Description
This class will introduce participants to the Christian eschatological position of universal salvation, which teaches that all persons will eventually be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. Key figures in the Christian tradition (e.g., Origen of Alexandria, Gregory of Nyssa, Isaac of Nineveh, Julian of Norwich, etc.) who have held the universalist hope will be surveyed, in preparation for a systematic analysis of the key theological factors motivating an affirmation of universal salvation (e.g., biblical evidence, the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo, the revelation of God as self-giving, omnipotent love in Jesus Christ, etc.).
Topics We’ll Cover:
- What is universal salvation?
- Why universal salvation is not a new idea
- Analysis of the theological defenses for universal salvation
This Class Includes:
- One-night live class
- Live Q&A session
- Link to class recording
- Downloadable class slides
Your Instructor:
Dr. Roberto De La Noval earned his doctorate from the University of Notre Dame, with a focus on 19th and 20th-century philosophical theology. He is an Assistant Professor at Mount Saint Mary’s University. His research concentrates on Eastern Christianity, from Origen of Alexandria’s biblical exegesis to medieval Byzantine theologies of religious images to 19th and 20th exiled Russian religious thinkers. He brings critical theory to bear on the study of ancient religious texts in the service of fresh and transformative readings; in turn, he uses the resources of the tradition in order to stake interventions in contemporary debates. A native speaker of Spanish who works with Russian texts, his forthcoming book is a translation of writings by the early 20th c. Marxist-turned-Orthodox priest Sergius Bulgakov, a political dissident who was exiled from his homeland. His popular writing has also appeared in a number of outlets for Catholic intellectual journalism, such as Commonweal, America Magazine, and Church Life Journal.
