The Evangelical Universalist Forum

List of those of who reject traditional hellism

Evangelical Universalism
#93

Bulgakov goes all in in the final chapter of his theological trilogy On Divine Humanity, specifically chapter 8 of The Bride of the Lamb, published posthumously in 1945.

Bulgakov, Sergius (1871-1944), leading Russian Orthodox systematic theologian of the 20th century, dean and professor of dogmatic theology at Saint Sergius Theological Institute in Paris for 20 years until his death.

“It is a bizarre conception of the parousia to limit its power to a judgment whereby heaven and hell are separated and hell is eternalized. What virtue and justification would the parousia have if part of humanity turns out to be unprepared for it? In that case, the parousia would not attain its goal, or it would even attain the opposite: the establishment of an eternal hell. But does this justify the parousia? A separation can be accepted only if, in the final analysis, it nonetheless attains the goal of the universal salvation or the sophianization [indwelling acceptance of and free cooperation with the Holy Spirit, God being “all in all”] of creation. Otherwise, creation would appear to be an error or failure, since it would end with the eternity of hell [even in annihilation of the sinner out of existence], even if this were accompanied by the eternity of heaven. An eternal separation of humanity into the elect and the reprobate is clearly not the final meaning of creation. One must therefore suppose this separation has an inner proportionality of grace that assures a positive final sum of all the pluses and minuses of history, a universal harmony, total and beautiful. In other words, the judgment that separates the sheep from the goats and good from evil, both in humankind in its entirety and in individual hearts, is not the definitive conclusion of eschatology. It is only the first event of eschatology, the beginning, not the end. Both the judgment and the separation must be understood not as a static unchangeability but as a dynamic striving beyond their limits, on the pathways to universal deification or salvation. Only deification is capable of justifying creation. It is the only theodicy. …] This pathway can end only with the filling of the void that appeared in heaven as a consequence of the fall, [eve] with the return of the fallen angels, the ‘lost sheep’, to the fullness of the kingdom of God, where God is definitively all in all without any limitation or exception, and creation is without any failure or even minus: ‘He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet.’”

#94

St. Isaac the Syrian aka Isaac the Seer (500s), Syrian expatriate monk of Italy, famous for humility, charity, compassion, evangelical conversion of those who sought to cheat or rob him, and his gift of clairvoyance, also for his visions of the coming judgment. “[The loving, pitying heart] is a blazing up of the human heart with regard to all creation, with regard to people, birds, animals, demons, and all creatures. By a great and powerful pity that embraces the heart, by a great patience, the human heart becomes a loving or pitying one, and it cannot tolerate or hear or see any harm or any small pain endured by creatures. And also for wordless beings and for enemies of truth, and for those who do him harm, such a one continuously prays with tears that they be safeguarded and that mercy be granted to them. And for creatures that creep upon the earth he prays with great compassion, which is excited in his heart without measure, until [within him] there is a likening in this to God. …] By its power love affects human beings in a twofold manner: it torments sinners, as even here a friend sometimes causes one to suffer, and it gladdens those who have carried out their duty. And so, in my opinion, the torment of Gehenna consists in repentance.” Ascetic Discourses, 3rd edition of Russian translation, pp 19, 253-54.

#95

Pog,

You still need to correct the spelling for David Congdon’s last name.

Thanks for all the work you’ve done. Awesome list!

Caleb

#96

Hi pog, hi everybody who’s contributing to this fantastic thread.

Can I make a pitch for my favourite modern theologian, Robert Farrar Capon. If you take him at his word I guess you’d have to classify him as ‘hopeful’. But in reality, based on the consistent themes in his writing of God’s ultimate triumph over evil and, particularly, the Biblical metaphor of the eternally open gates of the New Jerusalem, I reckon he’s actually more convinced than he’s prepared to let on. So:

**Farrar Capon, Robert (1925 - **) American Episcopalian priest, author of The Supper of the Lamb, Between Noon and Three and many other theological books.

"I am and I am not a universalist. I am one if you are talking about what God in Christ has done to save the world. The Lamb of God has not taken away the sins of some — of only the good, or the cooperative, or the select few who can manage to get their act together and die as perfect peaches. He has taken away the sins of the world — of every last being in it — and he has dropped them down the black hole of Jesus’ death. On the cross, he has shut up forever on the subject of guilt: “There is therefore now no condemnation. . . .” All human beings, at all times and places, are home free whether they know it or not, feel it or not, believe it or not.

“But I am not a universalist if you are talking about what people may do about accepting that happy-go-lucky gift of God’s grace. I take with utter seriousness everything that Jesus had to say about hell, including the eternal torment that such a foolish non-acceptance of his already-given acceptance must entail. All theologians who hold Scripture to be the Word of God must inevitably include in their work a tractate on hell. But I will not — because Jesus did not — locate hell outside the realm of grace. Grace is forever sovereign, even in Jesus’ parables of judgment. No one is ever kicked out at the end of those parables who wasn’t included in at the beginning.”

We’ve discussed Capon before, and I recall Sherman saying he thought he sounded Arminian. Which of course he does. I’m an Arminian Universalist myself! But the big difference between orthodox, eternal damnation Arminianism as espoused by, say, CS Lewis, which teaches that it is possible for us to damn ourselves irrevocably through our fixed rejection of God, and Arminian Universalism is that the latter holds that the door to true repentance remains genuinely open for all eternity - thus offering perpetual hope of salvation for everyone.

What do you guys think?

Johnny

#97

I agree that anyone in the disputed category should have an explanation appended.

#98

Btw, St. Therese inspired the Catholic mystic Adrienne von Spyer, who in turn worked closely with her spiritual advisor Hans Urs Von Balthasar (who references St. Therese in Love Alone Is Credible, one of his books for which he had to write a defense in Dare We Hope That All Men Be Saved?)

Catholic publisher Ignatius features several books and DVDs directly about Therese, and many others which refer to her; the 100th anniversary documentary of her life for example (there are several dramatic films as well), and The Message of St. Therese of Lisieux which collects her teachings in five small pamphlets. Her teachings were applied along with those of several other proponents of divine mercy in a well-regarded “spiritual retreat” manual, Consoling the Heart of Jesus.

I don’t know where or if the drama she herself wrote (mentioned by Sobor) is available anywhere.

Incidentally, on a hunch I looked up St. Faustina Kowalska, one of the sources gathered with St. Therese in the spiritual retreat manual; she was the first Roman Catholic saint recognized in the 21st century, and had had her visions and diary of Jesus suppressed by the papal office (which she had predicted would happen, or which Jesus had told her would happen) for about 25 years, before she was investigated and eventually petitioned for unbanning by Archbishop Karol Wojtyla – soon to be Pope John Paul 2! Thanks to his promotion of her, her focus (reportedly directed by Jesus) on “Divine Mercy” has been greatly advanced, and the RCC now celebrates Divine Mercy Sunday as the first Sunday after Easter–she has a direct following of at least 100 million devotees, and is sometimes even known today as “The Apostle of Mercy”! JP2’s successor, Benedict 16, instituted a World Apostolic Conference on Divine Mercy in 2008, and issued a Mandate on the Divine Mercy in 2009. (Which although I haven’t read it yet reportedly contains some “stunning” statements (as the publisher puts it) on how even Judas’ betrayal reveals God’s mercy.)

I have a suspicion from the confluence of notable universalists and near universalists involved here, that she was also a Christian universalist. Her 700 page collection of diary entries can be found attached at the new thread I created for discussing her (so we don’t get too bird-dogged on this thread), but I’ll attach it here, too, for ease of reference.
St. Faustina-Divine Mercy in my Soul.pdf (1.55 MB)

#99

Hi Jason –

Now that’s a really interesting line of transmission :slight_smile:

See here for more information about this particular nativity play

romancatholicism.org/therese.htm

Therese’s plays are available to subscribers of Project Muse here:

muse.jhu.edu/journals/cat/summar … ckert.html

#100

Btw, Isaac the Syrian Seer is a different St. Isaac than Isaac the Syrian from Ninevah. Both appear to have been universalists, although Isaac of Ninevah is more famous for it, being a chief hymnist for the Eastern Orthodox. Isaac the Seer is more venerated in the Roman Church, having worked in Italy; he should at least be categorized as a post-mortem salvationist, maybe a hopeful universalist along Balthasar’s line.

#101

I had this draft lying around until I found some more quotes. But I thought I’d publish it anyway, as I’m not sure when/if I’ll get the time to do any more work on it.

I also wonder whether we should discuss the cataloguing of this database at a later date. There are a number of details that might make this database more useful in the future (dates, countries/provinces, movement/denomination, noted teachers and disciples, and so forth). I also wonder whether Unitarian/Trinitarian, UUltra-Universalist/Restorationist, Hopeful/Convinced tags might be worth using.

Convinced Universalists

Relly, James (1722–1778) was a Methodist minister who converted and mentored John Murray (and had a prolonged conflict with John Wesley). I’ve been looking for a quote (and have found a few of his original works). Will keep looking.

Turner, Edward (1776-1853) was a denominational organizer, a Universalist preacher, and the first historian of Universalism.

Turner converted to Universalism whilst at Leichester Academy (1792-93). Studying with Hosea Ballou (at some point, possibly at the Academy), they became friends and ministered on a circuit together. But as time passed, Turner’s friendship with anti-Ballou Restorationists (like Paul Dean) and his Restorationist beliefs strained their relationship. A debate that was arranged for Hosea Ballou and Turner sharpened their theological and personal differences. After Turner and his Restorationist colleagues published two manifestos, Turner was dismissed from his congregation. He eventually accepted a call to a unitarian congregation, and left the Universalist denomination and his two-decade friendship with Hosea Ballou ended (though he did return to be Ballou’s pallbearer).

John Murray had recognised Turner’s talent, and adopted him as a sucessor and associate (even though Turner was unable to fill that position due to personal differences and health issues). Turner was widely esteemed as having as great an influence as Hosea Ballou amongst universalists. He had helped prepare two hymnals, served innumerable offices of various associations, including a committee to plan and finance a Universalist seminary, and began a history of the denomination (though with little expressed interest by others it was abandoned).

Quote to come, hopefully.

Loveland, Samuel Chapman (1787-1858) was a Universalist minister, scholar, educator and pioneer religious journalist.

Loveland was born to universalist (from the preaching of Elchanan Winchester) parents in 1787. He entered preaching ministry in 1812, and was a friend and Restorationist colleague to Paul Dean and Adin Ballou. He published a bi-monthly magazine and established a “theological and classical school” in Reading, Vermont, that taught medicine, law and Christian (universalist) ministry. Loveland also taught history, mathematics, theology, moral philosophy, Biblical Greek, Latin and various modern languages (claiming to know eleven ancient and modern languages altogether). He ultimately parted ways with the Universalist denomination in New England as part of the Restorationist controversy, after his offer to write a New Testament commentary was rudely dismissed by Ultra-Us. From 1824 he served in the Vermont state legislature, and after leaving Reading, spent much of his later life supporting struggling Universalist churches.

It appears that there isn’t much available of his life or writings. I gathered what I could from here, but unfortunately could not find a quote adequately explaining his view.

Mitchell, Edward (1768-1834) was one of the last trinitarian universalists (with Paul Dean). He was a widely respected preacher, but was never in formal fellowship with the Universalist denomination. An ex-Methodist like John Murray, he oversaw a congregation in New York called the “Society of United Christian Friends” (no connection with the Quakers; it disbanded shortly after Mitchell’s death. David Pickering, a friend and co-founder of the MAUR with Paul Dean and Adin Ballou, tried to hold the congregation together, though faced inevitable difficulties as a unitarian in a deeply-entrenched trinitarian community.)

“Infinite love must desire our happiness, infinite wisdom must know the means which will effect this gracious desire; and infinite power must be able to destroy all that would impede.”
— Mitchell, E (1833) ‘The Christian universalist’, New York, pp.53-54

You’re probably referring to The Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography Project. Several of my posts have summarised their wonderful biographies. I should have mentioned that earlier. It’s a great resource that many might find useful.

#102

Just noticed John “Father of American Universalism” Murray is not actually on the list! :astonished:

#103

Pog is trying to categorize his list in several degrees from convinced through hopeful and on down in scale (disputed universalists, wider hope inclusivists, post-mortem salvationists, even some annihilationists although no doubt our friendly rivals have more info on those. :wink: )

Where possible and/or feasible he tends to list in the description whether the author is trinitarian or unitarian, too. Ultra-U/Purga-U (Restorationist) could be brought out more, admittedly, although that isn’t always obvious without great familiarity with the author.

#104

As for a MacD quote, I’ll take an unusual one from one of the usual sources, his sermon on “Justice” (from Unwritten Sermons Vol 3, chp 7); mainly because the paragraph immediately preceding this had to be explicitly what Lewis had in mind when he tried to make MacD out as an annihilationist in The Great Divorce: I will always be irked that Lewis willfully discounted the subsequent paragraph here:

“If God be defeated, he must destroy–that is, he must withdraw life. How can he go on sending forth his life into irreclaimable souls, to keep sin alive in them throughout the ages of eternity? But then, I say, no atonement would be made for the wrongs they have done; God remains defeated, for he has created that which sinned, and which would not repent and make up for its sin. But those who believe that God will thus be defeated by many souls, must surely be of those who do not believe he cares enough to do his very best for them. He is their Father; he had power to make them out of himself, separate from himself, and capable of being one with him: surely he will somehow save and keep them! Not the power of sin itself can close all the channels between creating and created.”

(Lewis might not have agreed with that paragraph, but it and several other things show MacD rejected the idea that annihilation was the best alternative to eternal conscious torment.)

Meanwhile, I’m reminding myself again that I still need to look up a quote from Stonehouse – there ought to be ample material, since he wrote what is (so far as I’ve been able to find) the most extensive surviving defense of purgatorial universalism from the Enlightenment period. (With at least two sequels that I haven’t been able to find the texts of, too.)

#105

I hope I haven’t offended Pog’s work here. I think it’s been really great, and my comments were only ideas. It’s just that a tag-system might be easier to use, at some point, as some of our additions belong to multiple categories (Greg Boyd, for example, is as much a hopeful universalist as Eller, and a post-mortem salvationist, a wider-hope salvationist/inclusivist and also an annihilationist; though I think a separate annihilationist category would still be reasonable). We could even add a Dogmatic Universalist tag for Hosea Ballou — (according to Adin) he started teaching that being “born again” really meant converting to universalism! :laughing:

Sobornost, thanks! I need to learn how to google! :smiley:

I found this succinct quote for Samuel Chapman Loveland from the same work:

“I preach that all sinners will experience the salvation by Christ, to be universal and free.”
— Loveland SC (1818) ‘A correspondence by letters between Samuel C. Loveland, preacher of the doctrine of universal salvation, and Rev. Joseph Laberee, pastor of the congregational church and society in Jericho, Vermont’, ‘Letter I’, p.2 Windsor, Vermont

From Edward Turner (and there isn’t much available):

“The glory of God can never be disassociated from the happiness of his creatures”
— Turner, E (1817) ‘A discourse delivered at the dedication of the Universalist Meeting House, in the City of Hudson, N.Y. October 23, 1817’, ‘Gospel Visitant’, Vol.2, p.229, Salem, Massachusetts

From James Relly (also not much available):

“The matter and manner of the Apostles preaching, appears, when among Jews and Gentiles, they taught that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God; and that he was crucified unto death, and on the third day rose again from the dead, for the forgiveness of sins, and the justification of mankind.”
— Relly, J (1812) ‘Union: Or, a treatise of the consanguinity and affinity between Christ and his Church’, D&G Bruce, p.195 (—mildly interesting is that the edition I’ve referenced here was printed especially for Mitchell’s congregation).

#106

Pog I’ve just put a few more in to clear the backlog of stuff I’ve come across in the past month. Please do catch up with me on the Ecclesiology threads sometime - it’s doing work there that helps me to find stuff to share here. Just pop by and say hi. :slight_smile:

#107

See Alex’s thread on Pope Francis - I think we can put him in!!! :slight_smile:
I’ll leave it to you.

Well here it is then (a day later)

Pope Francis, born as Jorge Mario Bergoglio (1936 -); 266th pope of the Catholic Church -
"The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace. If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.” (Homily from Vatican Mass 22/05/2013)

This is the statement spotted by Alex -
This could mean a number of things – but at the very least its hope is wide and it draws the practical implications from this wide hope. He doesn’t take a care to distance himself form Hopeful Universalism - this much is clear.

#108

I think we’re going to need a little clarification with Francis before we can effectively categorise him.

#109

Shall I ask him - or shall you? :laughing:

Stick him in the archives to await developments then :slight_smile:

#110

One last important person I can think of – and keep meaning to plonk down -

Kierkegaard, Soren (1813-1855) , Danish Christian Philosopher and father of existentialism:

“If others go to hell, then I will go too. But I do not believe that; on the contrary I believe that all will be saved, myself with them - something which arouses my deepest amazement.” (Soren Kierkegaard’s Journals and Papers, Vol. 6)

However, note that the follow paper argues that he was a hopeful rather than a certain, Universalist despite appearances. -
Mulder, Jack, Must All be Saved? A Kierkegaardian Response to Theological Universalism, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Volume 59, Number 1, February 2006 , pp. 1-24)

#111

It seems to me that he is merely affirming unlimited atonement (probably depends on what he means by “this Blood makes us children of God of the first class!”) and encouraging everyone (even those naughty atheists :stuck_out_tongue: ) to do good so that we all might unite in peace regardless of our different worldviews. Not sure I’d hang too much hope on that quote…

#112

That is the thing about Popes - they must be all things to all men :laughing: But he is certainly a wide hoper don’t you think Andrew? :slight_smile:

But you are right - I guess both John Paul II and Benedict made statements that could be construed as hopeful universalist. This statement differs because it makes noises that the Catholic Church - as the universal Church - is prepared to dialogue with atheists as children of God made in God’s image (the tow previous posts were more damning towards secular culture). Its’ more about practical inclusivism and dialogue than metaphysical universalism then?