The basis of the Alexandrian’s teaching was always the gospel preached in the Catholic church—but where the church had not definitely spoken, he felt free to speculate. He did this with such boldness that later generations, as well as people in his own day, charged him with heresy. Origen’s vision, it seems, knew no limits. It extended so far as to teach that all creatures including the devil himself would one day be restored to communion with God. Hell would be emptied.
