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<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThere are several reasons why a person like me would be interested in David Bentley Hart\u2019s new book universalism, That All Shall Be Saved<\/a><\/em>. And I\u2019m going to outline those reasons, and explore Hart\u2019s arguments in this review (for all the details, see my extended summary here<\/a>).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWhat Exactly Are We Talking About?<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nChristian universalism, as espoused by Hart, is the view that hell is not eternal (it will only last for as long as it takes to purge evil from all of creation), and that all will achieve union with God so that God might be \u201call in all.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019ll unpack that in a moment.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBut Christian universalism is to be distinguished from universalism in general, which says that \u201call roads lead back to God\u201d because all religions really takes us on the same spiritual journey in the end.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHart, and most Christian universalists, claim that Christ\u2019s life, death, and resurrection, are fundamentally necessary for the redemption of all things\u2014and indeed, because Christ is the victor over sin and death, all things will eventually be reconciled to God (even if passing through the fires of hell, which are none other than the purifying glory of God).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThere are several reasons why a person like me would be interested in David Bentley Hart\u2019s new book universalism, That All Shall Be Saved<\/a><\/em>. And I\u2019m going to outline those reasons, and explore Hart\u2019s arguments in this review (for all the details, see my extended summary here<\/a>).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWhat Exactly Are We Talking About?<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nChristian universalism, as espoused by Hart, is the view that hell is not eternal (it will only last for as long as it takes to purge evil from all of creation), and that all will achieve union with God so that God might be \u201call in all.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019ll unpack that in a moment.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBut Christian universalism is to be distinguished from universalism in general, which says that \u201call roads lead back to God\u201d because all religions really takes us on the same spiritual journey in the end.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHart, and most Christian universalists, claim that Christ\u2019s life, death, and resurrection, are fundamentally necessary for the redemption of all things\u2014and indeed, because Christ is the victor over sin and death, all things will eventually be reconciled to God (even if passing through the fires of hell, which are none other than the purifying glory of God).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/40\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-30-at-2.29.19-PM.png\")
<\/a>Hart, however, is not very clear about his opponents in the book.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHart treats 1) \u201cinfernalists\u201d (his label for the \u201ceternal conscious torment by God\u201d view), 2) \u201chell is the place of our own making\u201d (C. S. Lewis), and 3) conditional immortality\/annihilation as if they were all the same view.\u00a0 In the end his book really only manages to land serious blows against the infernalists, leaving the other two options mostly intact.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIf you were hoping to read Hart as a way to get up to speed on the various debates about universalism, the different options or streams involved, or a detailed review of the biblical arguments for or against universalism, you will be sorely disappointed.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWhy Am I Interested in This Book (and why should you be)?<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI would consider myself a theological moderate or centrist, but evangelical nonetheless (even if that is a meaningless term these days).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI\u2019m interested in Hart\u2019s perspective because\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \t- I have friends wondering about or drawn to universalism.<\/li>\r\n \t
- My friends have friends drawn to universalism, and they aren\u2019t sure what to think or how to respond.<\/li>\r\n \t
- As a strong advocate of the Christus Victor<\/em> view of the atonement, I\u2019m wondering if this also entails a final victory over sin that would be universalist in nature.<\/li>\r\n \t
- I\u2019m curious how the same arguments I\u2019ve used to criticize aggressive views of Penal Substitutionary Atonement and Predestination are used by Hart to argue for universalism.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIn a sense, I\u2019m wondering whether or not the shifts in my theological matrix (much less Reformed, less literal view of hell, and Christus Victor<\/em>) should drive me toward universalism.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Why Moderates Will Like Hart\u2019s Book<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAs a theological moderate I can see why others, and certainly why theological progressives, will love this book.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \t- It offers merciless criticism of Reformed theology.<\/li>\r\n \t
- It seems to exposes the faulty (moral) logic of eternal damnation.<\/li>\r\n \t
- It gives the highest academic and intellectual firepower to a militantly universalist position.<\/li>\r\n \t
- And it seems to cover the essentials: God and creation, scriptural arguments, humanity, and freedom<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Instant Classic? Probably (for the wrong reasons)<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nMany have already claimed Hart\u2019s book will become an instant classic. And it probably will be, but for all the wrong reasons\u2014or rather for all the right reasons when it comes to diatribe.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe book is unrelentingly pugilistic in tone (Hart loves using big words. Outside of using \u201cpugilistic\u201d just now [which means \u201cone who boxes\/fights\u201d], I will refrain from such a pedantic practice).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHart constantly beats down opponents through cheap shots and emotional appeals. Hart is fond of pointing out every supposed \u201ccommunal self-deception\u201d and \u201ccollective derangement\u201d promoted by \u201cmoral idiocy\u201d disguised as \u201cspiritual subtlety,\u201d all of which would be discarded as so much \u201cdegrading nonsense\u201d and \u201csentimental obscurantism\u201d if we all weren\u2019t so committed to the fantasy of an eternal hell.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBut thankfully all who already agree with Hart have \u201ca properly functioning moral intelligence\u201d, and all opposed probably have \u201cone or two emotional pathologies\u201d, or they are full blown \u201creligious sociopaths\u201d who are \u201cpsychologically diseased.\u201d\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIt will be tempting for progressives (and moderates) to give in to these emotional appeals and calls to moral outrage.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBut as I hope to show, rather than being the proof that we have retained a shred of humanity, to follow Hart as he darts down the universalist hole is ultimately to lose the humanity created in God\u2019s image.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nFour Meditations, but Really Only Two Arguments<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAfter two introductory chapters (\u201cFraming the Questions\u201d and \u201cDoubting the Answers\u201d), Hart begins four meditations on universal reconciliation (again, see this for the details<\/a>).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n#1 Who is God? The Moral meaning of Creatio ex Nihilo<\/em><\/strong>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis meditation asks, Can we really call God good if God created even one finite being who is destined for infinite suffering? No, Hart answers, God would not be good if even one part of creation is damned. Rather, God would be a moral monster.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n#2 What is Judgment? A Reflection on Biblical Eschatology<\/strong>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis meditation asks, Is hell as eternal conscious torment inflicted by God really in the Bible? No, Hart answers, it is a distortion and projection to find hell in the Bible.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n#3 What is a Person? A Reflection on the Divine Image<\/strong>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis meditation asks, Can any human be saved if even one is damned? No, Hart answers, all of humanity must be saved in Christ or none of will be, for all are collectively created in\/by\/for Christ and this creation (of humanity) will have failed if even one is damned.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n#4 What is Freedom? A Reflection on the Rational Will<\/strong>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis meditation asks, Can a rational agent freely<\/em><\/strong> reject God forever and therefore rightfully receive eternal damnation? No, Hart argues, it is incoherent for a rational agent to always reject its own good end, and God is humanity\u2019s good end. Therefore we will eventually find our rest in the goodness of God, no matter how far or for how long we wander in sin away from that Good.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThese four meditation require quite a bit of metaphysical unpacking to get at their theological freight\u2014and would cause this post to be much longer than it already is.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBut thankfully Hart\u2019s four meditations boil down to just two main arguments.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe Two Arguments Hart Makes: <\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nFirst Main Argument:<\/em><\/strong> God is good.\u00a0 Therefore, all<\/em><\/strong> creation will come to its good end (or, no evil part will remain eternally in creation).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nExpanded a little<\/strong>: If God is good then creation is good. But if any part of creation remains evil forever (or is annihilated), then God cannot be entirely good (only mostly good). But God\u2019s goodness must be displayed through everything so that God might be \u201call in all.\u201d\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis argument assumes all creation was created for the ultimate end of divine union (Hart\u2019s first meditation), and that humanity in particular cannot find rest apart from divine union (this is our created purpose according to Hart\u2019s third meditation).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nSecond Main Argument:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong> Every rational nature (humanity) is only truly free when it wills its own good end.\u00a0 Therefore, every rational nature will eventually will its own good end, which is found only in God (even if it takes the rational nature an extended stay in hell to purge encrusted layers of sin and evil).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nExpanded a little<\/strong>: Because every rational nature will ultimately rest in God, eternal conscious torment is impossible (Hart\u2019s fourth meditation). And happily the Bible confirms this by not talking about hell as an eternal place of conscious torment (Hart\u2019s second meditation).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIn both arguments Hart demands maximal metaphysical coherence and clarity.\u00a0 For Hart, to follow the premises of God\u2019s goodness and human freedom is to arrive on the shores of universal redemption.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWe will leave Hart\u2019s demand for perfect logical coherence and clarity to the side for now (except to say that usually it is heretics who demand such coherence and clarity, and that orthodoxy usually holds two truths together, like one God and three persons [Trinity] or one person and two natures [Christology]).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI will even concede that Hart\u2019s logic is indeed impeccable, given the terms of the debate.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBut it is the terms of the debate that I reject.\u00a0 And it is why moderates (and progressives) should reject Hart\u2019s universalism.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHart loses the personal<\/em><\/strong> in the midst his logical <\/em><\/strong>metaphysical, which is all the more ironic given Hart\u2019s antipathy for the Western style of theology that supposedly emphasizes natures <\/em><\/strong>over persons.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nOr said differently, Hart offers an inverted Calvinism where God determines that all will and must be saved, to the loss of human dignity and agency.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe One Main Problem: Image of God Lost<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHart gets humanity tragically wrong.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWe should understand our theological anthropology (imago dei<\/em>) through a biblical grid of what \u201cimage\u201d means in Genesis.\u00a0 But instead of this Hart runs his version of the \u201cimage of God\u201d through Gregory of Nyssa\u2019s (neo)platonic grid which reduces humanity\u2019s goal and destiny to divine union (which is not wrong, but it is incomplete).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAs Catherine McDowell\u2019s The Image of God in the Garden of Eden<\/a><\/em> has clearly shown (see also Middleton\u2019s The Liberating Image<\/a><\/em>), the imago dei <\/em>is a two-fold reality (in a popular read, my wife and I also explore the journey of imago dei<\/em> through the entire story of the Bible in Does God Really Like Me?<\/a><\/em>).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nFirst<\/em><\/strong>, the divine image speaks of presence<\/strong>.\u00a0 We were made for union with God as the divine \u201cidols\u201d placed within the garden\/creation temple of God.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWe are made for divine union.\u00a0 Hart gets this part right.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nSecond<\/em><\/strong>, the divine image speaks of purpose<\/strong>. We were made to rule in and extend the kingdom of God.\u00a0 Are are authorized co-rulers, even co-creators<\/strong>, of God\u2019s kingdom.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWe are made for kingdom extension.\u00a0 Hart gets this part wrong, and therefore gets it all wrong.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHart collapses human purpose<\/em><\/strong> into divine presence <\/em><\/strong>making his ontological commitments much more like cosmic monism (that everything lives\/exists as an extension of the divine essence).\u00a0 But a Christian theological anthropology (and doctrine of creation) must hold out extensive room for human co-creation.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWhy It Matters: Lost Dignity<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nUniversalism (and salvation for that matter) is not about God\u2019s goodness or human freedom (the terms on which Hart, and many infernalists, set the debate).\u00a0 It is about persons laboring with God or against God.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIf humans are co-creators and co-rulers with God, then this changes all of Hart\u2019s arguments.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIt is about persons\u2014and the dignity of a human being.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAs When Helping Hurts<\/a><\/em> and other works have made abundantly clear, removing all agency destroys dignity (and Hart is not really shy from admitting to determinism\u2014once the \u2018proper\u2019 metaphysics is acknowledged).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBut God didn\u2019t just come to save us from the disease of sin, or to destroy death (which it true).\u00a0 God also came to restore humanity a co-laborer in the kingdom, creative contributors to God\u2019s cosmos.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHart demands that all be saved or God is not good.\u00a0 But this demand destroys the respect and dignity that God gave humanity\u2014to create something<\/em><\/strong>, to add something to God\u2019s creation that wasn\u2019t there.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nDe-Creationg, Hell, and Annihilation<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe possibility that the Bible holds out (but that Hart\u2019s platonized metaphysical monism disallows) the possibility of co-creating with God, humanity could also create a zone of de-creation (anti-creation, anti-kingdom).\u00a0 This is the creation of sin and evil.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBig picture, the ultimate horizon of this de-creation within God\u2019s good creation seems to be either total implosion (annihilation) or a quarantining of this de-creation (hell of one\u2019s own choosing).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nEither could be viewed as God\u2019s respect for the dignity<\/em><\/strong> of humanity\u2019s ability to create.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAligning Presence and Purpose: Heaven and Hell<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nUltimately God will always align or bless the image of God in us by aligning our presence and our purposes.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nOn the one hand God will align our desire for God\u2019s presence (divine union) and co-laboring in God\u2019s purposes (kingdom extension). This is salvation in Christ, by the Spirit, within the Father\u2019s family.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis aligning will be a blessing, and salvation.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nOn the other hand, God will also align us with our desire to be away from God\u2019s presence (divine absence) and to follow our own purposes (self-loving kingdom).\u00a0 This is the \u201chell of one\u2019s own creation\u201d or \u201cannihilation\u201d (and the former could still be called \u201ceternal conscious torment\u201d).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis aligning will feels like a curse, and damnation.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIt seems just as plausible that God will respect our dignity (not just our freedom) in judging our ultimate destinies.\u00a0 And because of this, something like hell seems to be part of the Christian story\u2014as unseemly as we might think it to be.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBy Geoff Holsclaw<\/em><\/strong><\/a>: a theology professor at Northern Seminary and pastor Vineyard North<\/em>.<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[Abstract of this review by Geoff Holsclaw] My fundamental concern is that our humanity is at stake\u2014our dignity (not just our freedom). And this is the reason moderates\u2014and progressives\u2014should reject David Bentley Hart\u2019s universalism: he loses the unique beauty (and disaster) of the human person in his relentless pursuit of metaphysical clarity and coherence. There […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":87756,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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- \r\n \t
- I have friends wondering about or drawn to universalism.<\/li>\r\n \t
- My friends have friends drawn to universalism, and they aren\u2019t sure what to think or how to respond.<\/li>\r\n \t
- As a strong advocate of the Christus Victor<\/em> view of the atonement, I\u2019m wondering if this also entails a final victory over sin that would be universalist in nature.<\/li>\r\n \t
- I\u2019m curious how the same arguments I\u2019ve used to criticize aggressive views of Penal Substitutionary Atonement and Predestination are used by Hart to argue for universalism.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIn a sense, I\u2019m wondering whether or not the shifts in my theological matrix (much less Reformed, less literal view of hell, and Christus Victor<\/em>) should drive me toward universalism.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Why Moderates Will Like Hart\u2019s Book<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAs a theological moderate I can see why others, and certainly why theological progressives, will love this book.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
- \r\n \t
- It offers merciless criticism of Reformed theology.<\/li>\r\n \t
- It seems to exposes the faulty (moral) logic of eternal damnation.<\/li>\r\n \t
- It gives the highest academic and intellectual firepower to a militantly universalist position.<\/li>\r\n \t
- And it seems to cover the essentials: God and creation, scriptural arguments, humanity, and freedom<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Instant Classic? Probably (for the wrong reasons)<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nMany have already claimed Hart\u2019s book will become an instant classic. And it probably will be, but for all the wrong reasons\u2014or rather for all the right reasons when it comes to diatribe.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe book is unrelentingly pugilistic in tone (Hart loves using big words. Outside of using \u201cpugilistic\u201d just now [which means \u201cone who boxes\/fights\u201d], I will refrain from such a pedantic practice).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHart constantly beats down opponents through cheap shots and emotional appeals. Hart is fond of pointing out every supposed \u201ccommunal self-deception\u201d and \u201ccollective derangement\u201d promoted by \u201cmoral idiocy\u201d disguised as \u201cspiritual subtlety,\u201d all of which would be discarded as so much \u201cdegrading nonsense\u201d and \u201csentimental obscurantism\u201d if we all weren\u2019t so committed to the fantasy of an eternal hell.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBut thankfully all who already agree with Hart have \u201ca properly functioning moral intelligence\u201d, and all opposed probably have \u201cone or two emotional pathologies\u201d, or they are full blown \u201creligious sociopaths\u201d who are \u201cpsychologically diseased.\u201d\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIt will be tempting for progressives (and moderates) to give in to these emotional appeals and calls to moral outrage.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBut as I hope to show, rather than being the proof that we have retained a shred of humanity, to follow Hart as he darts down the universalist hole is ultimately to lose the humanity created in God\u2019s image.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Four Meditations, but Really Only Two Arguments<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAfter two introductory chapters (\u201cFraming the Questions\u201d and \u201cDoubting the Answers\u201d), Hart begins four meditations on universal reconciliation (again, see this for the details<\/a>).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n#1 Who is God? The Moral meaning of Creatio ex Nihilo<\/em><\/strong>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis meditation asks, Can we really call God good if God created even one finite being who is destined for infinite suffering? No, Hart answers, God would not be good if even one part of creation is damned. Rather, God would be a moral monster.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n#2 What is Judgment? A Reflection on Biblical Eschatology<\/strong>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis meditation asks, Is hell as eternal conscious torment inflicted by God really in the Bible? No, Hart answers, it is a distortion and projection to find hell in the Bible.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n#3 What is a Person? A Reflection on the Divine Image<\/strong>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis meditation asks, Can any human be saved if even one is damned? No, Hart answers, all of humanity must be saved in Christ or none of will be, for all are collectively created in\/by\/for Christ and this creation (of humanity) will have failed if even one is damned.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n#4 What is Freedom? A Reflection on the Rational Will<\/strong>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis meditation asks, Can a rational agent freely<\/em><\/strong> reject God forever and therefore rightfully receive eternal damnation? No, Hart argues, it is incoherent for a rational agent to always reject its own good end, and God is humanity\u2019s good end. Therefore we will eventually find our rest in the goodness of God, no matter how far or for how long we wander in sin away from that Good.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThese four meditation require quite a bit of metaphysical unpacking to get at their theological freight\u2014and would cause this post to be much longer than it already is.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBut thankfully Hart\u2019s four meditations boil down to just two main arguments.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The Two Arguments Hart Makes: <\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nFirst Main Argument:<\/em><\/strong> God is good.\u00a0 Therefore, all<\/em><\/strong> creation will come to its good end (or, no evil part will remain eternally in creation).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nExpanded a little<\/strong>: If God is good then creation is good. But if any part of creation remains evil forever (or is annihilated), then God cannot be entirely good (only mostly good). But God\u2019s goodness must be displayed through everything so that God might be \u201call in all.\u201d\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis argument assumes all creation was created for the ultimate end of divine union (Hart\u2019s first meditation), and that humanity in particular cannot find rest apart from divine union (this is our created purpose according to Hart\u2019s third meditation).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nSecond Main Argument:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong> Every rational nature (humanity) is only truly free when it wills its own good end.\u00a0 Therefore, every rational nature will eventually will its own good end, which is found only in God (even if it takes the rational nature an extended stay in hell to purge encrusted layers of sin and evil).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nExpanded a little<\/strong>: Because every rational nature will ultimately rest in God, eternal conscious torment is impossible (Hart\u2019s fourth meditation). And happily the Bible confirms this by not talking about hell as an eternal place of conscious torment (Hart\u2019s second meditation).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIn both arguments Hart demands maximal metaphysical coherence and clarity.\u00a0 For Hart, to follow the premises of God\u2019s goodness and human freedom is to arrive on the shores of universal redemption.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWe will leave Hart\u2019s demand for perfect logical coherence and clarity to the side for now (except to say that usually it is heretics who demand such coherence and clarity, and that orthodoxy usually holds two truths together, like one God and three persons [Trinity] or one person and two natures [Christology]).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI will even concede that Hart\u2019s logic is indeed impeccable, given the terms of the debate.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBut it is the terms of the debate that I reject.\u00a0 And it is why moderates (and progressives) should reject Hart\u2019s universalism.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHart loses the personal<\/em><\/strong> in the midst his logical <\/em><\/strong>metaphysical, which is all the more ironic given Hart\u2019s antipathy for the Western style of theology that supposedly emphasizes natures <\/em><\/strong>over persons.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nOr said differently, Hart offers an inverted Calvinism where God determines that all will and must be saved, to the loss of human dignity and agency.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The One Main Problem: Image of God Lost<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHart gets humanity tragically wrong.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWe should understand our theological anthropology (imago dei<\/em>) through a biblical grid of what \u201cimage\u201d means in Genesis.\u00a0 But instead of this Hart runs his version of the \u201cimage of God\u201d through Gregory of Nyssa\u2019s (neo)platonic grid which reduces humanity\u2019s goal and destiny to divine union (which is not wrong, but it is incomplete).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAs Catherine McDowell\u2019s The Image of God in the Garden of Eden<\/a><\/em> has clearly shown (see also Middleton\u2019s The Liberating Image<\/a><\/em>), the imago dei <\/em>is a two-fold reality (in a popular read, my wife and I also explore the journey of imago dei<\/em> through the entire story of the Bible in Does God Really Like Me?<\/a><\/em>).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nFirst<\/em><\/strong>, the divine image speaks of presence<\/strong>.\u00a0 We were made for union with God as the divine \u201cidols\u201d placed within the garden\/creation temple of God.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWe are made for divine union.\u00a0 Hart gets this part right.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nSecond<\/em><\/strong>, the divine image speaks of purpose<\/strong>. We were made to rule in and extend the kingdom of God.\u00a0 Are are authorized co-rulers, even co-creators<\/strong>, of God\u2019s kingdom.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWe are made for kingdom extension.\u00a0 Hart gets this part wrong, and therefore gets it all wrong.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHart collapses human purpose<\/em><\/strong> into divine presence <\/em><\/strong>making his ontological commitments much more like cosmic monism (that everything lives\/exists as an extension of the divine essence).\u00a0 But a Christian theological anthropology (and doctrine of creation) must hold out extensive room for human co-creation.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Why It Matters: Lost Dignity<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nUniversalism (and salvation for that matter) is not about God\u2019s goodness or human freedom (the terms on which Hart, and many infernalists, set the debate).\u00a0 It is about persons laboring with God or against God.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIf humans are co-creators and co-rulers with God, then this changes all of Hart\u2019s arguments.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIt is about persons\u2014and the dignity of a human being.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAs When Helping Hurts<\/a><\/em> and other works have made abundantly clear, removing all agency destroys dignity (and Hart is not really shy from admitting to determinism\u2014once the \u2018proper\u2019 metaphysics is acknowledged).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBut God didn\u2019t just come to save us from the disease of sin, or to destroy death (which it true).\u00a0 God also came to restore humanity a co-laborer in the kingdom, creative contributors to God\u2019s cosmos.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHart demands that all be saved or God is not good.\u00a0 But this demand destroys the respect and dignity that God gave humanity\u2014to create something<\/em><\/strong>, to add something to God\u2019s creation that wasn\u2019t there.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
De-Creationg, Hell, and Annihilation<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe possibility that the Bible holds out (but that Hart\u2019s platonized metaphysical monism disallows) the possibility of co-creating with God, humanity could also create a zone of de-creation (anti-creation, anti-kingdom).\u00a0 This is the creation of sin and evil.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBig picture, the ultimate horizon of this de-creation within God\u2019s good creation seems to be either total implosion (annihilation) or a quarantining of this de-creation (hell of one\u2019s own choosing).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nEither could be viewed as God\u2019s respect for the dignity<\/em><\/strong> of humanity\u2019s ability to create.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Aligning Presence and Purpose: Heaven and Hell<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nUltimately God will always align or bless the image of God in us by aligning our presence and our purposes.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nOn the one hand God will align our desire for God\u2019s presence (divine union) and co-laboring in God\u2019s purposes (kingdom extension). This is salvation in Christ, by the Spirit, within the Father\u2019s family.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis aligning will be a blessing, and salvation.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nOn the other hand, God will also align us with our desire to be away from God\u2019s presence (divine absence) and to follow our own purposes (self-loving kingdom).\u00a0 This is the \u201chell of one\u2019s own creation\u201d or \u201cannihilation\u201d (and the former could still be called \u201ceternal conscious torment\u201d).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis aligning will feels like a curse, and damnation.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIt seems just as plausible that God will respect our dignity (not just our freedom) in judging our ultimate destinies.\u00a0 And because of this, something like hell seems to be part of the Christian story\u2014as unseemly as we might think it to be.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBy Geoff Holsclaw<\/em><\/strong><\/a>: a theology professor at Northern Seminary and pastor Vineyard North<\/em>.<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[Abstract of this review by Geoff Holsclaw] My fundamental concern is that our humanity is at stake\u2014our dignity (not just our freedom). And this is the reason moderates\u2014and progressives\u2014should reject David Bentley Hart\u2019s universalism: he loses the unique beauty (and disaster) of the human person in his relentless pursuit of metaphysical clarity and coherence. There […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":87756,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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- I\u2019m curious how the same arguments I\u2019ve used to criticize aggressive views of Penal Substitutionary Atonement and Predestination are used by Hart to argue for universalism.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIn a sense, I\u2019m wondering whether or not the shifts in my theological matrix (much less Reformed, less literal view of hell, and Christus Victor<\/em>) should drive me toward universalism.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n