Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 5:09 pm
Luke,
You're so right about the selective appeal of Lewis, and that he indeed did not follow his mentor, MacDonald, on the ability of God's sovereign love to overcome hell. He did lessen the difficulty of ECT by recreating 'hell' as a place so tame that no one could ever prefer to leave it (did Jesus portray it as something that would be that appreciated?). But I think the reason we eccentrics are stunned by his quote, is precisely that despite believing that he must reject ultimate hope for much of God's creation, he still seems to grasp the rationale that is compelling to universalists: that believing in a God who sponsors unredeemed 'atrocities' would require the radical denial of one of the most compelling truths that God Himself has graciously given to us made in His image, a moral conscience and ability to recognize goodness.
You're so right about the selective appeal of Lewis, and that he indeed did not follow his mentor, MacDonald, on the ability of God's sovereign love to overcome hell. He did lessen the difficulty of ECT by recreating 'hell' as a place so tame that no one could ever prefer to leave it (did Jesus portray it as something that would be that appreciated?). But I think the reason we eccentrics are stunned by his quote, is precisely that despite believing that he must reject ultimate hope for much of God's creation, he still seems to grasp the rationale that is compelling to universalists: that believing in a God who sponsors unredeemed 'atrocities' would require the radical denial of one of the most compelling truths that God Himself has graciously given to us made in His image, a moral conscience and ability to recognize goodness.