Now this gets a little harder. If God's justice stands against annihilation then God's love stands against eternal torment. Or perhaps it is the way we perceive God's love that stands against it. Eternal Torment - - I wonder how many Christians fathom the concept? Think on it long and hard -- it will keep you up nights , if not for others, for yourself. Eternal punishment, burning forever in a lake of fire. For what? -- not submitting to God, disobedience, etc. all in a defined and limited time and space. If God loves all people and desires all to come to repentance why then would he eternally torture people for something they did in only a short time. It sounds like God's love must end at the border of such a place. Sorry it is a big -- "I Don't Love You" to torture a person for all eternity with no hope of escape.This is probably the greatest reason people give up on God -- how can a loving God do this? More importantly how can God who IS love do this? It is too much for some and honestly this is one thing that has caused my faith shake at times -- it caused this whole series of posts to pursue this question because I still have questions.
Perhaps this is the tough part -- reconciling the justice of God with his love. On the one hand we want people who are wicked to be punished and victims to receive justice. On the other I too like Boyd and many others would be moved with compassion if I was near such a place watching my friends and loved ones burned alive for eternity. I think people who do not have a problem with this have never seen a person burned alive or wondered about it. Perhaps though the answer does not reside in either God's love or justice but in that which binds the two -- His Righteousness.
Next: God's Righteousness and Damnation.
It's not that I, or others, don't "have a problem" with Hell being eternally tormenting, it's a matter of interpreting Scripture for what it actually says, not what we want it to say, or what makes better sense to us, or what seems to fit God's character better - as far as we know God.
ReplyDeleteNow, I'm not saying you are doing any of these things, you clearly uphold Scripture and want to understand what it actually says, but I do think when anyone begins dismissing, or altering, or adjusting what the text actually says because they aren't comfortable with it, for whatever reason, is the beginning of a journey on the proverbial slippery slope.
Sometimes, I think, we as believers feel the need to defend God and His decisions because some things we just cannot fathom, or figure out or explain. I, however, don't think God needs defending from any of His creation. If we truly believe what the Bible reveals about the character of God, that He is good, and loving, and merciful, then we must also believe that whatever He decrees (even those things we don't understand) must also be good, loving, and merciful.
Which brings me back to a theory I think I've mentioned to you before, about Hell. I'm not so sure that those who are doomed to spend eternity there will actually NOT prefer it. Perhaps their torment, at whatever level it is (thirst, fire) (I do believe there are various 'levels' of Hell) is not bad enough to make them completely miserable enough to actually prefer something else.
If you think of the way some people live their lives on earth, the choices they make, the conditions they live in, it would certainly appear as "Hellish" and crazy, and unthinkable to someone like you or I, but the fact is, those people choose that lifestyle in spite of the torments that go along with it...maybe Hell is akin to this.