"Destroying the Suffering of the World": Christian and Buddhist Perspectives on Universal Salvation
The doctrine of "universal salvation," or apocatastasis, most famously formulated by Origen of Alexandria (185-253 ce), is controversial within Christian theology. It is commonly (and mistakenly) viewed as a modern idea that derives from so-called liberal theology. In fact, the idea that e...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2026
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| In: |
Buddhist Christian studies
Year: 2026, Volume: 45, Pages: 223-237 |
| Further subjects: | B
Theology
B Buddhism B Mahāyāna B Christianity B universalist B Philosophy |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The doctrine of "universal salvation," or apocatastasis, most famously formulated by Origen of Alexandria (185-253 ce), is controversial within Christian theology. It is commonly (and mistakenly) viewed as a modern idea that derives from so-called liberal theology. In fact, the idea that everyone will eventually be saved was adhered to by quite a number of early Christian philosophers, theologians, and Church Fathers who saw that the idea of an all-loving God who became human to save, yet who simultaneously allows people to be tortured eternally, constitutes a logical contradiction. Apocatastasis is currently undergoing somewhat of a resurgence in contemporary Christian theology, with thinkers from various denominations writing both in favor and against it. It is also acting as a means of facilitating interfaith discussion, with similar doctrines to apocatastasis being observed in other faiths such as Islam and Zoroastrianism. This paper will join such discussions from a Mahāyāna Buddhist perspective, comparing its two main universalist currents - that of the figure of the Bodhisattva and the Buddha himself - with the Christian doctrine of apocatastasis. The purpose is not only to discover more common ground and therefore increase understanding between Christians and Buddhists but also to demonstrate that the Buddhist tradition is also more than capable of addressing serious social, philosophical, and theological issues and thus deserves a place in such interfaith dialogue alongside other traditions. |
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| ISSN: | 1527-9472 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Buddhist Christian studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/bcs.2026.a979837 |
