"O God, if I worship thee for fear of hell, burn me in hell; and if I worship thee in hope of paradise, exclude me from paradise; but if I worship thee for thine own sake, withhold not thine everlasting beauty."
                                                                                               —St. Francis Xavier

A few years ago, Christian philosopher Marilyn Adams gave a talk at Calvin College on hell. Bottom line: she was agin' it. Most of the students in my Philosophy of Religion class were scandalized, and the source of their outrage was that if there were no hell, they would lose all motivation to be faithful to God in this life. If one could grab for all of the gusto—sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll (and no getting up early on Sundays for church)—and still get into heaven, why believe in God at all? Atheistic hedonism seemed the best policy: all of the pleasures that this life has to offer plus an eternity of bliss. The alternative, faith in God the Cosmic Party Pooper, demands a lifetime of self-sacrifice.

Some things became clear. My students were motivated more by the stick (fear of hell) than the carrot (desire for heaven). Even more disturbing, they were motivated by selfish desire—avoidance of pain—not by love of or faith in God. Explaining to them that they should be faithful because God is our greatest good, even in this life, left them strangely unmoved. They indignantly demanded their hell.

And not just any hell would do. It had to be savage and brutal ...

Christopher Benson(Registered User)

July 12, 2011  12:29am

I cannot thank Professor Clark enough for offering a forceful argument about why Christians should hope that there is no hell and, relievedly, why this hope does not make one a universalist. Here is the voice of sanity that was missing during the Rob Bell hellabaloo.

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