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Hell and the goodness of God

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 1999

WILKO VAN HOLTEN
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy of Religion, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80105, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands

Abstract

In this paper I contribute to the ongoing debate on hell in three ways: (1) I distinguish between three questions that play a key role in any discussion of the doctrine of hell; (2) I argue positively for the need of a doctrine of hell for Christian theism; (3) after evaluating several theological positions, I argue that the doctrine of hell should be construed as intrinsically bound up with the Christian conviction that God is love and wants to live with human beings in a relationship of mutual love and fellowship. From this perspective on hell I provide some fresh criticisms on the positions of John Hick, Thomas Talbott, and Charles Seymour.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1999 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

The research for this paper was funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).