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==Definition==
'''ApocatastasisApokatastasis''' or apokatastasis (alternately '''apocatastasis''' from Greek: ἀποκατάστασις; literally, "restoration" or "return") is the teaching that everyone will, in the end, be saved. It looks toward the ultimate reconciliation of good and evil; all creatures endowed with reason, [[angel]]s and humans, will eventually come to a harmony in God's kingdom. It is based on, among other things, St. Peter's speech in Acts 3.21 ("[[Jesus Christ|Christ Jesus]] who must remain in heaven until the time of the final restoration of all things χρόνων ἀποκαταστάσεως πάντων") and St. Paul's letter to Timothy in which he says that it is God's will that all men should be saved (1 Timothy 2.4).
For [[Origen]], this explicitly included the [[devil]]. In effect, apocatastasis denies the final reality of [[hell]], and interprets all Biblical references to the "fires of hell" not as an eternal punishment, but a tool of divine teaching and correction, akin to [[purgatory]]. The implication is that hell exists to separate good from evil in the soul.
==Modern Advocates==
Known proponents of either a qualified or unqualified doctrine of apocatastasis within the Orthodox Church include:
*[[Nikolai Berdyaev]]
*Archpriest [[Sergius Bulgakov]]
*Pavel [[Paul Evdokimov]]
*St [[Sophrony (Sakharov)]]
*Archimandrite [[Lazarus (Moore)]]
*Metropolitan [[Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia]]
*[[David Bentley Hart]]
Some prominent twentieth century non-Orthodox theologians who advocated this include:
==Other articles of interest==
*[http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0305/articles/dulles.html The Population of Hell] by Avery Cardinal Dulles, <em>First Things</em>133 (May 2003): 36-41
*[http://www.firstthings.com/ftissuesarticle/ft01082001/08/public.html#will -all-be-saved Will all be saved?] - Richard J. Neuhaus, ''First Things'' 115 (August/September 2001): 77-104.
*[http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=3344 The Inflated Reputation of Hans Urs von Balthasar] ''New Oxford Review'', March 2000.
*[http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=969 Is Hell Closed Up & Boarded Over?] - by David Watt, ''New Oxford Review'', Feb. 1999.
