List of early Christian universalists

This is a list of believers in Christian Universalism

Christian Universalism

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....

—specifically, Trinitarian Universalism

Trinitarian Universalism

Trinitarian Universalism is a variant of belief in universal salvation, the belief that every person will be saved, that also held the Christian belief in Trinitarianism as opposed to liberal Unitarianism which is more usually associated with Unitarian Universalism...

prior to the 1961 creation of the Unitarian Universalist Association

Unitarian Universalist Association

Unitarian Universalist Association , in full the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America, is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations formed by the consolidation in 1961 of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of...

. Early Christians

Early Christianity

Early Christianity is generally considered as Christianity before 325. The New Testament's Book of Acts and Epistle to the Galatians records that the first Christian community was centered in Jerusalem and its leaders included James, Peter and John....

—from the second through fourth centuries—have been catalogued by scholars Hosea Ballou

Hosea Ballou

Hosea Ballou was an American Universalist clergyman and theological writer.-Biography:Hosea Ballou was born in Richmond, New Hampshire, to a family of Huguenot origin...

(Ancient History of Universalism, 1828), John Wesley Hanson

John Wesley Hanson

John Wesley Hanson was an American Universalist minister and a notable Universalist historian advancing the claim that Universalism was the belief of early Christianity...

(Universalism: The Prevailing Doctrine of the Christian Church During Its First Five Hundred Years, 1899), George T. Knight

George T. Knight (Universalist)

The Rev. George T. Knight, D.D, was an American Universalist teacher at the Crane Theological School, a Universalist seminary at Tufts University.-References:...

(The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1911), and Pierre Batiffol

Pierre Batiffol

Pierre Batiffol was a prominent French catholic priest and Church historian, known particularly as a historian of dogma....

(Catholic Encyclopedia

Catholic Encyclopedia

The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...

, 1914), but modern scholarship questions the claim that all of these individuals were believers in universal reconciliation

Universal reconciliation

In Christian theology, universal reconciliation is the doctrine that all sinful and alienated human souls—because of divine love and mercy—will ultimately be reconciled to God.Universal salvation may be related to the perception of a problem of Hell, standing opposed to ideas...

. Some of those listed here may have simply believed in apokatastasis in the Jewish or early Christian sense, without any intention that all who had ever lived would be saved.

Several modern Christian theologians have been deemed "hopeful Universalists" for a belief in the possibility of universal reconciliation, but who did not claim it was a dogmatic fact—e.g. Karl Barth

Karl Barth

Karl Barth was a Swiss Reformed theologian whom critics hold to be among the most important Christian thinkers of the 20th century; Pope Pius XII described him as the most important theologian since Thomas Aquinas...

and Cormac Murphy-O'Connor.

Table

Lived	Nationality	Denomination	Notes
– 1660s	English English people The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...	Anglican Anglicanism Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English... , later Presbyterian Presbyterianism Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,... Ranter	Anglican clergyman
– April 9, 1761	English English people The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...	Anglican	Cleric
–1704	English English people The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...	Behemenist Behmenism Behmenism, also Behemenism and similar, is the English-language designation for a 17th Century European Christian movement based on the teachings of German mystic and theosopher Jakob Böhme . The term was not usually applied by followers of Böhme's theosophy to themselves, but rather was used by... , later Philadelphian Philadelphians The Philadelphians, or the Philadelphian Society, were a Protestant 17th century religious group in England. They were organized around John Pordage , an Anglican priest from Bradfield, Berkshire, who had been ejected from his parish in 1655 because of differing views, but then reinstated in 1660...	Mystic, founder of the Philadelphians
– January 18, 1735	German	Reformed, later Brethren Schwarzenau Brethren The Schwarzenau Brethren, originated in Germany, the outcome of the Radical Pietist ferment of the late 17th and early 18th century. Hopeful of the imminent return of Christ, the founding Brethren abandoned the established Reformed and Lutheran churches, forming a new church in 1708 when their... /German Baptist	Founder and first minister of the Brethren/German Baptists
– November 17, 1494	Italian Italian people The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...	Roman Catholic	Kabbalist Kabbalah Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine... and philosopher
–1681	English English people The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...	Anglican, later Philadelphian	Priest and mystic
– May 6, 1743	Scottish Scottish people The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...	Roman Catholic
–1777	American	Baptist, later Universalist Church of America Universalist Church of America The Universalist Church of America was a Christian Universalist religious denomination in the United States . Known from 1866 as the Universalist General Convention, the name was changed to the Universalist Church of America in 1942...	Universalist minister
– September 10, 1676	English English people The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...	Digger and Quaker Religious Society of Friends The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...

Table

See also