Problem of Hell
Encyclopedia
The "Problem of Hell" is a possible ethical problem related to religions in which portrayals of Hell
are ostensibly cruel, and are thus inconsistent with the concepts of a just, moral and omnibenevolent God. The problem of Hell revolves around four key points: it exists in the first place, some people go there, there is no escape, and it is punishment for actions or inactions done on Earth.
The concept that non-believers of a particular religion face damnation
is called special salvation. The concept that all are saved regardless of belief is referred to as universal reconciliation
. The minority Christian doctrine that sinners are destroyed rather than punished eternally is referred to as annihilationism
.
) in the World to Come
. Criticisms of the doctrine of hell can focus on the intensity or eternity of its torments, and arguments surrounding all these issues can invoke appeals to the omnipotence
, omniscience
, and omnibenevolence
of God.
has traditionally been regarded as a punishment
for wrong-doing or sin
in this life, as a manifestation of divine justice. Nonetheless, the extreme severity or infinite duration of the punishment might be seen as incompatible with justice. However, Hell
is not seen as strictly a matter of retributive justice even by the more traditionalist churches. For example, the Eastern Orthodox see it as a condition brought about by, and the natural consequence of, free rejection of God's love.
The Roman Catholic Church
teaches that hell is a place of punishment brought about by a person's self-exclusion from communion with God.
In some ancient Eastern Orthodox traditions, Hell and Heaven
are distinguished not spatially, but by the relation of a person to God's love.
suggests in his essay La duración del Infierno that no transgression can warrant an infinite punishment on the grounds that there is no such thing as an "infinite transgression". The philosopher Immanuel Kant wrote in Religion Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason that since morality lies ultimately in a person's disposition, and as disposition is concerned with the adoption of universal principles, or as he called them: "maxims", that every human being is guilty of, in one sense, an infinite amount of violations of the law, and so consequently an infinite punishment is not unjustified.
Against the injustice of Hell, some theists, particularly in the Thomistic tradition, have argued that God's infinite dignity requires that any transgression against him warrants an infinite punishment. On this view, the correct punishment for a crime is proportional to the status of the wronged individual. Opponents of this view object citing that the severity of a crime is determined by the amount of harm done to the victim, not by their lifespan or scope of being. An omnipotent being, by definition, cannot be harmed. Therefore, by condemning souls to an eternal damnation, God would be punishing souls for actions that had no effect on him. Others reply that the correct punishment is also proportional to the intentions and understanding of the wrongdoer.
Another justice problem involves some denominations of Christianity which believe that only by accepting Jesus can one be saved from Hell. The apparent contradiction in this postulate is brought to light by the realization that some people have never heard of Jesus and then must automatically go to Hell. There is an apparent injustice in being punished for something one does not know exists. However some branches of Christianity teach that one cannot sin unless one performs an action knowing it is wrong, or performs an action knowing it will most likely result in a bad thing (like getting drunk and then driving). Catholics say that as far as strict necessity is concerned, faith in Christ may suffice in implicit form, though explicity is better; and implicit faith in Christ may even be compatible with misled rejection of appearing Christendom.
The eternity of Hell has also been justified in the Scholastic
tradition by appeal to the irrevocability of the reprobate's decision to oppose God after death. Eternity is perceived not as an infinite stretch of time, but as an unchanging present. This argument however, could be challenged by the view that if wrongdoers are punished in hell, they must suffer, for which it is required that the wrongdoers must retain their sentience, in order to experience it. If this sentience is retained it follows that the wrongdoers would be aware of their transgressions and capable of repenting them.
Another argument against the justice of Hell is that humans are not culpable for their sins, since sinning is unavoidable to them. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Epistle to the Romans
, 3:23) Also, if God is omniscient/prescient, He knows the final state long before they enter into either heaven or hell, except in the case of free will
. From the reasoning that God created them in the first place, and this in this knowledge some go so far as to ascribe to Him the culpability for a person's eternal fate. It may be fairly said that this argument is unconvincing, as it does not say God created them as wicked. The question is all the more burning if one states exactly this (positive reprobation, Calvinism
). However, the (theoretically distinct) doctrine of negative reprobation without consideration of future demerits (Thomists)—God elects some, the others fall into sin on their own, but of necessity, and are then judged for their sins—will be felt not so much distinct "in practice". If the angels and the blessed without inconvenience to their free-will partake of an irresistible grace
(which is thus shown possible), even who holds an at least conditional election of every human being (Molinism
and, despite notable academic success of Thomist grace theology within the Catholic
pale, in practice the stand of Catholics) needs to say that God could have rescued some and did not.
Most Christians attribute this inclination to sin to some variant of the doctrine of original sin
, rather than to God directly. This aspect of the problem of hell reduces in part to the theistic problem of free will
. The monotheistic religions, even those that lack a doctrine of original sin, agree that sin is to be imputed to the sinner and not to God. In fact, to state that humans are inculpable for their sins is a contradiction in terms, for guilt is part of a sin's definition; if re-formulated to "there are no such things as sins, only bad actions inculpable", Christians generally will disagree.
Some theological schools, most notably the Scotists and Calvinists, have taken the position that divine justice is entirely a matter of God's positive law, not deducible by natural reason. Thus, whatever God does is just by definition, and if this contradicts our human intuitions of justice, then our intuitions are mistaken. This view is opposed by Thomists and others who espouse a natural law
view of morality, or consider that divine goodness ought to be congruent with human virtue and rationality.
Modern scholars find the concept of Hell to be compatible with society's concept of Justice during the time of Jesus Christ. Romans and Egyptians and many others cultures during that time included torture as part of their justice system. Romans had crucifixion and Egyptians had desert sun death. All these acts of torture were considered necessary (as to deter others) or good (as to punish the immoral).
As in the problem of evil
, some apologists argue that the torments of Hell are attributable not to a defect in God's benevolence, but in human free will
. Although a benevolent God would prefer to see everyone saved, he would also allow humans to control their own destinies. This view opens the possibility of seeing Hell not as retributive punishment, but rather as an option that God allows, so that people who do not wish to be with God are not forced to be. C. S. Lewis
most famously proposed this view in his book The Great Divorce
, saying: "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.'"
A problem remains regarding Christian theologies' teaching about grace, which grant that God could indeed convert the heart of every sinner and yet leave the freedom of the will in its integrity. In the Thomistic tradition, God grants sufficient grace for salvation to all people, yet it only effects salvations for some. The early modern controversies on grace among the Jansenists, Jesuits and Dominicans focused in part on the question of sufficient and efficient grace, and whether these differed in kind.
Some modern critics of the doctrine of Hell (such as Marilyn McCord Adams
) claim that, even if Hell is seen as a choice rather than as punishment, it would be unreasonable for God to give such flawed and ignorant creatures as ourselves the responsibility of our eternal destinies. Jonathan Kvanvig
, in his book, The Problem of Hell, agrees that God would not allow one to be eternally damned by a decision made under the wrong circumstances. One should not always honor the choices of human beings, even when they are full adults, if, for instance, the choice is made while depressed
or careless. On Kvanvig's view, God will abandon no person until they have made a settled, final decision, under favorable circumstances, to reject God, but God will respect a choice made under the right circumstances. Once a person finally and competently chooses to reject God, out of respect for the person's autonomy, God allows them to be annihilated. The fact that one must believe in God or be subject to eternal damnation or annihilation, even if the choice is completely made by a person, is often perceived as a scare tactic that inevitably forces or scares one into having to believe in God, and God would seem corrupt and evil in saying, "You can believe in me or not, but if you do not, you will either suffer for all eternity in Hell (i.e., eternal damnation) or else be destroyed or obliterated out-of-existence (i.e., annihilation)". The argument runs flaw in that as a matter of fact, God does not say "you can believe in me or not".
Muslims believe that people will only enter heaven because of God’s forgiveness of their sins and granting rewards according to their best deeds. It is also stated in the Quran that people that will enter hell will be asked by the keepers at the gates if no messenger was sent to them and they will testify that a messenger was sent to them. Thus Hell is pre-warned and the inhabitants had rejected of the message of the messengers. It is made clear in the Quran 17:15 that God will not punish unless he has sent a messenger. Therefore one who enters hell has denied the warning of hell and the order of belief and good deeds by God.
It is also believed that one is born with a natural belief in God. Therefore, one who disbelieves has strayed from his/her natural disposition, thus is blameworthy.
It can be said that God guides some people towards faith and sends transgressing people away from faith and everything is by God's will. It can also be said that God is The Utterly Just The All Knowing and The Wise, therefore people will not receive except what they deserve to say that the people sent to hell do not deserve it, is to deny these attributes of God. It is also to deny the authority and or the authenticity of the Quran. Also since in the Quran 5:40, Yusuf Ali translation “Knowest thou not that to God (alone) belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth? He punisheth whom He pleaseth, and He forgiveth whom He pleaseth: and God hath power over all things.” It is also to deny or to go against the ultimate authority and perspective of God.
period, the New Testament distinguishes two words for "hell": Hades
, the grave, and Gehenna
where God "can destroy both body and soul". A minority of Christians read this to mean that neither Hades
nor Gehenna
are eternal. Annihilationism
is the doctrine that sinners are destroyed rather than tormented forever
in "hell" or the lake of fire
. It is directly related to the doctrine of conditional immortality, the idea that a human soul
is not immortal unless it is given eternal life. Annihilationism asserts that God will eventually destroy or annihilate the wicked (even if the souls of the wicked would be immortal otherwise), leaving only the righteous to live on in immortality
. Conditional immortality asserts that souls are naturally mortal and those who reject Christ are separated from the sustaining power of God, thus dying off on their own.
Annihilationist proponents include the Seventh-day Adventists
, Bible Students
, Jehovah's Witnesses
, Christadelphians
, and some other Protestant Christians.
Similarly, Dave Hunt writes:
An example from popular culture can be found in the graphic novel
series The Sandman. In it, souls go to Hell because they believe they deserve to, rather than being condemned to it by God or Satan.
It was traditionally claimed by some western scholars such as the Universalist historian George T. Knight
(1911) and Pierre Batiffol
(English translation 1914) that a form of universal salvation could be found among some theologians in early Christianity. Origen
interpreted the New Testament's reference (Acts 3:21) to a "restoration of all things", (Greek: apocatastasis
of all things), as meaning that sinners might be restored to God and released from Hell, returning the universe to a state identical to its pure beginnings. This theory of apocatastasis could be easily interpreted to imply that even devils would be saved, as was the case during the later Origenist controversies. Greek orthodox scholars do not count Gregory of Nyssa
(A.D. 331-395) as a believer in Universal Salvation.
In the 17th century, a belief in Christian universalism
appeared in England and the USA. Christian Universalists argue that Jesus taught Universalist principles including universal reconciliation and the divine origin and destiny of all people, and that these teachings were further developed by Saint Paul, Saint Peter
, and Saint John the Apostle. They also argue that some Universalist principles were taught or foreshadowed in the Old Testament
. Critics of universalism maintain that the Bible does not teach universal salvation.
, Gisbert Greshake, and Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar
have at length discussed the possibility that any man may be led by a final grace to freely-willed repentance if necessary at least at some point in the process of dying. This possible process is described thus by the late Munich dogmatic Prof. Michael Schmaus: "If in terms of theology death is a meeting of a man with God in so far as God calls man and he answers obedience, readiness and love, it would be surprising if in the moment of dying the chances of taking position never were given, even contrary to the outward look. [...] One cannot apply to experience as counter-argument, because [...] what happens then in the interior and behind the physiological processes is only known by someone who experiences dying itself, and this unto its very end. We may assume that in the dissolving process of the earthly union of body and soul and with the progressing breakaway from earthly entanglements, a special awakeness accrues to man [...] in which he can say yea or nay to God.".
If this be true, there is room for speculation that confronted with God and given grace by him, the number of those breaking away from Him may be zero. This is not a contradiction of the fixed Church doctrine of an existing and eternal hell, which remains a possibility. However, there is difficulty in interpreting the vast amount of Hell's Scriptural descriptions as only what-ifs. Balthasar was careful to describe his opinion that Hell might be empty as merely a hope, but even this claim was rejected by most conservative Catholics, including Cardinal Avery Dulles. The Syllabus says in no. 17 that we may not (even) hope for the salvation of all non-Catholics; this seems to mean conversely that there is at least one non-Catholic in all history who will not be saved. Matthew 7:21-23 seems to say that "many" will be reprobed; of course many need not be many statistically because even one would be too much in a respect, however many seems to be at least some and not nobody.
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
are ostensibly cruel, and are thus inconsistent with the concepts of a just, moral and omnibenevolent God. The problem of Hell revolves around four key points: it exists in the first place, some people go there, there is no escape, and it is punishment for actions or inactions done on Earth.
The concept that non-believers of a particular religion face damnation
Damnation
Damnation is the concept of everlasting divine punishment and/or disgrace, especially the punishment for sin as threatened by God . A damned being "in damnation" is said to be either in Hell, or living in a state wherein they are divorced from Heaven and/or in a state of disgrace from God's favor...
is called special salvation. The concept that all are saved regardless of belief is referred to as universal reconciliation
Universal reconciliation
In Christian theology, universal reconciliation is the doctrine that all sinful and alienated human souls—because of divine love and mercy—will ultimately be reconciled to God.Universal salvation may be related to the perception of a problem of Hell, standing opposed to ideas...
. The minority Christian doctrine that sinners are destroyed rather than punished eternally is referred to as annihilationism
Annihilationism
Annihilationism is a Christian belief that apart from salvation the death of human beings results in their total destruction rather than their everlasting torment. It is directly related to the doctrine of conditional immortality, the idea that a human soul is not immortal unless it is given...
.
Issues
There are several major issues to the problem of hell. The first is whether the existence of hell is compatible with justice. The second is whether it is compatible with God's mercy, especially as articulated in Christianity. A third issue, particular to Christianity, is whether hell is actually populated, or if God will ultimately "restore all things" (apocatastasisApocatastasis
Apocatastasis is reconstitution, restitution, or restoration to the original or primordial condition.-Etymology and definition:The Liddell and Scott Lexicon entry, gives the following examples of usage:* “τοῦ ἐνδεοῦς” Aristotle MM, 1205a4; into its nature εἰς φύσιν id...
) in the World to Come
World to Come
The World to Come is an eschatological phrase reflecting the belief that the "current world" is flawed or cursed and will be replaced in the future by a better world or a paradise. The concept is similar to the concepts of Heaven and the afterlife, but Heaven is another place generally seen as...
. Criticisms of the doctrine of hell can focus on the intensity or eternity of its torments, and arguments surrounding all these issues can invoke appeals to the omnipotence
Omnipotence
Omnipotence is unlimited power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence to only the deity of whichever faith is being addressed...
, omniscience
Omniscience
Omniscience omniscient point-of-view in writing) is the capacity to know everything infinitely, or at least everything that can be known about a character including thoughts, feelings, life and the universe, etc. In Latin, omnis means "all" and sciens means "knowing"...
, and omnibenevolence
Omnibenevolence
Omnibenevolence is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "unlimited or infinite benevolence". It is often held to be impossible, or at least improbable, for a deity to exhibit such property along side omniscience and omnipotence as a result of the problem of evil...
of God.
Christianity
In Christianity HellHell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
has traditionally been regarded as a punishment
Punishment
Punishment is the authoritative imposition of something negative or unpleasant on a person or animal in response to behavior deemed wrong by an individual or group....
for wrong-doing or sin
Sin
In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...
in this life, as a manifestation of divine justice. Nonetheless, the extreme severity or infinite duration of the punishment might be seen as incompatible with justice. However, Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
is not seen as strictly a matter of retributive justice even by the more traditionalist churches. For example, the Eastern Orthodox see it as a condition brought about by, and the natural consequence of, free rejection of God's love.
The Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
teaches that hell is a place of punishment brought about by a person's self-exclusion from communion with God.
In some ancient Eastern Orthodox traditions, Hell and Heaven
Heaven (Christianity)
Traditionally, Christianity has taught Heaven as a place of eternal life and the dwelling place of Angels and the Throne of God, and a kingdom to which all the elect will be admitted...
are distinguished not spatially, but by the relation of a person to God's love.
I also maintain that those who are punished in Gehenna, are scourged by the scourge of love. Nay, what is so bitter and vehement as the torment of love?...It would be improper for a man to think that sinners in Gehenna are deprived of the love of God...it torments sinners...Thus I say that this is the torment of Gehenna: bitter regret. —St. Isaac of Syria, Ascetical Homilies 28, Page 141
Justice
Some opponents of the doctrine of hell claim that the punishment is disproportionate to any crimes that could be committed, an overkill. Because human beings have a finite lifespan, they can commit only a finite number of sins, yet hell is an infinite punishment. In this vein, Jorge Luis BorgesJorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
suggests in his essay La duración del Infierno that no transgression can warrant an infinite punishment on the grounds that there is no such thing as an "infinite transgression". The philosopher Immanuel Kant wrote in Religion Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason that since morality lies ultimately in a person's disposition, and as disposition is concerned with the adoption of universal principles, or as he called them: "maxims", that every human being is guilty of, in one sense, an infinite amount of violations of the law, and so consequently an infinite punishment is not unjustified.
Against the injustice of Hell, some theists, particularly in the Thomistic tradition, have argued that God's infinite dignity requires that any transgression against him warrants an infinite punishment. On this view, the correct punishment for a crime is proportional to the status of the wronged individual. Opponents of this view object citing that the severity of a crime is determined by the amount of harm done to the victim, not by their lifespan or scope of being. An omnipotent being, by definition, cannot be harmed. Therefore, by condemning souls to an eternal damnation, God would be punishing souls for actions that had no effect on him. Others reply that the correct punishment is also proportional to the intentions and understanding of the wrongdoer.
Another justice problem involves some denominations of Christianity which believe that only by accepting Jesus can one be saved from Hell. The apparent contradiction in this postulate is brought to light by the realization that some people have never heard of Jesus and then must automatically go to Hell. There is an apparent injustice in being punished for something one does not know exists. However some branches of Christianity teach that one cannot sin unless one performs an action knowing it is wrong, or performs an action knowing it will most likely result in a bad thing (like getting drunk and then driving). Catholics say that as far as strict necessity is concerned, faith in Christ may suffice in implicit form, though explicity is better; and implicit faith in Christ may even be compatible with misled rejection of appearing Christendom.
The eternity of Hell has also been justified in the Scholastic
Scholasticism
Scholasticism is a method of critical thought which dominated teaching by the academics of medieval universities in Europe from about 1100–1500, and a program of employing that method in articulating and defending orthodoxy in an increasingly pluralistic context...
tradition by appeal to the irrevocability of the reprobate's decision to oppose God after death. Eternity is perceived not as an infinite stretch of time, but as an unchanging present. This argument however, could be challenged by the view that if wrongdoers are punished in hell, they must suffer, for which it is required that the wrongdoers must retain their sentience, in order to experience it. If this sentience is retained it follows that the wrongdoers would be aware of their transgressions and capable of repenting them.
Another argument against the justice of Hell is that humans are not culpable for their sins, since sinning is unavoidable to them. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Epistle to the Romans
Epistle to the Romans
The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, often shortened to Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by the Apostle Paul to explain that Salvation is offered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ...
, 3:23) Also, if God is omniscient/prescient, He knows the final state long before they enter into either heaven or hell, except in the case of free will
Free will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
. From the reasoning that God created them in the first place, and this in this knowledge some go so far as to ascribe to Him the culpability for a person's eternal fate. It may be fairly said that this argument is unconvincing, as it does not say God created them as wicked. The question is all the more burning if one states exactly this (positive reprobation, Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
). However, the (theoretically distinct) doctrine of negative reprobation without consideration of future demerits (Thomists)—God elects some, the others fall into sin on their own, but of necessity, and are then judged for their sins—will be felt not so much distinct "in practice". If the angels and the blessed without inconvenience to their free-will partake of an irresistible grace
Grace (Christianity)
In Christian theology, grace is God’s gift of God’s self to humankind. It is understood by Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to man - "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" - that takes the form of divine favour, love and clemency. It is an attribute of God that is most...
(which is thus shown possible), even who holds an at least conditional election of every human being (Molinism
Molinism
Molinism, named after 16th Century Jesuit theologian Luis de Molina, is a religious doctrine which attempts to reconcile the providence of God with human free will. William Lane Craig is probably its best known advocate today, though other important Molinists include Alfred Freddoso, Alvin...
and, despite notable academic success of Thomist grace theology within the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
pale, in practice the stand of Catholics) needs to say that God could have rescued some and did not.
Most Christians attribute this inclination to sin to some variant of the doctrine of original sin
Original sin
Original sin is, according to a Christian theological doctrine, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred...
, rather than to God directly. This aspect of the problem of hell reduces in part to the theistic problem of free will
Free will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
. The monotheistic religions, even those that lack a doctrine of original sin, agree that sin is to be imputed to the sinner and not to God. In fact, to state that humans are inculpable for their sins is a contradiction in terms, for guilt is part of a sin's definition; if re-formulated to "there are no such things as sins, only bad actions inculpable", Christians generally will disagree.
Some theological schools, most notably the Scotists and Calvinists, have taken the position that divine justice is entirely a matter of God's positive law, not deducible by natural reason. Thus, whatever God does is just by definition, and if this contradicts our human intuitions of justice, then our intuitions are mistaken. This view is opposed by Thomists and others who espouse a natural law
Natural law
Natural law, or the law of nature , is any system of law which is purportedly determined by nature, and thus universal. Classically, natural law refers to the use of reason to analyze human nature and deduce binding rules of moral behavior. Natural law is contrasted with the positive law Natural...
view of morality, or consider that divine goodness ought to be congruent with human virtue and rationality.
Modern scholars find the concept of Hell to be compatible with society's concept of Justice during the time of Jesus Christ. Romans and Egyptians and many others cultures during that time included torture as part of their justice system. Romans had crucifixion and Egyptians had desert sun death. All these acts of torture were considered necessary (as to deter others) or good (as to punish the immoral).
Divine mercy
Another issue is the problem of harmonizing the existence of Hell with God's infinite mercy or omnibenevolence.As in the problem of evil
Problem of evil
In the philosophy of religion, the problem of evil is the question of how to explain evil if there exists a deity that is omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient . Some philosophers have claimed that the existences of such a god and of evil are logically incompatible or unlikely...
, some apologists argue that the torments of Hell are attributable not to a defect in God's benevolence, but in human free will
Free will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
. Although a benevolent God would prefer to see everyone saved, he would also allow humans to control their own destinies. This view opens the possibility of seeing Hell not as retributive punishment, but rather as an option that God allows, so that people who do not wish to be with God are not forced to be. C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
most famously proposed this view in his book The Great Divorce
The Great Divorce
The Great Divorce is a work of allegory by C. S. Lewis that is complementary to Lewis' earlier book The Screwtape Letters.The working title was Who Goes Home? but the real name was changed at the publisher's insistence. The title refers to William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell...
, saying: "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.'"
A problem remains regarding Christian theologies' teaching about grace, which grant that God could indeed convert the heart of every sinner and yet leave the freedom of the will in its integrity. In the Thomistic tradition, God grants sufficient grace for salvation to all people, yet it only effects salvations for some. The early modern controversies on grace among the Jansenists, Jesuits and Dominicans focused in part on the question of sufficient and efficient grace, and whether these differed in kind.
Some modern critics of the doctrine of Hell (such as Marilyn McCord Adams
Marilyn McCord Adams
Marilyn McCord Adams is an American philosopher working in philosophy of religion, philosophical theology and medieval philosophy.-Family:Adams is the daughter of William Clark McCord and Wilmah Brown McCord...
) claim that, even if Hell is seen as a choice rather than as punishment, it would be unreasonable for God to give such flawed and ignorant creatures as ourselves the responsibility of our eternal destinies. Jonathan Kvanvig
Jonathan Kvanvig
Jonathan Kvanvig is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Baylor University.Kvanvig is also an author, best known for his book The Problem of Hell which debates Hell in a modern theological and philosophical way....
, in his book, The Problem of Hell, agrees that God would not allow one to be eternally damned by a decision made under the wrong circumstances. One should not always honor the choices of human beings, even when they are full adults, if, for instance, the choice is made while depressed
Depression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
or careless. On Kvanvig's view, God will abandon no person until they have made a settled, final decision, under favorable circumstances, to reject God, but God will respect a choice made under the right circumstances. Once a person finally and competently chooses to reject God, out of respect for the person's autonomy, God allows them to be annihilated. The fact that one must believe in God or be subject to eternal damnation or annihilation, even if the choice is completely made by a person, is often perceived as a scare tactic that inevitably forces or scares one into having to believe in God, and God would seem corrupt and evil in saying, "You can believe in me or not, but if you do not, you will either suffer for all eternity in Hell (i.e., eternal damnation) or else be destroyed or obliterated out-of-existence (i.e., annihilation)". The argument runs flaw in that as a matter of fact, God does not say "you can believe in me or not".
Islam
Discussion of a problem of hell is not common in Islam. According to the Quran believers who do righteous actions will enter heaven for eternity, and kafirun (disbelievers that know the truth) who do wrong actions will enter hell for eternity. For both parties it is mentioned that, Yusuf Ali translation: "They will dwell therein for all the time that the heavens and the earth endure, except as thy Lord willeth", furthermore, for the believers it is mentioned "a gift unfailing" Pickthall translation. Disbelievers, disbelieve in what the believers, believe, thus they disbelieve in God, or disbelieve in the Day of Judgment, or the Prophets, or the Angels or the Scriptures that God has given to some of the Prophets. It is stated in the Quran that on the day of resurrection a just balance will be set by God, so that no one will be wronged. Thereafter those whose scale of good deeds are heavy will be given salvation and those whose scale of good deeds is light will be driven to hell, and they will admit that they had rejected the message of God. The question arises, what about the disbeliever’s good deeds the answer can be found in many places within the Quran such as Quran 24:39, where the statement is made that the disbeliever’s deeds are like a mirage and instead of finding what the disbelievers expected to find, they will find God instead and God will pay them their account in full. Furthermore, it is stated in the Quran, Yusuf Ali translation: "...if anyone rejects faith, fruitless is his work, and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost.". Moreover this nullification of deeds can be found in Quran 18:103-106 and Quran 25:21-23. Also the people that die in a state of idolatry will not be forgiven and will enter hell similarly people who do evil and their sins surrounds them also people who kill an innocent life or commit sex outside of marriage, but people that repent in this life for Idolatry and these deeds will be forgiven. In the hadith it is made clear by Muhammad that people that say 'there is no god but God' and have very little good in their heart will be forgiven and will be taken out of hell and will enter heaven untill "none remains in Hell (Fire) but those whom Qur'an has imprisoned therein and for whom eternity in Hell (Fire) has become inevitable.". It is also clarified that anyone who died without worshipping anything besides God will enter heaven, even if he has committed theft or sex outside marriage.Muslims believe that people will only enter heaven because of God’s forgiveness of their sins and granting rewards according to their best deeds. It is also stated in the Quran that people that will enter hell will be asked by the keepers at the gates if no messenger was sent to them and they will testify that a messenger was sent to them. Thus Hell is pre-warned and the inhabitants had rejected of the message of the messengers. It is made clear in the Quran 17:15 that God will not punish unless he has sent a messenger. Therefore one who enters hell has denied the warning of hell and the order of belief and good deeds by God.
It is also believed that one is born with a natural belief in God. Therefore, one who disbelieves has strayed from his/her natural disposition, thus is blameworthy.
It can be said that God guides some people towards faith and sends transgressing people away from faith and everything is by God's will. It can also be said that God is The Utterly Just The All Knowing and The Wise, therefore people will not receive except what they deserve to say that the people sent to hell do not deserve it, is to deny these attributes of God. It is also to deny the authority and or the authenticity of the Quran. Also since in the Quran 5:40, Yusuf Ali translation “Knowest thou not that to God (alone) belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth? He punisheth whom He pleaseth, and He forgiveth whom He pleaseth: and God hath power over all things.” It is also to deny or to go against the ultimate authority and perspective of God.
Annihilationism
As with other Jewish writings of the Second TempleSecond Temple
The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...
period, the New Testament distinguishes two words for "hell": Hades
Hades
Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...
, the grave, and Gehenna
Gehenna
Gehenna , Gehinnom and Yiddish Gehinnam, are terms derived from a place outside ancient Jerusalem known in the Hebrew Bible as the Valley of the Son of Hinnom ; one of the two principal valleys surrounding the Old City.In the Hebrew Bible, the site was initially where apostate Israelites and...
where God "can destroy both body and soul". A minority of Christians read this to mean that neither Hades
Hades
Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...
nor Gehenna
Gehenna
Gehenna , Gehinnom and Yiddish Gehinnam, are terms derived from a place outside ancient Jerusalem known in the Hebrew Bible as the Valley of the Son of Hinnom ; one of the two principal valleys surrounding the Old City.In the Hebrew Bible, the site was initially where apostate Israelites and...
are eternal. Annihilationism
Annihilationism
Annihilationism is a Christian belief that apart from salvation the death of human beings results in their total destruction rather than their everlasting torment. It is directly related to the doctrine of conditional immortality, the idea that a human soul is not immortal unless it is given...
is the doctrine that sinners are destroyed rather than tormented forever
Eternity
While in the popular mind, eternity often simply means existence for a limitless amount of time, many have used it to refer to a timeless existence altogether outside time. By contrast, infinite temporal existence is then called sempiternity. Something eternal exists outside time; by contrast,...
in "hell" or the lake of fire
Lake of Fire
A lake of fire appears, in both ancient Egyptian and Christian religion, as a place of after-death punishment of the wicked. The phrase is used in four verses of the Book of Revelation. The image was also used by the Early Christian Hippolytus of Rome in about the year 200 and has continued to be...
. It is directly related to the doctrine of conditional immortality, the idea that a human soul
Soul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
is not immortal unless it is given eternal life. Annihilationism asserts that God will eventually destroy or annihilate the wicked (even if the souls of the wicked would be immortal otherwise), leaving only the righteous to live on in immortality
Immortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
. Conditional immortality asserts that souls are naturally mortal and those who reject Christ are separated from the sustaining power of God, thus dying off on their own.
Annihilationist proponents include the Seventh-day Adventists
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
, Bible Students
Bible Student movement
The Bible Student movement is the name adopted by a Millennialist Restorationist Christian movement that emerged from the teachings and ministry of Charles Taze Russell, also known as Pastor Russell...
, Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
, Christadelphians
Christadelphians
Christadelphians is a Christian group that developed in the United Kingdom and North America in the 19th century...
, and some other Protestant Christians.
Free will
Some apologists argue that Hell exists because of free will, and that hell is a choice rather than an imposed punishment. Jonathan L. Kvanvig writes:Similarly, Dave Hunt writes:
An example from popular culture can be found in the graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
series The Sandman. In it, souls go to Hell because they believe they deserve to, rather than being condemned to it by God or Satan.
Universal reconciliation
Universal reconciliation is the doctrine or belief of some Christians that all will receive salvation because of the love and mercy of God. Universal reconciliation does not commit one to the position that one can be saved apart from Christ. It only commits one to the position that all will eventually be saved through Christ. Neither does universal reconciliation commit one to the position that there is no hell or damnation – hell can well be the consuming fire through which Christ refines those who turn from him. Universal reconciliation only claims that one day Death and Hades themselves will be destroyed and all people reconciled to Him.{1 Corinthians 15:21-28}It was traditionally claimed by some western scholars such as the Universalist historian George T. Knight
George T. Knight (Universalist)
The Rev. George T. Knight, D.D, was an American Universalist teacher at the Crane Theological School, a Universalist seminary at Tufts University.-References:...
(1911) and Pierre Batiffol
Pierre Batiffol
Pierre Batiffol was a prominent French catholic priest and Church historian, known particularly as a historian of dogma....
(English translation 1914) that a form of universal salvation could be found among some theologians in early Christianity. Origen
Origen
Origen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...
interpreted the New Testament's reference (Acts 3:21) to a "restoration of all things", (Greek: apocatastasis
Apocatastasis
Apocatastasis is reconstitution, restitution, or restoration to the original or primordial condition.-Etymology and definition:The Liddell and Scott Lexicon entry, gives the following examples of usage:* “τοῦ ἐνδεοῦς” Aristotle MM, 1205a4; into its nature εἰς φύσιν id...
of all things), as meaning that sinners might be restored to God and released from Hell, returning the universe to a state identical to its pure beginnings. This theory of apocatastasis could be easily interpreted to imply that even devils would be saved, as was the case during the later Origenist controversies. Greek orthodox scholars do not count Gregory of Nyssa
Gregory of Nyssa
St. Gregory of Nyssa was a Christian bishop and saint. He was a younger brother of Basil the Great and a good friend of Gregory of Nazianzus. His significance has long been recognized in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Catholic and Roman Catholic branches of Christianity...
(A.D. 331-395) as a believer in Universal Salvation.
In the 17th century, a belief in Christian universalism
Christian Universalism
Christian Universalism is a school of Christian theology which includes the belief in the doctrine of universal reconciliation, the view that all human beings or all fallen creatures will ultimately be restored to right relationship with God....
appeared in England and the USA. Christian Universalists argue that Jesus taught Universalist principles including universal reconciliation and the divine origin and destiny of all people, and that these teachings were further developed by Saint Paul, Saint Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
, and Saint John the Apostle. They also argue that some Universalist principles were taught or foreshadowed in the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
. Critics of universalism maintain that the Bible does not teach universal salvation.
Empty Hell theory
Some Catholic theologians such as Karl RahnerKarl Rahner
Karl Rahner, SJ was a German Jesuit and theologian who, alongside Bernard Lonergan and Hans Urs von Balthasar, is considered one of the most influential Roman Catholic theologians of the 20th century...
, Gisbert Greshake, and Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar
Hans Urs von Balthasar
Hans Urs von Balthasar was a Swiss theologian and priest who was nominated to be a cardinal of the Catholic Church...
have at length discussed the possibility that any man may be led by a final grace to freely-willed repentance if necessary at least at some point in the process of dying. This possible process is described thus by the late Munich dogmatic Prof. Michael Schmaus: "If in terms of theology death is a meeting of a man with God in so far as God calls man and he answers obedience, readiness and love, it would be surprising if in the moment of dying the chances of taking position never were given, even contrary to the outward look. [...] One cannot apply to experience as counter-argument, because [...] what happens then in the interior and behind the physiological processes is only known by someone who experiences dying itself, and this unto its very end. We may assume that in the dissolving process of the earthly union of body and soul and with the progressing breakaway from earthly entanglements, a special awakeness accrues to man [...] in which he can say yea or nay to God.".
If this be true, there is room for speculation that confronted with God and given grace by him, the number of those breaking away from Him may be zero. This is not a contradiction of the fixed Church doctrine of an existing and eternal hell, which remains a possibility. However, there is difficulty in interpreting the vast amount of Hell's Scriptural descriptions as only what-ifs. Balthasar was careful to describe his opinion that Hell might be empty as merely a hope, but even this claim was rejected by most conservative Catholics, including Cardinal Avery Dulles. The Syllabus says in no. 17 that we may not (even) hope for the salvation of all non-Catholics; this seems to mean conversely that there is at least one non-Catholic in all history who will not be saved. Matthew 7:21-23 seems to say that "many" will be reprobed; of course many need not be many statistically because even one would be too much in a respect, however many seems to be at least some and not nobody.
See also
- AeonAeonThe word aeon, also spelled eon or æon , originally means "life", and/or "being", though it then tended to mean "age", "forever" or "for eternity". It is a Latin transliteration from the koine Greek word , from the archaic . In Homer it typically refers to life or lifespan...
- AfterlifeAfterlifeThe afterlife is the belief that a part of, or essence of, or soul of an individual, which carries with it and confers personal identity, survives the death of the body of this world and this lifetime, by natural or supernatural means, in contrast to the belief in eternal...
- AnnihilationismAnnihilationismAnnihilationism is a Christian belief that apart from salvation the death of human beings results in their total destruction rather than their everlasting torment. It is directly related to the doctrine of conditional immortality, the idea that a human soul is not immortal unless it is given...
- ApocatastasisApocatastasisApocatastasis is reconstitution, restitution, or restoration to the original or primordial condition.-Etymology and definition:The Liddell and Scott Lexicon entry, gives the following examples of usage:* “τοῦ ἐνδεοῦς” Aristotle MM, 1205a4; into its nature εἰς φύσιν id...
- Christian conditionalism
- Christian UniversalismChristian UniversalismChristian Universalism is a school of Christian theology which includes the belief in the doctrine of universal reconciliation, the view that all human beings or all fallen creatures will ultimately be restored to right relationship with God....
- Damnation
- Deal with the DevilDeal with the DevilDeal With The Devil is the fifth studio album by the American heavy metal band Lizzy Borden released in 2000 .A return to form, featuring a cover by Todd McFarlane.2 covers were recorded...
- Degrees of gloryDegrees of gloryIn The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' theology, there are three degrees of glory which are the ultimate, eternal dwelling place for nearly all who lived on earth after the Spirit world.Joseph Smith, Jr...
- EschatologyEschatologyEschatology is a part of theology, philosophy, and futurology concerned with what are believed to be the final events in history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred to as the end of the world or the World to Come...
- Fall of man
- HeavenHeavenHeaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
- HellHellIn many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
- LimboLimboIn the theology of the Catholic Church, Limbo is a speculative idea about the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the damned. Limbo is not an official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church or any other...
- PredestinationPredestinationPredestination, in theology is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God. John Calvin interpreted biblical predestination to mean that God willed eternal damnation for some people and salvation for others...
- Problem of evilProblem of evilIn the philosophy of religion, the problem of evil is the question of how to explain evil if there exists a deity that is omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient . Some philosophers have claimed that the existences of such a god and of evil are logically incompatible or unlikely...
- PurgatoryPurgatoryPurgatory is the condition or process of purification or temporary punishment in which, it is believed, the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for Heaven...
- SalvationSalvationWithin religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
- The Divine ComedyThe Divine ComedyThe Divine Comedy is an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature...
- Universal reconciliationUniversal reconciliationIn Christian theology, universal reconciliation is the doctrine that all sinful and alienated human souls—because of divine love and mercy—will ultimately be reconciled to God.Universal salvation may be related to the perception of a problem of Hell, standing opposed to ideas...
- UniversalismUniversalismUniversalism in its primary meaning refers to religious, theological, and philosophical concepts with universal application or applicability...
- World to ComeWorld to ComeThe World to Come is an eschatological phrase reflecting the belief that the "current world" is flawed or cursed and will be replaced in the future by a better world or a paradise. The concept is similar to the concepts of Heaven and the afterlife, but Heaven is another place generally seen as...
Further reading
- Marilyn McCord Adams: "The Problem of Hell: A Problem of Evil for Christians," in William Rowe (ed.): God and the Problem of Evil, ISBN 0-631-22220-0
- Jonathan L. Kvanvig: The Problem of Hell, ISBN 0-19-508487-X
- Charles Seymour: A Theodicy of Hell, ISBN 0-7923-6364-7
- Jerry Walls: Hell: The Logic of Damnation, ISBN 0-268-01095-1
- C.S. Lewis: The Problem of Pain, ISBN 0-06-065296-9
- Ted Sider. Hell and Vagueness, Faith and Philosophy 19 (2002): 58–68.
- Jonathan Edwards,The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners Diggory Press, ISBN 978-1-84685-672-3
External links
- Jewish not Greek Shows how Biblical hermeneutics proves “annihilation” thus removing the problem of hell.
- Immortality Or Resurrection? Chapter VI Hell: Eternal Torment or Annihilation? by Samuele Bacchiocchi, Ph. D., Andrews University
- The Wages of Sin by Charles Welch The Berean Expositor Vol. 1 pp. 64-66 (circa 1901-1915)
- "Directions: Is Hell Forever?" Christianity Today
- Afterlife.co.nz The Conditional Immortality Association of New Zealand Inc. is a non-profit organization established to promote a Biblical understanding of human nature, life, death and eternity as taught throughout Scripture.
- The Destruction of the Finally Impenitent by Clark H. Pinnock of McMaster Divinity CollegeMcMaster Divinity CollegeMcMaster Divinity College, also known as MacDiv, is a Christian seminary in Hamilton, Ontario. It is affiliated with the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, although in practice it is interdenominational, and could be said to more closely align with the broader Evangelical tradition...
.