Universal Salvation in Late Antiquity

Universal Salvation in Late Antiquity
Author: Michael Bland Simmons
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 537
Release: 2015
Genre: History
ISBN: 0190202394

A new study of Porphyrian soteriology, or the concept of the salvation of the soul, in the thought of Porphyry of Tyre

Universal Salvation in Late Antiquity

Universal Salvation in Late Antiquity
Author: Archbishop Michael Bland Simmons
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 537
Release: 2015-05-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 0190272848

This study offers an in-depth examination of Porphyrian soteriology, or the concept of the salvation of the soul, in the thought of Porphyry of Tyre, whose significance for late antique thought is immense. Porphyry's concept of salvation is important for an understanding of those cataclysmic forces, not always theological, that helped convert the Roman Empire from paganism to Christianity. Porphyry, a disciple of Plotinus, was the last and greatest anti-Christian writer to vehemently attack the Church before the Constantinian revolution. His contribution to the pagan-Christian debate on universalism can thus shed light on the failure of paganism and the triumph of Christianity in late antiquity. In a broader historical and cultural context this study will address some of the issues central to the debate on universalism, in which Porphyry was passionately involved and which was becoming increasingly significant during the unprecedented series of economic, cultural, political, and military crises of the third century. As the author will argue, Porphyry may have failed to find one way of salvation for all humanity, he nonetheless arrived a hierarchical soteriology, something natural for a Neoplatonist, which resulted in an integrative religious and philosophical system. His system is examined in the context of other developing ideologies of universalism, during a period of unprecedented imperial crises, which were used by the emperors as an agent of political and religious unification. Christianity finally triumphed over its competitors owing to its being perceived to be the only universal salvation cult that was capable of bringing about this unification. In short, it won due to its unique universalist soteriology. By examining a rival to Christianity's concept of universal salvation, this book will be valuable to students and scholars of ancient philosophy, patristics, church history, and late antiquity.

Universal Salvation in Late Antiquity

Universal Salvation in Late Antiquity
Author: Michael Bland Simmons
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2015
Genre: Rome
ISBN: 9780190202415

This title explores the background to the effort of the Neoplatonist philosopher Porphyry (c.A.D. 232-305) to devise a system of universal salvation as a means of countering the Christian soteriological challenge, and the Christian reactions to this, notably from Eusebius of Caesarea

A Larger Hope?, Volume 2

A Larger Hope?, Volume 2
Author: Robin A. Parry
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 317
Release: 2019-03-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1498200419

This book aims to uncover and explore the ideas of notable people in the story of Christian universalism from the time of the Reformation until the end of the nineteenth century. It is a story that is largely unknown in both the church and the academy, and the characters that populate it have for the most part passed into obscurity. With carefully located bore holes drilled to release the long-hidden theologies of key people and texts, the volume seeks to display and historically situate the roots, shapes, and diversity of Christian universalism. Here we discover a diverse and motley crew of mystics and scholars, social prophets and end-time sectarians, evangelicals and liberals, orthodox and heretics, Calvinists and Arminians, Puritans, Pietists, and a host of others. The story crisscrosses Continental Europe, Britain, and America, and its reverberations remain with us to this day.

A Larger Hope?, Volume 1

A Larger Hope?, Volume 1
Author: Ilaria L. E. Ramelli
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2019-07-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1610978846

In the minds of some, universal salvation is a heretical idea that was imported into Christianity from pagan philosophies by Origen (c.185–253/4). Ilaria Ramelli argues that this picture is completely mistaken. She maintains that Christian theologians were the first people to proclaim that all will be saved and that their reasons for doing so were rooted in their faith in Christ. She demonstrates that, in fact, the idea of the final restoration of all creation (apokatastasis) was grounded upon the teachings of the Bible and the church’s beliefs about Jesus’ total triumph over sin, death, and evil through his incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Ramelli traces the Christian roots of Origen’s teaching on apokatastasis. She argues that he was drawing on texts from Scripture and from various Christians who preceded him, theologians such as Bardaisan, Irenaeus, and Clement. She outlines Origen’s often-misunderstood theology in some detail and then follows the legacy of his Christian universalism through the centuries that followed. We are treated to explorations of Origenian universal salvation in a host of Christian disciples, including Athanasius, Didymus the Blind, the Cappadocian fathers, Evagrius, Maximus the Confessor, John Scotus Eriugena, and Julian of Norwich.

The Golden Thread

The Golden Thread
Author: Ken Vincent
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 109
Release: 2005-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 059536683X

The Golden Thread God's Promise of Universal Salvation In our modern pluralistic world, the barriers imposed by the old doctrine of religious exclusivity are confronted every day by individuals, families, and nations. Now more than ever, the inspirational message of God's Universal and eternal love for all humanity needs to be retold. By reacquainting readers with the God who is too good to condemn anyone to Eternal Hell, The Golden Thread, God's Promise of Universal Salvation offers a Biblical interpretation present in Christianity from the earliest Jesus-Followers to the 21st Century. Salvation for all is known as Universalism, and the idea that all people will be saved-either immediately or eventually-is called Universal Restoration. Proponents of Universalism can be found today within a wide variety of denominations from post-Vatican II Catholics to Primitive Baptists. The Golden Thread brings together the Bible verses that ancient and modern Universalist theologians have used to show that God is the parent of all and, in the end, will save the "Lost Sheep" and the "Prodigal Son." The Golden Thread continues with 2,000 years of Christian mystical religious experience and modern-day near-death experiences-testimony to God's abiding love for all.

The Christian Doctrine of Apokatastasis

The Christian Doctrine of Apokatastasis
Author: Ilaria Ramelli
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 910
Release: 2013-08-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004245707

The theory of apokatastasis (restoration), most famously defended by the Alexandrian exegete, philosopher and theologian Origen, has its roots in both Greek philosophy and Jewish-Christian Scriptures and literature, and became a major theologico-soteriological doctrine in patristics. This monograph—the first comprehensive, systematic scholarly study of the history of the Christian apokatastasis doctrine—argues its presence and Christological and Biblical foundation in numerous Christian thinkers, including Syriac, and analyses its origins, meaning, and development over eight centuries, from the New Testament to Eriugena, the last patristic philosopher. Surprises await readers of this book, which results from fifteen years of research. For instance, they will discover that even Augustine, in his anti-Manichaean phase, supported the theory of universal restoration.

Religious Dissent in Late Antiquity, 350-450

Religious Dissent in Late Antiquity, 350-450
Author: Maijastina Kahlos
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 464
Release: 2019-11-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 0190067276

Religious Dissent in Late Antiquity reconsiders the religious history of the late Roman Empire, focusing on the shifting position of dissenting religious groups - conventionally called 'pagans' and 'heretics'. The period from the mid-fourth century until the mid-fifth century CE witnessed a significant transformation of late Roman society and a gradual shift from the world of polytheistic religions into the Christian Empire. This book challenges the many straightforward melodramatic narratives of the Christianisation of the Roman Empire, still prevalent both in academic research and in popular non-fiction works. Religious Dissent in Late Antiquity demonstrates that the narrative is much more nuanced than the simple Christian triumph over the classical world. It looks at everyday life, economic aspects, day-to-day practices, and conflicts of interest in the relations of religious groups. Religious Dissent in Late Antiquity addresses two aspects: rhetoric and realities, and consequently, delves into the interplay between the manifest ideologies and daily life found in late antique sources. It is a detailed analysis of selected themes and a close reading of selected texts, tracing key elements and developments in the treatment of dissident religious groups. The book focuses on specific themes, such as the limits of imperial legislation and ecclesiastical control, the end of sacrifices, and the label of magic. Religious Dissent in Late Antiquity examines the ways in which dissident religious groups were construed as religious outsiders, but also explores local rituals and beliefs in late Roman society as creative applications and expressions of the infinite range of human inventiveness.