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. "Christian universalism" and "the belief or hope in the universal reconciliation through Christ" can be understood as synonyms.^[1] Opponents of this school, who hold that eternal damnation is the ultimate fate of some or most people, are sometimes called "infernalists."^[2]

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.^[3]^[4]^[5] Some Christian universalists claim that in Early Christianity (prior to the 6th century), this was the most common interpretation of Christianity.^[6]

As a formal Christian denomination, Christian universalism originated in the late 18th century with the Universalist Church of America. 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. Instead, their membership has been consolidated with the American Unitarian Association into the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1961.

^ MacDonald, Gregory (2011). All Shall Be Well. p. 1. 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.
^ Kilby, Karen (16 March 2020). "Against the Infernalists". Commonweal. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
^ 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."
^ 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…"
^ 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."
^ 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

[1] MacDonald, Gregory (2011). All Shall Be Well. p. 1. 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.

[2] Kilby, Karen (16 March 2020). "Against the Infernalists". Commonweal. Retrieved 3 June 2022.

[3] 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."

[4] 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…"

[5] 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."

[6] 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

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