Universalism and Hell as Inner Torment: A Reflection on David B. Hart’s Understanding
Markus Schmidt SJ
markus.schmidt@uibk.ac.atUniversity of Innsbruck, Austria (Austria)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6362-0915
Abstrakt
In recent years, the Russian Orthodox theologian David Bentley Hart (*1965) has renewed the thesis of universalism (final restoration, apocatastasis). His arguments are two-fold. First, a human being in true freedom cannot resist God's love eternally. Second, God is not a good God, and creation is not good if only one soul falls into eternal damnation. Therefore, God will receive all people into the kingdom of glory. Hell, then, according to Hart---in this, he follows Isaac of Nineveh (c. 640 -- c. 700)---can only mean the inner torment that one experiences while already being in heaven. I will argue that it is not convincing that a human being in true freedom cannot resist God's love eternally. On the contrary, one must be free to decide in favour of or against something. Hart's second argument does not pay attention to God's justice and holiness. Furthermore, the argument makes God's goodness dependent on God's deeds for human beings. I conclude that universalism over-emphasizes God's mercy and disrespects God's justice, which leads to aporia. Mercy and hell, thus, still have significance and cannot be undervalued.
Słowa kluczowe:
uniwersalizm, apokatastaza, wieczne potępienie, wewnętrzna udręka, miłosierdzie, David B. Hart, Izaak z NiniwyBibliografia
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Autorzy
Markus Schmidt SJmarkus.schmidt@uibk.ac.at
University of Innsbruck, Austria Austria
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6362-0915
Markus Schmidt SJ is Associate Professor at University of Innsbruck (University of Innsbruck – Faculty of Catholic Theology, Department of Systematic Theology, Karl-Rahner-Platz 1, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria). He teaches Ecumenical Theology and is president of the International Society of Jesuit Ecumenists. Until 2010 he was a member of the Ecumenical Commission of the Diocese of Graz-Seckau, of the Ecumenical Forum of Christian Churches in Styria, and of the Working Committee of the Section of Pro Oriente Graz. Since 2016 he has been a consultor to Jesuit Superior General, Father Arturo Sosa, for ecumenical affairs.
Statystyki
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Licencja
Prawa autorskie (c) 2024 Markus Schmidt SJ
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