to come to God.
  79. ↑ Boice, James Montgomery. Volume 2 – Psalms 42-106. Psalm 117. Baker Books. Here then is a true Christian universalism, not that all people will be saved regardless of the god they believe in, but rather that all people may be saved through Jesus Christ.
  80. ↑ "The Church's Teachings on Universalism - with Fr. Stephen De Young". Quote from Fr. Stephen De Young at timestamp 13:38-14:00. 16 July 2024. Archived from the original on 6 June 2026. Retrieved 30 June 2026. ...some of the church fathers who are said to teach universalism I think don't actually did. I think there are quotations that are taken out of the broader context, right, where if you take them in context, you may get something closer to hopeful universalism, right, the hope that all would be saved, the desire that all would be saved...{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  81. ↑ MacDonald, William (1995). "The Second Epistle To The Thessalonians | Commentary | 2 Thessalonians 2 | IV. Thanksgiving And Prayer (2:13─17) | A. Paul's Thanks that the Saints Would Escape Judgment (2:13, 14)". In Farstad, Arthur (ed.). Believer's Bible Commentary. Printed in the United States of America. Commentary based on the New King James Bible. Cover Design: Richmond & Williams. Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc. p. 2056. ISBN 0-8407-1972-8. Archived from the original on 7 November 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2026. 2:13... God...chose you. ... Does God have the right to choose some to be saved? Basically His desire is for all to be saved (1 Tim 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9). However, the Bible does not teach "Universalism," the theory that all will eventually be saved.
  82. ↑ "Does The United Methodist Church believe in universal salvation?". United Methodist Church. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2026. John Wesley (and we) teach that Christ's death creates the possibility that all may be saved. ... We would say it would be improper to refer to our view as "universal salvation" or "universalist." A universalist view would be that God has saved everyone, and no one faces a final judgment that leads to the possibility of "endless condemnation.
  83. ↑ "Universalism Booth, Pt. 3 / Jordan Daniel Wood / Catholic Universalism". Quotes from Dr. Jordan Daniel Wood. Wipf and Stock. 18 February 2025. Archived from the original on 30 June 2026. Retrieved 30 June 2026 – via YouTube. [Timestamp 19:32-19:47] "...what I would say is that hopeful universalism is an objective teaching of the of even the official magisterium right now. I make a point to actual. You could go to the catechism right now and talk about it'll talk about how we are to have hope for the salvation for all..." [Timestamp 39:52-40:13] "What's interesting though is these same people would claim to be a soft universalist, which is just to say that I think they adhere to what we talked about earlier was already the pretty more or less uncontroversial teaching of the current magisterium which is that the real possibility of salvation of all, but they themselves are usually pretty pessimistic about whether or not that'll actually happen..." [Timestamp 38:21-39:05] "...they're pretty much representatives of two, again, species of Christian universalism, and again the labels circulating today vary and they're being created sort of all the time it seems. But you might say that, where as Balthazar is a what's called a hopeful universalist, George MacDonald is a dogmatic or a universalist. Now another circulating you know pairs, soft universalism, which would be Balthazar, or hard universalism, which would be someone like MacDonald. I myself sort of skeptical of those labels, usually they're wielded by people who are more or less poleminists or apologists and they they don't they don't really distinguish, they don't really say much honestly..."{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  84. ↑ Graham, Billy (24 July 2007). "Lausanne". Just as I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham – A #1 NYT Bestseller on Ministry, Faith, and God's Ambassador to World Leaders. HarperCollins. p. 568. ISBN 978-0061171062. Implicit in much of the discussion at that conference was the assumption that Christ had already given salvation to every human being (a belief known as universalism), so that there was no need for humans to repent or believe in Christ in order to be saved.
  85. ↑ Kristanto, Billy (21 January 2019). "Love Alone? The Problem with Christian Universalism". [i]n theological discourse, the term Christian universalism can generally be described as a theological school of thought that teaches that all human beings will eventually be saved. Its identifying characteristics include the assertion of universal reconciliation and, along with it, the rejection of eternal torment. ... Christian universalists believe that God is always a loving father regardless of one's faith
  86. ↑ Brodd, Jeffrey; Little, Layne; Bradley, Nystrom; Platzner, Robert; Shek, Richard; Stiles, Erin. "Chapter 14: New Religious Movements | Unitarian Universalism". Invitation to World Religions. Published in the United States of America. Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc. Cover Design: Laurie McGregor. Cover Image: Getty Images (Fifth ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 586. ISBN 978-0-19-777134-1. Archived from the original on 25 July 2025. Retrieved 30 June 2026. The Unitarian Universalist Association came into being in 1961 as the result of a merger of two previously independent institutions: the American Unitarian As-socation (founded in 1825) and the Universalist Church of America (established in 1866). Each of these religious communities represented, within the context of nineteenth-century Christianity, a radical deviation from the more familiar forms of Christianity: the Unitarians denied the Trinity, and the Universalists denied any belief in eternal damnation. ... By the time of their merger, neither the Unitarians nor the Universalists saw themselves as definably (or exclusively) Christian any longer...
  87. ↑ Thatcher, Virginia S.; McQueen, Alexander; Smith, Margaret L.; Geels, Clarice; Tomkin, Anne; Morrison, Peter; Eckart, Walter; Phelps, David; Malayil, George, eds. (1980). The New Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language. Including A Dictionary of Synonyms and Twelve Supplementary Reference Sections. Manufactured in the United States of America. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 73-1877 (1980 ed.). Avenel Books New York. By Processing & Books, Inc. p. 916. ISBN 0-517-457946. Retrieved 30 June 2026. ─Universalism, ... n. Theol. the doctrine of the Universalists.─Universalist, ... n. One who holds the doctrine that all men will finally be saved, in opposition to the doc-trine of eternal punishment.
  88. ↑ Beougher, Timothy K. "Are All Doomed to Be Saved? The Rise of Modern Universalism". The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology · SBJT 2/2 (Summer 1998): 16–17. [Quote from John Stott] "The true universalism of the Bible is the call to universal evangelism in obedience to Christ's universal commission. It is the conviction not that all men will be saved in the end, but that all men must hear the gospel of salvation before the end, as Jesus said (Matt. 24:14), in order that they may have a chance to believe and be saved (Ro-mans 10:13-15)."
  89. ↑ De Young, James B. (5 December 2018). EXPOSING Lies We Believe About God: How the Author of The Shack Is Deceiving Millions of Christians Again. Aneko Press. ISBN 978-1622456031. ...true universalism may take the forms of universal explicit opportunity (before or after death all place faith in Christ after explicitly hearing the gospel), universal reconciliation (reconciliation is already an accomplished fact for all), and universal pardon (in the end God will change his mind about condemning may and impute not only righteousness but also faith to all, and will forgive all).
  90. ↑ Wright, N .T. "Towards a biblical view of universalism". The Gospel Coalition. Archived from the original on 18 May 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2026. We may trace the different biblical elements of this 'universalism' as follows. It begins with God's promise to Abraham, that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. God has chosen to save the world through Abraham's family, and supremely (of course) in the true seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ. ... In His death and resurrection He put to death 'fleshly' Israel and brought her to life again as a worldwide community. ...that in Christ God has revealed the one way of salvation for all men alike, irrespective of race, sex, colour or status.
  91. ↑ Schwartz, Regina M. (1997). The Curse of Cain The Violent Legacy of Monotheism. Printed in the United States of America. The University of Chicago Press • Chicago and London. pp. 8, 33–35, 95–97. ISBN 0-226-74199-0. Retrieved 30 April 2026. [u]niversalism comes in different shapes, as an ideal of genuine toleration, as an effort to protect universal rights, and as a kind of imperialism that insists that we are all one and that demands an obliteration of difference." ""We are, then, the heirs of a long tradition in which monotheism is regarded as the great achievement of 'Judeo-Christian' thought, holding out the promise of universalism and with it an endorsement of ethics and peace. But upon closer inspection, sometimes mono-theism is entangled with particularism, with the assertion that this God and not any other gods must be worshipped
  92. ↑ Amy-Jill, Levine; Brettler, Marc Zvi. "Chapter 10: The Sign of Jonah - Jonah in Christian Eyes, The Story of Jonah in its Earliest Historical Context.". The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently. First HarperCollins paperback published in 2023. Printed in the United States of America. 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007: HarperOne, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 320, 335. ISBN 978-0-06-256016-2. Retrieved 2 April 2026. In Luther's works and many others, Jonah is a representative both of the Christ and of the faults and fall of the Jews and Judaism: he is Jewish nationalism versus Christian universalism; he under-stands a (Jewish) God of wrath rather than a (Christian) God of love." "The book [of Jonah]... responds to some of the more nationalistic voices that sought to preserve the repatriated community's identity by keeping a distance from outsiders. We note this concern for universalism...{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  93. ↑ Jenkins, Philip. "Introduction Motes and Beams | Truth and Reconciliation | Chapter Nine Historians and Prophets | Dating the Deuteronomist( s )". Laying Down the Sword: Why We Can't Ignore the Bible's Violent Verses. pp. 24–25, 219. ISBN 006199071X. As for the prophets, the message is not that the God of Israel is greater than the gods of other peoples, but that he is the one Lord of all creation; and from that insight grows the whole message of universalism, of a promise extended to all. Specific stories in Joshua (for example) might seem noxious, but the central goal and message of the text is awe-inspiring, and it lays a foundation for the whole later development of both Judaism and Christianity." "In other words, the bloodiest passages of the Bible were written down in the very same years that the great prophets were preaching their messages of universalism and social justice.
  94. ↑ Johnson, Paul. "Chapter 4: What Jesus Taught and Why". Jesus: a biography from a believer. Printed in the United States of America. Penguin Group. pp. 91–92. One principal reason Christianity later spread all over the world was that Jesus himself was a universalist. 'I... will draw all men unto me,' he said in John 12:32. He insisted, 'God so loved the world ... that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.' God had sent him to earth not to condemn the world, or any part of it, 'but that the world through him might be saved' (Jn 3:16-17). There are no re-strictions or qualifications in this universal mission. When he gave his apostles their final instructions about their missionary tasks ahead, he set no geographical, social, national, or racial limits. They were to 'go ... into all the world' and 'teach all nations' (Mk 16:15; Mt 28:19). This universalism of Jesus stretched from his Incarnation to the Crucifixion." ""Jesus was illustrating the universalist principle which was perhaps the most important element in his social message: we are all neighbors, one to another, and our human fellowship depends on kindness and charity, not tribe or race or color or nationality."
  95. ↑ Barton, John (2019). "4 Religious Themes | God And His Chosen People". The Bible the basics. Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business. (Second ed.). Routledge, 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017.: Routledge. p. 85. ISBN 978-1-138-35908-6. LCCN 2018042348. Archived from the original on 30 June 2026. Retrieved 30 June 2026. This means that both Judaism and Christianity have a certain tension in their conception of God, which we might call a tension between universalism and particularism. Because God is the creator of everything and hence of every human person, nothing and no one can be outside the divine purposes: God must be concerned for all people and all peoples. Yet because the same God is also the God who chose Israel, and in later times added to Israel the non-Israelites who came to make up the majority of members of the church, the God of all is also the God of particular people. Neither religion has completely resolved this tension, veering from time to time and place to place in a more universalist or particularist direction.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  96. ↑ "2". Plain Guide to Universalism. Auburn university. Paragraph 1. Archived from the original on 2016-08-26. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  97. ↑ Hanson, J.W. (1888). "Destroy Soul and Body in Hell". The Bible Hell (4th ed.). Boston: Universalist Publishing House. The immortal soul is not meant, but the life. As though Jesus had said: 'Fear Not those who can only kill the body, but rather him, who if he chose could annihilate the whole being.'
  98. ↑ "Five Principles of Faith". Historic and Universalist Professions of Faith. Auburn University. Archived from the original on 2016-08-15. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  99. ↑ Plain Guide to Universalism Archived 2016-08-26 at the Wayback Machine Chapter 2, Section III, Auburn: "There are some Universalists who hold to punishment after death, nevertheless, we are glad to hail them as Universalists. They agree with us in our views of the great consummation, – all punishment, in their view, is disciplinary, and they denounce punishment, either in this world or the next, having any other object, as cruel and unjust."
  100. ↑ Brian E. Daley, The Hope of the Early Church: A Handbook of Patristic Eschatology (Cambridge University Press, 1991), 46-47.
  101. ↑ Brian E. Daley, The Hope of the Early Church: A Handbook of Patristic Eschatology (Cambridge University Press, 1991), 57–58.
  102. ↑ Brian E. Daley, The Hope of the Early Church: A Handbook of Patristic Eschatology (Cambridge University Press, 1991), 88–89.
  103. ↑ Moreira, Isabel (2010-11-17). "1 Purgatory in Early Christian and Patristic Thought". Heaven's Purge: Purgatory in Late Antiquity Get access Arrow. Oxford University Press. pp. 15–38. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199736041.003.0001. ISBN 9780199894628.
  104. ↑ J. W. Hanson, citing Assemani, Bibliotheca Orientalis, III, p. 324.
  105. ↑ Ramelli, Ilaria (2019). A Larger Hope?. Vol. 1. Universal Salvation from Christian Beginnings to Julian of Norwich. Cascade Books. ISBN 978-1-61097-884-2.
  106. ↑ Kilby, Karen (16 March 2020). "Against the Infernalists". Commonweal. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  107. ↑ Hart, David Bentley (September 24, 2019). That All Shall Be Saved. United States: Yale University Press. pp. 12–13. ISBN 978-0300246223.
  108. ↑ Flynn, Pat (2022-12-06). "You Can't Have an All-Good God Without Hell". Catholic Answers. Archived from the original on 2022-12-07.
  109. ↑ McMillen, Jacob (January 2, 2016). "Hell, Part 3: How & When The Idea of Eternal Torment Invaded Church Doctrine". Brazen Church. Archived from the original on 2016-01-06.
  110. ↑ Beecher, Edward (1858). Death Not Life, or, The Destruction of the Wicked (Commonly Called Annihilation) Established and Endless Misery Disproved by a Collection and Explanation of all Passages on Future Punishment (8th ed.). John P. Jewett.
  111. ↑ Beecher, Edward. "22. Early Theological Seminaries and Retribution". History of Opinions on the Scriptural Doctrine of Retribution. New York: D. Appleton and Company – via Tentmaker. What, then, was the state of facts as to the leading theological schools of the Christian world, in the age of Origen, and some centuries after? It was, in brief, this: There were at least six theological schools in the Church at large. Of these six schools, one, and only one, was decidedly and earnestly in favor of the doctrine of future eternal punishment. One was in favor of the annihilation of the wicked. Two were in favor of the doctrine of universal restoration on the principles of Origen, and two in favor of universal restoration on the principles of Theodore of Mopsuestia.
  112. ↑ Nungesser, Tony; Amirault, Gary. "'Eternal' Punishment (Matthew 25:46) Is NOT Found In The Greek New Testament". Tentmaker.
  113. ↑ Oratio Ad Graecos, Chapter XIV
  114. ↑ Gregg, Steve. All You ever Wanted to Know about Hell. pp. 130–31
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  118. ↑ Talbott, Thomas (Spring 2017). "Heaven and Hell in Christian Thought". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Theists who accept the traditional idea of everlasting punishment, or even the idea of an everlasting separation from God, must either reject the idea that God wills or desires to save all humans and thus desires to reconcile them all to himself (see proposition (1) in section 1 above) or reject the idea that God will successfully accomplish his will and satisfy his own desire in this matter.
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Further reading