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Eschatology

1) The document discusses the traditional Christian belief in eternal punishment in hell and questions whether this view is philosophically and theologically consistent. 2) It notes that early Church father Origen proposed the theory of Apocatastasis, which held that all creation would eventually be saved, including the devil, though his arguments for this were weak. 3) The author argues that the idea of some people being condemned to hell forever is incompatible with God being omniscient, omnipotent, and good, as an all-knowing and all-powerful good God would want and be able to avoid eternal damnation for any people. 4) The problem of reconciling eternal hell with human freedom

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87 views2 pages

Eschatology

1) The document discusses the traditional Christian belief in eternal punishment in hell and questions whether this view is philosophically and theologically consistent. 2) It notes that early Church father Origen proposed the theory of Apocatastasis, which held that all creation would eventually be saved, including the devil, though his arguments for this were weak. 3) The author argues that the idea of some people being condemned to hell forever is incompatible with God being omniscient, omnipotent, and good, as an all-knowing and all-powerful good God would want and be able to avoid eternal damnation for any people. 4) The problem of reconciling eternal hell with human freedom

Uploaded by

raj_lopez9608
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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CAN HELL BE ETERNAL?

By : Rajesh Lopez Since the Middle Ages the threat of eternal punishment has played a more dominant role in Christian preaching and popular piety than the good of the worlds salvation in Jesus Christ. Even the church has come out with comparatively few documents concerning eschatology. The church in its teaching has holds that the damned are punished for eternity in Hell. However, concerning the problem of Eternal Hell there seems to be many difference of opinion and some serious philosophical and theological weakness. Origen probably the greatest thinker among the Fathers of the Church was the first to challenge this belief by proposing his theory of Apocatastasis. This theory says that eventually all creation will be saved. Rationally his argument that even the Devil will one day be saved is weak. He seems to be on strong ground when he argues against the churches view that impious men will be condemned to Hell forever and ever. The church in many of its magisterial teachings has condemned the teaching of Origen, but the problem remains unsolved in the minds of many thinkers. Philosophically speaking if God exists and he is omniscient, omnipotent and good, the proposition: Some created persons will be consigned to hell forever is in compatible. Because: If God is omniscient he would be ABLE to avoid the above proposition. If God is omnipotent he would KNOW HOW to avoid the above proposition. If God is good than he would WANT to avoid the above proposition. The church and many Catholic theologians hold that because human beings are free they are able to reject God finally and irrevocably, therefore hell is a real possibility. But the question that arises is: Is human will capable of making a fundamentally irrevocable decision against God. The thinkers who propose the theory of eternal hell have never questioned this. In his article concerning the problem of hell, John Sachs says that human beings are created for one end alone i.e. God. Therefore human freedom can attain finality only when it reaches the definitiveness for which it was created. As long as it freely rejects it would fail to attain that definitiveness and finality for which it was destined. The presumption that human freedom entails a capacity to reject God definitively and eternally seems questionable. In the book of Genesis we see that God created man in his own image and likeness. In that case how can Gods own creation which intrinsically good makes a fundamental and irrevocable option against God. The Vatican Council II asserts that Heaven and hell are not entirely equal possibilities, because the individual is graced from birth with a radical orientation towards God: From the very circumstances of his origin, man is already invited to converse with God GS (19). This only reaffirms that man is intrinsically oriented towards God. The problem of Eternal Hell seems to be an enigma that will trouble thinkers for some time to come.

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