Please note: Not every quote listed on this page is from a confirmed universalist (though most are). Some of these statements were made by those who may have seen by the Spirit and by the Scripture, the great and final gathering of all things back to God. Within those who hold to the restitution of all things, there are varieties of beliefs. At any rate, we think the quotes speak for themselves.
…On the Nature of Evil
“Evil, being negative, as is punishment, neither can stand eternal.” ——John Scotus Erigena (Irish church leader, 875)
“Reason teaches us that Good having a divine Principle, ought to be stronger than Evil, which is essentially nothing but Disorder and Depravation; that Evil putting man into a State of Violence, that State cannot continue for ever; that this State of Violence supposes its contrary in Man, struggling against it…that God being the God of Order, and the undoubted Sovereign of the Universe, can never consent that Disorder and Confusion should prevail there for ever.” ——Marie Huber, Swiss Protestant Theologian, The World Unmask’d (1736)
“How could the Bible possibly speak of the perfect victory of God our Creator who loves righteousness and cannot bear evil, if that victory really means that He cannot bring His own creatures at last to hate evil as He hates it, but must confirm multitudes, indeed the majority of them, in their choice of evil for ever and ever?… What sort of victory is it to be able only to subdue evil and prevent it harming any but those who choose it, and to be unable to bring human souls to abominate it and desire to forsake it, so that the evil itself ceases to exist?…” ——Hannah Hurnard
“To say that sin, assuming it to be opposed to God, has the power of creating a world antagonistic to God as everlasting as He is, attributes to it a power equal at least to His; since according to this view, souls whom God willed to be saved, and for whom Christ died, are held in bondage under the power of sin for ever; and all this in opposition to the Word of God, which says that God’s Son was ‘manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil…ʼ” ——Andrew Jukes, The Restitution of all Things, p114
“To go on punishing for ever, simply for punishment’s sake, shocks every sentiment of justice. And the case is so much worse when the punishment is really the prolongation of evil, when it is but making evil endless.” ——Thomas Allin, Christ Triumphant, p 49
“The almighty maker of souls has various methods of restoring them to the divine image; it is impossible his power can fail; it is impossible for his image to be entirely obliterated; it is impossible that misery, sin, and discord can be eternal!” ——Alison Rutherford Cockburn, author of Flowers of the Forest
“Almighty power, wisdom and love cannot be eternally frustrated in his absolute and ultimate designs; therefore God will at last pardon and re-establish in happiness all lapsed beings.” ——Chevalier Ramsey (1686–1743)
“Though a fall has been permitted, evil shall have an end, and the creature through God’s wondrous wisdom even by its fall be raised to a higher glory. Scripture distinctly teaches that, “the creature was made subject to vanity, not by its own will, but through Him who subjected the same in hope; because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” ——Andrew Jukes, the Restitution of all Things, p 113
“Here is where I now stand. I believe in both heaven and hell. I do not believe they are equally balanced opposites going on forever. Such would suggest a Zoroastrian dualism, a tie game between God and the devil. Emphatically, NO! The darkness can never overcome the light!” ——Randy Klassen, What Does the Bible Really Say About Hell?
“It becomes morally impossible for all things to be both subject to Jesus Christ and yet sinfully rebellious against Him at the same time!” ——Charles P. Schmitt, The Unending Triumph of Jesus Christ
“If but one soul were to remain in the power of the devil, death, or hell, to all endless eternity, then the devil, death, and hell would have something to boast of against God. Thus death would not be entirely swallowed up in victory, but always keep something of his sting, and hell would ever more be able to make a scorn of those who would say, ‘O hell, where is, your victory?ʼ” ——Paul Seigvolck, The Everlasting Gospel (1753)
“The current Evangelical Theology involves in its system belief in the deathlessness of sin, the indestructibility of error, and permanence of evil. That though there was a time in the history of the universe when sin in any shape or form did not exist, when no cry of pain or sense of guilt darkened the all-extensive bliss and holiness of creation, yet since sin has once effected an entrance into such a scene, it has come in NEVER TO GO OUT AGAIN, indestructible, unconquerable, ineradicable, endless. Absolute happiness and sinlessness have forever vanished like the phantom of a dream. The ‘eternal state’ is a universe endlessly finding room for myriads of souls rolling and writhing in the burning agonies of ceaseless flame, eternally sinful, vile and morally hideous. It pictures the “final perfection” yet to be attained as having room for a vast cesspool of immoral and degraded beings, continually existing in opposition to God.” ——V. Gelesnoff
“JUSTICE REQUIRES that sin should be put an end to.” ——George MacDonald
…On The Restoration of All Things
“All beings exist through the same birth as the Son, and therefore shall they all come again to their original, that is God the Father.” ——Johann Tauler (AD 1290–1361).
“As for the purification of all human nature, I fully believe it, either in this world, or some after ages.” ——William Law
“It appears to me that there is a deed that the Holy Trinity shall do on the last day, and when that deed shall be done and how it shall be done is unknown to all creatures under Christ, and shall be until it has been done. — This is the great deed ordained by our Lord God from eternity, treasured up and hidden in his blessed breast, only known to himself, and by this deed he shall make all things well; for just as the Holy Trinity made all things from nothing, so the Holy Trinity shall make all well that is not well.” ——Julian of Norwich (13th Century Christian Mystic)
“The Father willed through Christ to reconcile the universe once more unto Himself, and so to restore all things whatsoever and wheresoever they be.” ——Dr. John Lightfoot, (on Col. 1:19,20)
“In 1 Corinthians 15 we read of the consummation of His purpose—that is, the finality, the conclusion of that purpose, when Jesus Himself having subjected all things unto Himself is Himself also subjected unto the Father, that God may be all in all. There will not be a dissenting voice nor rebellious heart. The will of God has been received, and as a result of the will of God having been received there is no longer a necessity for a Savior, and Jesus Christ in His capacity of Savior of the world has been completed. His mission is completed.” ——John G. Lake The Habitation of God (p 183)
“The redemption of men from every tribe, tongue, people and race is far from being the whole story of Christ’s work of atonement as John understands it. For he hears the choirs of heaven joined by the voices of the whole creation in a final outburst of praise. This should not be dismissed as mere hyperbole. John knows only too well that there is much on earth and under the earth and in the sea which has no inclination to join in the worship of Christ, and that these hostile elements are represented even in heaven. But such is his confidence in the universality of of Christ’s achievement that his vision cannot stop short of universal response. He agrees with Paul that God has already in the Cross reconciled the whole universe to himself (Col 1:20), and that to make His act of amnesty and reconciliation known to the world is the royal and priestly task of the church, the success of which is already anticipated in the heavenly Amen.” ——George Bradford Caird, Senior Tutor of Mansfield College, Oxford
“And oh! there lives within my heart
A hope, long nursed by me;
(And should its cheering ray depart,
How dark my soul would be!)
That as in Adam all have died,
In Christ shall all men live;
And ever round His throne abide,
Eternal praise to give.
That even the wicked shall at last
Be fitted for the skies;
And when their dreadful doom is past,
To life and light arise.
I ask not how remote the day,
Nor what the sinners’ woe,
Before their dross is purged away;
Enough for me, to know
That when the cup of wrath is drained,
The metal purified,
They’ll cling to what they once disdained,
And live by Him that died.” ——Anne Bronte (1843)
“God must be accomplishing a design invariable and without the shadow of turning, the design to save every one of us everlastingly.” ——Florence Nightingale
“God will seek us — how long? Until he finds us. And when he’s found the last little shriveling rebellious soul and has depopulated hell, then death will be swallowed up in victory, and Christ will turn over all things to the Father that he may be all and in all. Then every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” ——Clarence Jordan, (founder of Koinonia Community, author of Cotton Patch Gospel)
“I trust that in Jesus Christ shall “all the families of the earth be blessed,” by being yet connected together in a better world, where every tie that bound heart to heart in this state of existence shall be far beyond our present conception, more enduring.” ——Robert Burns (1789)
“’The restoration of the whole human race to purity and happiness.’ This benevolent doctrine—which not only goes far as to solve the great problem of moral and physical evil, but which would, if received more generally, tend to soften the spirit of uncharitableness, so fatally prevalent among Christian sects—was maintained by that great light of the early church, Origen, and has not wanted supporters among more modern theologians.” ——Thomas Moore (1779–1852)
“The Holy Spirit establishes the righteousness of heaven in the midst of the unrighteousness of earth, and will not stop or stay until all that is dead has been brought back to life and a new world has come into being.” ——Karl Barth
“If you want the full and eternal truth, you have to go back to foundational beginnings. Are hell and sin and God’s judgments anywhere in Genesis 1 or 2? No. They aren’t there. God did not intend for them to be there. His intent was perfection. Thus I believe that such a foundation leads to the inescapable conclusion that perfection will again reign throughout the universe, and that sin (and hell) will ultimately be defeated. How else will God’s original intent ultimately be accomplished?” ——Michael Phillips
“In each dispensation, God has a definite and different immediate purpose, all working toward the ultimate purpose of ridding the universe of all rebellion, so that all free moral agents will be willingly and eternally subject to God, Christ, and the Holy Ghost, as originally planned, with God all in all forever.” ——Finis Dake, “Notes on Genesis” in Dake’s Bible
“Apokatastasis (the restoration of all things) represents an ultimate consequence of doctrine of the æons, and as such a theological necessity.” ——Walter Kunneth
“This sublime revelation of the extent of redemption as commensurate with the whole creation is brought out especially in…Philippians 2:9-10, Colossians 1:20-21. The solitary prisoner, Paul, could see farthest into the glory of the Divine Counsels.” ——B.F. Westcott, of Westcott and Hort
“The Spirit of the Lord says within my soul, that the kingly nature of the Son of God is purposed to be revealed in the nature of every man, that Christ’s kingliness may be prevalent in all the world and govern the heart of every man, even as it governs the heart of those who know Him and have entered.” ——John G. Lake, Reality (p 122)
“The aim of redemption is to let Christ have the pre-eminence in all things. In order to have this first place in all things, Christ must first have the pre-eminence in us. And why? Because we are the firstfruits of all creation (James 1:18). After we are in subjection to Christ, all other things will follow in subjection…” ——Watchman Nee, God’s Plan and the Overcomers
“Isaiah holds out two hopes for mankind. One is immediate, partial, historical: ‘A remnant will return!’ The other is distant, final, eschatological: the transformation of the world at the end of days.” ——Abraham Joshua Heschel
“In the perspective of the future we have stopped short of the far-off goal, and explained the finale of God’s purposes by the episode or process on the way thereto.” ——A. E. Saxby
“Why good men should be so averse to admit it, I know not; — into their own hearts at least, however they might object to its promulgation among the bulk of mankind. But perhaps the world is not ripe for it yet. I have frequently thought that since it has pleased God to leave it in darkness so long respecting this particular truth, and often to use ‘such doubtful language as to admit of such a general misconception thereupon, he must have some good reason for it. We see how liable men are to yield to the temptations of the passing hour; how little the dread of future punishment — how still less the promise of future reward can avail to make them forbear and wait; and if so many thousands rush into destruction with (as they suppose) the prospect of Eternal Death before their eyes, — what might not the consequence be, if that prospect were changed for one of a limited season of punishment, far distant and unseen, — however protracted and terrible it might be? I thankfully cherish this belief; I honour those who hold it; and I would that all men had the same view of man’s hopes and God’s unbounded goodness as he has given to us, if it might be had with safety…. Only let our zeal be tempered with discretion, and while we labour, let us humbly look to God who is able and certain to bring his great work to perfection in his own good time and manner.” ——Anne Bronte on universalism, Haworth, 30th December 1848 to the Reverend David Thom
“Prophecy always moves in a polarity, yet the tension of yes and no, of anger and love, of doom and redemption, is often dissolved in the certainty of God’s eternal attachment.” ——Abraham Joshua Heschel
“If the Divine spark in the soul cannot be destroyed, then we need despair of no sinner… Since God created men to have fellowship with Himself, they cannot for ever be separated from Him… After long wandering, and by devious paths, sinful man will at last return to Him in whose Image he was created; for this is his final destiny.” ——Sadhu Sundar Singh
“I want to encourage you, beloved. The Word of God portrays a time and conception of the purpose of Jesus Christ when the world, being redeemed unto Christ, no longer needs the redeeming merit of the Savior. So Jesus, having subjected all things unto Himself, is Himself also subjected unto the Father, that God may be all in all. God is not all in all, and never will be all in all, until the will of God rules in the heart of every man, in the soul of every man, until the redemption of Jesus Christ in its great and ultimate purpose becomes a reality, a finality.” ——John G. Lake, The Habitation of God (p 184)
“Restoration is not restoring man so that man can have a better sense of himself, but restoration is restoring God in a people. Man is not being restored, God is being restored in man!” ——Dr. Kay Fairchild
“God created all things and mankind for the sake of manifesting His glory. Today, believers are manifesting little somethings of Christ. But one day, all things shall manifest Christ because the whole universe shall be filled with Him. In creating all things, God desires that all things will manifest Christ.” ——Watchman Nee, God’s Plan and the Overcomers
“Some misguided individuals have argued that the reconciliation of all “things” does not mean men or beings. But pray, tell me, what “things” in the whole vast universe, apart from men and other creatures, are described in the Word of God as ‘enemies’ of God, ‘alienated’ from God, ‘blasphemers’ of God, ‘haters’ of God, etc. in need of reconciliation?” ——J. Preston Eby
“The only reasonable answer to the issue of moral justice raised by the fact of the lostness of teeming billions of humanity (and thank God, the answer is as soundly scriptural as it is reasonable), lies the unending triumph of Jesus Christ in the subjecting of all things everywhere to our God.” ——Charles P. Schmitt, The Unending Triumph of Jesus Christ
“Am I a pessimist? Not at all. I am convinced that the history of the human race, no matter how tragic, will ultimately lead to the Kingdom of God. I am convinced that all the works of humankind will be reintegrated in the work of God, and that each of us, no matter how sinful, will ultimately be saved.” ——Jacques Ellul
“And thus, on the grand and final consummation, when every will shall be subdued to the will of good to all, our Jesus will take in hand the resigned chordage of our hearts, he will tune them as so many instruments, and will touch them with the finger of his own divine feelings. Then shall the wisdom, the might, and goodness of our God, become the wisdom, the might, the goodness of all His intelligent creatures; the happiness of each shall multiply and overflow in the wishes and participation of the happiness of all; the universe shall begin to sound with the song of congratulation, and all voices shall break forth in an eternal hallelujah, of praise transcending praise, and glory transcending glory, to God and the Lamb.” ——Henry Brook, Fool of Quality (1720)
“If God loves all and is omnipotent then all must be saved. Nels Ferré: “If he can save all men, then he will save all men.ʼ” ——William Dalton, Salvation and Damnation