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Christian Universalism
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Christian Universalism is a school of Christian theology which includes the belief in the doctrine of universal reconciliation, the view that all human beings or all fallen creatures will ultimately be restored to right relationship with God.
The term "Christian Universalism" was coined in the 1770s by Adams Streeter (1735–1786). Christian Universalists believe this was the most common interpretation of Christianity in Early Christianity, prior to the 6th century.[1] Christians from a diversity of denominations and traditions believe in the tenets of this belief system, such as the reality of an afterlife without the existence of a hell.[2]
As a Christian denomination, Christian Universalism originates in the late 18th century with the Universalist Church of America. There is currently no single denomination uniting Christian Universalists, but a few denominations teach some of the principles of Christian Universalism or are open to them. In 2007, the Christian Universalist Association was founded to serve as an ecumenical umbrella organization for churches, ministries, and individuals who believe in Christian Universalism.
Unitarian Universalism historically grew out of Christian Universalism but is not a Christian denomination. It formed from a 1961 merger of two historically Christian denominations, the Universalist Church of America and the American Unitarian Association, both based in the United States.
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The central beliefs which distinguish Christian Universalism from mainstream Christianity is universal reconciliation (all will eventually be reconciled to God without exception, the penalty for sin is not everlasting, i.e. doctrines of everlasting damnation to hell and annihilationism are rejected) and theosis (all souls will ultimately be conformed to the image of divine perfection in Christ).
The remaining central beliefs of Christian Universalism are compatible with Christianity in general:
In 1899 the Universalist General Convention, later called the Universalist Church of America, adopted the Five Principles: the belief in God, Jesus Christ, the immortality of the human soul, the reality of sin and universal reconciliation.[4] The inclusion of Theosis as a sixth point is found in the statement of faith adopted in 2007 by the Christian Universalist Association.[5]
The Universalist Church of America, originally called the Universalist General Convention, emerged in the late 18th century from a mixture of Anabaptists, Moravians, liberal Quakers, and people influenced by Pietist movements such as Methodism.[6] Americans from these religious backgrounds gradually created a new denominational tradition of Christian Universalism during the 19th century. The Universalist Church of America grew to be the sixth largest denomination in the United States at its peak.[2]
John Murray, who is called the "Father of American Universalism," was a disciple of James Relly and promoted Relly's Universalist form of Methodism in America.[7] He was a central figure in the founding of the Universalist Church of America in 1793. He served as pastor of the Universalist Society of Boston and wrote many hymns.
Another important figure in early American Christian Universalism was George de Benneville, a French Huguenot preacher and physician who was imprisoned for advocating Universalism and later emigrated to Pennsylvania where he continued preaching on the subject. De Benneville was noted for his friendly and respectful relationship with Native Americans and his pluralistic and multicultural view of spiritual truth which was well ahead of his time. One of his most significant accomplishments was helping to produce the Sauer Bible, the first German language Bible printed in America. In this Bible version, passages teaching universal reconciliation were marked in boldface.[8]
Other significant early modern Christian Universalist leaders include Elhanan Winchester, a Baptist preacher who wrote several books promoting the universal salvation of all souls after a period in purgatory, who founded the first Universalist church in Philadelphia, and founded a church that ministered to African American slaves in South Carolina;[9] Hosea Ballou, a Universalist preacher and writer in New England;[10] and Hannah Whitall Smith, a writer and evangelist from a Quaker background who was active in the Holiness movement as well as the women's suffrage and temperance movements.[11]
A separate branch of Christian Universalism that arose in the early 20th century was the Primitive Baptist Universalists, also called "No-Hellers." They were a group of Baptists in the central and southern Appalachian Mountain region of the United States that taught universal reconciliation and, like Hosea Ballou, embraced the "Ultra-Universalist" position that there is no literal hell beyond earth.[12]
The Unity School of Christianity, founded in 1889 by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, has taught some Universalist beliefs such as God's total goodness, the divine nature of human beings, and the rejection of the traditional Christian belief that God condemns people to hell.[13]
The Universalist Church of America gradually declined in the early to mid 20th century and merged with the American Unitarian Association in 1961, creating the modern-day Unitarian Universalist Association, an interfaith church that does not teach Christian theology. Christian Universalism largely passed into obscurity for the next few decades with end of the Universalist Church as a separate denomination. However, the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship remains as an organization for Christians from the Unitarian Universalist tradition and liberal Christians interested in Unitarianism and Universalism.[14]
Some Christians from a Pentecostal background who were involved in the Latter Rain Movement of the 1940s and 1950s came to believe in the ideas of Christian Universalism on their own, separately from the Universalist Church tradition. They emphasized the teachings of universal reconciliation and theosis. These ideas were spread primarily through newsletters and traveling evangelists from the 1950s to 1980s, and were not typically identified by the term "Universalism." The only significant organization representing these beliefs that emerged within the Charismatic movement|Charismatic tradition was Home Missions Church, a loosely organized network of ministers and house churches founded in 1944.
The rise of the internet in the 1990s has led to discussion, and promotion of Christian Universalism through various online ministries and websites. In 2005, Rick Spencer founded Restoration Nation, a ministry which holds annual conferences of believers from across North America.[15] The conversion of Bishop Carlton Pearson to a form of Universalism and his subsequent excommunication by the Joint College of African-American Pentecostal Bishops in 2004 caused Christian Universalism to gain increased media attention because of Pearson's popularity and celebrity status.[16] Numerous books about Christian Universalism have been written since the 1990s by authors from a diversity of denominations and religious backgrounds.[12]
In 2007, Eric Stetson and Kalen Fristad gathered a group of thirteen ministers and evangelists from several denominations to found the Christian Universalist Association, an interdenominational organization for churches, ministries, and individuals who believe in Christian Universalism.[17]
Christian Universalism today can be classified into three general types – Evangelical Universalism, Charismatic Universalism, and Liberal Christian Universalism – which by themselves or in combinations with one another describe the vast majority of currently existing and identifiable versions of Christian Universalist belief and practice.
The type of Christian Universalism that departs the least from orthodox or traditional Christian doctrines is Evangelical (Christian) Universalism, also called Biblical or Trinitarian Universalism. Evangelical Universalists hold to conservative positions on most theological or doctrinal issues except for the doctrine of hell, in which case they assert universal reconciliation instead of eternal torment.[18] They tend to emphasize the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ for the sins of all humanity as the basis for their Universalism.
In 2006 a mainstream evangelical writer, revealed[19] as Robin Parry in 2009, under the pseudonym of "Gregory MacDonald" released a book The Evangelical Universalist.[20] In 2008 this inspired the creation of a forum,[21] featuring "Gregory MacDonald" and Thomas Talbott, to discuss Evangelical Universalism and related topics. From both the book and the forum, it can be seen that Evangelical Universalists often derive a large part of their beliefs from Evangelicalism and Reformed theology. Many of them come from an Evangelical Christian background, but they may or may not identify with this movement and seek to remain with it.
Some Evangelical Universalists avoid using the word "Universalism" to describe their beliefs, perhaps because of the negative connotations of this word among conservative Christians. Alternative terms that are in use among Evangelical Universalists include the "Larger Hope" or "Blessed Hope" and the "Victorious Gospel."[22]
Some Christians with a background in the Charismatic movement or Pentecostalism have developed a version of Universalism which could be called Charismatic (Christian) Universalism. Charismatic Universalists usually do not call their theology "Universalism" but commonly refer to their specific beliefs by the terms "Reconciliation" (shorthand for universal reconciliation, the doctrine of apocatastasis) and "Sonship" (shorthand for "Manifest Sonship" which is a variant of the doctrine of theosis).[23] The term "Feast of Tabernacles" is used by some Charismatic Universalists as a term for their post-Pentecostal spiritual tradition, reflecting a symbolic interpretation of this Jewish festival as an entrance into a fuller knowledge and relationship with God and understanding of God's plan for humanity.[24]
Charismatic Universalism is marked by its emphasis on theosis; the idea that the return of Christ is a body of perfected human beings who are the "Manifested Sons of God" instead of a literal return of the person of Jesus;[25] the idea that these Sons will reign on the earth and transform all other human beings from sin to perfection during an age that is coming soon (a version of millennialism);[26] and the absolute sovereignty of God, the nonexistence or severe limitation of human free will, and the inevitable triumph of God's plan of universal reconciliation.[27]
Many Charismatic Universalists meet in house churches or do not belong to a church at all. Most of the evidence of Universalism existing as a school of thought within the Charismatic movement is found in a large number of internet-based ministries that are informally networked with one another.[28]
A variety of people who have liberal interpretations of Christianity hold Universalist beliefs and can be considered Liberal Christian Universalists. This category of Christian Universalism includes some members of mainline Protestant denominations, some people influenced by the New Age and New Thought movements, some people in the emerging church movement, some Unitarian Universalists who continue to follow Jesus as their primary spiritual teacher, and some Christians from other religious backgrounds who may or may not attend church.
Liberal Christian Universalism emphasizes the all-inclusive love of God and tends to be more open to finding truth and value in non-Christian spiritual traditions compared to the attitude of other forms of Christian Universalism, while remaining generally Christ-centered.[29] In contrast to Evangelical Universalism, Liberal Christian Universalism views the Bible as an imperfect human document containing divine revelations, is not necessarily Trinitarian, and often downplays or rejects blood atonement theology in its view of the crucifixion of Jesus.[30] Some Liberal Christian Universalists believe in mystical, Gnostic, or New Age ideas such as panentheism or the preexistence and reincarnation of the soul,[31] and New Thought ideas such as the law of attraction.[32]
The Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship is an organization for Liberal Christian Universalists, especially those who belong to the Unitarian Universalist Association. The Liberal Catholic Church and the Unity Church are liberal Christian denominations which teach some Universalist beliefs.[33][34] "Who we are: Teachings". UnityOnline.org.</ref>
Former Pentecostal Bishop Carlton Pearson's "Gospel of Inclusion" appears to be a hybrid between Charismatic and Liberal Christian Universalism. He is now a minister in the United Church of Christ, a liberal Christian denomination, but continues to believe in some ideas and practices of Pentecostal or Charismatic forms of Christianity. Pearson has also incorporated some New Age and New Thought teachings into his message.[35] Brian McLaren is a Christian leader in the emerging church movement who is sympathetic to the idea of Universalism but does not embrace it.[36]
A number of ministers and evangelists connected with Restoration Nation conferences are Universalists who draw from both the Evangelical and Charismatic traditions.[37] One notable example is Robert Rutherford, a minister from Georgia who was a finalist on The Learning Channel's 2006 reality TV series "The Messengers."[38] Another example is Dick King, an independent Charismatic Baptist pastor in North Little Rock, Arkansas, whose church left the Southern Baptist Convention in 2004.[39]
The Christian Universalist Association is putting forth a message which seeks common ground among all major contemporary types of Christian Universalism.[40]
There are many religious issues on which Christian Universalists disagree with each other, depending on their theological background and denominational tradition. Some examples include:
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