An offer we can’t refuse
Guaranteeing universal salvation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24020150 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bernice Mcallister (0000-0002-6719-9224, Hillsdale College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-18 |
| Publication date | 2026-08-05 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religious Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0034-4125 • E-ISSN: 1469-901X |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0034412526101723 |
| OpenAlex | W7172510924 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 35 |
Source incompatibilism allows for a choice to be both determined and free in a libertarian sense so long as the agent had enough of a free hand in shaping the character that determines that choice. I argue that God can capitalize on this possibility to ensure that all freely accept his offer of salvation. He can do so by placing any hold-outs in a remedial version of hell where continued rebellion leads to increasing misery. Through their own free choices, the damned inevitably make themselves so miserable that they determine themselves to repent – a choice which, while guaranteed, remains free.
Character (mathematics) · Compatibilism · Free will · Incompatibilism · Philosophy of religion · Remedial education · Free Will and Agency · Theology and Philosophy of Evil · War, Ethics, and Justification
Living without Free Will
Wandering in Darkness
The Importance of What We Care About
IV—Moral Incapacity
Problems of the Self
“No Other Name”
Eternally Choosing Hell
Freedom, damnation, and the power to sin with impunity
Free will and the moral vice explanation of hell's finality
Misery and freedom
A hell of a choice
Determinism, Blameworthiness, and Deprivation
Hell
On the Very Idea of a Propensity to Evil
From radical evil to constitutive moral luck in Kant’s Religion
What is so Good about Moral Freedom
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |