What's the history of the this movement (Universalism).


Universalism is pretty much an American Protestant phenomenon. It however does an ancient church, precedent, being very much akin to "Origenism". While the Universalists are in most ways Sola Scripturists of a different kind, many of them have studied the early church, and found a kind of vindication for their beliefs there.


Wikipedia has some pretty good write ups describing the basic history of the movement.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universalism

Wiki defintition of Universalism

"In Christianity, Universalism, Universal reconciliation, or universal salvation, is the doctrine that all will be saved. Among theologians the doctrine is often referred to using the Greek word apocatastasis. The doctrine addresses the problem of Hell and notions of God's mercy and justice. Universalists contend that a loving God would not submit anyone, regardless of his or her sins or beliefs, to everlasting torment. Some also argue that eternal condemnation in Hell, an infinite punishment, is not proportionately just with any number of essentially finite sins. Scriptural support includes Biblical passages such as 1 Corinthians 15:22 and Revelation 5:13. Some universalists, sometimes called "strong universalists," hold that all creatures, including demons and even Satan himself, will eventually be saved. In North America, some adherents formed the Universalist Church, which in 1961 merged with the American Unitarian Association to form the Unitarian Universalist Association."


Highlights of Wiki history of this movement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universalist_Church


"In America, Universalism developed from the influence of 4 sources of the Pietist movement in Europe: (1)the Protestant pietist movement --The Society of Friends, Moravians, Methodists, Lutherans, Schwenkfelders, Brethren, and others.
The earliest expressions of Universalism in America were clearly “Pietistic,” a term which simply refers to the religion of the heart. They were most often German. And they were more firmly rooted in the Mid-Atlantic states than New England, though Rhode Island had a goodly share of Pietists."


Universalism seems to have begun in this country in the 1750s. Wiki relates that "At it's peak in the 1830s, the Universalist Church was around the 9th largest denomination in the United States." While this church/creed has been on the decline, it seems to be gaining new life in a different form, the called Postmodern/ Emergent church movement, with some leaders embracing a new packaged version of it.