Thu 28 Oct 2010
Fun topic for a blog post eh?
Last Sunday my pastor's sermon topic was mercy, (Oct 24, Mercy – The Capping of the Tree mp3) and how God's justice and God's mercy are flipsides of the same coin. They are both intrinsically part of Him and inseparable from His nature. It's His merciful love that saves some from the just punishment that we deserve by the gracious giving of Himself in the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus. To quote a Relient K song, "And this life sentence that I’m serving, I admit that I’m every bit deserving, but the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair"
At this point, I begin talking to myself, asking questions and attempting to answer them as they come up in my mind …
But how can people be punished eternally for finite sins?
The traditional argument in defense of eternal punishment is that sins against an infinite God necessitate an infinite punishment. In our society, we consider the death penalty to be more severe than life imprisonment; if that's the case, an "afterlife sentence" (so to speak) in hell would be a lesser punishment than annihilation.
But there is another option to the (as far as I know) more traditional conception of hell … Dr Shepherd (author of the quote in the "God's Love is Not Tame" post) defends conditional immortality (see page 3 of PDF, these are his cursory notes from his systematic theology class) as at least a scripturally defensible position (following Clark Pinnock et al). I don't know if he personally holds that position but he sees it as a viable option.
But what about …
1) infants
2) kids
3) mentally disabled people
4) those who've never heard
5) people who call themselves Christian but act like jerks
1) I don't know for sure
2) I don't know for sure
3) I don't know for sure
4) I don't know for sure
5) According to Matthew 7:21-23 (et al), these "Christians" have more to worry about than anyone fitting into categories 1-4.
Re 1-4 above, since scripture doesn't definitively give clear answers, I don't feel as though I need to be concerned about it. If God is truly both perfectly just and perfectly merciful, then whatever He chooses to do will be both merciful and just. To quote a certain famous president, it's "beyond my pay grade" to speak too definitively about 1-4 where scripture is silent.
That said, it's currently my opinion (held loosely in my hand; an opinion being differentiated from a conviction or persuasion) that for 1-3 there is at least a decent case that they will not be in hell. (See for example Ron Rhodes, The Wonder of Heaven, 159-171. Most of those pages are available for viewing for free via Google Books.)
But how come there will be so few in heaven? Jesus said "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it." (Matthew 7:13)
Jesus did say that, but this doesn't necessarily mean the majority of people who live throughout history will be in hell. If it is true that people who are in categories 1-3 above go to heaven when they die, the number in heaven becomes larger. And when you consider that the population of the world is higher than it has ever been and nearly 1/3 of it is Christian, that number increases further.
Now, even if the "many" in this case is a relatively small number (percentage-wise), still, to God who wills that all be saved (1 Timothy 2:4) any at all who end up otherwise will seem like "many"; God laments even one who chooses to live apart from Him and the purpose and destiny that He planned for us.
But if this is what God is like then I don't want any part of him.
Sadly then it may be the case that you will be given your wish. What else could God do in that circumstance?
Disclaimer: As always, my opinions (musings) here are subject to change as I learn more and grow deeper in my faith. Also some thoughts may be poorly phrased, or just plain erroneous. Hopefully not … but please try to interpret me charitably. Oh, and as I tell my Sunday school class, whenever I make a mistake, it's on purpose just to test you. 😉
11 Responses to “Thoughts about hell”
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November 1st, 2010 at 1:54 pm
With this logic, not having free will must be worst than hell. If God wants none to perish than for those who don't freely choose him, he should force them to (take away the choice), because he knows better. Just like any good parent would.
November 4th, 2010 at 1:35 am
You may be right, it may in fact be true that we would consider not having free will worse than hell. I wonder what it would take for me to say "Yes, I will choose to give up my free will."
I think there is probably a plugin or something to allow comment notification, but I'm not sure. Or maybe it's built in to WP but this particular template doesn't include it by default? I'll add that to my list of tasks for when I'm on vacation later this month.
December 27th, 2010 at 1:36 am
"In our society, we consider the death penalty to be more severe than life imprisonment; if that’s the case, an “afterlife sentence” (so to speak) in hell would be a lesser punishment than annihilation." I have always heard the argument that since the crime is against an eternal God then an eternal punishment is required. I've also heard that crimes that people commit like murder, might take only a second or two to commit, but the punishment can last a lifetime. Similarly, since we are sinning against God for a lifetime, the punishment would be even longer! But the twist you've added is really good, that we consider life in prison less than the death penalty, so life in hell would be lesser than annihilation.
For #1-3, you don't consider Romans 1:20, Romans 3:23, and Romans 5:12, and Romans 6:23 to apply to people in those categories?
February 3rd, 2013 at 1:56 am
Hi, 1st, really enjoy finding your site this evening. Thanks. Have you ever considered Universal Reconciliation into your equation on these issues? A good site for this is Tentmaker forums, complete with resources. To say I struggled with issues surrounding eternal torment would be understatement. With discovery of Universal Reconciliation and then subsequent start of study of translations, am a different person and my relationship with God is back. Just interested on your thoughts regarding this.
Peace brother.
Rich
February 3rd, 2013 at 2:02 am
Hi again, just caught that this older posting of yours. Sorry for this as just discovered you this evening. Additionally, besides believing that Universal Reconciliation is Biblical in truest sense, it also adds third possibility between eternal damnation and anniliation. Respect others views but the Universal Reconciliation viewpoint seems supportable as do the others (interpretation is something else, huh? LOL) but resonates better andmore consistently with what our most Holy Creator would have in place. The Savior of All!
Blessings to you brother and to your visitors.
Rich
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