of Universalism and of the doctrine of endless misery, without producing the least disturbance or uneasiness in the church; the THIRD, reaching to the Fifth General Council, in A. D. 553, is marked with continual censures, frequent commotions, and some disgraceful quarrels, on that subject. In And, as I have endeavored to vary my general plan, so as to suit the peculiar character and circumstances of each of these periods, I would here bespeak the reader's attention to the method I have pursued. In the first Period, then, I have been careful to state, in his own words, the opinion of every Christian author, who has left us any remarks concerning future punishment, or the eventual salvation of the world; and down to the year 150, I have, with still more particularity, inserted every passage which I thought belonged to either of those subjects. Accordingly, it may be expected that, to many, the first two chapters will prove more tedious than the rest of the work. the second Period, while it has been my principal object to give a full account of all those fathers, who, during that time, advocated or favored Universalism, I have also aimed to present a correct view of the opinions entertained, the meanwhile, by the Christian world at large, on that point. In the third Period, I have pursued nearly the same course; leaving, however, the common sentiment of the church, concerning the doctrine in question, to be gathered from the controversies and quarrels which then occurred, and which I have minutely described. Thus far, I may venture to pronounce the History complete, in one respect it contains an account of every individual of note, whom we have now the means of knowing to have been a Universalist. In the Appendix the plan is very different, since a regular and connected history of Universalism, from the Fifth General Council to the Reformation, is, with me, utterly impracticable. Here, therefore, nothing but a sketch is attempted, pointing out those traces of the doctrine, which I have happened to discover in the course of reading. I would also take this opportunity, once for all, to apprize my readers of the sense in which they will find certain terms and phrases used in the following work. The title, bishop, is supposed to have signified, at first, only the chief minister of a city, or territory; though it afterwards became confined in its application to a distinct and superior order of clergy. By the popular epithets orthodox and heretic, I mean, not the true and the false, but the predominant, or catholic, and the dissenting, or anathematized. To conclude, I have frequently spoken of the Western or Latin Churches, in distinction from the Eastern or Greek; though they were not finally separated from each other's communion, till the ninth century, Roxbury, Oct. 22d, 1828. 1* ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION. NUMEROUS changes are made in this Edition; but the most of them are merely verbal. Some sentences and paragraphs are omitted, as unnecessary or irrelevant; others are transferred from the text to the margin, as belonging more properly among the notes. A few accounts are inserted of those whom the author has, since the publication of the work, found to have been Universalists. No occasion has been discovered for correcting any material statement, except perhaps in what relates to the fact last mentioned in the history, the condemnation of Universalism and its advocates by the Fifth General Council. Though the ancient Greek historians agree that such was the fact, and though the acts of that condemnation are found among the other acts of this body, yet there is some reason to suspect after all, that they are the acts of the council held under Mennas, at Constantinople, in the year 540; and to doubt whether the General Council ever meddled with the matter. As the point, however, is not fully settled, the statement in the first Edition is suffered to remain with only a hint or two of uncertainty. No one can be more sensible, than the author, that this history needs to be written anew, and on a more philosophical plan, especially in the former part. This, he has long desired to see done; and should his life be continued, and an opportunity of sufficient leisure occur, he hopes to undertake the labor, at some future season. Medford, January 1, 1842. CONTENTS. Opinions entertained by the Christians, from A. D. 90, to A. D. 150, concerning future punishment, and the eventual salvation of the world, exhibited by means of all the relative passages in the Orthodox writings extant of this period, and by a summary state- 94-100 What notions of the Gnostics were peculiarly Opinions of the Christians from A. D. 150, to A. D. 190, con- cerning future punishment, and the eventual salvation of the world, illustrated by extracts from all the authors extant of this period, 34 Clemens Alexandrinus, and his Cotemporaries; or, the Opinions of the Christians from A. D. 190, to A. D. 230, concerning the Clemens Alexandrinus, a Universalist. His own testimony. His views of the future state. His character. Tertullian, a believer in endless misery. Opinions of the Orthodox concerning the state - State of Universalism among both the Orthodox Universalism a favorite topic with him. Ad- The manner in which he taught it. Origen's Scholars and Cotemporaries; or, Opinions of the 1 |