Hick believes that his theodicy requires a belief in "universal salvation" -- that all will enter eternal life and that no one will enter eternal suffering and damnation.
Hick believes that his theodicy requires a belief in "universal salvation" -- that all will enter eternal life and that no one will enter eternal suffering and damnation.
Hick thinks that God's infinite goodness is incompatible with eternal damnation for some.
He admits a tension in this, however, since each of us has free will and thus could choose to reject God eternally. But Hick thinks that a good God would continually try to "win back" the sinner -- and may eventually succeed in winning everyone back. Or perhaps, Hick hints, God may simply annihilate the sinner who will forever refuse to be won back.
Hick believes that his theodicy requires a belief in "universal salvation" -- that all will enter eternal life and that no one will enter eternal suffering and damnation.
Hick thinks that God's infinite goodness is incompatible with eternal damnation for some.
He admits a tension in this, however, since each of us has free will and thus could choose to reject God eternally. But Hick thinks that a good God would continually try to "win back" the sinner -- and may eventually succeed in winning everyone back. Or perhaps, Hick hints, God may simply annihilate the sinner who will forever refuse to be won back.