Redenzione universale? La dottrina dell’apocatastasi, un’opera sempre e ancora aperta

How is it possible that life is taken away? That nothing remains? Why? Is universal redemption possible? This article briefly reconstructs the context of the concept of universal redemption in its premises and its metaphysical and moral consequences. To do this it follows the theoretical developments of the doctrine of apokatastasis. The term “apokatastasis” meant a return to the original place, e.g., the return of a ship to its home port; in philosophy and in theology is a technical term used to describe the purposeful return of the cosmos or of spiritual beings to the original state in which a creature can perfectly realize its nature. Origen considered the possibility of the complete apokatastasis, e.g., the salvation of all people and fallen spirits. The doctrine of apokatastasis is interwoven with his anthropology, eschatology, theology, philosophy of history, theodicy, and exegesis: Th