On the Infernalists's Free Will Defense of Eternal Hell

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As I said previously, last Sunday for a sermon on Romans 5.12-21, I preached on the church’s doctrine labeled apokatastasis, popularly known as universal salvation.

You can find the sermon here.

As Al Kimel writes, “Apokatastasis is but the gospel of Christ's absolute and unconditional love sung in an eschatological key.” The response to the sermon surprised me; consequently, I’ve been rereading David Bentley Hart’s wonderful, cutting book, That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation.

Here’s a reflection I wrote last week:

Tamed CynicHell for some would be Hell for all.Tamed Cynic is a reader-supported publication. If you appreciate the work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Seriously, why not…Read more5 days ago · 18 likes · 3 comments · Jason Micheli

Towards the end of TASBS, Hart turns to the argument from “freedom.”

If it’s true that God consigns or consents his creatures to an eternal hell then this begs a grim but straightforward question.

Is God evil?

Simply because God (allegedly) does it, does not make it good or just— or, even more importantly, beautiful.

Our concepts of goodness, truth, and the beautiful, after all, emanate from God, who is the perfection of Goodness, Truth, and Beauty; therefore, they participate in the Being of God and correspond to the character of God. Sin-impaired as we are, we can yet trust our God-given gut. Again then, the question— and forget that it’s God we’re talking about— is God evil?

If the calculus of God’s salvation balances out with a mighty, eternally-tormented, remainder, then is God the privation haunting the goodness of his own creation?

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