A dense, monumental study of historical theology in over 900 pages on the doctrine of restoration.

What is it about?

The theory of apokatastasis (restoration of all creatures, or all rational creatures, to God-the Good), 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.

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Why is it important?

This is the first comprehensive critical analysis of the doctrine of apokatastasis in the first Christian millennium. It argues that the doctrine of universal restoration was much more widespread than commonly assumed in first-millennium Christianity and was Christologically, Biblically, and philosophically grounded

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