Coolidge Corner Theatre is a nonprofit, independent cinema and community cultural center in the Coolidge Corner section of Brookline, Massachusetts , specializing in international, documentary, animated, and independent film selections, series, classes, and seminars.
89-518: Coolidge Corner Theatre was built as a Universalist church in 1906 and was redesigned as an Art Deco movie palace in 1933 as the community's first movie theater. The theater opened on December 30, 1933 with its first film being a Disney short film. Originally the theater only had one screen but was later divided into two and then four. By 1988, the theatre faced increased competition due to VCR sales and shifts in entertainment consumption. When developer Jonathan Davis expressed interest in demolishing
178-635: A Baptist preacher who wrote several books promoting the universal salvation of all souls after a period in Purgatory , who founded the first Universalist church in Philadelphia, and founded a church that ministered to enslaved African Americans in South Carolina; Hosea Ballou , a Universalist preacher and writer in New England; and Hannah Whitall Smith , a writer and evangelist from a Quaker background who
267-556: A Universal Savior. According to the Pure Land Sutras (scriptures), before becoming a Buddha Amitabha vowed that he would save all beings and according to some Pure Land authors, all beings will be eventually saved through the work of Amida Buddha. As such, Pure Land Buddhism is often seen as an expression of a Buddhist universalism that compares to Christian universalism. This comparison has also been commented on by Christian theologians like Karl Barth . Chinese Buddhism developed
356-449: A beginning and an end, and complete in itself. Aristotle (peri ouranou, i. 9,15) says: "The period which includes the whole time of one's life is called the aeon of each one." Hence it often means the life of a man, as in Homer , where one's life ( aion ) is said to leave him or to consume away (Iliad v. 685; Odyssey v. 160). It is not, however, limited to human life; it signifies any period in
445-573: A form of Buddhist universalism which saw Confucianism , Daoism and Buddhism as different aspects of a single universal truth. In Western Buddhism , the term Universalism may also refer to an nonsectarian and eclectic form of Buddhism which emphasizes ecumenism among the different Buddhism schools. American clergyman Julius A. Goldwater was one Buddhist figure who promoted a modern kind of Buddhist Universalism. For Goldwater, Buddhism transcends local contexts and culture, and his practice grew increasingly eclectic over time. Goldwater established
534-673: A form of Universalism and his subsequent excommunication by the Joint College of African-American Pentecostal Bishops in 2004 caused Christian Universalism to gain increased media attention because of Pearson's popularity and celebrity status. Since 2007, the Christian Universalist Association has ordained more than 30 ministers in the United States and other countries who believe in Christian universalism. A proponent of
623-458: A given point of time in Jude 6. Aionios means enduring through or pertaining to a period of time. Both the noun and the adjective are applied to limited periods. Words which are habitually applied to things temporal or material cannot carry in themselves the sense of endlessness. Even when applied to God, we are not forced to render aionios everlasting. Of course the life of God is endless; but
712-512: A greater good, as evidenced, the church believes, by the Passion of Christ being all at once predestined by God, foretold in Scripture, necessitated by original sin , authored by everyone who sins, caused by Christ's executioners, and freely planned and undergone by Christ. The church believes that everyone who goes to Heaven joins the church, and that from the beginning God intended Israel to be
801-476: A large part of their beliefs from Evangelicalism and Reformed theology . Many of them come from an Evangelical Christian background, but they may or may not identify with this movement and seek to remain with it. Some Evangelical Universalists avoid using the word "Universalism" to describe their beliefs, perhaps because of the negative connotations of this word among conservative Christians. Alternative terms that are in use among Evangelical Universalists include
890-475: A more transparent, equitable, and supportive workplace" as the reasoning behind these efforts. On June 6, 2024, it was announced that employers of the Coolidge Corner Theatre will voluntarily recognize the union. The Coolidge Award annually recognizes a film artist who “advances the spirit of original and challenging cinema.’’ Recipients of this venue's annual Coolidge Award include: Created in 2023,
979-445: A role in securing the theater's recognition as a historic site, temporarily preventing potential redevelopment. In 1989, the foundation attempted to raise the necessary $ 2.6 million to purchase the theatre, but faced fundraising shortfalls. In response, four hundred local residents gathered in a peaceful demonstration, locking arms and forming a human chain around the theatre. Harold Brown, a realtor and Brookline resident who had loved
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#17328558753091068-428: A way to reconcile these seeming differences. There are three general types of Christian Universalism today – Evangelical Universalism, Charismatic Universalism, and Liberal Christian Universalism – which by themselves or in combination with one another describe the vast majority of currently existing and identifiable versions of Christian Universalist belief and practice. The type of Christian Universalism that departs
1157-483: A wide range of diversity within it. There are considered to be six orthodox Hindu schools of philosophy/theology, as well as multiple unorthodox or " heterodox " traditions called darshanas . Hindu universalism, also called Neo-Vedanta and neo-Hinduism , is a modern interpretation of Hinduism which developed in response to western colonialism and orientalism . It denotes the ideology that all religions are true and therefore worthy of toleration and respect. It
1246-474: Is Love and Power and Truth and Light; that perfect justice rules the world; that all His sons shall one day reach His feet, however far they stray." Prior to his death in November 2023, former Pentecostal Bishop Carlton Pearson promoted his "Gospel of Inclusion" with his teachings and beliefs being a hybrid between Charismatic and Liberal Christian Universalism. A minister in the liberal Christian denomination of
1335-419: Is a modern interpretation that aims to present Hinduism as a "homogenized ideal of Hinduism" with Advaita Vedanta as its central doctrine. For example, it presents that: ... an imagined "integral unity" that was probably little more than an "imagined" view of the religious life that pertained only to a cultural elite and that empirically speaking had very little reality "on the ground," as it were, throughout
1424-793: Is blurred) certainly contributed a great deal to the rise of the doctrine of "eternal damnation" and of the "eternity of hell." Among the English translations that do not render αἰώνιος as "eternal" or "everlasting" are Young’s Literal Translation (“age-during”), the Weymouth New Testament ("of the ages”), the Concordant Literal Version ("eonian"), Rotherham's Emphasized Bible ("age-abiding"), Hart's New Testament ("of that Age"), and more. The Catholic church believes that God judges everyone based only on their moral acts, that no one should be subject to human misery, that everyone
1513-430: Is equal in dignity yet distinct in individuality before God, that no one should be discriminated against because of their sin or concupiscence , and that apart from coercion God exhausts every means to save mankind from evil: original holiness being intended for everyone, the irrevocable Old Testament covenants, each religion being a share in the truth, elements of sanctification in non-Catholic Christian communities,
1602-414: Is grounded in history, scripture, and assumptions about the nature of God. That All Shall Be Saved (2019) by Orthodox Christian theologian David Bentley Hart contains arguments from all three areas but with a focus on arguments from the nature of God. Thomas Whittemore wrote the book 100 Scriptural Proofs that Jesus Christ Will Save All Mankind quoting both Old and New Testament verses which support
1691-413: Is marked by its emphasis on theosis; the idea that the return of Christ is a body of perfected human beings who are the "Manifested Sons of God" instead of a literal return of the person of Jesus; the idea that these Sons will reign on the earth and transform all other human beings from sin to perfection during an age that is coming soon (a version of millennialism ); and the absolute sovereignty of God,
1780-502: Is not necessarily indicating how long the life and punishment last, but instead what kind the life and punishment are—they are "of the age [to come]" rather than being earthly life or punishment. Dr. Thomas Talbott writes: [The writers of the New Testament] therefore came to employ the term aiōnios as an eschatological term, one that functioned as a handy reference to the realities of the age to come. In that way they managed to combine
1869-507: Is often paraphrased in translations as "forever and ever." This Greek word is the origin of the modern English word eon , which refers to a period of time or an epoch/age. The 19th century theologian Marvin Vincent wrote about the word aion , and the supposed connotations of "eternal" or "temporal": Aion , transliterated aeon , is a period of longer or shorter duration, having a beginning and an end, and complete in itself. [...] Neither
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#17328558753091958-579: Is often seen as promoting the universality of Buddhahood, the Buddha's teaching as well as the equality of all living beings. Mahayana Buddhism also promotes a universal compassion towards all sentient beings and sees all beings as equally deserving of compassion. The doctrine of the One Vehicle (which states that all Buddhist paths lead to Buddhahood) is also often seen as a universalist doctrine. Adherents to Pure Land Buddhism point to Amitabha Buddha as
2047-466: Is opposed to moral nihilism and moral relativism . However, not all forms of moral universalism are absolutist , nor do they necessarily value monism . Many forms of universalism, such as utilitarianism , are non-absolutist. Other forms such as those theorized by Isaiah Berlin , may value pluralist ideals. In the teachings of the Baháʼí Faith , a single God has sent all the historic founders of
2136-485: Is seen as more far-reaching than the national, cultural, or religious boundaries or interpretations of that one truth. A community that calls itself universalist may emphasize the universal principles of most religions, and accept others in an inclusive manner. In the modern context, Universalism can also mean the Western pursuit of unification of all human beings across geographic and other boundaries under Western values, or
2225-528: Is the idea that all living beings have Buddha nature and thus all beings can aspire to become bodhisattvas , beings who are on the path to Buddhahood . This capacity is seen as something that all beings in the universe have. This idea has been termed "bodhisattva universalism" by the Buddhist studies scholar Jan Nattier . The idea of universal Buddha nature has been interpreted in various ways in Buddhism, from
2314-492: Is the notion that universal facts can be discovered and is therefore understood as being in opposition to relativism and nominalism . Moral universalism (also called moral objectivism or universal morality ) is the meta-ethical position that some system of ethics applies universally . That system is inclusive of all individuals, regardless of culture , race , sex , religion , nationality , sexual orientation , or any other distinguishing feature. Moral universalism
2403-474: The Bhagavad Gītā (4:11), God, manifesting as an incarnation, states: "As people approach me, so I receive them. All paths lead to me." The Hindu religion has no theological difficulties in accepting degrees of truth in other religions. Hinduism emphasizes that everyone actually worships the same God, whether one knows it or not. While Hinduism has an openness and tolerance towards other religions, it also has
2492-516: The Charismatic tradition was the Home Missions Church, a loosely organized network of ministers and house churches founded in 1944. In 2007, the Christian Universalist Association was founded by thirteen ministers from diverse denominational backgrounds as an ecumenical organization promoting a revival of Christian universalism. Yale Professor of Philosophy Keith DeRose points out that in
2581-616: The Dashanami Sampradaya , the Advaita Vedanta Sampradaya founded by Adi Shankara . An early exponent of Hindu Universalism was Ram Mohan Roy , who established the Brahmo Samaj . Hindu Universalism was popularised in the 20th century in both India and the west by Vivekananda and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan . Veneration for all other religions was articulated by Gandhi : After long study and experience, I have come to
2670-465: The New Age and New Thought movements, some people in the emerging church movement, some Unitarian Universalists who continue to follow Jesus as their primary spiritual teacher, and some Christians from other religious backgrounds. Liberal Christian Universalism emphasizes the all-inclusive love of God and tends to be more open to finding truth and value in non-Christian spiritual traditions compared to
2759-653: The Primitive Baptist Universalists . They are often known as "No Hellers" and believe that temporal punishment and separation from God during life is the only hell. The Universalist Church of America gradually declined in the early to mid 20th century and merged with the American Unitarian Association in 1961, creating the modern-day Unitarian Universalist Association , which does not officially subscribe to exclusively Christian theology. Christian Universalism largely passed into obscurity for
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2848-627: The United Church of Christ , Pearson continued to believe in ideas and practices of Pentecostal or Charismatic forms of Christianity. Pearson incorporated New Age and New Thought teachings into his message. Pearson was declared a heretic by his Christian Pentecostal and Charismatic peers in 2004. Brian McLaren is a Christian leader in the emerging church movement who is sympathetic to the idea of Universalism but does not embrace it. A number of ministers and evangelists connected with Restoration Nation conferences are Universalists who draw from both
2937-541: The Universalist Church of America . The first Universalist Church in America was founded by John Murray (minister) . The Greek term apocatastasis came to be related by some to the beliefs of Christian universalism, but central to the doctrine was the restitution, or restoration of all sinful beings to God, and to His state of blessedness. In early Patristics , usage of the term is distinct. Universalist theology
3026-656: The preexistence and reincarnation of the soul, and New Thought ideas such as the law of attraction . The Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship is an organization for Liberal Christian Universalists, especially those who belong to the Unitarian Universalist Association . The Unity Church is a liberal Christian denomination which teaches some Universalist beliefs. The Liberal Catholic Church believes in Universal Salvation. Within its articles of faith it declares: "We believe that God
3115-588: The substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ for the sins of all humanity as the basis for their Universalism. In 2006 a mainstream evangelical writer, revealed as Robin Parry in 2009, under the pseudonym of "Gregory MacDonald" (taken from the names, Gregory of Nyssa and George MacDonald ) released a book, The Evangelical Universalist . In 2008 this inspired the creation of a forum, featuring "Gregory MacDonald" and Thomas Talbott , to discuss Evangelical Universalism and related topics. Evangelical Universalists derive
3204-445: The "Larger Hope" or "Blessed Hope" and the "Victorious Gospel". Some Christians with a background in the Charismatic movement or Pentecostalism have developed a version of Universalism which could be called Charismatic (Christian) Universalism. Charismatic Universalists usually do not call their theology "Universalism" but commonly refer to their specific beliefs by the terms "Reconciliation" (shorthand for universal reconciliation,
3293-577: The "central theology of Hinduism". Oriental scholarship portrayed Hinduism as a "single world religion", and denigrated the heterogeneity of Hindu beliefs and practices as 'distortions' of the basic teachings of Vedanta. Islam recognizes to a certain extent the validity of the Abrahamic religions , the Quran identifying Jews, Christians, and " Sabi'un " (usually taken as a reference to the Mandaeans ) as "people of
3382-522: The 1940s and 1950s came to believe in the ideas of Christian Universalism on their own, separately from the Universalist Church tradition. They emphasized the teachings of universal reconciliation and theosis . These ideas were spread primarily through newsletters and traveling evangelists from the 1950s to 1980s, and were not typically identified by the term "Universalism". The only significant organization representing these beliefs that emerged within
3471-467: The Baháʼí view promotes the unity of humanity, and that people's vision should be world-embracing and that people should love the whole world rather than just their nation. The teaching, however, does not equate unity with uniformity; instead the Baháʼí writings advocate the principle of unity in diversity where the variety in the human race is valued. Operating on a worldwide basis this cooperative view of
3560-499: The Book" ( ahl al-kitab ). Later Islamic theologians expanded this definition to include Zoroastrians , and later even Hindus, as the early Islamic empire brought many people professing these religions under its dominion, but the Qur'an explicitly identifies only Jews, Christians, and Sabians as People of the Book. The relation between Islam and universalism has assumed crucial importance in
3649-524: The Christian Scriptures there are verses which point to universal reconciliation and verses which point to destruction or eternal punishment for some. If looking only to scripture, he argues that Universalism is not only based in scripture, but has a stronger scriptural backing than the position of destruction or eternal damnation. Like early Christians, he points to Purgatorial Hell, a temporary place of cleansing of sin that will be necessary for some as
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3738-564: The Coolidge Breakthrough Artist Award recognizes emerging voices in film and spotlights the next generation of young film artists. Recipients include: Universalist Universalism is the philosophical concept and a theological concept within Christianity that some ideas have universal application or applicability. A belief in one fundamental truth is another important tenet in universalism. The living truth
3827-470: The Coolidge Corner Theatre in his youth. Academy Award -winning actor Julianne Moore saw Eraserhead at the Coolidge Corner Theatre and credits the experience as one of her key inspirations to pursue acting. In November 2021, the Coolidge Foundation broke ground on an expansion of the theatre, which added 14,000 square feet to its existing structure. The $ 12.5 million expansion, "The Campaign for
3916-495: The Coolidge in his youth, and his Hamilton Charitable Foundation emerged, proposed the purchase of the theatre and a 99-year lease to the Coolidge Foundation. On November 8, 1989, Kleiler cut a celluloid ribbon and the theatre reopened its doors with the marquee reading, "WE DID IT - ON WITH THE SHOW." Kleiler remained the theatre's programming director until 1993. Comedian and Brookline, Massachusetts native John Hodgman worked at
4005-443: The Coolidge," designed by Höweler + Yoon , features two state-of-the-art theaters, a 60-seat Community Education and Engagement Center, a media library for films and Coolidge merchandise, and enhanced accessibility features. Donors included a $ 1 million donation from The Trust Family Foundation. The expansion opened on March 27, 2024. On May 29, 2024, Coolidge Corner Theatre staff announced their plans to unionize, citing "the need for
4094-607: The Evangelical and Charismatic traditions. One notable example is Robert Rutherford, a minister from Georgia (USA) who was a finalist on The Learning Channel 's 2006 reality TV series The Messengers . Another example is Dick King, an independent Charismatic Baptist pastor in North Little Rock, Arkansas, whose church left the Southern Baptist Convention in 2004. The conversion of Bishop Carlton Pearson to
4183-714: The Universalist General Convention, later called the Universalist Church of America , adopted the Five Principles: the belief in God, belief in Jesus Christ, the immortality of the human soul, that sinful actions have consequence, and universal reconciliation. Christian Universalists disagree on whether or not hell exists. However, they do agree that if it does exist, the punishment there is corrective and remedial, and does not last forever. Purgatorial universalism
4272-683: The Universalist viewpoint. Some Bible verses he cites and are cited by other Christian universalists are: Christian universalists point towards the mistranslations of the Greek word αιών (literally "age," but often assumed to mean "eternity") and its adjectival form αἰώνιος (usually assumed to mean "eternal" or "everlasting"), as giving rise to the idea of an endless hell and the idea that some people will never be saved. For example, Revelation 14:11 says "the smoke of their torment goes up εἰς αἰῶνας αἰώνων" which most literally means "until ages of ages" but
4361-445: The application of really universal or universalist constructs, such as human rights or international law . Universalism has had an influence on modern-day Hinduism , in turn influencing modern Western spirituality. Christian universalism refers to the idea that every human will eventually receive salvation in a religious or spiritual sense, a concept also referred to as universal reconciliation . In philosophy, universality
4450-586: The attitude of other forms of Christian Universalism, while remaining generally Christ-centered. In contrast to Evangelical Universalism, Liberal Christian Universalism views the Bible as an imperfect human document containing divine revelations, is not necessarily Trinitarian, and often downplays or rejects blood atonement theology in its view of the crucifixion of Jesus . Some Liberal Christian Universalists believe in mystical philosophies such as panentheism and process theology , Gnostic or New Age ideas such as
4539-437: The beginning of the church, wherein God would unite all persons to each other and to God. The church believes that Heaven and Hell are eternal. Author David Frawley says that Hinduism has a "background universalism" and its teachings contain a "universal relevance." Hinduism is also naturally religiously pluralistic . A well-known Rig Vedic hymn says: "Truth is One, though the sages know it variously." Similarly, in
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#17328558753094628-499: The believers, Jews, Christians, and Sabians—whoever ˹truly˺ believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good will have their reward with their Lord. And there will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve. However, the most exclusive teachings disagree. For example, Surah 9:5 states: Christian universalism Christian universalism is a school of Christian theology focused around
4717-412: The case on the basis of the earliest Christian writings, theological tradition, scripture, and logic, that if God is the good creator of all, he is the savior of all, without fail. In his book, That All Shall Be Saved , he calls opponents of the school, who believe that some or all people are condemned to eternal damnation, "infernalists". Christian Universalists assert that the doctrine of eternal Hell
4806-517: The centuries of cultural development in the South Asian region. Hinduism embraces universalism by conceiving the whole world as a single family that deifies the one truth, and therefore it accepts all forms of beliefs and dismisses labels of distinct religions which would imply a division of identity. This modernised re-interpretation has become a broad current in Indian culture, extending far beyond
4895-621: The concept of eternal hell is not biblically or historically supported either in Judaism or early Christianity. Universalists cite numerous biblical passages which reference the salvation of all beings (such as Jesus' words in John 12:31-32, and Paul's words in Romans 5:18-19). In addition, they argue that an eternal hell is both unjust and contrary to the nature and attributes of a loving God. The beliefs of Christian universalism are generally compatible with
4984-458: The conclusion that [1] all religions are true; [2] all religions have some error in them; [3] all religions are almost as dear to me as my own Hinduism, in as much as all human beings should be as dear to one as one's own close relatives. My own veneration for other faiths is the same as that for my own faith; therefore no thought of conversion is possible. Western orientalists played an important role in this popularisation, regarding Vedanta to be
5073-519: The context of political Islam or Islamism , particularly in reference to Sayyid Qutb , a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, and one of the key contemporary philosophers of Islam. There are several views within Islam with respect to Universalism. According to the most inclusive teachings all peoples of the book have a chance of salvation. For example, Surah 2:62 states: Indeed,
5162-447: The course of events, as the period or age before Christ; the period of the millennium; the mythological period before the beginnings of history. The adjective aionios in like manner carries the idea of time. Neither the noun nor the adjective, in themselves, carry the sense of endless or everlasting. They may acquire that sense by their connotation, as, on the other hand, aidios , which means everlasting, has its meaning limited to
5251-542: The divine purpose via messengers and prophets, masters and sages since time immemorial. Within this universal view, the unity of humanity is one of the central teachings of the Baháʼí Faith. The Baháʼí teachings state that since all humans have been created in the image of God, God does not make any distinction between people with regard to race, colour or religion. Thus, because all humans have been created equal, they all require equal opportunities and treatment. Hence
5340-467: The doctrine of apocatastasis ) and "Sonship" (shorthand for "Manifest Sonship" which is a variant of the doctrine of theosis ). The term " Feast of Tabernacles " is used by some Charismatic Universalists as a term for their post-Pentecostal spiritual tradition, reflecting a symbolic interpretation of this Jewish festival as an entrance into a fuller knowledge and relationship with God and understanding of God's plan for humanity. Charismatic Universalism
5429-414: The doctrine of universal reconciliation – the view that all human beings will ultimately be saved and restored to a right relationship with God . "Christian universalism" and "the belief or hope in the universal reconciliation through Christ" can be understood as synonyms. Opponents of this school hold that eternal damnation is the ultimate fate of some or most people. The term Christian universalism
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#17328558753095518-580: The essentials of Christianity, as they do not contradict any of the central affirmations summarized in the Nicene Creed . More specifically, universalists often emphasize the following teachings: In 1899 the Universalist General Convention, later called the Universalist Church of America , adopted the Five Principles: the belief in God, Jesus Christ, the immortality of the human soul, the reality of sin and universal reconciliation . Universalist writers such as George T. Knight have claimed that Universalism
5607-597: The good people of every religion and nation, everyone being called to baptism and confession, and Purgatory, suffrages, and indulgences for the dead. The church believes that everyone is predestined to Heaven, that no one is predestined to Hell, that everyone is redeemed by Christ's Passion, that no one is excluded from the church except by sin, and that everyone can either love God by loving others unto going to Heaven or reject God by sin unto going to Hell. The church believes that God's predestination takes everything into account, and that his providence brings out of evil
5696-540: The grace and works of the Lord Jesus Christ . Christian universalists hold that an everlasting hell does not exist (though most believe there is a temporary hell of some kind), and that unending torment was not what Jesus taught. They point to historical evidence showing that many early fathers of the church were universalists and attribute the origin of the idea of hell as eternal punishment to mistranslation. They also appeal to many texts of Scripture to argue that
5785-463: The idea that all living beings have Buddha nature and thus can become Buddhas to the idea that because all beings have Buddha nature, all beings will definitely become Buddhas. Some forms of East Asian Mahayana Buddhism even extended the Buddha nature theory to plants and insentient phenomena. Some thinkers (such as Kukai ) even promote the idea that the entire universe is the Buddha's body. The Lotus Sutra , an influential Mahayana scripture,
5874-551: The last taught eternal Hell (in Carthage or Rome ). However, the Encyclopedia also notes that most contemporary scholars would take issue with classifying these early schools as Universalist. An important figure in early American Christian Universalism was George de Benneville , a French Huguenot preacher and physician who was imprisoned for advocating Universalism and later emigrated to Pennsylvania where he continued preaching on
5963-462: The late 18th century with the Universalist Church of America . There is no single denomination uniting Christian universalists, but a few denominations teach some of the principles of Christian universalism or are open to them. Instead, their membership has been consolidated with the American Unitarian Association into the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1961. In his Plain Guide to Universalism ,
6052-399: The least from orthodox or traditional Protestant Christian doctrine is Evangelical (Christian) Universalism, also called Biblical or Trinitarian Universalism . Evangelical Universalists hold to conservative positions on most theological or doctrinal issues except for the doctrine of hell , in which case they assert universal reconciliation instead of eternal torment. They tend to emphasize
6141-592: The magnitude of the mercy to be shown to them." Ilaria Ramelli , a scholar of the early Patristic history writes, "In the minds of some, universal salvation is a heretical idea that was imported into Christianity from pagan philosophies by Origen" ( c. 185–253/54 ). Ramelli argues that this view is mistaken and 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. Eastern Orthodox theologian David Bentley Hart makes
6230-601: The more literal sense of "that which pertains to an age" with the more religious sense of "that which manifests the presence of God in a special way." Dr. Ken Vincent writes that "When it (aion) was translated into Latin Vulgate, 'aion' became 'aeternam' which means 'eternal'. Likewise, Dr. Ilaria Ramelli explains: The mistranslation and misinterpretation of αἰώνιος as "eternal" (already in Latin, where both αἰώνιος and ἀΐδιος are rendered aeternus and their fundamental semantic difference
6319-669: The next few decades with the end of the Universalist Church as a separate denomination. However, the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship remains as an organization for Christians from the Unitarian Universalist tradition and liberal Christians interested in Unitarianism and Universalism. Some Christians from a Pentecostal background who were involved in the Latter Rain Movement of
6408-610: The nonexistence or severe limitation of human free will , and the inevitable triumph of God's plan of universal reconciliation. Many Charismatic Universalists meet in house churches or do not belong to a church at all. Most of the evidence of Universalism existing as a school of thought within the Charismatic movement is found in a large number of internet-based ministries that are informally networked with one another. Liberal Christian Universalists include some members of mainline Protestant denominations, some people influenced by
6497-607: The nonsectarian Buddhist Brotherhood of America which focused on ecumenical and nonsectarian Buddhism while also drawing on Protestant vocabulary and ideas. The desire to develop a more universalist and nonsectarian form of Buddhism was also shared by some modernist Japanese Buddhist authors, including the influential D.T. Suzuki. The fundamental idea of Christian universalism is universal reconciliation – that all humans will ultimately receive salvation and be reconciled to God. They will eventually enter God's kingdom in Heaven, through
6586-419: The noun nor the adjective, in themselves, carry the sense of endless or everlasting ." A number of scholars have argued that, in some cases, the adjective may not indicate duration at all, but may instead have a qualitative meaning. For instance, Dr. David Bentley Hart translates Matthew 25:46 as "And these will go to the chastening of that Age, but the just to the life of that Age." In this reading, Jesus
6675-516: The other views of a temporary hell. First Augustine's views of hell were accepted in the early Latin Church, Up until the Reformation Augustine's view of hell as eternal was not questioned. About the word aion as having connotations of "age" or "temporal", the 19th-century theologian Marvin Vincent wrote: Aion , transliterated aeon, is a period of longer or shorter duration, having
6764-449: The peoples and nations of the planet culminates in a vision of the practicality of the progression in world affairs towards, and the inevitability of, world peace . The term Universalism has been applied to different aspects of Buddhist thought by different modern authors. The idea of universal salvation is key to the Mahayana school of Buddhism. A common feature of Mahayana Buddhism
6853-709: The postmortem view that God continues to evangelize to people even after they die (1 Chronicles 16:34; Isaiah 9:2; Romans 8:35–39; Ephesians 4:8–9; 1 Peter 3:18–20; 4:6). According to the New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (1912), over the first five hundred years of Christian history there are records of at least six theological schools: four of these schools were Universalist (one each in Alexandria , Antioch , Caesarea , and Edessa – Nisibis ), one taught conditional immortality (in Ephesus ), and
6942-547: The question is whether, in describing God as aionios , it was intended to describe the duration of his being, or whether some different and larger idea was not contemplated. Author Thomas Talbott states that if one believes in the idea of eternal hell or that some souls will be destroyed, one must either let go of the idea that it is God's wish and desire to save all beings, or accept the idea that God wants to, but will not "successfully accomplish his will and satisfy his own desire in this matter". Author David Burnfield defends
7031-579: The subject. De Benneville was noted for his friendly and respectful relationship with Native Americans and his pluralistic and multicultural view of spiritual truth which was well ahead of his time. One of his most significant accomplishments was helping to produce the Sauer Bible, the first German language Bible printed in America. In this Bible version, passages teaching universal reconciliation were marked in boldface. Other significant early modern Christian Universalist leaders include Elhanan Winchester ,
7120-531: The theatre and repurposing the property as commercial space, a group from the Brookline community started a grassroots campaign to save the theatre. David Kleiler, a film professor at Babson College , led the movement, called "Friends of the Coolidge," which later transformed into the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to the theatre's preservation. This foundation played
7209-470: The universalist Thomas Wittemore wrote, "The sentiment by which Universalists are distinguished, is this: that at last every individual of the human race shall become holy and happy. This does not comprise the whole of their faith, but, merely that feature of it which is peculiar to them and by which they are distinguished from the rest of the world." The remaining central beliefs of Christian universalism are compatible with Christianity in general: In 1899
7298-423: The wicked there are punishments, not perpetual, however, lest the immortality prepared for them should be a disadvantage, but they are to be purified for a brief period according to the amount of malice in their works. They shall therefore suffer punishment for a short space, but immortal blessedness having no end awaits them ... the penalties to be inflicted for their many and grave sins are very far surpassed by
7387-492: The world religions in a process of progressive revelation . As a result, the major world religions are seen as divine in origin and are continuous in their purpose. In this view, there is unity among the founders of world religions, but each revelation brings a more advanced set of teachings in human history and none are syncretic. In addition, the Baháʼí teachings acknowledge that in every country and every people God has always revealed
7476-803: Was a widely held view among theologians in Early Christianity . These included such important figures such as Alexandrian scholar Origen as well as Clement of Alexandria , a Christian theologian. Origen and Clement both included the existence of a non-eternal Hell in their teachings. Hell was remedial, in that it was a place one went to purge one's sins before entering into Heaven. Between 1648-1697 English activist Gerrard Winstanley , writer Richard Coppin , and dissenter Jane Leade , each taught that God would grant all human beings salvation. The same teachings were later spread throughout 18th-century France and America by George de Benneville . People who taught this doctrine in America would later become known as
7565-637: Was active in the Holiness movement as well as the women's suffrage and temperance movements. The Unity School of Christianity , founded in 1889 by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore , has taught some Universalist beliefs such as God's total goodness, the divine nature of human beings, and the rejection of the traditional Christian belief that God condemns people to Hell. In the early 20th century, some Primitive Baptists in Appalachia started espousing Universalist ideas. By 1924, these churches branched off to form
7654-463: Was not a part of Christ's teachings nor even the early church, and that it was added in. According to theologian Edward Beecher , in the first four centuries there were six main theological schools and only one of them advocated the idea of eternal hell. Christian universalists point towards mistranslations of the Greek word αιών ( aion – an epoch of time), as giving rise to the idea of eternal hell. Dr. Ken Vincent writes "When it ( aion )
7743-445: Was the belief of some of the early church fathers, especially Greek-speaking ones such as Clement of Alexandria , Origen , and Gregory of Nyssa . It asserts that the unsaved will undergo hell, but that hell is remedial (neither everlasting nor purely retributive) according to key scriptures and that after purification or conversion all will enter heaven. Fourth-century Christian theologian and Bishop Diodorus of Tarsus wrote: "For
7832-445: Was translated into Latin Vulgate, aion became aeternam which means 'eternal'." He also states that the first written record of the idea of an eternal hell comes from Tertullian, who wrote in Latin. The second major source of the idea of hell as eternal was the 4th-century theologian Augustine . According to author Steve Gregg, it was Tertullian's writings, plus Augustine's views and writings on eternal hell, which "overwhelmed"
7921-486: Was used in the Christian Intelligencer in the 1820s by Russell Streeter—a descendant of Adams Streeter who had founded one of the first Universalist Churches on September 14, 1785. Some Christian universalists claim that in Early Christianity (prior to the 6th century ), this was the most common interpretation of Christianity . As a formal Christian denomination , Christian universalism originated in
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