Doesn’t Church History Argue Against the Doctrine of Universal Reconciliation?

Major figures from the first centuries of church history, such as Origen, Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius, and Gregory of Nazianzus, still believed Scripture on this point. A major turning point came with Augustine. “The oncoming eons” of which Scripture speaks were replaced by an endless eternity. The Valley of Hinnom became a mythical hell. And God’s plan of salvation for the whole creation was restricted to a triumphant church above.

Whatever may have changed since the Reformation, the Protestant churches on this point as well did not return to Paul and the rest of Scripture, but mainly to Augustine.

Incidentally, at the end of his life Paul already warned that after his departure, people in general would no longer accept sound teaching (2 Timothy 4:3). This is to say that church history is an extremely unreliable standard for judging a doctrine. Whether a doctrine is sound is not decided by church history, but by Scripture alone.

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