[NOTE: To begin, I invite you to read another teaching on this website titled Apokatastasis. These two teachings may not completely jibe with one another, because I simply cannot keep up with all the new materials constantly being offered about the subject; new materials become available almost daily.]
Among hundreds of thousands of people around the world the past few years there is a growing interest in the biblical concept of apokatastasis. That’s a Greek word found only once in the entire Bible in Acts 3: 21. It is broadly defined as God’s ultimate purposes to redeem, reconcile, and restore all creation—including all humanity!—to Himself.
There are many other words used for the concept: The Victorious Gospel. Ultimate Reconciliation, Ultimate Restoration, Christian Universalism, Mercy For All, God: ALL in all, and similar words.
If you are one of those thousands of people around the world interested in the concept of apokatastasis, I am furnishing you the following “reading list” of what I consider to be the best books, teachings, and information currently available. I also recommend a few websites which are about apokatastasis. Since it’s a “current” list, I will update it periodically to include new materials as they are published and become available. Visit this website often to see what’s “hot off the press.”
I am also including some references in the Bible about apokatastasis. There are many such biblical references, but I am including only a few of the most obvious and clear ones from the New Testament portion of the Bible.
These listings will remain very “fluid” as new materials become available almost daily.
To begin, I’m going to recommend a number of my own teachings on this website. Many of my teachings have the concept of apokatastasis imbedded in the teaching without that teaching necessarily emphasizing apokatastasis. But some of my teachings are clearly about apokatastasis. They are:
Restoration
10 teachings beginning with the word “Hope”
Apokatastasis
Beyond the Far Shores of Time
Time and Eternity
Death Died Today
Eternal Life
Eternity In My Heart
Judgment and Justice
My Visit To Heaven
Books I currently recommend:
Absolute Assurance In Jesus Christ: Four Views of the Salvation of Our God by Charles Slagle
All in All by A. E. Knoch, published by Concordant Publishing Concern
All Things New by John Eldredge (Eldredge does not hold the view that God will restore and reconcile everything and everyone to Himself, but his book comes close to teaching that view and gives a positive, encouraging view of redeemed humanity’s new life on the freshly restored and reconciled earth and universe.)
At The End of the Ages by Bob Evely
The Christian Doctrine of Apokatastasis by Illiria L. E. Ramelli (This is a very scholarly, 900-page tome, and expensive to purchase. I predict this will become almost the standard scholarly authority in the understanding of apokatastasis for years to come.)
The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whithall Smith (If you purchase this book, be sure to purchase the first edition; later editions had her views about apokatastasis deliberately removed)
Concordant Literal New Testament published by Concordant Publishing Concern
Confessions of a Tomboy Grandma by Diane Castro (I believe this book is a superb apologetic book; George Sarris in his book Heaven Doors [noted below] refers to Castro as “a tremendous source of encouragement.”)
Days of Vengeance by David Chilton [Chilton’s book does not specifically teach that God will restore and reconcile everything and everyone to Himself, but is an amazing verse-by-verse exposition of the biblical Book of Revelation with clear hints of apokatastasis)
Discovering the Character of God by George MacDonald (compiled, arranged, and edited by Michael Phillips.)
Heaven by Randy Alcorn. (Alcorn’s book does not teach that God will reconcile and restore everything and everyone to Himself, but does give a very positive view of the practical realities of the afterlife in eternity.)
Heaven: Our Home Sweet Homeland by Bill Boylan (Subtitled “The Remarkable True Account of one Man’s Visit to Heaven” on March 6, 2018.)
Heaven and Beyond by Michael Phillips (This is part of a fictional trilogy including Hell and Beyond and The Garden at the Edge of Beyond.)
Heaven’s Doors by George Sarris (Subtitled “Wider Than You Ever Believed!)
Hell’s Illusions by Don Keathley, subtitled “Exposing the Myth of Hell—Healing and Freedom for Anyone Trapped in the Belief That Hell Exists”
Her Gates Shall Never Be Shut by Brad Jersak
Hope Beyond Hell by Gerry Beauchemin
Hope For All by Gerry Beauchemin (In my opinion, Gerry’s two books are the best available primers about the subject of apokatastasis)
The Inescapable Love of God by Thomas Talbot
Is Hell Eternal or Will God’s Plan Fail? by Charles Pridgeon (This book was out of print for many years, but has recently become available again at amazon.com)
Judas Iscariot: Revisited and Restored by Ivan Rogers
Love Wins by Rob Bell (Bell’s popular book does not directly teach that God will reconcile and restore everything and everyone to Himself, but it does open up the possibility of that view to his multitudes of readers)
MacDonald, George: Unspoken Sermons, Series I, II, III. MacDonald also wrote numerous books of fiction about Scotland translated from the heavy Scottish brogue by Michael Phillips; MacDonalds’ books of fiction include many veiled and clear references to the concept of apokatastasis)
Raising Hell by Julie Ferwerda
The Shack by William Paul Young (Young’s New York Times best-seller book is fiction, clearly hinting at apokatastasis)
That All Shall Be Saved by David Bentley Hart
Translation of the New Testament by David Bentley Hart
Translation of the New Testament by Jonathan Mitchell (Mitchell is currently working on exhaustive commentaries of various books of the Bible that clearly support the view of apokatastasis)
Why The Universe Is The Way It Is by Hugh Ross
Grace Saves All by David Artman
The following are the best websites I currently know about. There are scores (perhaps hundreds) of them on the worldwide web that teach or broach the subject of apokatastasis:
concordant.org
hopeforallfellowship.com
tentmaker.org
donkeathely.com
christianuniversalist.org
mercyonall.org
thesanctuarydowntown.org
jonathanmitchellnewtestament.com
The following is simply a listing of New Testament references that clearly teach apokatastasis. Some persons who don’t hold the view that God will restore everything—including all humanity—to Himself often accuse those who hold that view of going through the Bible and picking out isolated references to support that view. They accuse us of “cherry picking” just a few references here and there as “proof texts” to support the view that God will restore everything to Himself.
That’s not true. The New Testament presents an overall comprehensive view—using many references—that support the teaching of God’s ultimate restoration and reconciliation of all humankind, i.e. there is hope for all humanity: a “Blessed Hope” as we read in Titus 2: 11 – 13. Below is a listing of some references throughout the New Testament that present such an all-inclusive view; in fact, such references (and there are more) suggest it is a major theme in the New Testament, not a minor or isolated theme. As you read these references, please note the use of the words “all,” “whole,” “everything,” “every,” “world” [often meaning “all people”], “many” [often meaning “all], etc. Note, too, that in some cases “all” is implied grammatically. I carry this listing folded up in the front of my Bible to refer to when necessary:
Matthew 18: 14
Luke 3: 6
Luke 19: 10
John 1: 7 – 9
John 1: 29
John 3: 16, 17
John 3: 35
John 6: 33 – 39
John 8: 12
John 12: 32, 47
John 13: 3
John 17: 2
Acts 3: 21
Acts 10: 34, 35
Romans 3: 23, 24
Romans 5: 15 – 21
Romans 11: 26 – 36
1 Corinthians 15 21 – 28
2 Corinthians 5: 19
Ephesians 1: 9, 10, 22, 23
Ephesians 4: 6, 10
Philippians 2, 10, 11
Colossians 1: 15 -‘ 17, 19, 20, 27, 28
1 Timothy 2: 4 – 6
1 Timothy 4: 10
Titus 2: 11 – 13
Hebrews 1: 2
Hebrews 7: 27
Hebrews 10: 10, 12
2 Peter 3: 9
1 John 2: 2
1 John 4: 14
Revelation 5: 13
Revelation 21: 5
Also, by means of FaceBook, there are many, many individuals and groups that post about apokatastasis almost daily. I’ve not been able to even come close to knowing about all of them; there are thousands of them. And, we must not forget that YouTube also has innumerable postings about the subject of apokastastasis. Finally, a plethora of ZOOM discussion and teachings groups have become available just the last few years, largely due to the impact of the Covid pandemic. I am involved in a ZOOM discussion group that meets Sunday afternoons. Please contact me if you’re interested in knowing more about this group and others–and perhaps joining them.
If you know of other teachings, websites, books, ZOOM groups, YouTube postings, etc. that I could add to this listing, please let me know and I’ll check them out.
Bill Boylan
Life Enrichment Services, Inc.
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and Updated December 2022
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