Hell Essays - Christian Philosophy, Hell, Free Will In Theology, Sin

Hell Hell In his sermon, On the Eternity of Hells Torments, Jonathan Edwards argues that eternal punishment for sin is justified. He observes every aspect of God, sin, and hell and attempts to present a logical explanation of scripture. I will take a similar approach and refute the idea that eternal punishment for sin is justified with particular focus on his representation of eternity, perfection, and justice. Jonathan Edwardss argument is as follows: Mankinds obligation to honor, obey, and love god is infinite and sin which violates this obligation, is a violation of infinite obligation, and is therefore an infinite evil. The evil of sin is infinite; consequently infinite retribution is a proportional punishment. To coincide with gods infinite nature, God should hate sin and opposite it infinitely. Sin as proven before is an infinite evil and God should express infinite hatred towards this evil. The expression of this hatred is punishment for this sin, which itself is infinitely evil and should therefore be punished infinitely. Sin against an infinite God incurs infinite demerit. Sin is refusal of our infinite obligation to obey God so it incurs an infinite demerit. Gods justice is understood retributively. God has granted human beings free will and each individual is accountable for his or her actions. Just as each individual is rewarded for positive actions they should be equally punish ed for their negative actions. Therefore it is in absolute fairness to those who avoid sin and granted an infinite heaven that sinners be punished and granted an infinite hell. Eternal punishment is everlasting or absolutely without end. Edwards states that infinite also means eternal and loosely interprets scripture but never makes the full connection. Edwards cites the words forever, and eternity but never in relation to the infinite punishment that is promised to sinners. Edwards states that hell is infinite conscious torment because if sin was committed against an infinite God then the fitting retributive punishment is justifiably infinite. Thus sin deserves infinite conscious torment. The punishment will occur in a manner that allows individuals to be sensible of the punishment they are receiving and that god has upheld and executed his threat. They will understand that justice has taken place upon them and they will be sensible of their guilt as a result. Those punished are said to weep, wail, and gnash their teeth which implies not only real existence, but life, knowledge, and activity, and that they are in a very sensible and exquisite manner affect ed with their punishment (Edwards 5). Logically I contend that infinite punishment does not necessarily mean everlasting, but rather a very long duration of torment such that the torment is at an extremely high level. Punishment can be infinite in its intensity and still finite in its duration. Infinite punishment is more consistent with the punishment God has bestowed upon mankind in scripture. The great flood of immeasurable rainfall used to punish the people of Noah lasted only a few days but was of infinite proportion to typical rainfall. If past examples illustrate the infinite punishment of God, and there is no indication of eternal punishment upon man in the past, then it is more logical to assume that God will punish mankind with infinite and not eternal punishment as he has done in the past and therefore the two cannot be one in the same. A flame of infinite intensity does not need to last eternally nor does one need eternal torment in this flame to be punished for his sins. Edwards clearly states that sinners w ill remain in a state that allows them to be conscious of the torture they are receiving and feel guilt. In this state only a definite amount of time is necessary to punish an individual who feels guilt, which acknowledges the individuals accountability for their actions. A feeling of guilt can only occur when one feels they have done something wrong, otherwise they would only feel regret, anger, or sadness. Gods infinite mercy is broken if he can not forgive an individual after a duration of time, after all the individual only sinned or disobeyed god for a finite period of time. This would allow an individual to be held accountable for his