A Reply to Pope Benedict XVI and More

In his encyclical, Spe Salvi, Pope Benedict con­dones Dostoevsky’s protest against the idea of God al­lowing universal salvation. It’s one thing to preach uni­versal salvation, and another to rail against God’s allow­ing it. The latter is the same complaint hurled at their Master by the workers in Matthew 20: 11-12. How rightly He denounced them as resenting His generosity and attacking His right to do as He pleased with His belongings!There shall be no universal salvation. But why?! It’s not because God will not allow it; rather, it’s because God will not force it. Why have to force it?! Sinners hate God with so great a passion, they’d rather be in hell eternally cursing God than be in Heaven worshipping God forever. Why so great a hatred?! The extent to which God’s divine standards contradict and belittle theirs is so infuriating, their irrationally proud egos ex­plode more violently than a hydrogen bomb can. For them, the idea of worshipping what in­sults them that grievously is far more tor­ment­ing than the tortures of hell. How hell de­lights them with its guarantee their ha­tred shall never diminish one iota! Sinners, then, would go to heaven only if forced to go.There is no coercion, severity, retribution, etc. in The Divine Nature. Why, then, the Atonement?! It’s not a case of Incarnate God of­fering enough human pain to allow The Divine Nature to 'get even' with us for some offense to divinity; rather, it’s a case of In­carnate God offering pain so worthy, it gives God’s di­vine stan­dards, just cause to let our natural, coercive, pain-lov­ing, re­talia­tory love 'get even' in merit with God’s, supernatu­ral kind. Why would Incar­nate God need to do that? This book’s answer is an eye opener.