Illogicity of eternal punishments
"Interrogate your common sense, your reason, and ask yourself whether an eternal condemnation for a few moments of error would not be the negation of the goodness of God”.(Spirit’s book)
In this chapter we will analyze the theory of "eternal punishments" advocated by the traditional Christian religions, which proclaim the future occurrence of a "Final Judgment" or also called "Judgment Day", where all human beings would be "judged" and, while some would be rewarded with "heavenly blessing," others would be punished with "eternal torment."
However, I present the following questioning: Could this theory be reconciled with the vision of an infinitely Merciful and infinitely Loving God? In order to come to a strictly logical conclusion, let us first answer a few questions:
1. Is God perfect?
For the purpose of the arguments contained in this work, we assume that the "Universal Creative Intelligence", whom we can call "God", is infinitely perfect. So is the vision of Christian religions, based on the Bible, where we find the passage “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)
2. Does God possess all virtues in infinite degrees?
The answer to this question is a logical deduction from question 1: If God is perfect, therefore we deduce that he possesses all virtues in an infinite degree, that is, without any kind of flaws or limitations, otherwise He could not at all be considered "Perfect".
3. Is Divine forgiveness infinite?
The answer to this question is a logical deduction from Question 2: If God possesses all virtues to an infinite degree, forgiveness, being one of His virtues, is also logically infinite.
But what does it mean to say that something is "infinite"? This concept is not always well interpreted or "seen" by many people. Let us understand well: "infinite" is really something that never ends. If we say that space is infinite, but at a certain moment we find in it any kind of limitation, we can no longer say that it is infinite. If there is a limitation, it is finite.
On the other hand, if we say that a thing is "infinitely perfect" and find in it the tiniest flaw, we can no longer say that such a thing is "infinitely perfect". We could say, in this case, that it would be "almost perfect". Could we then say that God is "almost perfect"? Of course not.
Now, when we affirm that God's forgiveness is infinite, we are saying that such forgiveness will never cease to exist, at any time or under any circumstance, that is, God "will never cease to forgive." If this happened, even for milliseconds, then His forgiveness could no longer be considered infinite!
In the Bible itself we find a passage in which Jesus teaches that forgiveness should have no limits: “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times? Jesus answered: “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven” (Mattew 18:21,22). What did Jesus mean by presenting this number? Did he mean that we should forgive up to a limit of 490 times (70 times 7), and then we would not have to forgive anymore? Obviously not. In fact, Jesus meant that we should forgive indefinitely, that is, infinitely!
Now, if Jesus recommends that we, simple human beings, who are imperfect and fallible, should practice forgiveness "infinitely", how could God himself, in all His perfection, have limitations in one of His virtues? How could our forgiveness be infinite and Divine forgiveness not? That is, in this case we would have a virtue that God himself would not have? It is completely illogical!
In another, passage we find a text that expresses an idea contrary to eternal punishment:
“Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.” (Matthew, 5:25, 26.).
The above passage is very clear in saying that, after being convicted, someone will not leave the prison until "he has paid the last penny", that is, everything he owes. Then, after all that he owes has been paid, the condemned person will be released. This reasoning goes completely against the idea of eternal punishment, where the condemned person would never leave prison, that is, he would never be able to "pay the last penny."
Condemn x forgive
If we search for words with the opposite meaning of "forgive", we will find among them: condemn, punish, penalize, sentence. On a supposed "Judgment Day", while some would be rewarded with "heavenly blessing", others would be condemnsed (punished, damned, penalized, sentenced) with "hell."
But if "condemning" is the opposite of "forgiving", then we can conclude that on this particular day (Judgment Day), and throughout the rest of eternity, Divine forgiveness, for those who are condemned, would simply "cease to exist"! Now, this way, would God have a limit, a flaw in His virtues? It’s totally inconsistent!
As we have seen in the chapter "Logic basics", the law of "non-contradiction" says that something cannot "be" and "not be" simultaneously. It is impossible to "condemn eternally" and "forgive" at the same time. Divine forgiveness cannot be "finite" and "infinite." Therefore, the concepts of "infinite forgiveness" and "eternal condemnation", analyzed to the rigor of logic, are completely and absolutely contradictory and irreconcilable.
Logical argument analysis
Premise 1: God is perfect.
Premise 2: Being God Perfect, all His virtues are infinite.
Conclusion: God could never condemn eternally for, in doing so, one of His virtues, forgiveness, would cease to be infinite, and He could no longer be considered Perfect.
As we have seen several times throughout this work, there is a radical difference between "disagreeing with an argument" and "refuting an argument". Fundamentalists, based on the literal interpretation of the Bible, obviously radically disagree with this argument, but they are not able to refute it, since, in order to do it through logic, it is necessary to demonstrate that at least one of the premises is false or that there is no logical inference between the premises that leads to the conclusion presented. Therefore, to refute the above argument, we would need to do at least one of the three options:
1. Demonstrate that 1st premise is false: We would have to question Divine Perfection, which is obviously completely unacceptable and even goes against all the religious doctrines that stand for God's perfection.
2. Demonstrate that 2nd premise is false: It would be necessary to show that even God being considered perfect, it would be possible that His virtues were not infinite. But this is contradictory because what is "perfect" does not have any kind of flaws or limitations.
3. Demonstrate that the premises do not lead to the conclusion: There is no way to deny that the conclusion is derived from the premises, because if we affirm that God is perfect (premise 1) and that all His virtues are infinite (premise 2), we conclude unequivocally that His forgiveness is also infinite. Therefore, if God condemned eternally, His forgiveness would simply cease to exist, not being infinite. Thus, the above argument can be considered valid and consistent, because its premises are true and there is a logical inference between them that lead to the conclusion, demonstrating the illogicity of the eternal punishments.
Reincarnation = Infinite forgiveness
From the point of view of Reincarnation, we do not find any kind of contradiction, because the "Reincarnation" itself represents an example of the infinite Divine Mercy. Through it we can see the wisdom of an infinitely Loving, Compassionate and Merciful Creator, who never condemns anybody, always granting His eternal forgiveness through innumerable possibilities, as many as are necessary, so that the spirit can recognize its errors, repair them, and continue Its eternal evolution.
By the way, what really loving parent would not do that? Which parent would wish that his son, no matter how much he had gone wrong, would suffer eternal punishment? I doubt that anyone who has passed through the experience of fatherhood or motherhood could not bear to see their child suffer forever, with no chance of being redeemed. Now, if we, who are so imperfect, have always room for forgiveness in our hearts, how can we imagine that an infinitely perfect and infinitely Loving Being would not have?
Let us imagine, after the "Judgment Day", people who were chosen by God to go to "heaven", but they had several of their loved ones such as children, parents, husband or wife condemned to eternal punishment. How would such people be happy knowing that the people they loved most in their lives would suffer eternally, because they would never be forgiven by God and they would never see them again? If people who believe in this dogma stop to think, and imagine themselves in this situation, they will come to the conclusion that it would be despairing and, above all, very unfair.
Some claim that God would "make them forget" their loved ones, so they would not suffer for having a son or a mother "burning" forever in the "hellfire". But let us think: This way, such a "God" would be canceling the purest feeling which is love, and destroying ties of feeling and affection in the name of an absurd and cruel punishment, which would be eternal damnation. With all due respect to those who believe in this sad theory, there is absolutely no way to find in it any trace of logic or rationality.
On the other hand, through the study of Reincarnation, we can see a completely different situation. There will be no "Judgment Day", there will be no condemnation. Each one will receive rigorously "according to his works", but in a natural way, and not by imposition of God. After the loss of the physical body, the spirit will automatically be drawn to spiritual plans compatible with its vibrational situation.
Those who have done good and sought to perfect themselves morally during life, after death will be in a better situation, being helped in the so-called "spiritual colonies", where they will be able to find their loved ones again, while those who have done evil and have not cared about their spiritual enhancement, will remain for some time in lower places which are in tune with their current vibratory range until, through their free will and desire for evolution, they will be able to reconnect to higher vibrations. But bonds of love will never be lost after death, and spirits in higher conditions will always be able to help their loved ones who are in an inferior situation, provided, of course, they accept such help and are prepared to receive it.
After some time on the spiritual plane, the spirits will reincarnate, usually in the same families, but the roles may be inverted: A father returns as the son of the one who in the previous reincarnation was his son, and vice versa, so that each one can perfect oneself, to repair the mistakes made on previous lives, and continue its evolutionary journey by strengthening the bonds of love. We thus perceive the coherence of the Divine Laws that are wise and immutable: Free Will, Cause and Effect, Reincarnation, Eternal Evolution.
Spiritist literature is extremely rich in reports from thousands of psychographed messages, which talk about the continuity of life after death, as we will discuss in Part III of this work (Material and Scientific Evidence), which prove that life does indeed continue after death, and the bonds of love and friendship are eternal.
In this way, we can see how knowledge about Reincarnation and the continuity of the spirit life is logical, consistent and compatible with the vision of an infinitely Merciful and infinitely Loving God, who would never condemn his children to everlasting punishment.
