Universalism in Church History

I have written previously about the views of hell in Christian history when we looked at conditionalism in the early church. I didn't do a post for early traditionalists for two reasons. First, it is self evident that there have been adherents throughout church history. Second, I already had enough to write about that I thought would advance the conversation in more helpful ways. However, I think it would be good to do at a later date since many traditionalists assume far too much support when the reality is that there was not a constantly held tradition on hell until after Augustine in the late 4th - early 5th century.

Today I will cover some key figures and movements who held to universalism through the whole of church history. As with traditionalism and conditionalism, we have to look for statements by authors that do not simply quote scripture since the passages of Scripture are said to be compatible with each view. The following are recognized by multiple scholars (not just universalists) as christian thinkers and leaders who held to some form of universalism:

• Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-215) though heavily disputed
• Origin (c. 185-254)
• Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-390's)
• Peter Bohler (1712-1775) claimed by G. Whitefield in a letter to J. Wesley
• Friedrich Schleiemacher (1768-1834)
• John Murray (1741-1815)
• George MacDonald (1824-1905)
• Hannah Whitall Smith (1832-1911)
• William Barclay (1907-1978)

This is not an exhaustive list and even more are modestly claimed to seemingly teach universalism. An interesting study by Richard Baukham cover the subject with commentary and additional information such as this:

"Origen's universalism was involved in the group of doctrines known as 'Origenism', about which there were long controversies in the East. A Council at Constantinople in 543 condemned a list of Origenist errors including Apokatastasis, but whether this condemnation was endorsed by the Fifth Ecumenical Council (553) seems in doubt. At any rate the condemnation of Origenism discredited universalism in the theological tradition of the East. In the West, not only Origen's heretical reputation but also Augustine's enormous influence ensured that the Augustinian version of the doctrine of hell prevailed almost without question for many centuries."

Conditionalism in Early Christian Tradition

It is often claimed by the traditionalists that conditionalism (and universalism) are theological novelties; too new to be the original view of Jesus, the apostles, or the early church. But is this actually the case? Most of the earliest church fathers simply quoted scripture whenever they address the subject of hell, the last judgement, or final punishment. Therefore, since in many cases the meaning of certain passages of Scripture are in dispute, we need to find instances where the early fathers explained their view in their own words.

A number of research projects have been undertaken to determine where each church father falls within the three views and it is generally acknowledged by all sides that there is support for all three. Conditionalists have begun to be more bold on the assertion that Conditionalism was early...very early. Some even assert that it was the position before the influx of converts who were philosophers with assumptions foreign to Scripture (namely the immortality of the soul).

Here is an example of a common list of Early Fathers said to be conditionalists:

• First Clement (late 1st century) 
• Ignatius of Antioch (late 1st century) 
• Epistle of Barnabas (late 1st or early 2nd century) 
• Irenaeus (2nd century) 
• Arnobius (early 4th century) 
• Athanasius (4th century) 

It's a pretty impressive list, but conditionalists say this is a modest claim because the evidence is too thin (because most simply reused biblical language). I took it from a website called rethinkinghell.com,  which has a lot of resources on conditionalism if anyone wants to look into it further. Below is a video one of their contributors made that goes into a little more detail on why they think there is a strong case that many of the earliest church fathers were conditionalist.

Early church views on Creation in Genesis

I've said several times this week that there are many interpretations Genesis 1 so this post will direct you to quotes of theologians through the last 2,000 years. I also claimed that Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis think they are the only legitimate interpretation and are the ones aligned with historic Christianity. Here is the heading from their article titled, "Other 'Interpretations' of Genesis"

The purpose of this section is to define some of the interpretive schemes that have arisen since the idea of vast ages became popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Please bear in mind that old-earth theologies were essentially non-existent prior to 1800. This fact alone provides strong evidence that these views are not derived from the Bible. Instead, they are an attempt to accommodate the long ages promoted by uniformitarian science. 

 From the outset, the title questions other approaches as actual interpretations. Then it describes them as 'schemes', claims they arose in the 18th and 19th centuries yet were only 'virtually' non-existent before 1800. Is that a fact? Are these views derived from the Bible? Or are they, as AIG claims, an attempt to accommodate modern science?

No. From the early church fathers onward, there has been a diversity of interpretations. In fact, the doctrine of Creation was not a priority for the early Christians. They were a little busy being slaughtered, fed to lions, and used as nightlights for the emperor. When they had time to talk there were more important issues such as the doctrine of the Trinity and the person of Jesus.

The key, once again, is that the views were diverse as pointed out with multiple quotes by this blogger. While it is true that many early Christians did think the earth was young, most of those held that the earth was 6,000 years old then. That would make the earth at least 8,000 years old today. Modern Young Earth Creationists base their belief of a 6,000 year old earth on the chronology of James Ussher and Dr. John Lightfoot.who wrote in the 17th century, not the early church as often asserted.

For another perspective on the early church's views, here is a 5 part blog post from 'Reasons to Believe'. They use what they call a 'Creation Model' approach to integrating science and the Christian faith.