This is a list of writers who advocated Christian universalism—specifically, Trinitarian universalism–prior to the 1961 creation of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Scholars Hosea Ballou (Ancient History of Universalism, 1828), John Wesley Hanson (Universalism: The Prevailing Doctrine of the Christian Church During Its First Five Hundred Years, 1899), George T. Knight (The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1911), and Pierre Batiffol (Catholic Encyclopedia, 1914) catalogued some early Christians—from the second through fourth centuries—as universalists, but modern scholarship questions the claim that all of these individuals were believers in universal reconciliation. Some listed by those writers may have simply believed in apokatastasis in the Jewish or early Christian sense, without any expectation that all who had ever lived would be saved.

Several modern Christian theologians have been deemed "hopeful universalists" for a belief in the possibility of universal reconciliation, but did not claim it as a dogmatic fact, e.g. Karl Barth, Cormac Murphy-O'Connor and Pope Francis.

Table

NameLivedNationalityDenominationNotesClement of Alexandria-215Coptic / Greekearly churchPriest, instructor at the School of Alexandria.Theophilus of Antioch169-183Syrianearly churchBishop, Patriarch of AntiochOrigen-254Coptic / Greekearly churchTheologian, disciple of Clement.Pamphilus of Caesarea309Syrianearly churchPriest, Teacher of EusebiusMethodius of Olympus311Greekearly churchBishop, Church Father, Martyr, TheologianGregory of Nyssa-394Greekearly churchBishop, Cappadocian Father.Diodorus of Tarsus390SyrianChurch of the EastBishop, TheologianDidymus the Blind-398Coptic / Greekearly churchTheologian, disciple of Origen.Theodore of Mopsuestia-428GreekChurch of the EastBishop, hermeneuticist.Isaac the Syrian-700SyrianChurch of the EastBishop, theologian.John Scotus EriugenasIrishearly churchTheologian, Neoplatonist, poet.Solomon of Akhlat1222SyrianChurch of the EastBishop of Basra, TheologianWilliam Langland1330-1386EnglishCatholic ChurchVernacular Writer of Piers Plowmans or 1600s–1660sEnglishAnglican, later Presbyterian RanterAnglican clergyman.–April 9, 1761EnglishAnglicanCleric.–1704EnglishBehemenist, later PhiladelphianMystic, founder of the Philadelphians.–January 18, 1735GermanReformed, later Brethren/German BaptistFounder and first minister of the Brethren/German Baptists.–November 17, 1494ItalianRoman CatholicKabbalist and philosopher.–1681EnglishAnglican, later PhiladelphianPriest and mystic.–May 6, 1743ScottishCatholic ChurchTheologian and writer–1777AmericanBaptist, later Universalist Church of AmericaUniversalist minister.–September 10, 1676EnglishDigger and QuakerDecember 10, 1824–September 19, 1905ScottishCongregationalClergyman and writer of novels.Maria Cook1779–December 21, 1835AmericanUniversalistFirst woman to be recognized as a Universalist preacher.Sergei BulgakovJuly 28, 1871–July 12, 1944RussianRussian OrthodoxOrthodox priest and former socialist politician.John MilbankOctober 23, 1952–presentEnglishAnglicanTheology professor, founder of radical orthodoxyDavid Bentley HartFebruary 20, 1965–presentAmericanEpiscopalian, later Greek OrthodoxWriter and Orthodox philosopher.Ilaria Ramelli1973-PresentItalianCatholic ChurchWriter, Theologian, and ProfessorJordan Daniel Wood1986-PresentAmericanCatholic ChurchProfessor,Writer, Theologian

Notes For example, Frederick W. Norris in the article on apocatastasis in 2004's The Westminster Handbook to Origen writes that "As far as we can tell, therefore, Origen never decided to stress exclusive salvation or universal salvation, to the strict exclusion of either case."

References

See also

Apocatastasis Christian Universalism Universal reconciliation Universalist Church of America List of Unitarians, Universalists, and Unitarian Universalists