A THEODICY OF HELL
STUDIES IN PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION Volume 20 The titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume.
A THEODICY OF HELL by CHARLES SEYMOUR SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN 978-90-481-5478-4 ISBN 978-94-017-0604-9 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-0604-9 Printed on acid-free paper All Rights Reserved 2000 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 2000 No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.
To my parents Love seeketh not Itself to please Nor for itself hath any care; But for another gives its ease, And builds a Heaven in Hells despair. --William Blake
Acknowledgements From the moment I began this project I have received the help of many generous people. I submitted the earliest version of this manuscript as my Ph.D. thesis at the University of Notre Dame. My heartfelt thanks goes out to my dissertation advisor, Philip Quinn--flrst for taking me on as an advisee, and then for his efforts in critiquing my work. Hearing complaints from graduate student colleagues about their advisors made me feel all the more fortunate for mine; Quinn's prompt and thorough critique of drafts improved the final product greatly, and I am grateful to him for making the writing of the dissertation the best part of my graduate school career. Another kind soul at Notre Dame was Thomas Flint, who served on the dissertation committee and commented on drafts of all the chapters. His expertise in modal logic and the metaphysics of freedom was particularly helpful; lunches spent discussing counterfactuals saved me from more than one mistake. The process of revision did not end once the dissertation was bound and put on the shelves. Referees both known and unknown to me read articles based on various chapters and took the time to offer detailed criticism. Let me mention by name Thomas Talbott, who demonstrated an admirable charity in giving encouraging and copious comments on work so opposed to his own. I would also like to thank anonymous referees for Faith and Philosophy and Kluwer Academic Publishers. Working with the staff of Kluwer has been a pleasant experience. I thank Willem van Dijk for first taking an interest in my work. It was his initiative which prompted me to submit the manuscript. His successor, Maja de Keijzer, has proved equally helpful in guiding me through the long process of preparing the manuscript for publication. Finally, I would like to thank my parents for the various kinds of support they have provided me, and continue to provide, as I strive to find a niche in academe. To them I dedicate the book.
V111 Portions of Chapter 5 appeared as "On Choosing Hell" in Religious Studies, Vol. 33, No. 3 (September 1997) 249-266. It is reprinted with the permission of Cambridge University Press. Portions of Chapter 3 appeared as "Hell, Justice, and Freedom" in International Journal/or Philosophy o/religion Vol. 43 (1998) 69-86. It is reprinted with kind permission from Kluwer Academic Publishers. Portions of Chapter 4 appeared as "A Craigian Theodicy of Hell" in Faith and Philosophy Vol. 17 (January 2000). It is reprinted with the permission of the editors.
Table of Contents CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1. II. III. Defining Hell Goal of the Book Assumptions Notes 1 9 12 13 CHAPTER 2: A BRIEF HISTORY OF HELL 15 1. II. III. IV. Neutral Fate Judging the Dead Judeo-Christian Developments Rejection of the Doctrine Notes 15 17 22 26 31 CHAPTER 3: THE ARGUMENT FROM JUSTICE 37 1. II. III. IV. V. VI. Summary of the Argument Preliminary Responses: Augustine and Aquinas The Classic Response: Anselm and Jonathan Edwards Other Attempts to Prove the Infinite Seriousness of Sin The Contemporary Response: Separationism The Freedom View of Hell 37 38 48 77 81 84
x VII. Objections to the Freedom View 86 VIII. Conclusion 89 Notes 90 CHAPTER 4: ARGUMENTS FROM DIVINE LOVE 95 I. Stump on Aquinas 96 II. Adams: The Argument From Impaired Freedom 100 III. Adams: The Argument From Foreknowledge 103 IV. Talbott: The Incompatibility of Heaven and Hell 122 V. Conclusion 132 Notes 133 CHAPTER 5: ARGUMENTS FROM HUMAN CHOICE 135 I. Adams: Free Choice and Experience 135 II. Talbott: Free Choice and Motive 139 III. Talbott's Argument: Contemporary Responses 144 IV. Why Does God Allow Evil Motives? 147 V. Hell and the Fall 148 VI. The Value of Peccability 150 VII. The Necessity of Peccability 153 VIII. Summary and Conclusion 156 Notes 157 CHAPTER 6: THE FREEDOM VIEW COMPARED WITH RIVAL VERSIONS 161 I. II. The Version of Augustine and Aquinas Two Contemporary Accounts of Hell 164 173
xi III. IV. Hell or Annihilation? Conclusion Notes 182 185 185 CHAPTER 7: THEODICY AND THEOLOGY 189 I. II. Theological Implications of Theodicy Theological Implications of the Freedom View 189 192 III. Conclusion: The Freedom View and Christian Confessions 195 Notes 195 WORKS CITED 197 INDEX 205