This article contains a collection of quotes about universal reconciliation. It is a work in progress. New quotes will be added from time to time.
How could the Bible possibly speak of the perfect victory of God our Creator who loves righteousness and cannot bear evil, if that victory really means that He cannot bring His own creatures at last to hate evil as He hates it, but must confirm multitudes, indeed the majority of them, in their choice of evil for ever and ever?… What sort of victory is it to be able only to subdue evil and prevent it harming any but those who choose it, and to be unable to bring human souls to abominate it and desire to forsake it, so that the evil itself ceases to exist?… —Hannah Hurnard
If but one soul were to remain in the power of the devil, death, or hell, to all endless eternity, then the devil, death, and hell would have something to boast of against God. Thus death would not be entirely swallowed up in victory, but always keep something of his sting, and hell would ever more be able to make a scorn of those who would say, ‘O hell, where is, your victory?’ —The Everlasting Gospel – Paul Seigvolck, 1753.
“The Word seems to me to lay down the doctrine of the perfect obliteration of wickedness, for if God shall be in all things that are, obviously wickedness shall not be in them. For it is necessary that at some time evil should be removed utterly and entirely from the realm of being.” —St. Macrina the Blessed, she was the sister of Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa
Her famous brother, St. Basil the great had this to say regarding the common belief held by masses of Christians at that time: “The mass of men (Christians) say that there is to be an end of punishment to those who are punished.” —St. Basil the Great (c. 329-379) in his De Asceticis
“Our Lord is the One who delivers man [all men], and who heals the inventor of evil himself. — Gregory of Nyssa (332-398 A.D.), leading theologian of the Eastern Church
I believe implicitly in the ultimate and complete triumph of God, the time when all things shall be subject to Him and when God will be everything to everyone (1 Cor 15:24-28). For me, this has certain consequences. If one man remains outside of the love of God at the end of time, it means that one man has defeated the love of God—and that is impossible. Further, there is only one way in which we can think of the triumph of our God. If God was no more than a King or judge, then it would be possible to speak of his triumph, if His enemies were agonizing in hell or were totally and completely obliterated and wiped out. But God is not only king and Judge, God is Father—He is indeed Father more than anything else. No father could be happy while there were members of his family for ever in agony. No father would count it a triumph to obliterate the disobedient members of his family. The only triumph a father can know is to have all of his family back home again. —William Barclay
The Father willed through Christ to reconcile the universe once more unto Himself, and so to restore all things whatsoever and wheresoever they be.—Dr. John Lightfoot on Col. 1:19,20.
“In the end and consummation of the Universe all are to be restored into their original harmonious state, and we all shall be made one body and be united once more into a perfect man and the prayer of our Savior shall be fulfilled that all may be one. “ —St. Jerome (again), 331-420
He is the savior, not of some and the rest not. (…) For how is he savior and lord, if not the savior and lord of all? —Clement of Alexandria c. 150–c. 215 AD (Stromata Book 7 Chapter 2)
To go on punishing for ever, simply for punishment’s sake, shocks every sentiment of justice. And the case is so much worse when the punishment is really the prolongation of evil, when it is but making evil endless. —Thomas Allin, Christ Triumphant, p 49
“The wicked who have committed evil the whole period of their lives shall be punished till they learn that, by continuing in sin, they only continue in misery. And when, by this means, they shall have been brought to fear God, and to regard Him with good will, they shall obtain the enjoyment of His grace.” —Theodore of Mopsuestia (the ‘best’ theologian from the ancient Antiochian School), 350-428
The Holy Spirit establishes the righteousness of heaven in the midst of the unrighteousness of earth, and will not stop or stay until all that is dead has been brought back to life and a new world has come into being. —Karl Barth
“Stronger than all the evils in the soul is the Word, and the healing power that dwells in him, and this healing He applies, according to the will of God, to everyman. The consummation of all things is the destruction of evil…to quote Zephaniah: “My determination to gather the nations, that I am assemble the kings, to pour upon them mine indignation, even say all my fierce anger, for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. For then will I turn to the people a pure language that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent”…Consider carefully the promise, that all shall call upon the Name of the Lord, and serve him with one consent.” —Origen (185 to 254 A.D.) He founded a school at Caesarea, and is considered by historians to be one of the great theologians and exegete of the Eastern Church.
We can set no limits to the agency of the Redeemer to redeem, to rescue, to discipline in his work, and so will he continue to operate after this life.” —Clement of Alexandria (the teacher of Origen & a revered saint in the eastern orthodox churches). He is often referred to as the Second Greek father (talking about the ‘authority’ in Greek).
“Do not suppose that the soul is punished for endless eons (apeirou aionas) in Tartarus. Very properly, the soul is not punished to gratify the revenge of the divinity, but for the sake of healing. But we say that the soul is punished for an aionion period (aionios) calling its life and its allotted period of punishment, its aeon.” —Olnmpiodorus (AD 550)
“For the wicked there are punishments, not perpetural, 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 showed to them.” —Diodore of Tarsus, 320-394 A.D.
If you want the full and eternal truth, you have to go back to foundational beginnings. Are hell and sin and God’s judgments anywhere in Genesis 1 or 2? No. They aren’t there. God did not intend for them to be there. His intent was perfection. Thus I believe that such a foundation leads to the inescapable conclusion that perfection will again reign throughout the universe, and that sin (and hell) will ultimately be defeated. How else will God’s original intent ultimately be accomplished? —Michael Phillips
If the Divine spark in the soul cannot be destroyed, then we need despair of no sinner… Since God created men to have fellowship with Himself, they cannot for ever be separated from Him… After long wandering, and by devious paths, sinful man will at last return to Him in whose Image he was created; for this is his final destiny. —Sadhu Sundar Singh
I want to encourage you, beloved. The Word of God portrays a time and conception of the purpose of Jesus Christ when the world, being redeemed unto Christ, no longer needs the redeeming merit of the Savior. So Jesus, having subjected all things unto Himself, is Himself also subjected unto the Father, that God may be all in all. God is not all in all, and never will be all in all, until the will of God rules in the heart of every man, in the soul of every man, until the redemption of Jesus Christ in its great and ultimate purpose becomes a reality, a finality. —John G. Lake “The Habitation of God” (p 184)
Some misguided individuals have argued that the reconciliation of all “things” does not mean men or beings. But pray, tell me, what “things” in the whole vast universe, apart from men and other creatures, are described in the Word of God as “enemies” of God, “alienated” from God, “blasphemers” of God, “haters” of God, etc. in need of reconciliation? —J. Preston Eby
If God loves all and is omnipotent then all must be saved. Nels Ferré: “If he can save all men, then he will save all men.” —William Dalton, Salvation and Damnation
“The Son “breaking in pieces” His enemies is for the sake of remolding them, as a potter his own work; as Jeremiah 18;6 says: i.e., to restore them once again to their former state.” — Eusebius of Caesarea (265 to 340 A.D), the bishop of Caesarea and “the father of church history”
“All will be redeemed in God’s fullness of time, all, not just the small portion of the population who have been given the grace to know and accept Christ. All the strayed and stolen sheep. All the little lost ones.” —Madeleine L’Engle, writer
If we really believe in one God and in the Jesus Christ, in what He was and what He did, truly shows us what God’s character and His attitude toward men are like, then it is very difficult to think ourselves out of a belief that somehow His love will find a way of bringing all men into unity with Him. —C.H. Dodd
The salvation of the whole human race is what God proposed in the creation. It is what Christ came into the world to effect, and for the accomplishment of which he was given all needed power in heaven and earth. To this end he died the death of the cross, and thus tasted death for every man; and I submit that such self-sacrificing love cannot suddenly cool, or readily give over to endless torment souls for which it thus willingly suffered. I should be ashamed of myself, if, believing in God and in Christ, I still feared their ultimate failure in this great work of redemption, whose history fills the Bible —Thomas J. Sawyer – 1880
If Christ died for all, as Mr. Wesley taught, it will soon appear a necessary consequence that all shall be saved. —Benjamin Rush, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, 1745-1813
I began to feel that the salvation in which I had been rejoicing was, after all a very limited and a very selfish salvation, and, as such, unworthy of the Creator who had declared so emphatically that His “tender mercies are over all His works,” and above all unworthy of the Lord Jesus Christ, who came into the world for the sole and single purpose of saving the world. I could not believe that His life and death for us could be meant to fall so far short of remedying the evil that He came on purpose to remedy, and I felt that it must be impossible that there could be any short-coming in the salvation He had provided. The Bible says, “As in Adam all die — even so in Christ should all be made alive.” As was the first, even so was the second. The “all” in one case could not in fairness mean less than the “all” in the other. I saw therefore that the remedy must necessarily be equal to the disease, the salvation must be as universal as the fall.—Hannah Whitall Smith
Until the last lost person comes home (referring to the parable of the prodigal son), God’s mind and body are nailed to the cross. —Andrew Sung Park, in his essay, The God Who Needs Our Salvation
God…held council with His Son even before the foundation of the world so as to have His Son come down and go to the cross in order to reconcile all things back to himself, rescue fallen mankind, and resolve the rebellion of Satan. —Watchman Nee, “God’s Plan and the Overcomers”
“The cross of Christ means that the salvation of God goes deeper down than the deepest depths of iniquity man can commit. No person can get beyond the reach of Jesus; He made a way back to the throne of God from the very heart of hell by His tremendous atonement” —Oswald Chambers, the Essay, It is Finished
Whensoever any such criminal in hell shall be found making such a sincere and mournful address to the righteous and merciful judge of all; if at the same time he is truly humble and penitent for his past sins and is grieved at his heart for having offended his maker, and melts into sincere repentance, I cannot think that a God of perfect equity and rich mercy will continue such a creature under his vengeance , but rather that the perfections of God will contrive a way for escape, though God has not given us any revelation or discovery of such special grace as this. I grant that the eternity of God himself before the world began, or after its consummation, has something in it so immense qand so incomprehensible, that inmy most mature thoughts, I do not choose to enter into those infinite anysses; nor do I think we ought, usually, when we speak concerning creatures, to affirm positively, that their existence shall be equal to that of the blessed God, especially with regard to the duration of their punishment. —Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
“I cannot believe that God wants punishment to go on interminably any more than does a loving parent. The entire purpose of loving punishment is to teach, and it lasts only as long as is needed for the lesson. And the lesson is always love.” —Madeleine L’Engle
It is claimed that it takes the iron out of Christianity because it removes the threat. No longer can the sinner be dangled over the pit of hell. No longer can what Burn’s called the “hangmen’s whip” of the fear of Hell be threateningly cracked over the sinner. But the kind of universalism in which I believe has not simply obliterated hell and said that everything will be all right for everyone; it has stated grimly that, if you will have it so, you can go to Heaven via Hell. —William Barclay
For myself I can say, that if there is a God, and he is such a being as [the Universalist] describes, I can bow before him and give him all my heart. He says God is love, made the world in love, and in perfect wisdom, and well adapted to serve the divine purpose. He then made a family, all of them have sinned, and some of them have fallen very low, but God is determined, according to [the Universalist], to stand by His family, every one of them, let come what will come, till he makes all of them respectable. This standing by His family, as every true Father ought to do, is what I like in [the Universalist’s]idea of God. But if there is a God, and he has created a family and will at last turn against most of them, and in burning wrath cast them into Hell forever, as [traditional Christianity] describe(s), I should hate him—he is not as good as I am, for I propose to stand by my family and every member of it for as long as I live. It is an insult to ask me to love and worship a God who is guilty of doing what we would detest in an earthly father. —Robert Ingersoll
…hell must surely be the terrible experience of being allowed to reap the full harvest of sin and its awful fruits of misery, ruin and torment. Holy Love would so thankfully spare every single soul such an experience, but if there is no other way by which men can be brought to hate and abominate sin and to turn from it willingly and for ever, then they will be permitted to reap that awful harvest. Surely all whom Holy Love permits to pass through that appalling experience will learn at last to turn from evil with utmost horror and loathing, safe for ever after from any future temptation to plunge into it again! —Hannah Hurnard
It is claimed that universalism does away with free will…what is forgotten is that God has eternity to work in. It is not a question of God, as it were, rushing a man into heaven. It is a question of God using an eternity of persuasion and appeal until the hardest heart breaks down and the most stubborn sinner repents. —William Barclay
To believe that anyone goes into the Lake of Fire to bear that punishment again for sin is actually to diminish the work of Calvary and to detract from the perfect atonement of the cross, making it without effect and altogether unnecessary. Hence, we must view the Lake of Fire as being something other than retributive; and our only alternative is that the Lake of Fire is remedial. —Charles P. Schmitt, “The Unending Triumph of Jesus Christ”
In the New Testament Greek we really find the depth of meaning for this word, reconcile, which is to change thoroughly. There can be no true unification without first a thorough change. Thus, we are not seeking for just a present-time harmony, covering over the past and hoping for the best in the future, but we desire that the Spirit of God, working within, shall bring a thorough change in us, and then we shall be united with our Lord…There must be a change before unification, ‘for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness” and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?'” —Ray Prinzing
It is often remarked by those who oppose the doctrine of universal salvation, that if God is the Savior of all men, then there is no difference between the saint and the sinner, the believer and unbeliever. Those who make this remark, seem to forget, that while God is declared to be the Savior of all men, he is also said to be ESPECIALLY the Savior of the believer. Though it is true, that God is the Savior of all, yet a little more attention would teach you, that all along, in Scripture, there is a salvation held forth as the SPECIAL PROPERTY of the believer, in which the unbeliever can have no part or lot. Though all shall be saved with an everlasting salvation, yet the believer ALONE can enjoy this special salvation. —Rev. I. D. Williamson, 1840
The difference between the Christian and the non-Christian is not one of salvation. Salvation is given by grace to everyone. Christians are simply those charged by God with a special mission. The meaning of being a Christian is not working at your own little salvation, but changing human history. —Jacques Ellul
I hold the restoration of all souls; because having myself been the chief of sinners, … God, through Jesus Christ, by the efficacy of his holy spirit, … granted me the mercy and the pardon of all my sins, and had plucked me as a brand out of hell, (so that) I could not have a doubt but the whole world would be saved by the same power. —George de Benneville
“As long as there is any hate in us we are not ready for heaven, not as long as we’re shutting the golden doors on anyone else…the heavenly banquet cannot begin until we are all there, and I can greet with love…everybody who has caused me pain, and call out a welcome to them all. The heavenly banquet cannot begin until all those whom I have hurt are ready to welcome me, in all my flawed and contradictory humanness… Belief in hell is lack of faith because it attributes more power to Satan than to God…but it is God who has the last word! God is not going to abandon creation, nor the people up for trial in criminal court, nor the Shiites, nor the communists, or the warmongers, nor the greedy and corrupt people in high places, nor the dope pushers, nor you, nor me. Bitter tears of repentance may be shed before we can join the celebration, but it won’t be complete until we are all there.” —Madeleine L’Engle
The fact remains—we are God’s offspring, created from a foundation of goodness that has gone wrong. History since the Garden is the gradual story of how God is slowly putting that wrongness right…and will continue to do so. —Michael Phillips
I believe that justice and mercy are simply one and the same thing. [I believe] such is the mercy of God that he will hold his children in the consuming fire of his distance until they pay the uttermost farthing, until they drop the purse of selfishness with all the dross that is in it, and rush home to the Father and the Son, and the many brethren, rush inside the center of the life-giving fire whose outer circles burn. I believe that no hell will be lacking which would help the just mercy of God to redeem his children. —George MacDonald
…Nothing can be lost that is not first owned. Just as a parent is compelled by civil law to be responsible for his family and his property, so the Creator –by His own divine law–in compelled to take care of the children He has created. And that means not only caring for the good children, but for the bad ones and lost ones as well. So the word lost came to be for Mrs. Smith, a term of greatest comfort. If a person is a “lost sinner” it only means that he is temporarily seperated from the Good Shepherd who owns him. The Shepherd is bound by all duties of ownership to go after all those who are lost until they are found. —Catherine Marshall, “Beyond Ourselves” p 42-43
“God will seek us — how long? Until he finds us. And when he’s found the last little shriveling rebellious soul and has depopulated hell, then death will be swallowed up in victory, and Christ will turn over all things to the Father that he may be all and in all. Then every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” —Clarence Jordan – (founder of Koinonia Community)
“In the liberation of all no one remains a captive! At the time of the Lord’s passion the devil alone was injured by losing all the of the captives he was keeping. —Didymus, 370 AD
“While the devil imagined that he got a hold of Christ, he really lost all of those he was keeping.” —St. Chrysostom, 398 AD
Love wins all. Believe it. —Gary Amirault
The Victorious Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only Gospel that gives our heavenly Father full glory. —Gary Amirault
You’d have to be a psychopath not to want (universalism) to be true. —Robin Parry
“That in the world (age) to come, those who have done evil all their life long, will be made worthy of the sweetness of the Divine bounty. For never would Christ have said, “You will never get out until you have paid the last penny” unless it were possible for us to get cleansed when we paid the debt.” —Peter Chrysologus, 435
“While the devil thought to kill One [Christ], he is deprived of all those cast out of hades, and he [the devil] sitting by the gates, sees all fettered beings led forth by the courage of the Saviour”. —Athanasius, the Great Father of Orthodoxy
“Our Savior has appointed two kinds of resurrection in the Apocalypse. ‘Blessed is he that hath part in the first resurrection,’ for such come to grace without the judgment. As for those who do not come to the first, but are reserved unto the second resurrection, these shall be disciplined until their appointed times, between the first and the second resurrection.” —Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (340-397 A.D.)
“As far as I am concerned, anyone who hopes for the universal reconciliation of all creatures with God must already believe that this would be the best possible ending to the Christian story; and such a person has then no excuse for imagining that God could bring any but the best possible ending to pass without thereby being in some sense a failed creator.”
—David Bentley Hart, That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation
He calls us to salvation. The verb “they will return/convert” indicates that nobody is evil by essence, by nature, but rather by free choice. But if evil had the power to push the [human] free choice toward something else, something alien, the Good will have the power to call it back to its original condition. (Didymus, Comm. In Ps. 20-21 col. 54.20)”
―Didymus the Blind
There are very many in our day, who though not denying the Holy Scriptures, do not believe in endless torments. —Augustine (354-430 A.D.)
“Among the first explicit accusations leveled against Origen by these authors, even though some do deal with eschatological issues, none is directed against his apokatastasis doctrine, or at least none is against the eventual universal restoration of all humans. They were well aware that Origen’s core doctrine was that of the eventual restoration of all human beings, but they did not criticize this (they limited themselves to counter the claim of the final salvation of the devil), very probably because, as Basil attests […], still at the end of the fourth century a great many Christians believed in the final apokatastasis of all humans. (577)”
― Ilaria Ramelli, The Christian Doctrine of Apokatastasis: A Critical Assessment from the New Testament to Eriugena
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