Let’s return to Sodom for a while and see what more we can learn about hell and eternal punishment from that story in Genesis 18. Abraham is very presumptive as he pleads for the city and couches his intercession in the belief that God will do what is right: ‘Shall not the judge of the whole earth deal justly?’ he asks, putting God on the spot somewhat.

Now it is obvious from the story – from Abraham’s pleading and from God’s response – that ‘to do justice is not to punish offenders but in some way to allow them to be treated mercifully through the good offices of the just’ (Gunton page 161). Indeed from Abraham’s question it would seem that God would have failed to do justice had he punished Sodom by destroying it. While there is an emphasis on retributive justice in the Old Testament (i.e. justice as punishment of the bad) it seems that from the Sodom account we must hold it in tension with the idea of restorative justice – where the emphasis is on putting right what has gone wrong and thus treating offenders with mercy.

And does this restorative justice not lie at the heart of the Gospel where God in Jesus is far more interested in restoring the sinner rather than punishing him? And does this emphasis not have to be brought into the equation when we consider hell?

The first post on the topic of hell can be found here.