Apocatastasis

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Apokatastasis (Gr. Ἀποκατάστασις [ apokaˈtastasɪs ], translatable as “restoration”, “restoration”, but also “reorganization” or “production” or “realization”) is a theological doctrine of the restoration of all things at the end of time.

As a cyclical- teleological picture of history, this teaching proceeds from a state lost through the falling away of created beings from the Creator (" apostasis ") to a state of reconciliation and unity of all beings with God, as it should have been at the beginning. How the process looks up to then is viewed differently. If this applies to all fallen beings, the term apokatastasis panton (ἀποκατάστασις πάντων), restitutio omnium (quae locutus est) is also used.

The original apocatastasis doctrine , however, has to be distinguished from later teachings of an “all-round reconciliation” or “all-reconciliation”, which mostly starts from a new, unprecedented state of harmony between creator and creature.

In religious studies, the term universalism is occasionally used as a synonym for apokatastasis . The apocatastasis found its confessional form in the form of North American universalism .

Occurrence

The expression is used in non-Christian Greek usage in various contexts, such as medicine, astronomy, jurisprudence, politics and ancient philosophy. In connection with the Sothic cycle used Greek writers the term Apokatastasis so regarding the simultaneity of the astronomical and the civil New Year in the ancient Egyptian calendar on the first Akhet I . In general, it means the "restoration of a state", for example in medicine the restoration of health, i.e. healing.

Christian theologians refer to Acts 3,21a  EU : “Heaven must receive him [ie Jesus] until the time when everything will be restored” (Greek: apokatastaseos panton , “restoration of all”). In a narrower sense, this means the restoration of theocracy in the millennium , the open rule of God without earthly government. In a broader sense, however, it is also interpreted as a restoration of the state before the fall.

Attempt to differentiate between different terminologies

The terms Allaussöhnung , universal reconciliation , Allerlösung , Apokatastasis panton (dt "restoration of All". WA) are often used interchangeably but can be distinguished as follows:

Global reconciliation

The doctrine of an all-reconciliation is based on the New Testament statement that in the future God will “reconcile the universe with itself” ( Col 1:20  EU ). Central in this quote is the verb to reconcile (Greek apokatallasso ), in contrast to reconciliation (Greek katallasso ) or atone (Greek hilaskomai ). Apokatallaxai ta panta can be translated into parts of the word as "changing the universe downwards" or "changing the universe from the ground up". In the interpretation of adherents of universal reconciliation, panta can only refer to humanity, since reconciliation with inanimate things is impossible.

Universal reconciliation

In contrast to reconciliation, reconciliation is only one-sided. Due to the death of Jesus, the reconciliation is partly seen as having already happened ( Rom 5,10  EU ).

All solution

All solution is theologically content-wise to be equated with all-purpose reconciliation, but emphasizes more strongly that God's plans and actions do not depend on man's reaction: God redeems himself through revelation, man is redeemed from old constraints such as finitude and the consequences of sin.

Apocatastasis panton

The term “restoration of all” comes from Acts 3,21a  EU : “Heaven must receive him until the time when everything is brought back”. In contrast to the universal reconciliation, which starts from a still unique final state - that is, does not speak of a restoration - this passage, in the opinion of many interpreters, speaks of the restoration of theocracy in the millennium and not of a completely new state like the universal reconciliation. The proclamation of the all-atonement is seen instead with the apostle Paul, who therefore also speaks of the unveiling of a secret (e.g. Rom 16 : 25-27  EU ). The apocatastasis can be seen as the forerunner of a comprehensive all-inclusive reconciliation.

Salvation universalism

In contrast to this, the term universalism of salvation describes the expansion of salvation from selection from Israel and other nations to all people. Such an expansion is mentioned several times in the Pauline corpus of letters.

Biblical basis

The doctrine of the atonement deals with the outcome of human history and sees it as a history of salvation through which God brings about his salvation.

According to this interpretation, the universal atonement has taken place when it has been fulfilled: “Everything has submitted to Christ ” ( 1 Cor 15.25–28  EU ; see also Col 1.15–17  EU ; Eph 1.9–10  EU .20 -23 EU ; Phil 3.21  EU ); “So that every knee bends in the name of Jesus ” and every tongue pays homage: “Lord is Jesus Christ, for the glorification of God the Father” ( Phil 2:11  EU ; Isa 45 : 23-24  EU ), which can only be done in the Holy Spirit is possible ( 1 Cor 12.3  EU ). These interpreters want to rely on “the living God who is the savior of all people” ( 1 Tim 4,10  EU ; see also 1 Tim 2,4  EU ).

From the point of view of the proponents, the total atonement was only possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus: “Just as all people were condemned through the transgression of one person, so will justice come to all people through the righteous act of one person who gives life ”( Rom 5:18  EU ; 1 Cor 15:22  EU ). The action of God is seen as decisive in this understanding of salvation, and also includes the contradictions of people on the way to the goal ( Rom. 11:32  EU ).

The last judgment is seen as the way to this goal of God . According to Rev 20 : 11-13 EU , the totality of the dead will be  resurrected to be judged before the “great white throne”, according to their works ( Rev 20 : 13  EU ). Judgment is interpreted in the sense of an alignment, rectification or justification as a measure through which, according to divine legal norms, based on God's righteousness, man is brought to justice ( Dtn 16.18  EU ; Ps 37.33  EU ; 82.3 EU ; Sach 7,9  EU ; Joh 5,22-23  EU ). There you would be able to recognize Jesus as your Lord. After this judgment the sinners come to the “second death: the lake of fire” ( Rev. 20.15  EU ). Followers of universal reconciliation see no connection in the Bible between torments for people and the second death; the idea of hell is mostly rejected by them as unbiblical. Often “lake of fire” is interpreted as an image for the cleansing presence of God; because u. a. in Hebrews 12:29  EU is talk that God himself "consuming fire" is. The second death from the book of Revelation lasted for the last eon ( Rev 21  EU ). After the end of all eons, this death, as the last of all enemies of God, will be rendered ineffective ( 1 Cor 15.26  EU ) and this state will be ended. Then God will “be everything in everyone” ( 1 Cor 15:28  EU ).

Apocatastasis in the early Church and with the Church Fathers

The doctrine of the apocatastasis was also represented again and again by Christians of different directions, whereby the reasons were different. It was specifically taught in Alexandria by Clement of Alexandria (around 150 - around 215 AD) and Origen (185 - around 254). Clement of Alexandria saw revenge as something that did not fit with God's nature. To exercise vengeance would be nothing more than “to repay evil for evil, whereas God chastises the chastened for his own good”. Origen said: “And I am convinced that he (God) will destroy viciousness in an orderly manner (once) completely, for the healing of the whole.” Likewise: “As with physical diseases and wounds there are some who cannot be healed by any medical art, on the other hand, as we claim, it is unlikely that there is an ailment in souls originating from sin, which could not possibly be healed by the ruling reason and by God. " these Church Fathers refer to the Septuagint , in which the noun, but the verb, appears in exactly one place. In the New Testament, the noun appears only in Acts 3  21 .

Many theologians see the church father Gregory of Nyssa (around 335 - after 394) as a representative of the Apokatastasis on the basis of statements such as that “it is not primarily and primarily punishment that God imposes on sinners”, rather God only acts “about evil to separate from the good and to draw it into the blessed community ”. The community referred to here is a community that will look such that all creatures "will have the same goal (namely God) in their desires and desires and will also see this goal, without anything evil to be found in them". However, other theologians assume that Gregory only spoke of a hope for universal reconciliation, referring to passages in his works where he speaks of eternal punishment, such as when he says in “de pauperibus amandis” that the judgment of God will give everyone what is due: eternal rest to those who exercised compassion and led holy lives; but the eternal punishment of fire for the tough and pitiless. But the doctrine of the apocatastasis was also taught in the fourth century by other church fathers, such as Didymus the Blind , Diodorus of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia . Through Theodor von Mopsuestia's liturgy, it was adopted by the Assyrian Church of the East , where it still appears in liturgical texts today.

The general teaching of the church was shaped by the church father Augustine (354–430), who justified an eternal punishment from the Bible. For example, he said that the aeonian punishment from Mt 25.46  EU is endless, since the aeonian life with the same name is also endless (“aeonian punishment” is usually translated as “eternal punishment”, which should also correspond to current research but in the opinion of Adolph Ernst Knoch, among other things, it is interpreted as a temporary death; cf. Rev 20,5  EU ). Augustine was also the best-known proponent of the doctrine of original sin , which says that every person is defiled by the fall of man, Adam, and therefore an endless punishment in hell is to be expected for every person if God does not bestow grace out of himself. At the Synod of Constantinople (543) and the Second Council of Constantinople (553) the meaning of the term apokatastasis was restricted and thus deviated from the version given by its fathers like Origen and Euagrios Pontikos (345-399):

“Later fathers, however, came to believe that any identification between the first and the last things was blameworthy, which suggests that they attributed this opinion to no-one else but the 'heretical' Origen and Evagrius who, it was assume, perniciously conceived of the last things as replicating the first and, in any case, were heretics. […] Ignorance was thus demonstrated of the fact that […] the term had been widely employed as part of legitimate nomenclature […]. ”

The post-Augustinian Athanasian Creed contrasts eternal life for those who have done good with eternal fire for those who have done bad.

From the early Middle Ages to modern times

In the theological debates of the early Middle Ages, apocatastasis was generally not an issue. Only the Irish theologian Johannes Scotus Eriugena (9th century), who was already controversial during his lifetime and strongly influenced by Plato, represented Origen's Apocatastasis in the 9th century.

Universalistic thoughts can only be proven again in the aftermath of the Enlightenment; B. with Johann Kaspar Lavater , Charles Chauncey (1705–1787) and Jonathan Mayhew and with parts of Pietism , beginning with the superintendent Johann Wilhelm and Johanna Eleonara Petersen (1644–1724). Wilhelm said: “The eternal Gospel is a joyful message of the return of all, since it is proclaimed that all creatures […] but each one in its time and order determined by God after purification here in this time or in the future eons after retrograde judgments in the most righteous manner of the just and most gracious God through Jesus Christ, [...] from sin and the punishment of sins shall be saved [...]. "

Later Pietists, who represented the universal reconciliation, were Christian Gottlob Pregizer (1751-1824), Michael Hahn († 1819), Friedrich Christoph Oetinger († 1782), Johann Albrecht Bengel († 1752), Jung-Stilling († 1817) and the two Blumhardts, father Johann Christoph Blumhardt († 1880) and son Christoph Blumhardt († 1919).

Through the missionary efforts of George de Benneville (1703–1793) and the German Anabaptist groups , these interpretations also came to North America, where they then gained great influence, especially through Unitarians in the liberal circles of the East. Some time later (1867) Andrew Jukes published his book The Restitution of all Things . In the USA, universalism was also represented by the Universalist Church of America (1793–1961), for example by Hosea Ballou and Charles Skinner .

Among the well-known theologians of the 19th and 20th centuries, Herman Schell , Hans Urs von Balthasar , Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher , Ernst F. Ströter , Karl Barth and Wilhelm Michaelis rejected the doctrine of endless hell. Jürgen Moltmann wrote in Theology of Hope : “The logic of hell seems to me to be not only inhuman, but also extremely atheistic: here man in his free decision for hell or heaven - there God as the executor who carries out this will. God is degraded to the servant of man. If I choose hell, God has to put me there even though it isn't His will. Is that how the love of God is expressed? And where is the omnipotence of God? People would be left to their own fate, they actually don't need God, because only humans determine what happens. "

Theological debate

On the question of human free will

According to the teaching of many Christian churches, God has given people free will in order to decide for or against him and subsequently to spend eternity either in direct communion with God or in eternal absence from God. If free will is negated, both the personal decision to believe and the responsibility of man before God are called into question. It is also said that love requires free will on both sides. If God were also the cause of sin, it is feared that it would no longer be fought. This view is also represented by Arminianism , which was developed by Arminius (born in 1559 in Holland) through dealing with extreme Calvinism , in a modified form also by the Catholic Church.

Most proponents of the universal atonement affirm that, in their view, the Bible teaches that man has no free will and, therefore, that there are no consequent endless punishments for the ways of life. Instead, they argue that everyone is guided by God in everything. All human decisions are subject to a God-determined causal law, which the unbeliever is not aware of. Only God, the Father, is not causal and is therefore the only one who has free will ( Luther : “From unfree will”). But if God “wants all people to be saved” ( 1 Tim 2,4  EU ), in that Jesus ultimately reveals himself to everyone as Lord ( Phil 2,11  EU ; Isa 45,23-24  EU ), everyone will People once can believe.

On the question of God's omnipotence

Followers of the doctrine of hell see in a denial of the possibility of a definitive damnation a restriction of the omnipotence of God. Almighty God has the freedom to distribute justice and mercy at his discretion and according to his judgment of sin, and man cannot know in advance how God will behave towards God-deniers and enemies of God who refuse to associate with God.

Proponents of the universal reconciliation say that one can very well know: They interpret the statement in the Bible that God “wants all people to be saved” ( 1 Tim 2 : 4  EU ) in such a way that God really wants this and it would therefore achieve it with every human being, because God is almighty. God's omnipotence shows itself precisely in the fact that he can carry out what he has planned. In addition, it corresponds to God's characteristics that he behave mercifully and graciously towards all his creatures; because no one can save himself. You refer, for example, to Rom. 9  EU , where it is stated that even blasphemers like Pharaoh, in their refusal of instructions, still had to carry out God's will.

On the question of mission

Some critics of universal reconciliation are concerned that by adopting this theological conception, the motivation for mission could weaken. Why should the gospel be preached to those who would otherwise not get to know God, when everyone would be redeemed anyway and no one had to be saved from hell?

Supporters of universal reconciliation respond to this with the question of whether the expectation of an evil end is at all a suitable motivation for some people to bring a loving God closer to other people. They also believe that even with the threat of hell, which is often no longer directly spoken, people cannot be made to love God. Bertrand Russell said on behalf of Why I am not a Christian : “I must say that this whole doctrine of hellfire as a punishment for sin is a cruel doctrine. It has brought cruelty into the world and the consequences mercilessly for generations. ”Proponents of the reconciliation see it as their duty to convey the really good news of a loving God to other people - in this they see themselves as God's tools to achieve the reconciliation. They do not see the motivation to save others from “hell” as target-oriented. The claim is also absurd in terms of church history, since Pietists were among the most important German missionaries, for example Johann Martin Mack (1715–1784) or Christian Gottlob Barth (1799–1862), who rejected the doctrine of hell as unbiblical.

Opponents of universal reconciliation distance themselves decidedly from the blanket statement that they would preach the gospel as a threatening message. They understand the preaching of the gospel as an offer from God to people. Your mission statement can be formulated as follows: Nobody is forced to spend eternity with God.

On the question of God's righteousness

Critics of universal reconciliation list the Bible passages in the New Testament (for example Mt 25 : 31-46  EU ) which speak of a separation between the righteous and the unrighteous (doctrine of the “double outcome”): the righteous receive eternal life, while the unjust eternal ( Basic text: each aeonian ) are punished (V. 46 EU ). Likewise, they see no evidence in the Bible of purification after death. They also argue that although the all-atonement emphasizes God's love, it puts his holiness and justice in the background.

Proponents of universal reconciliation do not find any references in the Bible to endless torments for people or a “hell” of whatever kind. Neither in Hades ( Sheol ), in the Gehenna of the Gospels nor in the lake of fire of Revelation , people are endlessly tormented. On the other hand, God's goal of universal atonement is defined in the Bible (see above), with the way there being God's matter. Some advocates of this view also explain that “eternal” life or “eternal” punishment are incorrect translations of the Greek aionion (aeonian = related to aeons (world age)). For them the righteousness of God becomes evident when humanity is again collectively and passively freed from the passive collective punishment of mortality through the fall of Adam (according to Romans 5:18  EU ). They question whether it is compatible with God's righteousness for God to ordain infinite punishment on people for sins that can last at most one human life. According to the proponents, the purification takes place after the resurrection during the judgment (= correction, alignment with God) in front of the big, white throne ( Rev 20  EU ).

Critics see in the consistent translation of aionion with aeonic (= eons-related) an interpretation that does not do justice to the original text, since the word in this context refers to the totality of the new world, which will exist forever. (Jewish theology at the time of Jesus knows exactly two eons: the current aeon, the current world - and the next aeon, the new, perfect world that is newly created by God and lasts forever.) In addition, the word aionion is already being used interpreted by the Greek-speaking church fathers of the first centuries in the sense of eternal . For a detailed discussion of the term “aeon” and the controversies surrounding its translation, see Aeon (theology) .

Use of words in Hellenistic philosophy

Typical of the doctrine of apocatastasis in Greek philosophy is the constant cyclical scheme that the original state is identical with the final state. Usually astronomy is used to calculate the individual periods : when all planets have returned to their original location, a so-called “ great year ” is over. Often a fire destroys the world before the (mostly) completely identical cycle begins again.

The Pythagoreans (end of the 6th century BC) probably knew the return of identical worlds, but without periodic end of the world.

In Heraclitus (around 520-460 BC) the word apocatastasis cannot be proven, but it does teach a cyclical alternation of fire and identical worlds. Everything emerges from the one primordial fire that is ultimately destroyed again by the fire.

The Stoics first developed the theory, although the older Stoics did not attest to the word itself. The planets, by returning to their original constellation, cause the destruction and restoration of the completely identical worlds.

The apocatastasis concept was also taken over from the Jewish tradition, but changed in one decisive point: There are no periodically recurring worlds, but only one cycle, at the beginning and end of which there is an ideal world, paradise. In contrast to Christianity , here the hopes are still concentrated entirely on this side. There is only rudimentary talk here of a resurrection or universal reconciliation of the deceased - especially in the Maccabees books.

The Stoic and Roman Emperor Mark Aurel (121–180) believed in a rebirth of souls, as a result of which the same apparitions appear several times in an Aion .

The Neoplatonists (3rd - 7th centuries) were also convinced of the reincarnation of souls. They held the world for ever, whereby the number of archetypes of souls was considered to be limited. Hence they represented an apocatastasis of souls.

Among the contemporary philosophers, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) renewed the idea of ​​a cyclical, always identical world period. He justifies this by the fact that the world has neither a goal nor a capacity for eternal novelty. That is why the same things always alternate in the same order.

See also

literature

  • Jens Adam: Paul and the reconciliation of all. A study on Pauline universalism of salvation. Neukirchen-Vluyn 2009.
  • Hans Urs von Balthasar : Apokatastasis. Johannes, Freiburg 1999, ISBN 3-89411-354-5 .
  • Walter Benjamin : Collected Writings , Volumes I / 2, II / 2, V; 1991.
  • Karl Geyer: Eternal judgment and universal reconciliation. 4th edition 1998, Paulus-Buchhandlung KG, ISBN 3-87618-052-X .
  • Friedhelm Groth: The return of all things in Württemberg pietism. Studies in the history of theology on the eschatological universalism of salvation of Württemberg Pietists of the 18th century (= works on the history of Pietism. Vol. 21). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1984.
  • C. Lenz: Art. Apokatastasis. In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity . Vol. 1. Stuttgart 1950, Col. 510-516.
  • David Hilborn (Ed.): The Reality of Hell. Brunnen, Gießen / Basel 2004, ISBN 3-7655-1322-9 .
  • Christine Janowski: eschatological dualism? Considerations on the “double outcome” of the Last Judgment. (= Yearbook for Biblical Theology. (JBTh) Vol. 9, 1994). Pp. 175-218.
  • Christine Janowski : All Solution - Approaches to a dedualized eschatology (= Neukirchen contributions to systematic theology. Vol. 23). 2 volumes. Neukirchener, Neukirchen-Vluyn 2000, ISBN 3-7887-1728-9 .
  • Werner von Laak: All-Reconciliation. The doctrine of the apocatastasis. Its foundation by Origen and its evaluation in contemporary theology by Karl Barth and Hans Urs von Balthasar. Sinzig 1990, ISBN 3927593095 .
  • Wilhelm Michaelis: Reconciliation of All - The good news of the grace of God . Grümlingen / Bern, Siloah publishing house, 1950.
  • Max Ortner: Apokatastasis panton and Purgatory: East-Western controversies in the light of dogma and teaching developments (= series of writings on the history of ideas and science, volume 14), Kovač, Hamburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-8300-7993-4 (dissertation University of Munich 2014, XV, 391 pages; 21 cm, 530 g description ; table of contents ),
  • Willem J. Ouweneel : That ends well - everyone (s) well? Is there a universal reconciliation? CLV, Bielefeld 1993, ISBN 3-89397-708-2 .
  • Paul Petry: Reconciliation, Death and Last Things . Konkordanter Verlag Pforzheim, 1986, ISBN 3-88475-011-9 .
  • Ilaria Ramelli: The Christian Doctrine of Apokatastasis. A Critical Assessment from the New Testament to Eriugena , Leiden, Brill, 2013.
  • Rolf Rochusch: Investigation of Karl Barth's position on the doctrine of the Apokatastasis in "Church Dogmatics", presentation and discussion of criticism . 1974, DNB 751193771 (Dissertation Kirchliche Hochschule Berlin 1975, VI, 304 pages, 8 °).
  • Hartmut Rosenau : Reconciliation. A transcendental theological fundamental attempt. Berlin / New York 1993, pp. 109-225.
  • Michael Schneider: Apocatastasis. To the recent dogmatic discussion about the doctrine of universal reconciliation. (= Edition Cardo , Volume 98), Koinonia-Oriens, Cologne 2003, ISBN 978-3-933001-99-3 .
  • Heinz Schumacher: Reconciliation of the universe - God's will . 3rd edition Paulus Buchhandlung, ISBN 3-87618-092-9 .
  • Ernst F. Ströter : The Gospel of God of the all-reconciliation in Christ. Könzle, Chemnitz 1915 - New edition 2002: Philemon-Verlag, Mülheim (Ruhr), ISBN 3-936461-00-7 .
  • Andreas Symank: Will all people be saved? Reflections on the Doctrine of All Atonement. House of the Bible, Geneva 1982; Immanuel, Riehen (Switzerland) ³1997, ISBN 3-9521157-0-3 .
  • Werner Thiede : Hell is extinguished , in: zeitzeichen 11/2010, pp. 15-17.
  • Arthur Ernest Wilder-Smith : Reconciliation - way out or wrong way? Hänssler, Neuhausen-Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-7751-0368-6 .
  • Dirk Schürmann: Reconciliation instead of universal reconciliation! God's wonderful offer of reconciliation and the fallacy of universal reconciliation. Edition Nehemia, Steffisburg 2020, ISBN 978-3-906289-31-1 (reading sample)

Web links

Wiktionary: Apokatastasis  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Erwin Preuschen: Greek-German pocket dictionary for the New Testament. 7th edition. de Gruyter, Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-11-015260-6 .
  2. ^ "Restoration", "Reorganization": Langenscheidt's pocket dictionary of ancient Greek-German. 2nd Edition. Berlin / Munich 1988, ISBN 3-468-10031-0 .
  3. ^ "Production", "Realization": Jürgen Roloff : The Acts of the Apostles. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1981, ISBN 3-525-51361-5 , p. 77.
  4. ^ H. Rosenau: Reconciliation. A transcendental theological fundamental attempt. , Pp. 27-29
  5. ^ Rudolf Eisler : Art. Apokatastasis . In: Dictionary of Philosophical Terms. 1904.
  6. ↑ Rita Gautschy: The star Sirius in ancient Egypt and in Babylon .
  7. ^ Nestle-Aland: Novum Testamentum Graece. 27th edition. German Bible Society, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-438-05100-1 .
  8. ↑ Adolf Schlatter: The Acts of the Apostles. Berlin 1961. Here: Explanation of Acts 3.21.
  9. ↑ Blue Letter Bible: Dictionary and Word Search for apokatastasis (Strong's 605)
  10. ↑ See Hartmut Rosenau: Art. Return all ; in: Gerhard Müller u. a. (Ed.): Theologische Realenzyklopädie , Vol. 35; de Gruyter, Berlin 2000, pp. 774-780.
  11. ↑ Christine Janowski : All solution - approaches to a dedualized eschatology. Neukirchen-Vluyn 2000, ISBN 3788717289 , pp. 13-15.
  12. ↑ See Hartmut Rosenau: return all ; in: Gerhard Müller et al. (Ed.): Theologische Realenzyklopädie , Vol. 35; de Gruyter, Berlin 2000, pp. 774–780, here p. 775: “Finally, as a distinction from an otherwise related universalism of salvation, the idea of ​​the restoration of all things emphasizes that, in contrast to salvation particularist perspectives, it is not just about an offer of salvation addressed to everyone in the mode of possibility, but about the factual implementation and realization of universal salvation, in particular due to the almighty love and grace of God and the effective reconciliation of the world in Jesus Christ, who died for everyone without exception. ”More detailed on the subject, for example, Jens Adam: Paulus und the reconciliation of all. A study on Pauline universalism of salvation. Neukirchen-Vluyn 2009.
  13. ↑ See Hartmut Rosenau: return all ; in: Gerhard Müller et al. (Ed.): Theologische Realenzyklopädie , Vol. 35; de Gruyter, Berlin 2000, pp. 774–780, here 780.
  14. ↑ Mal 3:24  EU : "He will turn the heart of the fathers back to the sons and the heart of the sons to their fathers, so that I do not have to come and do the land to ruin."
  15. ↑ Acts 3,21  EU : "Heaven must certainly receive him up to the times of the restoration of everything, which God has always proclaimed through the mouth of his holy prophets (ἄχρι χρόνων ἀποκαταστάσεως πάντων ὧν ἐλάλησεν)."
  16. ^ Julia Konstantinovsky Evagrius Ponticus: the making of a gnostic. 2009, p. 172.
  17. ↑ a b c C. Lenz: Art. Apokatastasis. In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity . Vol. 1, Stuttgart 1950, Col. 510-516.
  18. ↑ a b c d e Rudolf Eisler: Art. Apokatastasis ; in: Dictionary of Philosophical Terms ; 1904.