Is Hell Hotter?

In light of the shooting in Connecticut, questions of meaning, morality, and mortality, come forth.

Tragedy is not easily assuaged. Discussions of justice take a profoundly serious turn. Many question God's goodness and as well they should. As a Christian, I take trust that God decided to create the Universe despite what has happened. Evil, pure evil, shows its face. Temporal justice, like taking out the killer, shows the human setting of the scales aright is quite miniscule. Osama authorizes the destruction of thousands and we talk as if we settled the score in a Pakistani safe house. Not so. Osama would have to die four thousand times and then we would still be left with the loss of life.

The atheist has no explanation except that annihilation is the fate of all, sooner or later. By bullets or too much bacon. The reincarnationist posits that Karma must do its work and that all who died are working out their destiny. Christianity does provide a hard truth that God is the ultimate source of justice. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. Does Hell burn hotter for the killers? Degrees of reward are written of in the Bible so perhaps the converse is also true. Jesus promises the worst destiny possible for killers of children. In fact without justice beyond the grave, often justice this side of the grave is too little, too late.

Just because we yearn for some sense of Cosmic retribution does not mean of course that this is proof that such a tribunal exists. However, we have to grant that any system that does not premise itself on the afterlife, is already insufficient to address and resolve such desires intrinsically. Christianity does provide an answer to evil. Not an easy answer, but an answer nonetheless.