Heresy of the week

In light of the holiday season (holiday = holy day so please no barbed comments) I gave the heresies a break. Reinvigorated by Christmas-themed tea and treats, I return to the task.

Apokatastasis

The Greek name (ἀποκαταστασις) for the doctrine that ultimately all free mortal creatures - angels, men, and devils - will share in the grace of salvation. It is to be found in Clement of Alexandria, in Origen and St. Gregory of Nyssa. It was strongly attacked by St. Augustine of Hippo and formally condemned in the first anathema against Origenism, probably put out by the Council of Constantinople in AD 543.

- The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church pg. 83

The basic idea is that hell is purgative - that hell is a celestial timeout corner from which the head-strong Kindergartner, given sufficient time, will emerge and be able to rejoin the class. Clement of Alexandria called it a "wise fire" from which sinners are purified.

On Origen, I quote from Eschatology and final restoration (apokatastasis) in Origen, Gregory of Nyssa and Maximos the Confessor by Andreas Andreopoulos:

Origen's position follows naturally after two assumptions: that the power of free will remains to the soul after death, and that God has not created an eternal place of damnation. Augustine, on the other hand, believed hell to be eternal and also created specifically for the punishment of the sinful, and influenced, probably unfortunately, the entire Western Christian tradition. Origen saw the entrapment of the logikoi (rational intellects) in matter, as well as the flames of hell, both as a punishment and as a means of rehabilitation, so that they can be "encouraged" to return to God. Furthermore, he writes elsewhere (De Principiis 2 X 8) that hell is not eternal. "There is resurrection of the dead, and there is punishment, but not everlasting. For when the body is punished the soul is gradually purified, and so restored to its ancient rank. For all wicked men, and for demons, too, punishment has an end, and both wicked men and demons shall be restored to their former rank."

His beliefs were anathematized in the 10 anathemas against Origen. Here are the two cited against his universalist beliefs:

• 7. Whoever maintains that the Lord Christ, as [he was] for human beings, will in the world to come also be crucified for the demons - let him be anathema.
• 9. Whoever maintains that the punishment of the demons and godless human beings are temporal[ly limited], and that after a specified time they will have an end, that is to say there will be a restoration [apokatastasis] of demons or godless human beings - let him be anathema

Also from the Andreopoulos paper, Gregory of Nyssa:

Gregory of Nyssa in On the Soul and the Resurrection 7 and in the Catechetical Oration 26 followed Origen in that the fire of hell has a purifying role and is, therefore, not eternal. He goes even further in his argument however, positing that since evil has no real existence, its "relative" existence will be completely annihilated at the end of time. According to how much the souls are attached to the material condition, purification may be instant or long and painful. Gregory compared purification by the fire of hell to the chemical purification of gold by fire, and to a muddy rope that is cleaned when passed through a small hole. Although his images seem dangerously dualist, we should not forget that evil for Gregory has no real existence, and therefore what he presents is no more than the destruction of everything that was not created by God in the first place. In both writings mentioned above, he stated his belief in the final restoration of all: "When, over long periods of time, evil has been removed and those now lying in sin have been restored to their original state, all creation will join in united thanksgiving, both those whose purification has involved punishment and those who never needed purification at all" (Catechetical Oration 26).

Met. Kallistos (Ware) has a fine statement on the matter that will close out this topic:

"Hell exists as a final possibility, but several of the Fathers have none the less believed that in the end all will be reconciled to God. It is heretical to say that all must be saved, for this is to deny free will; but it is legitimate to hope that all may be saved. Until the Last Day comes, we must not despair of anyone’s salvation, but must long and pray for the reconciliation of all without exception. No one must be excluded from our loving intercession. ‘What is a merciful heart?’ asked Isaac the Syrian. ‘It is a heart that burns with love for the whole of creation, for men, for the birds, for the beasts, for the demons, for all creatures.’Gregory of Nyssa said that Christians may legitimately hope even for the redemption of the Devil."

- The Orthodox Church