{"id":6487,"date":"2022-09-29T06:59:41","date_gmt":"2022-09-29T13:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/blog\/archives\/"},"modified":"2023-05-26T13:21:39","modified_gmt":"2023-05-26T20:21:39","slug":"the-bible-says-hell-glorifies-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/blog\/archives\/the-bible-says-hell-glorifies-god","title":{"rendered":"The Bible Says Hell Glorifies God?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In previous blog essays, I’ve expressed my disdain for the belief that hell glorifies God<\/a>. Those who advance this idea, however, say it has biblical support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romans 9<\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The ninth chapter of Romans is most often marshaled as evidence for the claim that hell glorifies God. The key passages are verses 22-24, but a quick overview of the chapter seems necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romans 9 can be interpreted as saying God sovereignly predestines all that occurs. Those who interpret it in this way point to verses that speak of God loving Jacob but hating Esau, God hardening Pharoah\u2019s heart, and a potter (God) determining the clay\u2019s use. Although Paul\u2019s overall arguments in the book of Romans appeal to creaturely freedom to choose salvation, predestinarians of this stripe think God alone decides the fates of everyone.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point of Romans 9, however, is not the predestination of each person. It\u2019s an argument for why God includes those outside Israel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God uses negative actions \u2013 Esau\u2019s, Pharaoh\u2019s, or those who reject Paul\u2019s message \u2013 to bring about something positive. God is squeezing good from the bad God didn\u2019t want in the first place.[2]<\/a> As God wrings something right from what was wrong, argues Paul, God invites those outside Israel to a loving relationship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who are we to limit God’s inclusive love?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verses 22-24<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In this context we find Romans 9:22-24, the passage often used to claim hell glorifies God. I\u2019ll cite the New International Version translation: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath\u2014prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory \u2014 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul is asking a series of rhetorical questions to make an argument. The key line allegedly related to hell is this: \u201cbore with great patience the objects of his wrath\u2014prepared for destruction.\u201d Those who think hell glorifies God interpret this to mean God prepared some for damnation. But those \u201cwhom he prepared in advance for glory\u201d are predestined for heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two Verbs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The key to making sense of this passage is to see the differences between the verbs translated \u201cprepared\u201d in verses 22 and 23. The first (katartizo<\/em>) is passive. This passive verb has no subject, which means it does not <\/em>say God does the preparing. Katartizo <\/em>is better understood as referring to natural negative consequences. Paul says that sin by definition is destructive; it reaps negative consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second verb translated \u201cprepared\u201d (proetoimazo<\/em>) is active. This is <\/em>something God does. Because of everlasting mercy, God prepares in advance the glory that comes from love.[3]<\/a> References to divine glory in this passage, therefore, refer to God\u2019s mercy in calling both Jews and Gentiles, not to God\u2019s predestining some for hell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main point: divine glory is revealed when God \u201cbore with great patience\u201d the harm caused by sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cwrath\u201d Paul mentions in this passage refers to God\u2019s anger, not divine punishment. God gets angry when we hurt ourselves, one another, and the earth. Sin destroys. Despite being angry at sin\u2019s destructiveness, says Paul, God is patient. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s glory is revealed in merciful patience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Verses Retranslated<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Paul\u2019s convoluted sentences muddy our interpretive waters. If I were translating the passage, I would render it something like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if God, although showing anger at the destruction sin causes and although powerful, is patient? What if God is patient even though angry at this destructiveness? A<\/em>nd what if this patience displays the riches of divine glory, the glory of God\u2019s everlasting love for everyone God calls, which is all of us, Jew and Gentile?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul refers to divine glory by saying God\u2019s loving patience should amaze us. Despite sin, evil, and destruction, God patiently and mercifully calls all to love. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s what’s glorious!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For How Long is God Patient?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOkay, the passage is saying God is patient,\u201d I can hear a reader say. \u201cBut for how long is God patient? Maybe hell is evidence that God\u2019s patience has limits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat if God\u2019s patience is everlasting?\u201d I respond. \u201cWhat if God\u2019s nature of love means divine patience is limitless?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInteresting,\u201d the reader might say. \u201cWhat would everlasting patience look like?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll explain in a moment,\u201d I might say. \u201cBut first let me ask a question, Which do you find more glorious?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. The idea God sends some to hell and others to heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. The idea God patiently woos everyone to embrace eternal happiness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s easy,\u201d the reader might reply. \u201cI\u2019m more in awe of a God who works patiently for the happiness of all!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWelcome to the logic of love,\u201d I respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> \u201cPredestination\u201d can be understood in various ways. In this essay, I\u2019ll use the word to refer to a Calvinist view that says God predestines some to damnation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> For what I call this \u201cdidactic\u201d dimension to solving the problem of evil, see Thomas Jay Oord, God Can\u2019t: How to Believe in God and Love after Tragedy, Abuse, and Other Evils <\/em>(Grasmere, Id.: SacraSage, 2019), ch. 4, and Pluriform Love: An Open and Relational Theology of Well-Being <\/em>(Grasmere, Id.: SacraSage, 2019), ch. 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3]<\/a> On the importance of the two Greek verbs and their tenses, see Ben Witherington III, Paul\u2019s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary<\/em> (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 258.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In previous blog essays, I’ve expressed my disdain for the belief that hell glorifies God. Those who advance this idea, however, say it has biblical support. Romans 9 The ninth chapter of Romans is most often marshaled as evidence for the claim that hell glorifies God. The key passages are verses 22-24, but a quick […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6179,6222,6226,7199,7200,7201],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-6487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-postmodern_philosophy_theology_and_culture","tag-punishment","tag-hell","tag-eternal-torment","tag-divine-wrath","tag-divine-punishment","tag-conscious-torment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6487\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6487"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=6487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}