A letter from a reader, to which I responded in private. Permission was granted for publication of this letter.<\/i><\/p>\n
Scot,<\/p>\n
I hope this email finds you healthy and well.\u00a0 I am looking for some guidance or help working through a theological question(s).<\/p>\n
In the last few days\/weeks\/months I have increasingly been wrestling with a theology of eternal punishment.<\/p>\n
The questions I am wrestling with are these:\u00a0 Why would God need to hold an unrepentant soul in eternal agony?\u00a0 Who benefits most from a doctrine of eternal punishment?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t this a capricious and mean-spirited doctrine?<\/b><\/p>\n
My current view is a mix to be honest.\u00a0 While I have traditionally held to Wesley\u2019s views that indeed the fires and agony are of mental (not actual) nature, with literal physical torture being a remnant of the church fathers and the early Roman Catholic church.\u00a0 I am increasingly drawn to an annihilation view in some regards, ala Greg Boyd.\u00a0 I believe that God\u2019s sentence is eternal, in that it is never altered or reversed, but at some point in order for God to be truly God and for their truly to be a new heaven and a new earth then sin must be utterly destroyed and made as though it never was, or am I missing something?<\/p>\n
To be honest I am wondering where to turn to (authors, theologians, etc.) that deal with this topic openly and honestly.\u00a0 The reason I asked \u2018who benefits\u2019 is that it feels so often that churches and theological systems use it as stick to enforce their authority, not as a means to show God\u2019s holiness.<\/p>\n
Any thoughts you might have would be appreciated.<\/p>\n
Thank you,
<\/i><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A letter from a reader, to which I responded in private. Permission was granted for publication of this letter. Scot, I hope this email finds you healthy and well.\u00a0 I am looking for some guidance or help working through a theological question(s). In the last few days\/weeks\/months I have increasingly been wrestling with a theology […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[337],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-theology"],"yoast_head":"\n