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Early Church History as compared to Hellfire advocates wishful thinking

Quotes From Historians

 To my knowledge, all of the historians and theologians that I am about to quote taught the "Doctrine of Eternal Torment." Not one of them mentioned in their writings that they believed in the "Doctrine of the Restitution of All Things." Unfortunately, most of you, because you were not taught to really study, will probably not know these historians and theologians I am about to quote. That is very unfortunate, because it is these men and others like them that run the seminaries and Bible colleges and write the textbooks and Sunday school manuals. I said earlier that if you let someone speak long enough they will usually give themselves away. Listen to some of the comments of the early Christians and then ask yourself, "Why are we not taught this today?" Also keep in mind that I will be quoting historians and theologians. They generally do not write for the understanding of the average person. They write for each other and use hard-to-understand English. Just read slowly and understand there will be a great reward for the effort.
The great church historian Geisler writes: "The belief in the inalienable capability of improvement in all rational beings, and the limited duration of future punishment was so general, even in the West, and among the opponents of Origen, that it seems entirely independent of his system" (Eccles. Hist., 1-212).
This statement is very significant because many modernists attribute to Origen's influence the fact that the vast majority of early Christians did not believe in eternal torment! Keep in mind these historians I am quoting do not embrace the "larger hope." What Geisler said in a nutshell was that the church did not believe in eternal punishment even among opponents of Origen.
The German theologian and historian Johann Christoph Doerderlin (1829-1888) writes: "In proportion as any man was eminent in learning in Christian antiquity, the more did he cherish and defend the hope of the termination of future torments." Later on, as when we read some of the early Christian writings, we will find this statement to be true; the more learned a Christian was in the Scriptures in the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic, the more likely he or she was to see the "Doctrine of the Restitution of All Things." Those such as Augustine, who said he hated the Greek language, who read only the Latin Vulgate translation, began to be prone toward the "Doctrine of Eternal Torment."
One of several reasons for this was because the Greek word "aion," which meant "age," was translated into the Latin Vulgate as "aeternum" and "seculum." This was a serious mistake which also corrupted our English translations. This error was instrumental in changing the doctrine of the early Christians who believed that punishment was confined to "age." The Latin church, filled with unconverted pagans, separated themselves from the original languages and secluded themselves into the corrupted Latin Vulgate and began to teach what the pagan religions had taught for centuries--eternal torment. I have much information about this. If you want to learn, I'll be happy to send it to you.
Professor and historian Henry Nutcomb Oxenham informs us that the, "Doctrine of endless punishment was not believed at all by some of the holiest and wisest of the Fathers, and was not taught as an integral part of the Christian faith by any even of those who believed it as an opinion."
One of the ways of verifying this is to look at the earliest Christian creeds. None of them mention "eternal torment" as the final punishment of the wicked or unbelievers.
Historian Pfaff says: "The ultimate restoration of the lost was an opinion held by very many Jewish teachers, and some of the Fathers" (frag. anec.).
The famous Dietelmaier has this to say: "Universalism in the fourth century drove its roots down deeply, alike in the East and West, and had very many defenders."
It should be mentioned that the "universalism" taught by the early Christians has nothing to do with modern universalism. To the early Christians, salvation was given to all of mankind through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Reuss writes, "The doctrine of a general restoration of all rational creatures has been recommended by very many of the greatest thinkers of the ancient church, and of modern times" (Hist. De la Theol. Apost.).
The world renowned Neander has this to say: "From two theological schools there went forth an opposition to the doctrine of everlasting punishment."
The Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (1908) by Schaff-Herzog says in volume 12, on page 96, "In the first five or six centuries of Christianity there were six theological schools, of which four (Alexandria, Antioch, Caesarea, and Edessa, or Nisibis) were Universalist, one (Ephesus) accepted conditional immortality; one (Carthage or Rome) taught endless punishment of the wicked. Other theological schools are mentioned as founded by Universalists, but their actual doctrine on this subject is not known.
The number of schools and believers that believed in the "Salvation of All" was so great, it is an embarrassment to many modern church historians. Therefore, they often do whatever they can to hide these facts. I mention again that these Universalists who were clearly the majority of the early Christians, believed that all mankind through Christ would be restored. They believed and taught and many laid down their lives for the belief that Jesus Christ was truly the Savior of the whole world. Remember, these historians just quoted were not "Universalists." Also note that the school that taught "Eternal Torment" was in Rome, where the original Bible languages were abandoned and replaced with Latin. Those of you who are familiar with Daniel's image made up of four kingdoms are also probably aware that the legs of iron might speak of the Roman Empire.