1807 UNIVERSAL RECONCILIATION. Rare American Imprint of Christian Universalist Foundational Text.

Paul Siegvolck’s (a pseudonym for Georg Klein-Nicolai) The Everlasting Gospel is considered one of the most influential texts in the history of Christian Universalism, particularly in North America.

After its English translation was printed in 1753 by Christopher Sower, the book became a primary sourcebook for the Universalist faith in the American colonies. It argued for the restitution of all things (apokatastasis panton), claiming that God's love would eventually restore every soul, including even the Devil and fallen angels.

The book was instrumental in the conversion of Elhanan Winchester, a prominent Baptist preacher and co-founder of the United States General Convention of Universalists. Winchester’s adoption of Siegvolck’s teachings helped transition Universalism from a fringe Pietist belief to a more organized American movement.

The work also provided a middle path between dominant Protestant views. It combined elements of Arminianism (God is willing to save all) and Calvinism (God is capable of saving all), concluding that God would ultimately succeed in doing so.

By rejecting the doctrine of eternal damnation as "unbiblical," the book empowered 18th- and 19th-century believers to focus on the compassionate and all-conquering nature of divine love, influencing the spiritual culture of groups like the Dunkers and Schwarzenau Brethren, the Christian universalist revivalistic movement during the Second Great Awakening, etc.

All early American editions are rare.

[Universal Reconciliation] Siegvolck, Paul. The Everlasting Gospel. Commanded to be Preached by Jesus Christ, Judge of the Living and dead Unto All Creatures, Mark XVI. 15. Concerning the Eternal Redemption Fount Out by Him, Whereby Devil, Sin, Hell, and Death shall at the Last be Abolished, and the Whole Creation Restored to its Primitive Purity; Being a Testimony Against the Present Anti-Christian World. Written in German by Paul Siegvolck, and Translated into English by John S. Philadelphia. Printed for the Publisher. 1807. 198pp. 

A fair copy only; original full calf, front board detached, some staining. Scarce.