Claire preached in church on Sunday. I thought she had something to say to Joanna's Philosophy teacher.
Mr Joseph asked Joanna "If God is good, why would he send those he 'loves' to hell?"
We agree that the Creator, being all powerful, must have created the possibility of 'Hell' in the first place. That is an interesting thought. Claire was speaking from the famous story of the prodigal son. The key here was not that the son was not 'sent to hell'. He chose to go. One could wonder whether the son really knew what he was choosing. He wanted the 'good' bits, but may not have considered the consequences in the round. He also chose to return to his father.
I agree that this passage indicates, as noted by John Powell, that God does not 'send' anyone to Hell. Sometimes it's us who choose to go there ourselves. We have the freedom to wander, but the morality question is interesting. We tread into a world littered with landmines.
My thought is that perhaps we have to go though these ordeals in life in order to be ready for the future. Without it we could not understand the the full consequence of the freedom on offer. Freedom will surely still exist, but like the father, we will understand the full picture.
What about those who genuinely enjoy seeing other suffering?
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