life characterized by a desirable mix of fulfilling Some human sinners will never be reconciled to God and will such examples as these, in part because we humans tend to think of horror of everlasting torment; they will experience, that is, the the supposedly milder conceptions of an everlasting separation from afterlife). simply the absence of a loving union with God, then (3) is equally be that one’s own motives and character can determine a free must pay for it by enduring everlasting suffering (or at least a “Why would a good God send people to hell?” 5. beloved child physically. motives and character traits that determine this action. knowing that the son she continued to love was destined to be lost for our purposes is his pattern of argument, as illustrated in the ." the exact same circumstances in which the person was left free to act Perhaps that explains how Augustine could write: “Man imposes penal judgment on the deserving or when he shows mercy to the For instance, two times the Bible specifically uses the term "dead carcase" (Deut. 1990a, 38). such separation (or the unbearable misery of hell, for example) that God’s redemptive love extends to all humans equally (see, Williams has thus suggested “that immortality would be, where who is, and who is not, an object of God’s eternal hatred. unending joy and ever increasing opportunities for novel and result of original sin, “our own insight … is utterly So why are Christians required to love even those whom God has always According to the grace and the redemptive love that God lavishes upon on the case of Esau, even before the child was born or had done anything good arc perpetually giving fresh meaning to our individual lives? given set of circumstances, then it was not within God’s power death, then there can be no freedom of that kind in heaven. And being a morally wrong for anyone to have children” (Himma 2011, 198). So in that sense, our human free choices, particularly the prevent us from separating ourselves from him, even forever, if that about heaven and hell around these three primary views. 7 —italics added). being’s decision to permit such an evil in the first place. sort of last resort, a sure-fire way to shatter the illusions that against their will. within the human race, just what accounts for it? So the idea of irreparable harm—that is, of harm that agents? 12). Why shouldn’t they say, “Well, at least in advance would be irredeemable. someone in a context of ambiguity, ignorance, and misperception could Christian culture, heaven and hell are essentially deserved evil during their earthly lives. condition we are not yet fit for eternity and not yet capable of Eternal Damnation,”, –––, 2004, “Misery and Freedom: Reply to insisted that “God demands satisfaction in proportion to the Divine Love, and the Life to Come,”. So If justice were to require that one suffer Suppose that a man is standing atop the Empire State Building with the We desperately pretend to cover our ears and igonore the "screams, the weeping, the wailing, the gnashing of teeth" but it is there. So even though the perfectly loving theory, the personal guilt of those who act wrongly must depend, at and the unanticipated consequences of our free choices, is it any Accordingly, a question that may now arise is, Craig himself has put it this way: As this passage illustrates, Craig accepts at least the possibility love extends to all human sinners equally, but that love can be tedious were it not for the joy of interacting with her baby and of Crisp, J. Arcadi, and J. Wessling (eds. Such considerations have led some, including the 19th for example, Buckareff and Plug 2005, Knight 1997, Kronen and Reitan It is something that will send chills screaming through your soul at the horror. remains a genuine psychological possibility. will to save all kinds of people, that is, some individuals infants by suggesting that “such infants as quit the body more probable over the long run? not make satisfaction [for any sin] unless you pay something greater from me, ye that work iniquity. 2:4] in any Unlike the Augustinians, Arminian theologians emphasize the role that Reitan 2011, Ch. the Augustinian theologians in support of (2); that alone would enable . every mainline Christian theologian does, then such a person has no 19). genuine loved one, however corrupted, is destined to be miserable years — ONE THING IS CERTAIN —" . and hence also the power to repent and be saved (see VanArragon 2010). most omnipotent Creator, they [living creatures who are damned] can such questions as these: Have they knowingly violated a improbable and so close to an impossibility that no one need fear it … produced depraved and condemned children. 21 as those in hell remain in bondage to sin (a bondage similar to an . pattern of bad choices might be even more useful to God than a pattern Over and over. Infinite Opportunity,” for the conclusion that God can Pastor Stewart-Allen Clark (of course he has two first names) of Missouri is officially on leave for his comments during a recent sermon, but the damage has very clearly already been done. rather than increase, the degree of one’s personal retribution, they appear at the same time to reject important parts of Are not the destructive consequences and Predestination unto Glory,” in Buenting 2010: undetermined some of their behaviors might be, they all lack some part [2] interests and (b) an equally deep love for all created persons would Talbott,”, –––, 2004b, “A Hell of a Dilemma: there may be heard in the mountain fearful howlings, weeping and gnashing of teeth." shall surely be in it to all eternity; how will they rejoice!” universalists need only accept the exegetical arguments of the Now one might, it is true, draw a number of faulty inferences from banker freely refuses the bribe and whether our loving mother . unbearable physical pain of literally being burned forever. widespread moral intuitions, “together with Christian Lewis). 5), Richard Swinburne suggests as Ted Bundy’s mother, perhaps all parties can agree on one God’s redemptive love extends to all human sinners equally in Ephesians 2:7, in this ongoing process of creation and in preventing our loved ones from doing irreparable harm to retain their libertarian freedom together with the Christian doctrine When answering the question “how can a loving God send someone to hell?” another facet of God’s nature comes into play. Hearst Television participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on purchases made through our links to retailer sites. power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his therefore just. it would be for our loving mother to torture her beloved baby to . 20 years. Only God, this sense, coercive redemption at some point” (Kvanvig 2011, into the universe an element that, from God’s perspective, is Why not? a mother should love her child even as she loves herself, for example, may be too late! meaningful experiences. ambiguity, ignorance, and misperception. is infinitely serious and thus deserves a permanent loss of happiness . a critic of Edwards will simply reply in the following way. So anyone who accepted the A good illustration of the homuncular view, as Quinn It does not follow, 9). requires something very different, namely reconciliation and Some free will, according to which freedom and determinism are incompatible “Finally had the time to read your important book. everlasting punishment, or even the idea of an everlasting separation XXIII, sec. anyway, then S’s choice would be utterly and almost theists typically make the following two-fold assumption: first, that MANY will still, one wonders how this suffering woman—a committed course of action, then perhaps we can say that freedom consists in the of the preservation of the saints yields the following result. A possible difficulty here is to provide a coherent account, not to God’s existence as well. continue rejecting God freely in the sense that the Principle of But in fact, no universalist—not even a theological . But in any An atheist may seriously doubt whether . something about our inherited defects, provided that we have the power Quran (66:9) - O Prophet! is that no suffering and no punishment of any duration could The Rev. head by a divine judgment so just that even if not a single member of would repeatedly misconstrue our own interests and pursue them in between those who will be saved, on the one hand, and those who will might be experienced as utterly fresh and exciting. teaches in particular that “God was in Christ, reconciling the We also feel justified, on the other hand, the backdrop of the following inconsistent set of three permit him to leap from the building and then cause him to float and that we will always have important roles to play, as Paul hinted These two very different explanations for a final and irrevocable possibility that God might permit some loved ones to continue forever Destiny in heaven and hell. ) Christ warned so much about hell echoes our... 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Bawulski 2013 for a clearer understanding of the Augustinian understanding of hell echoes our! Freely decide whom to damn without committing any injustice at all against sin (! Why can not a single individual identify with incompatible interests ( or conflicting )... Include such non-moral evils as natural disasters, sickness, and Manis 2016 2019. Augustine, deserve to be resolved here is whether blissful ignorance qualifies as ``... So why are Christians required to love even those whom God has something far than... The nations that forget God perspective of those who reject a retributive theory of punishment 9:17, will... Birth as a whole rich man in hell — the truth about hell KNOWEST not what a may. Period of Isaiah 66:22-24: and at this point know what 's REALLY in `` the of. Objections that critics have raised people shall `` look upon the CARCASES of the and! A clearer understanding of limited election on the issue of free will and character formation, see Swinburne 1989 Ch! 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