Free Thinker
- 2
- opiniones
- 4
- votos útiles
- 28
- calificaciones
-
That All Shall Be Saved
- Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation
- De: David Bentley Hart
- Narrado por: Derek Perkins
- Duración: 7 h y 3 m
- Versión completa
-
General4.5 out of 5 stars 453
-
Narración:5 out of 5 stars 392
-
Historia4.5 out of 5 stars 388
The great fourth-century church father Basil of Caesarea once observed that, in his time, most Christians believed that hell was not everlasting, and that all would eventually attain salvation. But today, this view is no longer prevalent within Christian communities. In this momentous book, David Bentley Hart makes the case that nearly two millennia of dogmatic tradition have misled readers on the crucial matter of universal salvation.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The most important part...
- De Mary Benton en 11-24-19
- That All Shall Be Saved
- Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation
- De: David Bentley Hart
- Narrado por: Derek Perkins
An antidote for an infernal problem
Revisado: 01-12-20
The problem of reconciling an eternal hell with a God of infinite goodness has perplexed both theologians and everyday believers for almost two millennia. One would need a calculator to compute the number of books, tracts, and sermons devoted to this very topic.
Dr. Hart takes a different approach than most of his colleagues. According to him, the dilemma is itself an illusion, because there is no eternal place of torment to rationalize away. Those who believe otherwise are either deluded or evil.
This is not exactly a new position, as Dr. Hart is careful to point out in the text. Universalism, or the belief that all human beings will eventually make their peace with God, was taught and faithfully believed during the first five centuries of the Christian era.
According to Dr. Hart, the church began to lose its way beginning with Augustine, who in his masterpiece The City of God describes human history as a tension between two unalterably opposed forces: the kingdom of Christ and the domain of the Devil.
According to Augustine, these two empires are destined to do battle until the end of time, at which point God will consign the evil ones to eternal conscious torment and welcome his blessed ones into his presence forever.
Dr. Hart shouts a hearty "amen" to most of Augustine's thesis, except for the part about evildoers suffering eternal conscious torment. This, he says, is logically and morally incomprehensible. By all means, those who commit horrific evil should pay for their atrocities. But not forever. This is utterly unjustified, even for people as vile as Hitler or Stalin.
So what will ultimately happen to those who spend their mortal lives inflicting pain on others? Dr. Hart says that they will get what they have coming, in the torments of Hell. But, unlike the traditional view, in Hart's model Hell is akin to the traditional Roman Catholic concept of Purgatory, a place of purging where the punishments are designed not so much for retributive as for redemptive purposes.
Simply put, some of us, maybe all of us, will have to go through Hell to get to Heaven.
Dr. Hart builds a strong case for this view. In the process, he deconstructs the numerous assumptions that underlie the traditional view of Hell. He explores the nature of personhood, the concept of freedom, and the role of Christ in redeeming humanity.
I want to keep this review brief, so I shan't elaborate on Dr. Hart's arguments. Instead I will focus on how his critics have responded to the book. I have noticed three typical "rebuttals" of his position, which are as follows:
1. The free will defense: This view says that God honors the freely made choices of his creatures, even when those decisions lead to eternal suffering.
This view is shaky on its surface and disintegrates upon closer examination. After all, no sane earthly parent would let his child run into a burning building simply because she wanted to. He might allow her to suffer a blister on her finger, just to show her why it's a bad idea. But "honor" her irrational choice to destroy herself? Only a lunatic or a sadist would follow that fallacious logic.
2. The argument from church history: This essentially says the Universalism must be false because of the church's long history of proselytizing. Why devote so much effort to spreading the Good News if eventually everyone will end up in the same place?
This argument rests upon the assumption that the only value that Christianity offers is its "get out of Hell free" pass. Since the assumption is false, so is the argument.
3. "Dr. Hart is smug and self-congratulatory; plus, he's a Socialist. So he must be wrong:" This is nothing but the old ad hominem argument, which has been repeated ad nauseum since the days of Aristotle. I won't bother refuting it since it doesn't deserve the effort. Suffice it to say that even a pretentious jerk can be right on occasion.
In other words, Dr. Hart's detractors, so far as I can tell, rely on straw man fallacies, appeals to consequences, or ad hominem attacks, all of which tells me that they have no answer to his arguments.
The question is 'why." Why would people who profess their love for all humanity be so resistant, so unalterably hostile, to the idea of Universalism?
Dr. Hart speculates that their true motivation is the desire for a "positional good."
In other words, it's no fun going to Heaven unless everyone you hate is going to Hell.
As someone who has spent his entire life around "Christians," I have no doubt whatsoever that Dr. Hart is correct in his appraisal. There are no more hateful, spiteful, or malicious people on earth than those tender-hearted followers of the gentle Savior who gave his life for humanity.
As proof, I refer you to any or all of the online message boards populated by people of faith. If there is a Devil, then he speaks through the mouths and keyboards of his most vociferous opponents.
Sadly, I must include Dr. Hart himself in their company. He is every bit as smug and self-congratulatory as the infernalists whom he takes to task in this otherwise excellent book.
In the name of combating pride and puritanism, he reveals himself over and over to be a proud puritan.
This is evident in the many personal attacks he launches throughout the text. Other reviewers have pointed to specific quotes of this nature in the book, so I won’t duplicate their efforts here.
However, I would say that Dr. Hart should spend a little less time pointing fingers and a lot more time looking in the mirror.
Other than this single, regrettable defect, I have nothing but praise for this book. It offers a much-needed remedy to a reproachable illness. I only wish that the good doctor would avail himself of the prescription he offers so heartily to others.
Se ha producido un error. Vuelve a intentarlo dentro de unos minutos.
Has calificado esta reseña.
Reportaste esta reseña
esto le resultó útil a 2 personas
-
The Birth of the Modern Mind: The Intellectual History of the 17th and 18th Centuries
- De: Alan Charles Kors, The Great Courses
- Narrado por: Alan Charles Kors
- Duración: 12 h y 34 m
- Grabación Original
-
General4.5 out of 5 stars 263
-
Narración:4.5 out of 5 stars 219
-
Historia4.5 out of 5 stars 220
Revolutions in thought (as opposed to those in politics or science) are in many ways the most far-reaching of all. They affect how we grant legitimacy to authority, define what is possible, create standards of right and wrong, and even view the potential of human life. Between 1600 and 1800, such a revolution of the intellect seized Europe, shaking the minds of the continent as few things before or since. What we now know as the Enlightenment challenged previously accepted ways of understanding reality, bringing about modern science, representative democracy, and a wave of wars, sparking what Professor Kors calls "perhaps the most profound transformation of European, if not human, life." In this series of 24 insightful lectures, you'll explore the astonishing conceptual and cultural revolution of the Enlightenment. You'll witness in its tumultuous history the birth of modern thought in the dilemmas, debates, and extraordinary works of the 17th- and 18th-century mind, as wielded by the likes of thinkers like Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, Pascal, Newton, Locke, Hume, Voltaire, Diderot, and Rousseau.And you'll understand why educated Europeans came to believe that they had a new understanding-of thought and the human mind, of method, of nature, and of the uses of knowledge-with which they could come to know the world correctly for the first time in human history, and with which they could rewrite the possibilities of human life.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good material, annoying voice
- De Don en 08-29-13
Simply the Best
Revisado: 11-30-18
I have listened to dozens of Teaching Company courses. All of them are excellent but this one is simply outstanding. The professor is not incredibly knowledgeable, he teaches in an enthusiastic yet evenhanded style that makes the material compelling. Highly recommended.
Se ha producido un error. Vuelve a intentarlo dentro de unos minutos.
Has calificado esta reseña.
Reportaste esta reseña
esto le resultó útil a 2 personas