Topic summary
Christian Universalist
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Christian universalism.
References
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He had never taught the doctrine known as universalism, namely that all will be saved. He asserted only that we may hope that all will ultimately come to salvation.
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- ^ 376. doi:10.1177/00145246241251575. Archived from the original on 17 May 2026.
The doctrine of universalism, which asserts that all will find salvation in the life to come...
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...Universal-ism, that is, the salvation of all men in the resurrection state.
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In Christianity, 'universalism' is the belief that God will save all souls─in other words, that everyone ultimately goes to heaven.
{{}}: CS1 maint: location () CS1 maint: location missing publisher () - ^ 2026.
Universalism is the belief that ultimately everybody will be saved.
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...the belief that everyone will be saved ("universalism") ... Universalists think that all will be saved.
- ^ 386. ASIN 157383212X.
[Jesus Christ] is finally irresistible. He is inescapable. Alpha and Omega, first and last, beginning and end, arche and telos. I am not here arguing for universalism—that in the end everyone gets saved. I am here arguing for the great unseen reality of the present. I do not see how anyone can finally resist him.
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[Dr. Fred Sanders defined universalism as]... the actual salvation of all people... the actual salvation of all persons. "[Tom Greggs defined Christian universalism as] the view that the extent of the atonement is such that it is not only universally offered to all human beings but also universally effective for all human beings.
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Christian universalism, a theological concept which holds that all people will be saved─not just evan-gelicals, not just Christians, but everyone.
- ^ 2026 – via YouTube.
Sure. Well, universally if you look up the dictionary definition you'll find that the word has different meanings in different contexts, but in the sphere of Christian theology universalism could be just simply defined as the idea that eventually all human beings will find salvation, will be eternally with God in Heaven. And you could you could actually expand it a little bit to say all rational beings, moral beings that would include the fallen angels being saved as well. And once you, you know, you you define universalism that way it's ultimately a doctrine about final outcomes
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universalism—the belief that all humans will finally be saved into God's blissful presence.
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...universalism (the belief that all human beings will be saved)...
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Barna defined universalism as the belief that all human beings will eventually be saved after death.
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uni•ver•sal•ism ... n(1805) 1 often cap a : a theo-logical doctrine that all human beings will eventually be saved b : the principles and practices of a liberal Christian denomination founded in the 18th century orig. to uphold belief in universal salvation and now united with Unitarianism 2: something that is universal in scope 3 : the state of being universal : Universality ─ uni•ver•sal•ist ... n or adj, often cap
- ^ . P&R Publishing. p. 88.
...universalism, the doctrine that all human beings will be saved.
- ^ 2026.
universalist n. 1 a person advocating loyalty to others without regard to national allegiance. 2 Theology a person who believes that all mankind will eventually be saved. □ universalism n. universalistic adj. [Say UNIVERSAL ist, universal ISS tick]
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universalist n. 1 a person who is learned in many subjects or who has a wide range of interests etc. 2 a person advocating loyalty to and concern for others without regard to national allegiance. 3 Theol. a per-son who believes that all mankind will eventually be saved. 4 a member of an organized body of Christians who believe this. □ universalism n. universalistic adj.
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universalist n. 1 a person who is learned in many subjects or who has a wide range of interests etc. 2 a person advocating loyalty to and concern for others without regard to national allegiance. 3 Theol. a person who believes that all mankind will be saved. 4 a member of an organized body of Christians who believe this. □ universalism n. universalistic adj.
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a person who believes that all mankind will be saved
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Universalism means, that all good people go to heaven. In some cases it is not just the good people, but everyone.
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...universalism, the view that God will eventually save all sinners.
- ^ 2026 – via YouTube.
[Timestamp 00:15-00:42] "Well, simply put, Christian universalism is the idea that everyone finally will be saved. And there's some universalists who think that universalism includes not only human beings, but even fallen angels as well. So that would mean, if you take that seriously, Satan and demons as long as all as well as all human beings will be saved as too." ... [Timestamp: 6:37-6:59] "...a man named Karl Barth, a Swiss protestant theologian, proposed the idea of universal election, that everyone is chosen for salvation and he hedged a little bit, Karl Barth said that, that doesn't mean that everyone is finally saved, but instead that that that they're chosen for salvation and so that was sometimes became known as hopeful universalism"
{{}}: CS1 maint: others () - ^ . Archived from the original on 3 December 2009 2026 – via Library of Congress and Internet Archive.
Stephan Bar-sudaili, Abbot of Edessa, in Mesopotamia, at the end of the Fifth Century, taught Universalism, — the termination of all punishments in the future world, and their purifying character. The fallen angels are to receive mercy, and all things are to be restored, so that God may be all in all.
{{}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility ()CS1 maint: location missing publisher () - ^ 2026 – via YouTube.
[Timestamp 3:42-3:57] "...let me just define some key terms for the sake of presentation. First of all universalism, simply the teaching that all human beings, and perhaps you might say angels too, we think of them as intelligent, volitional beings, will finally attain the salvation with God in Heaven." [Timestamp 5:02-5:53] "...the whole notion of the larger hope or what sometimes referred to as Christian inclusivism. This is the notion that there will be more people in heaven than many would expect, traditionally think. And I draw a rather clear distinction between universalism and the various forms of Christian inclusivism. And the reason for that is I think that universalism a much strong claim. Many of the universalists ...would say that there's a possibility for people to respond to Christ without actually hearing the name of Christ. Other's might point to some post-mortem opportunity to respond to Christ. But in any case, what inclusivists are often concerned about is expanding the realm within which choice can be made, universalists is in effect saying everyone will make the same choice ultimately."
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- ^ 277. ISBN .
A more radical solution to what some see as the "problem of hell" affirms that God eventually pardons and receives virtually everyone into fellowship with himself ─ except, perhaps, for the devil and his angels! This position is often labeled as universalism.
- ^ 2026 – via YouTube.
[Timestamp 22:45 to 24:03] "...annihilationism and the traditional doctrine of hell view are both doctrines of limited salvation as I as I put it, where salvation does not extend to all. And so there are those who don't enjoy perfect blessedness. And so what's the state of that? Well maybe they're eternally damned maybe they are annihilated? Either way they're eternally lost. Now of course the alternative to either of those views is universalism, and that's the view that all eventually come to experience perfect blessedness. May not be immediate. There may be a finite hell, right, of those who reject God at the end of this life are or who are unrepentant to their sins at the end of this life may not be ready for, you know, won't be ready for that community, but eventually all will come to repentance, right? The idea the universalists is that eventually, after a finite hell, everyone is offered into a perfect blessedness. " [Timestamp 32:09-32:27] "...Universalists agree that all humans are ultimately saved, right? But they don't necessarily agree on whether that extends to non-human animals? Does it extend to fallen angels, right?"
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- ^ . Quaker Universalist Group. Archived(PDF) from the original on 30 September 2020 2026.
There is a technical theological sense in which universalism is defined as 'the doctrine of universal salvation or redemption' (O.E.D.), a universalist being 'one who believes or maintains the doctrine that redemption or election is extended to the whole of mankind'.
- ^ 26. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1cg4m9c. ISBN . JSTOR j.ctt1cg4m9c 2026.
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.
{{}}: CS1 maint: location () - ^ 2026 – via YouTube.
[Timestamp 1:45 to 2:03] Well well definitely the latter yeah I mean the tradition of Christian universalism which is just that a that a everything and everyone ultimately enters into redeemed kingdom of God goes back to the earlier centuries of the church...
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[Timestamp 0:35 to 1:04] "the hope, the confession, that in the kingdom of God... in the eschaton, in the cosmic transfiguration of the cosmos, all human beings will be reconciled to God in and through Jesus Christ."
- ^ 2026.
u|ni•ver•sal•ism ... n. 1 Universality 2 [U-] the theological doctrine that all souls will eventually find salvation in the grace of God u|ni•ver•sal•ist (-ist) n. 1 a person characterized by universality, as of interests or activities ☆2 [U-] a member of a former U.S. Prot-estant denomination (founded c. 1789), now merged with the Unitar-ians ─adj. 1 marked by universality ☆2 [U-] of Universalism or Universalists ─u'|ni•ver'sal•is'tic adj.
- ^ 2026 – via YouTube.
[Timestamp 10:21-10:53] "Universalism, in a nutshell, is the idea that, in the end, God will bring about his purposes for all creation and for us that is involves our salvation that bring involves us God bringing us to the destiny for which he created us. And and in fact, most Christians, I argue, are universalists about most aspects of the story. They believe that God created everything that isn't God, right? And that's a kind of universalism. It excludes nothing." [Timestamp 16:30-16:59] "So it's not 'oh, doesn't matter what you do, cause we're all saved anyways, right? It's all. So who cares about sin, right? Who cares about whether you believe in Jesus? Cause all roads lead to God.' I mean that's not evangelical universalism. Or neither is it any version of Christian universalism that's existed historically. It's a very recent sort of mangled up liberal version of universalism. And it's not an actual version historically."
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a universalist – or believing that all people will be saved and enter heaven regardless of whether they accepted Jesus
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U'ni•ver'sal•ist n member of a Christian denomination (merged in 1961 with the Unitarian denomination) that be-lieves in the final salvation of all mankind || also adj || U'ni•ver'sal-ism n
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...hopeful universalism... a view ... that remains open to salvation for all but asserts that the matter can't be definitely affirmed or known in advance.
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Universalists. This Christian sect, believ-ing in the reconciliation of all souls to God through the grace that is revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ, is, as to its organization, com-paratively modern. The same may also be said of its name. Believers in its distinctive doctrine in the early Greek branch of the church had at first no distinctive appelation. Later they were called 'Origenists' and subsequently they were known as 'The Merciful Doctors'
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Universalists, a religious denomination, holding the final destruction of evil, and the restoration of all souls through Jesus Christ.
Alt URL - ^ 2026.
often Universalism a : a theological doctrine that all human beings will eventually be saved ... b : the principles and practices of a liberal Christian denomination founded in the 18th century originally to uphold belief in universal salvation and now united with Unitarianism
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uni•ver•sal•ism ... n, often cap 1 : a theological doctrine that all people will eventually be saved 2 : the principles and practices of a liberal Christian denomination founded in the 18th century to uphold belief in universal salvation and now united with Unitarianism ─ uni•ver•sal•ist ... n or adj, often cap
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uni•ver•sal•ism ... n (1805) 1 often cap a : a theo-logical doctrine that all men will eventually be saved b : the princi-ples and practices of a liberal Christian denomination founded in the 18th century orig. to uphold belief in universal salvation and now united with Unitarianism 2 : something that is universal in scope 3 : the state of being universal : Universality ─ uni•ver•sal•ist ... n or adj, often cap
{{}}: CS1 maint: location () - ^ . Gospel Studies.org.uk. pp. 199–200. Archived(PDF) from the original on 28 June 2026 2026.
UNIVERSALISM proper, the doctrine that though hell may exist, it will at the last be untenanted-that God's will to save all men indi-vidually will finally triumph-that, inter alia, Judas will be saved though Jesus did not think he would be..."
- ^ 570. ISBN . LCCN 22001305. OCLC 2926217. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020 2026 – via Library of Congress and Internet Archive.
Universalism. Universalism is a be-lief in the final triumph of good over evil in the universe. As applied to the human economy, it is a belief that God is pledged by His good-ness and omnipotence to put an end to sin and ultimately to save the whole family of mankind. Or, as is more commonly stated in later years, Universalism is the doctrine that the destiny of mankind is progress onward and upward forever; that always before man is a chance to develop and that always in man is a power to unfold, always a time and a place in which to grow and always in man a power to respond to the opportunity." "It was at this time also that there arose a group who called themselves Restorationists. Their particular view was that through the sacrifice of Jesus all men would be restored to a state of original innocence. Others said man would receive all punishment in this life, but the larger number affirmed that man would enter the next life with the character he had on leaving this and that the cleansing and purifying process would continue there as here, until man would con-form to the laws of God and that no punish-ment would be everlasting.
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Christian universalism says in the end God will forgive and adopt all people through Christ─perhaps after a limited period of restorative punishment in hell for some
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...Universal-ism, a movement that overturned Calvinist doctrines of predestination by maintaining that all souls are eventually reconciled with God in heaven." "Harris became a regular at Davis's trance lec-tures, during which the visionary recounted the wisdom of departed souls he encountered in Spirit Land─his term for the Univer-salist heaven to which he could transport his consciousness while entranced.
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Some 'emergent' Christians seem to have a problem with the exclusivity of Christ as well. They have been accused of 'universalism,' which in essence means these particular emergents think everyone will make it to heaven at some point, whether or not they accept Jesus as their Savior. ... To be clear, Christianity is inclusive in that everyone on this planet is welcome to come to God by receiving Jesus Christ as their Savior from sin. But salvation is exclusively through Jesus Christ alone.48 There is no other way.
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universalism comes in many shapes, but basically it is the belief that at the end, after the judgment, all people from all faiths or no faith are reconciled to God.
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Christian universalism, as I use the term, is the conviction that God's redeeming work in Christ will ultimately reconcile all people to God. ... Christian universalism is often misunderstood. It isn't the idea that anything goes or that all paths are equal. It's the belief that God's redeeming love will ultimately reconcile all people to God through Christ.
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Universalism: The hope that in the end, everyone will be reconciled to God. Universalism can be pluralistic (the belief that all paths lead to God) or inclusivist (the belief that God will eventually save everyone). Pluralism: When people say "universalism," they often are really referring to pluralism, which is the belief that every path and every religion leads to God. To the pluralist, Christ's life and death on the cross are powerful examples of a life committed to God. The pluralist says that you don't have to believe in, have faith in, or follow Jesus to come to God.
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...some of the church fathers who are said to teach universalism I think don't actually did. I think there are quotations that are taken out of the broader context, right, where if you take them in context, you may get something closer to hopeful universalism, right, the hope that all would be saved, the desire that all would be saved...
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2:13... God...chose you. ... Does God have the right to choose some to be saved? Basically His desire is for all to be saved (1 Tim 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9). However, the Bible does not teach "Universalism," the theory that all will eventually be saved.
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John Wesley (and we) teach that Christ's death creates the possibility that all may be saved. ... We would say it would be improper to refer to our view as "universal salvation" or "universalist." A universalist view would be that God has saved everyone, and no one faces a final judgment that leads to the possibility of "endless condemnation.
- ^ 2026 – via YouTube.
[Timestamp 19:32-19:47] "...what I would say is that hopeful universalism is an objective teaching of the of even the official magisterium right now. I make a point to actual. You could go to the catechism right now and talk about it'll talk about how we are to have hope for the salvation for all..." [Timestamp 39:52-40:13] "What's interesting though is these same people would claim to be a soft universalist, which is just to say that I think they adhere to what we talked about earlier was already the pretty more or less uncontroversial teaching of the current magisterium which is that the real possibility of salvation of all, but they themselves are usually pretty pessimistic about whether or not that'll actually happen..." [Timestamp 38:21-39:05] "...they're pretty much representatives of two, again, species of Christian universalism, and again the labels circulating today vary and they're being created sort of all the time it seems. But you might say that, where as Balthazar is a what's called a hopeful universalist, George MacDonald is a dogmatic or a universalist. Now another circulating you know pairs, soft universalism, which would be Balthazar, or hard universalism, which would be someone like MacDonald. I myself sort of skeptical of those labels, usually they're wielded by people who are more or less poleminists or apologists and they they don't they don't really distinguish, they don't really say much honestly..."
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The Unitarian Universalist Association came into being in 1961 as the result of a merger of two previously independent institutions: the American Unitarian As-socation (founded in 1825) and the Universalist Church of America (established in 1866). Each of these religious communities represented, within the context of nineteenth-century Christianity, a radical deviation from the more familiar forms of Christianity: the Unitarians denied the Trinity, and the Universalists denied any belief in eternal damnation. ... By the time of their merger, neither the Unitarians nor the Universalists saw themselves as definably (or exclusively) Christian any longer...
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─Universalism, ... n. Theol. the doctrine of the Universalists.─Universalist, ... n. One who holds the doctrine that all men will finally be saved, in opposition to the doc-trine of eternal punishment.
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[Quote from John Stott] "The true universalism of the Bible is the call to universal evangelism in obedience to Christ's universal commission. It is the conviction not that all men will be saved in the end, but that all men must hear the gospel of salvation before the end, as Jesus said (Matt. 24:14), in order that they may have a chance to believe and be saved (Ro-mans 10:13-15)."
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We may trace the different biblical elements of this 'universalism' as follows. It begins with God's promise to Abraham, that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. God has chosen to save the world through Abraham's family, and supremely (of course) in the true seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ. ... In His death and resurrection He put to death 'fleshly' Israel and brought her to life again as a worldwide community. ...that in Christ God has revealed the one way of salvation for all men alike, irrespective of race, sex, colour or status.
- ^ 35, 95–97. ISBN 2026.
[u]niversalism comes in different shapes, as an ideal of genuine toleration, as an effort to protect universal rights, and as a kind of imperialism that insists that we are all one and that demands an obliteration of difference." ""We are, then, the heirs of a long tradition in which monotheism is regarded as the great achievement of 'Judeo-Christian' thought, holding out the promise of universalism and with it an endorsement of ethics and peace. But upon closer inspection, sometimes mono-theism is entangled with particularism, with the assertion that this God and not any other gods must be worshipped
- ^ 2026.
In Luther's works and many others, Jonah is a representative both of the Christ and of the faults and fall of the Jews and Judaism: he is Jewish nationalism versus Christian universalism; he under-stands a (Jewish) God of wrath rather than a (Christian) God of love." "The book [of Jonah]... responds to some of the more nationalistic voices that sought to preserve the repatriated community's identity by keeping a distance from outsiders. We note this concern for universalism...
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As for the prophets, the message is not that the God of Israel is greater than the gods of other peoples, but that he is the one Lord of all creation; and from that insight grows the whole message of universalism, of a promise extended to all. Specific stories in Joshua (for example) might seem noxious, but the central goal and message of the text is awe-inspiring, and it lays a foundation for the whole later development of both Judaism and Christianity." "In other words, the bloodiest passages of the Bible were written down in the very same years that the great prophets were preaching their messages of universalism and social justice.
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One principal reason Christianity later spread all over the world was that Jesus himself was a universalist. 'I... will draw all men unto me,' he said in John 12:32. He insisted, 'God so loved the world ... that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.' God had sent him to earth not to condemn the world, or any part of it, 'but that the world through him might be saved' (Jn 3:16-17). There are no re-strictions or qualifications in this universal mission. When he gave his apostles their final instructions about their missionary tasks ahead, he set no geographical, social, national, or racial limits. They were to 'go ... into all the world' and 'teach all nations' (Mk 16:15; Mt 28:19). This universalism of Jesus stretched from his Incarnation to the Crucifixion." ""Jesus was illustrating the universalist principle which was perhaps the most important element in his social message: we are all neighbors, one to another, and our human fellowship depends on kindness and charity, not tribe or race or color or nationality."
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This means that both Judaism and Christianity have a certain tension in their conception of God, which we might call a tension between universalism and particularism. Because God is the creator of everything and hence of every human person, nothing and no one can be outside the divine purposes: God must be concerned for all people and all peoples. Yet because the same God is also the God who chose Israel, and in later times added to Israel the non-Israelites who came to make up the majority of members of the church, the God of all is also the God of particular people. Neither religion has completely resolved this tension, veering from time to time and place to place in a more universalist or particularist direction.
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