Is Hell Eternal?

Let me say right up front that I hope hell is not eternal.

I hope God finds a way to offer his forgiveness even to those who are in hell.

In fact, I’ll jump on the speculative theological bandwagon and propose that God’s mercy–since it is everlasting–will extend even to hell.

I know I am treading on thin ice theologically, but let us affirm for the sake of argument that God is not willing for any to perish (2 Pt 3:9) and that God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that world through him might be saved. (Jn  3:17)

Let us suppose that this mercy extend even to the depths of hell forever and ever.

The problem is, I fear that there are some people–perhaps many people–probably many, many people who will not and cannot repent and acknowledge their need for forgiveness and they will do so for the rest of eternity.

What made me think of this was this article in the Daily Telegraph, in which the journalist basically says, “Pope Francis. Forgiveness for abortion? No thanks. I don’t need it.” Even more disturbing was this column by “Catholic” journalist Margery Egan at CRUX in which she basically says the same thing. In her Boston Catholic self righteous way Egan says, “You know there are some poor women who think they need forgiveness for abortion, and God bless ’em, the pope is being nice to them, but there are many others who say to the Pope, “It’s okay Holy Father, my abortion was okey dokey and I don’t really need forgiveness.”

In reading these columns it hit me that there are plenty of people–and not just hardened criminals in jail, but many nice, respectable Margery Egan types who really, honestly don’t think they have anything to repent of. They have condoned the slaughter and shredding of unborn children and perhaps murdered their own children in their own wombs and come away in full fledged denial and defiance saying cheerfully, “Forgiveness? What for? I haven’t done anything wrong! It was–after all–legal.”

I was reading about Dr Josef Mengele recently and apparently he was just the same. He had no remorse whatsoever and to the end believed that he had nothing to be sorry for.

These are the souls for whom hell must be eternal. Continue Reading