Trinitarian universalism

It was particularly associated with an ex-Methodist New England minister, John Murray, and after his death in 1815 the only clergy known to be preaching Trinitarian Universalism were Paul Dean of Boston and Edward Mitchell in New York.

[1][2][3] Traditionally, the doctrine of Christian universalism was traced by Universalist historians[4] back to the teachings of Origen of Alexandria (c. 185–284), an influential early Church Father and writer.

[5] Origen also believed in the pre-existence of souls and that glorified Man may have to go through cycles of sin and redemption before reaching perfection.

Much of this research was incorporated by French priest Pierre Batiffol into an article on Apocatastasis later translated for the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia.

[8] Jane Leade (1623–1704), a mystic who claimed to have seen heaven and hell, started a Universalist congregation, the Philadelphians, which dissipated after her death.

[12] Thomas Talbott offers three propositions which are biblically based, but which he asserts to be mutually exclusive: Traditional theology clarifies omnipotence or omni-benevolence to resolve the contradiction.

Calvinism resolves it by positing a doctrine of limited atonement, which some interpret as claiming that God's love is restricted (though this assertion is disputed by most Calvinists).

[17] The Argument There are four major theories about human salvation in Christendom: Christian denominations and churches will generally profess one of the above to be true and the others as error; however, they are not all mutually exclusive.

In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved."

Those in sin are slaves to sin and Satan, and therefore it is only God who can, by his grace, release them from that bondage and make them able to believe: "The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses {and escape} from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will."

While Thomas Talbott, "Gregory MacDonald" (the penname for Robin Parry) and Eric Reitan regard everlasting punishment as impossible,[11][13][20] Reformed, neo-orthodox theologian Karl Barth and Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar believed that the eventual salvation of all was merely a possibility.