Thanks to all for your support! The book is now available on Amazon in paperback and hardcopy for $24.95 and $34.95, respectively, with proceeds going to support the overhead of both Eclectic Orthodoxy and The Works of George MacDonald. A Kindle eBook will be out in early September.
Destined for Joy is a collection of essays devoted to the theme of the absolute love of God and the gospel of universal salvation. Written over a period of ten years and revised for publication in this volume, they represent the fruition of the author’s theological and spiritual development over a span of four decades in parish ministry. If God has truly revealed himself in his incarnate Son Jesus Christ as absolute and unconditional love, does this not mean that he intends the salvation of all? As Jesus declared to Dame Julian of Norwich: “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”
Many readers will be surprised to discover that the hope for universal salvation was widely prevalent in the early Church and is robustly defended today in writings across the theological spectrum. In this extraordinary collection, Alvin F. Kimel discusses the works of the 7th century mystic St Isaac the Syrian and 14th century mystic Julian of Norwich, the 19th century writer George MacDonald, Lutheran theologians Robert W. Jenson and Gerhard Forde, evangelical philosopher Thomas Talbott, and Eastern Orthodox theologians Sergius Bulgakov and David Bentley Hart, to name just a few of many. It’s an indispensable resource for anyone interested in understanding the doctrine of universal salvation.
Fr Alvin Kimel is a retired Orthodox priest. For the past decade he has blogged regularly on Eclectic Orthodoxy, a widely-followed site devoted to the doctrine of universal salvation, and has edited two books and published several essays in theological journals. Fr Kimel loves his wife, four children, and two Collies, and is also a passionate wearer of fedoras.
WorksofMacDonald.com is dedicated to books, articles, art, and music about, or inspired by the great Christian universalist, George MacDonald.