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Universal Salvation and a Soteriology of Divine Punishment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 January 2009

Morwenna Ludlow
Morwenna Ludlow
Affiliation:
St John's College, Oxford 0X1 3JP
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Extract

Critics of the idea of universal salvation have frequently raised issues such as biblical evidence, human free will, and divine justice; however, somewhat less attention has been paid to the problems surrounding the concept of punishment used by some universalists. Since most universalists recognise the obvious objection that many (if not most) people appear not to be in a position in this life to be saved, there have been various suggestions as to how salvation can occur after the death of the individual. Many have taken the view that a period of post-mortem punishment will cleanse individuals of their sin. In other words, these universalists are not so much denying hell altogether, as denying an eternal hell. Whilst this idea may seem preferable to that of an eternal hell, there are various important theological and philosophical difficulties associated with it.

Type
Research Article
Information
Scottish Journal of Theology , Volume 53 , Issue 4 , November 2000 , pp. 449 - 471
Copyright
Copyright © Scottish Journal of Theology Ltd 2000

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