Escapist Solution to the Problem of Hell

Authors
Mahboobeh Pakdel
Bahram Alizadeh
University of Tehran
Abstract
According to the problem of hell, the traditional doctrine of Hell, Hell as a retributive place for eternal punishment_ is inconsistent with some certain attributes of God such as just and loving. Proponents of escapism_ a version of issuantism_ contend that with revising in the traditional view of Hell, they have resources to provide a response to this problem. Firstly, escapists dispense with any understanding of Hell as retribution for crimes, and secondly, residing in Hell is not necessarily eternal. Although Hell can exist permanently and even some persons reside there, all the residents of Hell can constantly be provided with the opportunities to leave Hell and be in comm:union: with God. Yet, there are some objections, including confusion between the doctrine of Purgatory and the doctrine of Hell, leading to defending from a version of universalism which is rejected by the mainstream of Christian theology, treating Heaven and Hell asymmetrically, that pose serious challenges to escapism. Given these objections, it seems that escapists (Buckareff and Plug), firstly, are not able to respond to some of the most important criticisms of escapism, and secondly, they cannot draw a clear line between this view and similar views in the tradition of Christian theology.
Keywords
Hell
Eternal Punishment
The Problem of Evil
Escapism
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Metaphysical Research
Volume 3, Issue 1 - Serial Number 5
April 2022
Pages 385-416