Universal Salvation: Eschatology in the Thought of Gregory of Nyssa and Karl Rahner

by Morwenna Ludlow

Overview

For nearly two thousand years Paul's suggestion at the end of 1 Corinthians 15 that God will be 'all in all' has appealed to those who hold a 'wider hope' that eventually no person will be lost from God's love. Clearly, such hope for universal salvation is at variance with most Christian tradition, which has emphasized the possibility, or certainty, of eternal hell. However, a minority of Christian thinkers have advocated the idea and it has provoked much debate in the course of the twentieth century. Responding to this interest, Morwenna Ludlow compares and assesses the arguments for universal salvation by Gregory of Nyssa and Karl Rahner - two influential theologians from very different eras who are less well known for their eschatological views.

In this book Dr Ludlow gives an assessment of early Christian eschatology and its effect on modern theology by examining some fundamental questions. Does universal salvation constitute a 'second tradition' of eschatology and how has that tradition developed? What can we learn from Patristic writers such as Gregory of Nyssa? How does one approach Christian eschatology in a modern context?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199566969
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/15/2009
Series:	Oxford Theology and Religion Monographs
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)

Table of Contents

IntroductionGregory of Nyssa1. Gregory of Nyssa's Eschatology in Context2. Perfection in Resurrection3. Universal PerfectionKarl Rahner4. The Background to Karl Rahner's Eschatology5. Eschatology for a Modern World6. The Consummation of an Individual History of Freedom7. The Consummation of the World's History of Freedom8. Comparison and Assessment