- Joined
- Apr 21, 2021
the book "That All Shall be Saved" by David Bentley Hart was my introduction to it.I'm not really familiar with them and their argument regarding this, but I'd appreciate you describing it or pointing towards a specific resource, whenever you might have the time.
In a nutshell, there are 2 or 3 verses in the new testament that are used to justify the idea of hell, but Hart (and all universalists) argue that the original Greek of those verses are misinterpreted.
The first misinterpretation is the idea of "eternal" punishment. Hart claims that the original Greek does not say "eternal," but instead refers to a long age, or different age, not an eternal one.
The second is the description of a fiery pit. Hart says the verses used for this description of hell are talking metaphorically about a trash burn pit outside Jerusalem as a place where you will end up if you sin. Like saying "your life is a dumpster fire" to someone who can't stop fucking up.
The above two arguments are the translation arguments, but Hart also makes a philosophical argument against the idea of an eternal hell in the book. I won't try to state it here. This article is a condensed version by Hart.
I find the arguments satisfying. I don't believe in an eternal torture chamber for non believers anymore. I don't know what the reality is, but I'm not going to keep believing in an objectively flawed interpretation for lack of a replacement.