List of Christian universalists explained

This is a list of writers who advocated Christian universalism—specifically, Trinitarian universalism–prior to the 1961 creation of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Scholars Hosea Ballou (Ancient History of Universalism, 1828), John Wesley Hanson (Universalism: The Prevailing Doctrine of the Christian Church During Its First Five Hundred Years, 1899), George T. Knight (The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1911), and Pierre Batiffol (Catholic Encyclopedia, 1914) catalogued some early Christians—from the second through fourth centuries—as universalists, but modern scholarship questions the claim that all of these individuals were believers in universal reconciliation. Some listed by those writers may have simply believed in apokatastasis in the Jewish or early Christian sense, without any expectation 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 did not claim it as a dogmatic fact, e.g. Karl Barth and Cormac Murphy-O'Connor.

Table

Name	Lived	Nationality	Denomination	Notes
	s or 1600s–1660s	English	Anglican, later Presbyterian Ranter	Anglican clergyman
	–April 9, 1761	English	Anglican	Cleric
	–1704	English	Behemenist, later Philadelphian	Mystic, founder of the Philadelphians
	–January 18, 1735	German	Reformed, later Brethren/German Baptist	Founder and first minister of the Brethren/German Baptists
	–November 17, 1494	Italian	Roman Catholic	Kabbalist and philosopher
	–1681	English	Anglican, later Philadelphian	Priest and mystic
	–May 6, 1743	Scottish	Roman Catholic
	–1777	American	Baptist, later Universalist Church of America	Universalist minister
	–September 10, 1676	English	Digger and Quaker
George Macdonald	December 10, 1824 - September 19, 1905	Scottish	Congregational	Clergyman and writer of novels
Maria Cook	1779 - December 21, 1835	American	Universalist	First woman to be recognized as a Universalist preacher.

Notes

• For example, Frederick W. Norris in the article on apocatastasis in 2004's The Westminster Handbook to Origen writes that "As far as we can tell, therefore, Origen never decided to stress exclusive salvation or universal salvation, to the strict exclusion of either case."

See also

• Apocatastasis
• Christian Universalism
• Universal reconciliation
• Universalist Church of America
• List of Unitarians, Universalists, and Unitarian Universalists