Excerpt: Are the Doors of Hell Locked on the Inside?
From my recent book: "Until the Last One's Found: An Introduction to Universal Reconciliation and Restoration"
“The doors of hell are locked on the inside.”
This isn’t really an argument for eternal conscious torment, but it’s frequently offered as a way of making an eternal hell more understandable or even more tolerable (at least as a concept). This common description of hell comes from a well-known quote of C. S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain. The idea is that the lost in hell are choosing an existence without God—even if it requires the torments of hell—and they wouldn’t leave even if they could. I admit, I’ve referred to this picture of hell many times over the years myself. It does make the idea of torment in hell seem easier to accept.
But there’s one real problem with this familiar description. The Bible doesn’t actually describe hell this way . . . ever. There isn’t one place in Scripture where it describes judgment in hell as something people are actively choosing and which they would resist ever leaving. Instead, this postmortem torment is always seen as something imposed on people by God, something to which they’re subjected. So, this description may comfort us in some ways, and I understand the appeal. But it’s not at all in harmony with what we see of hell in Scripture. No, we have to deal with the actual reality of the torment of hell as described in the New Testament.
I don’t find any clear biblical references or convincing theological arguments that would require belief in eternal conscious torment. That’s a surprising realization, I understand! But we’ve looked at all the most familiar Scripture passages and theological claims used to support this traditional view, and none stand up to careful scrutiny. But are there any compelling arguments for universal salvation? Is there actually a scriptural case to be made that no one will be eternally lost, but that all will be reconciled to God and restored? We now need to face that question as we begin examining the universal reconciliation and restoration view.
From chapter seven, “Considering the Theological Case for Eternal Conscious Torment” in Until the Last One’s Found: An Introduction to Universal Reconciliation and Restoration by Curt Parton.