The problem of hell, efficacious grace, and skeptical infernalism

Journal article

Abstract:: For Christian philosophers, the putative existence of hell poses a particularly acute version of the problem of evil. The two most prevalent responses to this problem appeal to either God’s justice or creaturely freedom as the countervailing goods which justify God’s permitting the suffering of created persons in hell. In this paper, I argue that an Augustinian theology of grace renders both of these responses untenable and briefly sketch out an alternative response, based on Augustine’s appeal to the mysteries of the divine will when explaining why God gives efficacious grace to some and not to others. I call this response skeptical infernalism, since it parallels the skeptical theist response to the problem of evil.

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Publisher:: Nordic Society for Philosophy of Religion
Journal:: AGATHEOS – European Journal for Philosophy of Religion More from this journal
Volume:: 2
Issue:: 1
Pages:: 106-139
Publication date:: 2025-05-19
DOI:: 10.69574/aejpr.v2i1.25906
EISSN:: 2004-9331

Copyright holder:: Brendan Harris
Rights statement:: © 2025 Brendan Harris. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Authors of content published in the AGATHEOS retain the copyright to their works. Articles are published under the terms of a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, which permits use, downloading, distribution, linking to and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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