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Apocatastasis: Universalism in the Catholic Church



I keep coming back to this topic of universal reconciliation in Christianity - that sooner or later all souls go to Heaven. It’s a very beautiful version of the Christian story, I think - and odd that it’s not more popular (though I’ll come back to that later).

Anyway, it seems that in Catholicism, this idea of universalism was originally called Apocatastasis or Apokatastasis. The Catholic Encyclopedia has an excessively wordy definition of this, but I think this excerpt on the teachings of St. Gregory of Nyssa sum it all up very nicely:

[…] in speaking of the punishment by fire assigned to souls after death, he compares it to the process whereby gold is refined in a furnace, through being separated from the dross with which it is alloyed. The punishment by fire is not, therefore, an end in itself, but is ameliorative; the very reason of its infliction is to separate the good from the evil in the soul. The process, moreover, is a painful one; the sharpness and duration of the pain are in proportion to the evil of which each soul is guilty; the flame lasts so long as there is any evil left to destroy.

I guess Origen - one of the early Church fathers - was also a major proponent of this idea of apokatastasis, but with a bit of a twist.

Origen, however, does not seem to have regarded the doctrine of the apokatastasis as one meant to be preached to all, it being enough for the generality of the faithful to know that sinners will be punished.

Origen was evidently not alone in the belief that this teaching wasn’t useful for the majority of the faithful, as in 543, the Council of Constantinople declared the doctrine of apokatastasis to be anathema.

While excommunication can be announced by a simple edict or papal bull, the Roman Catholic Church has a particular ceremony necessary for anathema, where a bishop clad in purple (the liturgical color of penitence) is required, and he is surrounded by twelve priests with lighted candles. As the sentence is uttered, the priests cast their lighted candles on the ground, to symbolize the exclusion of the anathematized group from the house of Israel.

Sounds kinda like that ceremony in Star Trek: Next Generation where the Klingons kicked out Worf or whatever - which was awesome, by the way.

Getting back to the matter at hand, I also found an interesting quote on the subject from Wikipedia on Origen’s eschatological (end of the world) beliefs:

He represents a progressive purification of souls, until, cleansed of all clouds of evil, they should know the truth and God as the Son knew him, see God face to face, and attain a full possession of the Holy Spirit and union with God. The means of attainment of this end were described by Origen in different ways, the most important of which was his Platonic concept of a purifying fire which should cleanse the world of evil and thus lead to cosmic renovation. By a further spiritualization Origen could call God himself this consuming fire. In proportion as the souls were freed from sin and ignorance, the material world was to pass away, until, after endless eons, at the final end, God should be all in all, and the worlds and spirits should return to a knowledge of God, in Greek this is called Apokatastasis.

I suppose it’s not especially surprising that such a powerfully moving vision should be excluded from the masses by the early Church fathers. They assumed, and perhaps rightfully so, that people just weren’t ready for shit this sublime and profound. And as much as I hate to say it, maybe most of us still aren’t.

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18 Reader Responses

  1. Manning Says:
    December 30th, 2005 at 9:08 pm

    […] in speaking of the punishment by fire assigned to souls after death, he compares it to the process whereby gold is refined in a furnace, through being separated from the dross with which it is alloyed.

    It still sounds like kundalini to me.

    See also: Strange Days - Beautiful Midnight

  2. Tim Boucher Says:
    December 30th, 2005 at 9:52 pm

    It still sounds like kundalini to me.

    If that’s the case, then what would you say is the reason for the apparent connection?

    If we want to look at close cultural parallels of purifying fire, I’d suggest looking at the Zoroastrian scenario of molten metal purifying one from their sins. Here’s one source on this, although there must be better ones:

    http://www.exitmundi.nl/zarathushtra.htm

    The molten metal takes the shape of a river, and everyone has to cross it. Whoever was evil in life suffers terrible pains. The more you did wrong, the more you suffer. But what the heck: in the end, you’ll find out you’re truly purified of sin. The molten metal literally burns away every scratch of evil from your soul. O, and by the way: if you were already pure of heart, you survive the wave without any problem at all. The molten metal will feel like warm milk, as Zarathushtra puts it.

  3. Manning Says:
    December 31st, 2005 at 2:50 am

    Tim: If that’s the case, then what would you say is the reason for the apparent connection?

    It’s an observation. Numerous paths speak of passing through a purifying fire.

  4. Manning Says:
    December 31st, 2005 at 12:08 pm

    Tim: If we want to look at close cultural parallels of purifying fire, I’d suggest looking at the Zoroastrian scenario of molten metal purifying one from their sins.

    My impressions on reading that piece was that I was reading an account of an internal process that had been projected outward. If you read it again with the idea that “Iran” is a metaphor for a body, it has a different feel to it.

    Meantime, here are a few links as related to “purifying fire”. I’m doing them as singlets so I don’t trip the moderator switch.

    Kundalini is Shakti, supreme energy, whom the sages of India worship as the mother of the universe. Shakti is the consort of Shiva. She is the active aspect of the formless, attributeless Absolute.

    What is the nature of this Shakti? She is the supreme creative power of the Absolute Being. Just as heat, which has the power to burn, is not different from fire, Shakti, which has the power to create this universe, is identical with Parabrahman, the supreme Absolute. She is Brahman in the form of sound, the sound vibration of the Absolute, which manifested the universe. [
    Source    ]

  5. Manning Says:
    December 31st, 2005 at 12:10 pm

    When I think of Heaven
    Deliver me in a black-winged bird
    I think of dying …
    Lay me down in a field
    Of flame and heather
    And render up my body into
    The Burning Heart of God
    In the belly of a black-winged bird

    Rain King ~ Counting Crows

  6. Manning Says:
    December 31st, 2005 at 12:11 pm

    Kali’s dwelling place, the cremation ground denotes a place where the five elements (Sanskrit: pancha mahabhuta) are dissolved. Kali dwells where dissolution takes place. In terms of devotion and worship, this denotes the dissolving of attachments, anger, lust, and other binding emotions, feelings, and ideas. The heart of the devotee is where this burning takes place, and it is in the heart that Kali dwells. The devotee makes her image in his heart and under her influence burns away all limitations and ignorance in the cremation fires. This inner cremation fire in the heart is the fire of knowledge, (Sanskrit: gyanagni), which Kali bestows. [Source]

  7. Manning Says:
    December 31st, 2005 at 12:16 pm

    Mandala is Sanskrit for circle, polygon, community, connection.
    The Mandala is a symbol of man or woman in the world, a support for the meditating person.
    The mandala is often illustrated as a palace with four gates, facing the four corners of the Earth.
    The Mandala shown here is connected with the Buddha Vajrasattva, who symbolises the original crystalline purity.
    In the centre is a lotus blossom with eight petals, resting on a bed of jewels.
    In the next place are the walls of the palace with gates towards the four corners of the earth.
    The gates are guarded by four angry doorkeepers.
    Before the meditating person arrives at the gates, she must, however, pass the four outer circles: the purifying fire of wisdom, the vajra circle, the circle with the eight tombs, the lotus circle. [Source]

  8. Manning Says:
    December 31st, 2005 at 12:17 pm

    3. On that glad night,
    in secret, for no one saw me,
    nor did I look at anything,
    with no other light or guide
    than the one that burned in my heart.

    [Source]

  9. Manning Says:
    December 31st, 2005 at 12:21 pm

    The last thing the ego wants is more suffering. Why on earth would someone want more love, if it only makes one vulnerable to deeper suffering? The mystic’s answer is that suffering, when purified and transmuted in the inner alchemy of the sacred heart, is recognized to be a manifestation of divine love itself. So when the mystic prays to God for suffering and welcomes affliction with open arms, this is not some sick masochism or martyr complex, but is rather an acknowledgement of a deep mystical truth. The mystic knows that affliction is the fuel of the fire of love, and that suffering is this fuel burning in the heart, feeding the sacred fire to grow even stronger. For the mystic, this fire of purification is what burns away the residues of attachment and aversion in the soul, and allows God’s will and grace to more perfectly become manifest there. [Source]

  10. Manning Says:
    December 31st, 2005 at 12:32 pm

    “The black queen chants
    the funeral march,
    The cracked brass bells will ring;
    To summon back the fire witch
    To the court of the crimson king.”

    [Source]

  11. Jordan Stratford+ Says:
    December 31st, 2005 at 3:08 pm

    I explored this topic fairly recently from a Gnostic perspective, here (where I ask a lot of questions);

    http://egina.blogspot.com/2005/11/apocatastasis.html

    and here (where I arrive at a working hypothesis);

    http://egina.blogspot.com/2005/11/apocatastasis-revisited.html

  12. Manning Says:
    December 31st, 2005 at 4:09 pm

    Jordan: I explored this topic fairly recently from a Gnostic perspective

    Can you tell me Jordan, if there is anything specifically related to “fire” or “burning” in the Gnostic scriptures?

  13. Tim Boucher Says:
    December 31st, 2005 at 4:09 pm

    Thanks Jordan, those are great links. I always enjoy hearing other people’s explanations of Eastern Orthodoxy as well (ie, in the comments to the first post). The more I reflect on universalism/apocatastasis, the more I come to the conclusion that it’s the fullest reflection of Christ’s message…

  14. Tim Boucher Says:
    December 31st, 2005 at 4:12 pm

    Manning, I was just thinking about something you said earlier:

    My impressions on reading that piece was that I was reading an account of an internal process that had been projected outward.

    I wondered: is it possible to come up with something which is NOT a metaphorical accont of an internal process projected outward? How do we tell the difference?

  15. Manning Says:
    December 31st, 2005 at 4:27 pm

    Tim: I wondered: is it possible to come up with something which is NOT a metaphorical accont of an internal process projected outward? How do we tell the difference?

    That’s one heck of a good question. It’s also one heck of a big question and I confess, I’m still figuring all that out — projection, that is. Nonetheless, as it relates specifically to that post on apocalyptic hellfire, I think that ideally, this is an inner process but when it’s not internalized and is instead externalized via projection, one of its manifestations in the “world” we all share is war. At that point, it’s easy to tell the difference because it’s become an external reality.

  16. clancy Says:
    January 1st, 2006 at 9:39 pm

    the idea that there is a pure core that is covered in impurity is an eastern idea. the buddhist idea that desires need to be extinguished in order to realize enlightenment, and the hindu idea that god can be perceived only after the illusion of the world is shed both assume that our core nature is holy and pure. the catholic idea is that our core is corrupt and needs to be forgiven prior to presentation to god. thats what makes me sad about catholicism, even when it is so beautiful, the core idea is faulty.

  17. Tim Boucher Says:
    January 1st, 2006 at 9:57 pm

    Clancy, what if we simply applied what you said above in a new way? What if the Catholic teachings too had a pure core covered in impurity which needs to be washed away in order to realize enlightenment?

  18. Manning Says:
    January 2nd, 2006 at 3:41 pm

    Great site, Clancy! I love the imagery — kundali, Kali, even Skeleton Woman is there! I’ll be happy to share your site around as the moment fits.

    Meantime, if you have a bit of free time why don’t you pop into Tim’s forum and see if you can shed any insight into this question.



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