Ancient afterlife beliefs

 On the authenticity of a quote of Ephrem the Syrian Taken from this discussion:   https://www.reddit.com/r/ChristianUniversalism/comments/1qp5uz0/authenticity_of_a_quote_of_st_ephrem_the_syrian/ The discussion is about this fragment attributed to Ephrem the Syrian (fl. 4th century) that suggests that at least in this work supported an universalist view (in contrast to his seemingly support of 'eternal conscious torment' in other works. See e.g. this video-lecture:  : https://afkimel.wordpress.com/2022/04/25/did-st-ephrem-teach-universalism/   ): "“Whoever speaks evil of the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, neither in this worldnor in the coming.” Our Lord has forgiven many people their sins for nothing, without paying, and also his baptism forgives the debts of the believers without asking anything in return. But neither our Lord nor his baptism forgive this sin against the Holy Spirit as long as one is still in this world, as little as his mercy does. Even wh...

Flavius   Josephus (A.D. 37-100) testimony about Essenes and Pharisees: About the Essenes: "11. For their doctrine is this: That bodies are corruptible, and that the matter they are made of is not permanent; but that the souls are immortal, and continue for ever; and that they come out of the most subtile air, and are united to their bodies as to prisons, into which they are drawn by a certain natural enticement; but that when they are set free from the bonds of the flesh, they then, as released from a long bondage, rejoice and mount upward. And this is like the opinions of the Greeks, that good souls have their habitations beyond the ocean, in a region that is neither oppressed with storms of rain or snow, or with intense heat, but that this place is such as is refreshed by the gentle breathing of a west wind, that is perpetually blowing from the ocean; while they allot to bad souls a dark and tempestuous den, full of never-ceasing punishments. And indeed the Greeks seem to me to...

  Hope vs justice X:   On St. Augustine’s criticism of the ‘intercessory universalist’ position “In hope, the Church prays for "all men to be saved."” (for other quotes of the Catechism on ‘hell’ and ‘hope’, see: https://ancientafterlifebelifs.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-current-catholic-catechism-on-hell.html ) In the early 5 th century, St. Augustine of Hyppo (354-430) criticized certain Christians that believed on the salvation of all people due to the intercession of the saints. The main section of such a criticism is worthy to be quoted in some length (the first paragraph is actually addressed to a different kind of universalist who believed in a purgatorial hell but as he says, that paragraph can be addressed also to the ‘intercessory universalists’): “And if this be so, how can it be believed that all men, or even some, shall be withdrawn from the endurance of punishment after some time has been spent in it? how can this be believed without enervating our faith in...

  Quotes from Hans von Balthasar’s ‘Dare We Hope That All Men Salvation of All?’ I find the following quotes of the Catholic theologian Hans Urs Von Balthasar quite interestingly similar to some of the quotes found in the Pali suttas of the Theravada Buddhist tradition (see e.g.: https://ancientafterlifebelifs.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-pali-suttas-on-problem-of-universal.html ): "It is generally known that, in the New Testament, two series of statements run along side by side in such a way that a synthesis of both is neither permissible nor achievable: the first series speaks of being for all eternity; the second, of God's will, and ability, to save all men." (Hans Urs von Balthasar, ‘Dare We Hope That All Men Shall be Saved? With a Short Discourse on Hell’, chapter 2, p. 26) “…that the fear of the possibility of being lost, as called for by the first series of texts, is by no means superseded, in favor of a knowledge of the outcome of judgment, by those of the seco...

  The Pali suttas on the problem of ‘universal salvation’ In this post, I’ll provide two quotes from the Pali Suttas, the scriptures of the Theravada Buddhist tradition   (also known as ‘Southern Buddhism’) that can be thought to be related to the question of the number of the ‘saved’.   In Buddhism, of course, ‘salvation’ is ‘Nirvana’ and there are disagreements about what Nirvana is, except that is the cessation of suffering . Anyway, it is quite understandable that even at the time of the Buddha, some would have wondered about the fate of their relatives and so on. Interestingly, enough, the Buddha remains silent when asked about this (AN 10.95, see below). As his disciple Ananda elaborates, the Buddha is concerned about how to be freed from samsara and explains that all those who shall be liberated will be liberated from samsara by following the Buddhist path to its end . I’ll mostly let the texts speak for themselves. But I would say that the question of the last...

  Hope versus Justice IX:  Hans Urs von Balthasar on Thérèse of Liseiux “The theme of hope is greatly expanded by Saint Thérèse of Lisieux [Note 14: For the following texts, cf. my book Two Sisters in the Spirit: Thérèse of Liseux and Elizabeth of the Trinity , trans. Donald Nichols and Anne Elizabeth Englund (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1992), pp. 237-30] Reference to passages are given there]. She is herself conscious of making a bold innovation when she offers herself to God, not as a “victim of justice”, “in order to turn away the punishment due to sinners; drawing them” upon herself – she feels no inclination toward that – but rather as a “victim of mercy”: For “does not your merciful love need them as well?... On every side this love is misunderstood, rejected.” And then she opposes love’s sphere of influence to that of divine justice: “If your justice loves to release itself, this justice that extends only over this earth [Note 15: The emphases are those of Thérè...

Hope versus Justice VIII: Hans von Balthasar on Mechtilde of Hackeborn, Angela of Foligno and Catherine of Siena “Mechtilde of Hackeborn (died 1299) heard these words from the Lord: “I tell you the truth that I am very pleased when men trustingly expect great things from me. For everyone who believes that I will reward him after this life with more than he deserves, and who correspondingly gives praise and thanks to me in this life, will be so welcome to me that I will reward him with far more than he could ever believe or boldly hope for, in fact, with endlessly more than he deserves. For it is impossible that someone should not attain what he has believed and hoped for. ... With confident hope you should believe that I receive you, after your death, as a father receives his dearest son. … I who am faithfulness itself am incapanle of misleading through any sort of deceit.” (Note 1: Revelationes Gertrudianae ac Mechtildianae, vol. (Solesmes and Paris, 1887), pp. 201-2) … To Mec...