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Eternally incorrigible: the continuing-sin response to the proportionality problem of hell

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2003

KENNETH EINAR HIMMA
KENNETH EINAR HIMMA
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Washington, Box 353350, Seattle, WA 98195
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Abstract

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According to the proportionality objection to hell, infinite suffering is out of proportion to any wrong that finite human beings could commit and is hence unjust and inconsistent with God's moral perfection. The continuing-sin response concedes that eternal consignment to hell is out of proportion to the sins people commit during their earthly lives, but argues that people in hell continue to sin while in hell and, in this way, extend their consignment to hell ad infinitum. In this essay, I evaluate the continuing-sin response. In particular, I argue that whether there is a proportionality problem to begin with and whether the continuing-sin response succeeds as a response depends on the character of the suffering that is experienced in hell.

Type
Research Article
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , March 2003 , pp. 61 - 78
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press