Hell

Hell Yes

Pope Francis allegedly declared recently that there is no such thing as Hell—only the annihilation of souls. Continue Reading »

6 Apr 2018

I have a problem with hell that goes beyond squeamishness. The problem is one of inserting the damned into God’s endgame, his final fix—creation brought to its triumphant completion. Doesn’t the presence of everlasting torment put a damper on the success story? I went to Aquinas for . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Aug 2017

The Gospel According to Jack Chick

by Samuel D. James

For those (like me) who grew up in conservative evangelical culture, Chick Tracts are instantly recognizable: the dark, apocalyptic artwork; the obscure human caricatures that somehow resemble everybody and nobody. And, of course, the fire-and-brimstone. Continue Reading »

2 Nov 2016

Last Things

by Mats Wahlberg

Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory: Rethinking the Things that Matter Mostby jerry l. wallsbrazos, 240 pages, $19.99 The opening sentence of this book declares that it “deals with the most important questions you will ever think about.” Jerry Walls—a philosophy professor at Houston Baptist . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jun 2016

Saint Origen

by David Bentley Hart

Amonth or so ago I found myself hovering at the edges of a long, rambling, repetitive intra-Orthodox theological debate over the question of universal salvation, and specifically the question of whether there exists any genuine ecclesial doctrine hostile to the idea. It is an issue that arises in . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Oct 2015

Theology's Umpire

by Kathryn Tanner

Decreation: The Last Things of All Creatures by paul griffiths baylor, 408 pages, $69.95 T here is much of surprising beauty in Paul Griffiths’s theological “speculations” about last things: death, final judgment, heaven, and hell. He affirms the authority of Catholic doctrine on these . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Oct 2015

The Population of Hell

by Avery Cardinal Dulles

Sometimes the complaint is heard that no one preaches about hell any longer. The subject of hell, if not attractive, is at least fascinating, as any reader of Dante’s Inferno or Milton’s Paradise Lost can testify. Equally fascinating, and decidedly more pressing, is the question of how many of . . . . Continue Reading »

1 May 2003

Evil: Back in Bad Company

by Graeme Hunter

Most Christian thinkers have viewed evil as a privation, a derivative reality, like a shadow. Shadows are privations of light; they are real things, but dependent on the bodies that cast the shadows. They are darkness where light should have been. Similarly evil, a secondary reality, is only the . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Mar 1994