Resurrection, Hell, and Final Judgment

Let's suppose that a hypothetical person named McJones, a virtuous and well-liked husband, father, and grandfather, who died of old age and natural causes in the year 1952, was a committed atheist and unbeliever in God.

On the Day of Final Judgment, one of God's decisions to consider is whether to resurrect McJones.

For the purposes of this example, I am assuming that 'Day of Final Judgment' and 'Resurrection Day' are two ways of saying the same thing, and perhaps this is a harmless assumption. I am also assuming  that some form of materialism is true of human persons, which entails that McJones really is dead and that God really would need to resurrect McJones in order for McJones to stand before God on this day. Finally, let's assume that God is apprised and aware of all of the biographical details regarding McJones' virtue and unbelief.

Given these assumptions, is it reasonable to think that God would resurrect McJones on the Day of Final Judgment?

Suppose some universalist theory is true, according to which everyone goes to heaven. In this case, considering that McJones was virtuous and well-liked in life, it seems reasonable to think that God would resurrect McJones in order that McJones may appear before judgment and proceed to heaven.

Suppose that no universalist theory is true, however, and so not everyone qualifies for heaven. Furthermore, suppose that the biographical details of McJones' unbelief are sufficient to disqualify McJones from heaven. Finally, let's assume that God, because he was apprised of these biographical details at the time, understood this disqualification in 1952.

Given these assumptions, is it reasonable to think that God would resurrect McJones on the Day of Final Judgment?

There are at least three cases:

(1) God resurrects McJones. McJones stands before judgment. McJones is banished to hell.

(2) God resurrects McJones. McJones stands before judgment. God annihilates McJones.

(3) God declines to resurrect McJones.

Of these three options, I think it is most reasonable to think that God chooses (3) and declines to resurrect McJones.

Can the doctrine of The Fall be saved?

Suppose we boil the doctrine of The Fall down to the following basic thesis:

(F) The disobedient acts of the first human persons ruined all of creation and caused God to be hidden.

According to tradition, 'ruined all of creation' explains why the world contains as much pain, suffering, disaster, and mortality as it does. In short, we are told that (F) entails something like the further thesis

(E) The disobedient acts of the first human persons are the reason that the world contains pain, suffering, disaster, and mortality.

But we have every empirical reason to reject (E). We know from, e.g., the fossil record that creatures have been suffering and eating each other and dying for hundreds of millions of years prior to the activity of any human persons. So, we know that (E) is false. By modus tollens, (F) must be false too.
Which raises two questions: To what extent does the tradition still endorse (F) and (E)? If, on the other hand, the tradition gave up on (F) and (E), approximately when?

The extent to which 20th century analytic philosophers of religion have, e.g., defended premises and assumptions such that natural evil is a necessary condition for the observed regularities of the natural world, which regularities are themselves in turn necessary for the acquisition and development of moral knowledge in human persons. What's become a commonplace in discussions of the problem of divine hiddenness -- that it is necessary for God to hide in order to protect his creatures from epistemic coercion -- explicitly contradicts (F). Another prominent example might be Plantinga's suggestion that it is possible that each and every human person suffers from transworld depravity, according to which, for every human person, there is no possible world in which that person performs only morally good actions. Insofar as tradition emphasizes that The Fall is a human failure, it may create tension to think that every world that contains human persons was unavoidably bound to be a fallen world.

The Dilemma of Freedom in Eden

Traditional versions of Christianity appear to be inconsistent in a variety of ways. The following example is one way to draw this out. First, a very simple telling of the Christian story.

God created human persons to be free, and in the Garden human persons enjoyed this freedom in the presence of God. Human persons abused their freedom, the story goes, and chose to chase God away. Once God was chased away, creation has been ruined ever since, and God must remain hidden. This situation is irrevocable, unless God accomplishes the Incarnation and Atonement, which opens the possibility for human persons once again to be free and in the presence of God. This reunion must wait until heaven, however. Furthermore, not all human persons will choose to be reunited with God in heaven. Some will continue to use their freedom in order to freely reject God, and these human persons will spend the afterlife in hell.

That is the story. And the story entails the following dilemma.

(1) Adam is in Garden, enjoys creaturely freedom in the presence of God, and *has* the ability to chase God away.

(2) Adam is in Heaven, enjoys creaturely freedom in the presence of God, and *lacks* the ability to chase God away.

(1) and (2) can't both be true. They are inconsistent. Which means that the story itself is inconsistent, because it entails an inconsistent set of consequences. Which means the story is false.

One way to resolve this dilemma would be to add a third statement which could render (1) and (2) consistent, such as the following:

(3) The words 'creaturely freedom' denote one type of freedom in the Garden, and a distinct type of freedom in Heaven.

The set of (1) through (3) is consistent. Though, now you'll have to modify the story, in order to reflect (3). Which, reveals a further dilemma:

(4) Adam has Garden-freedom in the Garden, and this is the creaturely freedom that God intended for Adam to have when he created Adam.

(5) Adam has Heaven-freedom in Heaven, and this is the creaturely freedom that God intended for Adam to have when he created Adam.

(4) and (5) can't both be true. So, insofar as our story entails (1) through (5), our story is still false. As before, we might add an additional statement:

(6) When God created Adam, God intended Adam to have one type of freedom in the Garden and another distinct type of freedom in Heaven.

As before, (1) through (6) are consistent, and we can modify the story accordingly. Though, it is doubtful whether the story can be modified without doing damage to many versions of the traditional Christian account.

For example, many versions of the traditional Christian account seem to entail something along the lines of the following:

(7) Heaven is God's way of restoring creation back to the way God intended it to be.

Even if (7) is a rough way to put it, the general idea seems clear. But, (6) and (7) are inconsistent.

(6) When God created Adam, God intended Adam to have one type of freedom in the Garden and another distinct type of freedom in Heaven. 

(7) Heaven is God's way of restoring creation back to the way God intended it to be.

Insofar as (6) and (7) are inconsistent, and that the story entails (6) and (7), the story is false.

Every Retributivist Theory of Hell is a Failure

Call any theory of hell according to which God consigns human persons to hell in order to mete out the just punishment for their sins a retributivist theory of hell (hereafter, R-theory).

My claim is this: If any R-Theory of hell is true, then I have no reason to be afraid of hell. In support of this claim, I will provide a cluster of interrelated arguments.

I will employ no theological premises. Instead, my arguments will rest entirely upon rational moral principles which any reasonable person can be expected to accept. And this approach is fitting and appropriate, considering that R-theories are characteristically spelled out in terms of a rational moral framework of justice (e.g., crime and punishment).

For purposes of convenience, here is a list of the rational principles I will appeal to for support.

(MP1) Every crime must either be punished or pardoned.
(MP2) Any person who commits a crime ought to serve the punishment for that crime, unless it has been pardoned.
(MP3) Any punishment must fit the crime.
(MP4) For any crime, if that crime has been pardoned, then there exists a just and reasonable basis for which pardon has been granted.
(MP5) It is unjust to punish any person for a crime they didn't commit.
(MP6) It is not the case that a person who has been both convicted and pardoned of a crime is therefore obligated to accept either the conviction or the pardon for that crime.
(MP7) The punishment for any crime that has been justly pardoned is stayed.

Those are the principles. Here is the cluster of arguments.

ARGUMENT 1
Assume some R-theory of hell is true. Either I'm guilty of crimes that deserve punishment in hell, or I'm not. If I'm not guilty, then no worries, by MP5 I can't be sent to hell. Even if I am guilty, there are only two alternatives. Either (according to MP1 and MP2 and MP4) I am justly punished or justly pardoned. Regardless: any one of all three outcomes would be just and what I deserve, and worst-case scenario is that (by MP3) I serve a punishment fit to my crime. So, on the assumption that some R-theory of hell is true, every outcome for me is just.

ARGUMENT 2
Assume some R-theory of hell is true. Furthermore, assume it is true that I am guilty of crimes that deserve punishment in hell. Furthermore, assume that my crimes have been pardoned. By MP4, the pardon is just. And, by MP6, I am not obligated to accept either the conviction or the pardon. And, by MP7, my punishment is stayed. So, on the assumption that some R-theory of hell is true, and I am guilty but also that my crimes have been pardoned and my punishment stayed, the outcome for me is just.

ARGUMENT 3
Assume some R-theory of hell is true. According to Arguments 1 and 2, every outcome for me is just. If every outcome for me is just, then there is no reason for me to be afraid of hell. Thus, on the assumption that some R-theory of hell is true, there is no reason for me to be afraid of hell.

That is the cluster of arguments for the conclusion that there is no reason for me to be afraid of hell. Let's consider some objections.

OBJECTION 1
"None of your premises comes from the Bible! Therefore, your rational principles are false and your arguments are useless." Reply: The fact that MP1 through MP7 are not stated in the Bible does not entail that MP1 through MP7 are false. Compare: The statement 'Torturing babies with knives is morally wrong' does not occur in the Bible, but it is true. In general, the fact that MP1 through MP7 are not stated in the Bible does not entail that MP1 through MP7 are inconsistent with Scripture. In order to reject any of MP1 through MP7, one must justify his or her rejection by establishing that the principle in question is incompatible with something in Scripture. The objector can identify which of MP1 through MP7 is defective and why -- otherwise, Objection 1 fails.

OBJECTION 2
"Sure, your rational principles make sense to us. But, God doesn't have to follow your principles! God makes and follows his own moral principles." Reply: Either God abides MP1 through MP7, or he does not. If God does, then my Arguments proceed. If God does not, then God's rationale for his preferred R-theory is arbitrary and incomprehensible, in which case, God is capricious and it's anybody's guess who goes to hell and why. But God is not capricious. So, Objection 2 fails.

Are creatures morally obligated to worship God?

Given that God is wise and powerful and loving, given that he sustains creation from moment to moment, given that he is praiseworthy -- are creatures morally obligated to worship God? Perhaps the Christian tradition does entail that creatures are morally obligated because of such reasons to do certain things: worship God, ask God for forgiveness, seek salvation. Or, put another way, it is reasonable to think that the tradition entails that, say, failure to worship God is sinful, which the existence of a moral obligation to worship God would neatly explain.

The existence of such a moral obligation, though, might be seen to undercut typical responses to the problem of divine hiddenness.

For example, if creatures are morally obligated to worship God, this obligation seems to be less straightforward and mundane than the rest of our moral obligations (e.g., being kind, keeping promises, supporting loved ones). Which might tend one to think that God would have to take the unique non-obviousness of this obligation into consideration when carrying out his hiddenness campaign.

Does Satan have creaturely freedom?

According to the traditional account, Satan is a fallen angel (or, at least, a fallen creature). That Satan is fallen entails that Satan has creaturely freedom. Satan's fall was presumably temporally prior to Adam and Eve's fall (in other words, The Fall). And, presumably, Satan's being fallen is a result of Satan's disobeying God in some way.

While the traditional account explains that the cause of The Fall was Adam and Eve's disobedience, tradition is curiously silent about why it was human disobedience which caused The Fall and not Satan's.

One possibility is that Satan's disobedience did in fact result in a Primeval Fall which was temporally prior to The Fall. Perhaps it was the Primeval Fall which first ruined creation. If the Primeval Fall occurred millions or billions of years ago, this might even neatly explain why so-called natural evil is (very much) more ancient than The Fall.

Perhaps there is support in the tradition for the idea that the Primeval Fall took place 'in Heaven' -- or perhaps, in other words at least, a creaturely location that is nonlocally related to Earth. At any rate, according to tradition, Satan is spatiotemporally located in The Garden when he tempts Adam and Eve.

The details are unfortunately unclear, however, leaving us with a handful of difficulties.

First, suppose a Primeval Fall transpired in Heaven. Even Heaven is susceptible to the effects of creaturely freedom. This would suggest that creaturely freedom leads unavoidably to disobedience. For the purposes of the afterlife, then, God would have need to restrict the freedom of human persons in Heaven in order to prevent another Fall.

Second, the strongest replies to atheological Divine Hiddenness arguments involve a premise along the lines of 'God must be hidden in order to protect the epistemic and cognitive freedom of his creatures.' But the fact of a heavenly Primeval Fall would establish that being in the full presence of God does not compromise creaturely freedom.

Third, on the other hand, there is the conceptual difficulty of explaining how it is that Satan -- a rational free agent with full knowledge and experience of the presence of God -- rejects God. What rational grounds could Satan have for freely rejecting God, and unrepentantly so?

Creation and Fall: An Inconsistent Set

The traditional account of Creation and Fall is inconsistent, insofar as it entails the following inconsistent set of propositions.

(1) Disobedience to God caused the Fall.
(2) Satan disobeyed God prior to Adam and Eve.
(3) Adam and Eve caused the Fall.
(4) Satan did not cause the Fall.
(5) The first misuse of creaturely freedom caused the Fall.
(6) Only as a result of the Fall, God is now hidden.

The set of (1) through (6) is inconsistent; they cannot all be true. Insofar as the traditional account entails each of (1) through (6), the traditional account is false.

For the purposes of discussion, I have summarized the traditional account below.

Creation and Fall: The Traditional Account

Before creation, there was nothing in the world but God. Until there came a moment when God performed creation, and the universe was born. God spoke, and the universe was born out of nothing. God saw the universe, and said that it was good.

Among the things God created was The Garden. And it was in The Garden that God created human persons. God created human persons to be special, to reflect His own image. God created human persons to be free like Himself, free to choose between Good and Evil. God saw creaturely freedom, and said that it was good.

Adam and Eve were the first human persons in The Garden. Adam and Eve were happy and free in the presence of God.

Happy though they were with their lives in The Garden in the presence of God, one day Adam and Eve chose to do Evil. Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan (a powerful but wicked nonhuman person possessed of creaturely freedom) to disobey God and do Evil. Instead of obeying God's wishes to do Good, Adam and Eve used their freedom to disobey God.

This single human decision of Adam and Eve to disobey God caused The Fall.

The Fall ruined God's creation. God's creatures now must live lives full of pain and suffering and mortality. Adam and Eve were chased out of The Garden, forbidden to return. And not only did Adam and Eve cause life for God's creatures to be full of pain and suffering and mortality. Adam and Eve also caused God to be hidden. Adam and Eve caused God to be chased away.

Because of The Fall, creation contained now Evil as well as Good. The name of this Evil was Sin. Adam and Eve were not the first to choose Sin. Before Adam and Eve, Satan had abused his own freedom and chosen Sin. But it was Adam and Eve's first Sin which caused The Fall. Like Satan before them, Adam and Eve were now unclean from Sin.

The Fall and its effects were irrevocable. All of creation, and every of Adam and Eve's descendants, were ruined and unclean from Sin.