So even though the perfectly loving God would never reject anyone, sinners can reject God and shut him out forever they not only have the power as free agents to reject God for a season, during the time when they are mired in ambiguity and subject to illusion, but they are also able to cling forever to the illusions that make such rejection possible in the first place.īut why suppose it even possible that a free creature should freely reject forever the redemptive will of a perfectly loving and infinitely resourceful God? In the relevant literature over the past several decades, advocates of a free-will theodicy of hell have offered at least three quite different answers to this question. The basic idea here is that hell is essentially a freely embraced condition and the self-imposed misery it entails rather than a forcibly imposed punishment and because freedom and determinism are incompatible, the creation of free moral agents carries an inherent risk of ultimate tragedy. And this may suggest the further possibility that, with respect to some free persons, God cannot both preserve their freedom in relation to him and prevent them from continuing forever to reject him freely. So in that sense, our human free choices, particularly the bad ones, are genuine obstacles that God must work around as he tries to bring his loving purposes to fruition.

We thus encounter two radically different religious visions of divine justice, both of which deserve a full and careful examination. And if the time should come when loving parents are required to respect the misguided choices of a rebellious teenager or an adult child, they will always stand ready to restore fellowship with a prodigal son or daughter in the event of a ruptured relationship. Start using Yumpu now! Resources Blog Product changes Videos Magazines. The editors will have a look at it as soon as possible. Thank you, for helping us keep this platform clean. Similar magazines.Ĭlose Flag as Inappropriate.

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