For years now, I've believed that God will (eventually) save everyone. This belief began from reading the writings of George MacDonald, a 19th-century preacher, and the New Testament. But over the years, I've read what many other authors have to say, invariably strengthening my belief. And I decided to put all the reviews together in one page, so I don't have to update every review page when I read another book.

In an attempt to organize the books, I'm putting them into five categories:

One category for all George MacDonald books. He is primarily a preacher and it took me some reading to realize he was preaching universalism. But his words are full of love for the Father. I recommend beginning with the two books I started with, collections from his writings. The rest will be alphabetically listed.

Academic Approaches - Many of these were written by professors, getting into the nitty-gritty of why we can say the Bible teaches universalism, with points about the Greek used in the New Testament for words like "eternal" and "hell." Since I've done lots of Bible study myself, these especially appealed to me, but a more casual reader might want to start elsewhere.

Popular Approaches - On the other end of the spectrum are books that seem to be written more for a popular audience than for someone who wants to get into the details of what the Bible says.

Bible-based Approaches - This category is for books somewhere in the middle. They still get into what the Bible says, but if I remember correctly, the approach doesn't feel as much written for the theology classroom.

Universalism & Beyond - The books I put in this category (where I would have put George MacDonald's books if he didn't get his own category) are not only about universalism. Richard Rohr talks about the Christ Mystery and Sharon Baker goes beyond universalism to talk about justice and atonement.

Please note that it's been a while since I've read many of these books, so I doubt I categorized them perfectly. You can get a feel for the books by reading my reviews. In most reviews, I quote fairly extensively from the books.

All of these books are highly recommended. If you think that the Bible doesn't teach that all will be saved or that church tradition doesn't support this idea, these books will give you something to wrestle with. I hope some of you will join in my reading journey, studying universalism -- which invariably fills me with joy at the good news that God is reconciling the world to himself.

April 1, 2024

Here's a brand-new book about Universalism. Holy Hell: A Case Against Eternal Damnation, by Derek Ryan Kubilus, makes an eloquent case from the Bible that hell does not last forever and all will (eventually) be saved.

—Sondra Eklund