oa De hel en het probleem van het kwaad Opmerkingen bij een analogie

It is often suggested in recent philosophical discussions on the problem of hell that an analogy exists between the specific problem of hell and the more general problem of evil. Hell, it is said, constitutes an evil, and like other instances of evil, raises the question of how an omnipotent and perfectly good God can allow it. In this article the author queries what exactly it means to speak of hell as an evil, and stipulates the way in which it may be said to be analogous to ordinary, mundane evil. The question is then raised as to whether some of the answers available in response to mundane evil can be made fruitful in response to the evil of hell. After a discussion of the problem of hell construed as a logical and evidential problem of evil respectively, the author concludes that, recent suggestions notwithstanding, none of these answers can mutatis mutandis be applied to the evil of hell.