Philosophical Arguments Against ECT

God is mindful that we are but dust, jars of clay, ants, and grasshoppers in His sight. Who is man that He is mindful of him? (Ps. 8; 103:6-14: Isa. 40:22) Can you imagine if I tortured grasshoppers and kept them alive for as long as possible just to punish them? What would that say about me? Do you think God would do that? Just because I’m bigger than them and more important than them, that doesn’t mean I have the moral right to torture them, does it? If you came into my house and saw that I had a room filled with thousands of grasshoppers or animals that I had been torturing for years and years and had even invented better ways of keeping them alive so that I could torture them longer, you would think that I had completely lost my mind and commit me to a psych ward to evaluate my mental health. Most probably I would be diagnosed as a psychopath. Surely this could not be the character of God, could it? “But oh,” you say, “this isn’t the same, you see, because you didn’t create those animals and so therefore, you don’t have the right to do with them as you wish.” But does this really make much of a difference? What if I were to have made them? What if I bioengineered them in a lab? Would torture then be morally permissible? I understand that we do not have all the elements here, so let’s add another, shall we? Let’s say these animals did bad things to me. Let’s say they bit off a few of my fingers, made me look bad, made me bleed, destroyed part of my house, were a constant annoyance, hurt my feelings, and were never grateful for all the good things I did for them. Would an eternity of endless torment then be justified? “But,” you may say, “animals are not moral beings. They do not have the moral capacity to understand what they’re doing or willfully choose what is right. They just act in accordance to their biological nature.” Rightly so. Animals are not the best example to fully illustrate my point. So let’s say that I made clones of myself—millions of them. A clone army. I made them in a lab and then when they were fully grown, they turned on me like order 66. What should I do? Eliminate them from existence? Or should I extend their lives so that they will never die so that I can torture them forever? Would that be just? Would the punishment fit the crime? Would it be humane? Necessary? Compassionate or merciful? Or would it be both the just and merciful thing to end their lives?

Human beings are sort of like clones in that we were made in the image of God. Our nature reflects God’s nature. We have a moral nature even as God has a moral nature. We share things in common with Him because He made us in His image and likeness. It is for this reason that murder is such an offense to God that He said “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man” (Gen. 9:6). God’s compassion for man is greater than the compassion He has for sparrows (Mt. 10:31). The preservation of life is therefore of greater value for man than it is for beast. If then this is true, what makes us think that God would torment His image bearers for eternity? He never ceases to have compassion for the sparrows. Would He then cease to have compassion for humanity when He tortures them for an eternity? Will He turn off His compassion like a light switch, not giving one ounceling of a thought towards humanity’s suffering ever again? Would it even be within His nature to accomplish such a thing?

Is eternal conscious torment based on God’s character or our character? If it is both, which one is more pivotal? Well, God is the judge of the universe so it is ultimately up to Him to decide what to do with humanity. We must recognize that it is God who is just not justice who is God. It is God who decides the measure of punishment, not an arbitrary rule of justice that decides who God is. As the judge of the universe, God is a person in the sense that He makes decisions according to His nature, character, personality, values, desires, and purposes. This includes all His attributes which to name two, is justice and mercy. It would not be right to compartmentalize God into separate attributes as if when He administers justice, He somehow got amnesia and completely forgot about His compassion and mercy. As a judge, He is a whole person even as an earthly judge is. He will therefore make a wise, rational, and fair decision for those He passes judgement on, and it will be weighed with compassion. It will be a judgement befitting the crime, nothing more and nothing less because His mercy influences His justice and His justice influences His mercy. The penalty for sin is therefore appropriately weighed and measured. For this reason, God will not eternally torment people because that is neither compassionate nor just. It does not fit His character.

What about our nature? Is our nature reasonable cause for eternal conscious torment?

Our insignificance in the universe is not cause for a harsher judgement. If anything, we would think that our insignificance would cause God to care less about everything we do or don’t do. God could have chosen to not be mindful of man because what is man after all but dust? And what innate significance do we have as mere creations in this small blip of a planet called Earth? For the sake of argument, let’s say that we have no innate significance. Because of this, God could have just chosen to not care and look the other way. But He doesn’t. Why? Because He cares. He cares so much that He sent His one and only Son Jesus to die in our place. However, this same love and care is also that which brings forth His wrath and indignation to those who hurt people, reject His goodness, and choose to be His enemies. To those who love God, God’s love and light is warmth, joy, radiance, and brings forth life like a plant that just can’t get enough of the sun. However, to those who hate God, God’s love and light will be a painful burning fire which will destroy them just like those plants which simply are not fit for the sun’s rays. In the afterlife of eternity, there is only One God and only One life to be had to live forever. God wants as many people there as He can gather up but will not force Himself against their will to be in heaven with Him. It’s up to them whether they choose life or death. God will not force those who hate Him to be with Him for eternity because if He did, that eternity would be an eternity of hell to them. Therefore, the fate of all humanity is either life or death.

Being created in the image of God does not make us gods. It does not make us immortal. Adam and Eve were made in the image of God and still had remnants of that image after they sinned. But that sin took away their immortality as God said, “in the day that you eat from it you will surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Therefore, being made in the image of God does not make us inherently immortal. What I do see regarding being created in the image of God is that this has ascribed to us value and worth. Because of this, we are actually inclined to think that God would show more compassion than if we were just something like clay pots. However, the ascribed significance we have in the universe does make us more responsible and therefore more liable for our actions than if we were mere beasts or inanimate objects. We are cognizant of what we are doing as the law has been written on our hearts. We are therefore accountable to God for our actions. However, this accountability can nowhere be rationally made to imply a penalty of eternal suffering.

Would God even create mankind, knowing that most of them would refuse Him and end up in hell and suffer eternal torments? Would it not be better to never have made man to begin with than to watch them suffer forever? But let’s say it was worth it for God to create humanity because He knew that some would love Him and with these, He could share the abundance of His love and goodness, delighting to make them happy. If God made a calculated decision in this, determining that the joy to be had was greater than the loss to be endured, how would this add up? It would have to be that a small remnant that believes in Him must be of greater worth than a large number that suffer forever. But in the end, it seems as though there is more loss than gain, if that be the case. However, if they were to cease to be and not suffer forever, the gain to be had over the small remnant that believes is estimably valuable. And what about the cross and resurrection of Jesus? Some say His resurrection produced the life for every single person to be raised to immortality. But if this is what the cross produced, it would have been better for Jesus to never have died and rose so that all would never rise again and would cease to be. Otherwise, if His resurrection power applied to unbelievers, He would be condemning people to the immortality of eternal torment. The good news of the gospel then turns into extremely bad news for all people. His resurrection would have accomplished the exact opposite of what He said He intended to do and why He came. That is, He did not come into the world to condemn the world but to save it since the world already stood condemned. Therefore, it would contradict Scripture and sound reason to say that the resurrection of Jesus produced immortality for unbelievers. This would render the power of punishment to be greater and more efficacious than the power of mercy and compassion. But that simply cannot be believed.

Asking these philosophical questions and working through these thoughts is important for the very reason that the law of God has been written on our hearts and so that even without a written law or text telling us what is right or wrong, our consciences instinctively tell us what is right and wrong, what is just and unjust. I’m not saying that our instincts are the foundation of truth, only that some of our instinctual reactions may have been placed there by God when He made us and wrote His law on our hearts. It is for this reason we need to pay attention to those instincts to question further what validity they may actually have as we examine the Scriptures.

Romans 2:14-16

For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

In conclusion of this section, we have rationally established that God would not eternally torment people because (1) our innate lack of significance in the universe, (2) our ascribed significance being made in the image of God, (3) God’s wholistic nature of being both just and merciful, (4) because God cares and this care is what motivates God’s justice, and (5) it is contrary to God’s good purpose in creating mankind.

In addition to this, here is a logical argument to ponder:

Premise 1: God delights in showing mercy

Premise 2: Mercy triumphs over judgement

Premise 3: God does not delight in our suffering

Therefore

1. God prioritizes mercy over judgement

2. God would not do ECT because it would not please Him

Furthermore, ECT is not consistent with the revealed nature and work of Christ.

Exodus 34:6-7; Ezekiel 18:32; 33:11; Micah 7:18; Psalm 86:15; James 2:13; Luke 9:54-56; John 3:17-18

However, to be clear, the character of God revealed in Scripture does not promote universalism. It does not promote the idea that “love wins,” per Rob Bell that all people will ultimately come to be reconciled to God and live in heaven with Him. There are Bible verses that describe God as not showing mercy or compassion on people (Josh. 11:20; Ezek. 5:11; 7:4, 9; 8:18; 9:10; 24:14; Hos. 2:4; Jer. 13:14: Jas. 2:13). However, when God withholds His mercy, pity, and compassion, it does not mean that within His heart He ceases to care. Rather, He cares so much that in action He removes people from the earth. For God to show no mercy does not mean that He loses His temper or lashes out in excess of anger to punish people or take revenge on people like how we might think some people might do. God’s anger is different from our own because God is not like us. Rather, when God withholds mercy, it is Him giving the sinner the just penalty that their sins deserve. God’s wrath is proportional, not unmitigated, because God’s wrath is just. The just penalty for sin is death (Gen. 2:7; Ro. 6:23). Capital punishment is the consummation of the penalty for our sins.