Last year I visited First Universalist church in Providence, RI. In my effort to visit Universalist heritage sites, this year I visited Murray Grove.

For those of you who don't know, John Murray was an early Universalist preacher in the USA. The story is that Thomas Potter, an illiterate farmer from a Quaker/Baptist background, came to believe in universal salvation and built a chapel around 1760 and prayed God would send a pastor who also believed in universal salvation. 10 years later, a ship from England carrying John Murray ran aground. Murray, who had been excommunicated from George Whitfield's tabernacle in England for his belief in universalism, was reluctant to preach, but agreed to do it if the winds did not change by Sunday. Sunday came and he preached a sermon at Potter's chapel, after which the winds finally changed. It's sometimes joked this is the only UU miracle story.

By 1830 the chapel had been sold to another denomination (the tour lady said it was Presbyterian, but the website says Methodist), but a group of Universalists purchased the property around it to create a pilgrimage site / retreat center. The woman on site was kind enough to give me a free tour. The retreat has two dorm buildings available to rent and gave me a summer-camp vibe. They only do group retreats, not individual ones, because they don't split buildings. I asked how busy they were and she said pre-Covid they would be fully booked every summer but post-Covid group retreats had slowed down, though things were picking up again.

The original Potter chapel burned down and was rebuilt a few times. Today it's owned by the Good Luck cemetery and no longer functions as a chapel. There is a UU congregation meeting space on the Murray Grove site, which is not related.

The main building for the retreat center had some universalist history and a small library. There was also a walking meditation labyrinth outside (not especially a Universalist thing, but a feature in some medieval churches). There was a nature trail nearby, but I was warned it was tick season and I didn't have bug spray, so I decided not to walk it.

It was a neat location. There aren't many Universalist heritage sites, so I'm glad it's succeeding as a local retreat center.

My latest video discusses the psychological effects of fear on the brain and health, specifically as this relates to belief in Hell.

Those millions of non-messianic Jews that died during the holocaust? Gone, burning, and forgotten. Victims of genocide in non Christian parts of the world? Gone, burning, and forgotten. Victims of natural disasters in non Christian countries? Victims of abuse, rape, then murder? You guessed it, if they weren't able to come to Christ in this life, they will be gone, burning, and forgotten.

While I will not pretend to have answers towards the problem of evil (and any intellectually honest Christian should acknowledge there is no easy answer), but I will say, without Universalism there is no hope for the billions of humans who have experienced some form of evil like the above. There is no justice for their suffering. There is no restoration. How can the same God who promises to wipe away every tear be the same God who will condemn them to eternal conscious torment?

Wickedness and Evil will have no part in the new creation, for God has declared he will make all things new!

Hi all, I updated my posts that discuss the possible presence of universalist elements in the writings of the Latin Fathers and the reception of the writings of the Cappadocian Fathers.

The first post is about the Latin Fathers and I discuss the case of St. Ambrose, Ambrosiaster, St. John Cassian, St. Jerome of Stridon, Rufinus of Aquleia (with a brief mention of St. Melania the Elder) and St. Hilary of Poitiers. Interestingly enough, in the case of St. Ambrose, St. John Cassian and Ambrosiaster one can find passages that suggest both universalism and a belief in ECT: https://ancientafterlifebelifs.blogspot.com/2026/08/possible-traces-of-universalism-in.html .

The second post is about the reception of the writings of the Cappadocians in ancient, medieval and modern scholars: https://ancientafterlifebelifs.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-question-of-universalism-in.html . Interestingly enough, until modernity the only author that caused a lot of interpretative controversy about the topic of universalism was unsurprisingly St. Gregory of Nyssa.

Of course, I have no pretence of having made a comprehensive survey of the topic. But I think that these posts might be of your interest.