The Covenant Universalist: Three Visions of Universal Restoration in Christian Theology: Relly-Murray, Winchester, and Origen

The Christian doctrine of universal restoration—the hope that all rational beings will ultimately be saved—has appeared in various theological expressions throughout the Church’s history. While widely debated, this doctrine continues to be a focal point of theological imagination, especially in the tension between divine justice and mercy. This essay explores three prominent models of universalism: (1) the accomplished redemption of James Relly and John Murray, which negates any possibility of damnation; (2) the purifying hell of Elhanan Winchester, based on Gregory of Nyssa’s theology of postmortem restoration; and (3) the Origenist apokatastasis, recently reinterpreted through a Reformed lens by William M. Brennan. Particular attention will be paid to the agreement between Origen and Brennan on the pre-existence of the soul, the purpose of creation, and reincarnation (metempsychosis) as an integral feature of the salvific process within the temporal realm—not in the afterlife.

I. Relly and Murray: Salvation Without Hell

James Relly and John Murray advanced a form of universalism grounded in forensic justification. They taught that Christ’s redemptive work included all humanity by divine decree and that no human soul would ever experience damnation. Murray wrote:

“Christ, as the second Adam, represented the whole of mankind, and has redeemed all without exception or distinction.” (Murray, Letters and Sketches)

In their view, salvation is not a process, but a completed reality. There is no hell, no purgation, and no need for individual repentance. Human history becomes the unfolding of a verdict already declared.

II. Winchester and Gregory: Remedial Hell After Death

Elhanan Winchester, following Gregory of Nyssa, allowed for postmortem purification. Hell, in this view, is not eternal punishment but a redemptive tool used by God to purify souls.

Gregory taught that:

“God is a purifier, and the fire of His judgment is not punitive but cleansing, like gold tested in a furnace.” (On the Soul and the Resurrection)

Winchester agreed:

“The punishments of God are proportioned to the evil, and designed to produce good. Their end is reformation.” (Universal Restoration, 1794)

However, for both thinkers, this restoration occurs after death, often invoking imagery of purgative fire and divine pedagogy in the eschaton.

III. Origen and Brennan: Apokatastasis Within Time and Flesh

Where Origen and Brennan part company from the postmortem view is in their emphasis on the temporal process of salvation and their shared belief in the pre-existence of souls and metempsychosis (reincarnation) as central to God’s redemptive plan.

Origen on Pre-Existence, Fall, and Metempsychosis

In On First Principles (Greek: Peri Archon), Origen sets out a metaphysical framework wherein all rational beings (logikoi) were created in unity with God, but fell from grace through the misuse of their free will. God’s creation of the physical world was not arbitrary but a merciful act, designed as the setting in which fallen souls could be redeemed through successive lives in physical bodies. He writes:

“God created the visible world for the sake of those who had fallen away, so that by being placed in bodily conditions, they might be corrected.” (On First Principles, I.6.2)

Origen affirms the reincarnation of the soul as a vehicle for restoration:

“The soul, by being reincarnated into various bodies, receives according to its deeds… until, purified and instructed, it returns to God.” (On First Principles, II.9.7)

In this view, hell is not a postmortem location but the suffering inherent in alienation from God during earthly existence. This process culminates not in annihilation or eternal punishment, but in restoration to God through purification and spiritual evolution within time.

Brennan’s Supralapsarian Calvinist Universalism

Though William M. Brennan frames his theology in staunchly Reformed supralapsarian terms, he surprisingly converges with Origen on the temporal dimension of salvation and the pre-temporal fall of the soul. In Hope for the Lost (2021), Brennan argues that all rational souls were elected or reprobated in God’s eternal decree prior to the creation, and that the temporal world serves as a divine theatre of redemption. He writes:

“Creation is not arbitrary but redemptive. The fall occurred in the divine decree, and creation manifests God's intention to rescue the elect—ultimately, all souls.” (Hope for the Lost, p. 98)

Though a Calvinist, Brennan endorses the idea that souls undergo multiple incarnations, experiencing God's correction and eventual restoration:

“Salvation unfolds over time, and metempsychosis—reincarnation—is the vessel by which God reclaims every soul through His Spirit.” (Hope for the Lost, p. 145)

Where he departs from Origen is in his denial of libertarian free will. Brennan insists that:

“The will, apart from grace, is bound by sin. The Holy Spirit alone regenerates the soul, giving it the capacity to turn to God.” (Hope for the Lost, p. 112)

Thus, Brennan affirms universal salvation not by human cooperation, but by monergistic divine action, eventually realized across lifetimes.

IV. Key Differences and Shared Visions

While Origen and Brennan are diametrically opposed on human freedom, they are unified in viewing:

Souls as pre-existent,
The fall as pre-temporal,
Creation as redemptive, and
Reincarnation as the mechanism of salvation.

By contrast, Gregory of Nyssa and Winchester locate restoration after death, and Relly-Murray remove the need for restoration altogether, claiming salvation is already achieved.

Origen and Brennan's model is notably distinct in placing the entire drama of salvation—including divine justice, punishment, and transformation—within the sphere of temporal history and embodied existence, rather than relegating it to a postmortem eschatology. In this way, reincarnation is not a punishment but a tool of mercy and the creation itself was for the purpose of redeeming all of mankind.

Conclusion

The doctrine of universal restoration continues to inspire theological reflection across time. Whether through the accomplished justification of Relly and Murray, the purifying fire of Winchester and Gregory, or the temporal-redemptive metempsychosis of Origen and Brennan, each vision wrestles with the same foundational question: How far does God's mercy reach, and by what means is it accomplished?

Origen and Brennan offer a profound, if controversial, vision of salvation: one where the soul, pre-existent and fallen, journeys through successive lives until it is fully restored to divine likeness—either by free cooperation or irresistible grace. Their vision, grounded in ancient and modern frameworks, challenges prevailing views of judgment, freedom, and the purpose of creation itself.

Bibliography

Origen. On First Principles. Trans. G.W. Butterworth. Harper & Row, 1966.
Gregory of Nyssa. On the Soul and the Resurrection. Trans. Catharine P. Roth. St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1993.
Brennan, William M. Hope for the Lost: The Case for Evangelical Universalism. Wipf & Stock, 2021.
Winchester, Elhanan. The Universal Restoration. London, 1794.
Relly, James. Union. London, 1759.
Murray, John. Letters and Sketches of Sermons. Boston: Universalist Publishing House, 1833.
Ramelli, Ilaria. The Christian Doctrine of Apokatastasis. Brill, 2013.
Crouzel, Henri. Origen: The Life and Thought of the First Great Theologian. T&T Clark, 1989.