Salvation and damnation

The problem of salvation and judgment, or, more briefly, the problem of hell, is one of profound pastoral importance. The attempt to face it reveals what one means by Gospel, what, in fact, one means by God. Is the Gospel good news for some or for all? Can God handle the situation of human sin? It is interesting that the author has come to conclusions similar to those arrived at in the impressive ecumenical work of German and French speaking scholars, the "Common Catechism" of 1973. Here it is insisted that "faith must trust in God, that he will save, preserve and 'raise' all life", that "the future of the individual and the future of mankind belong together". Yet a superficial reading of the New Testament texts on final judgment would seem to contradict such a view, and a more rigorous view of hell has for long been commonly held in the Catholic Church. The task of interpreting these and other eschatological statements is a very difficult one, often disregarded by the exegete and handled inadequately by the systematic theologian. This book tries to consider the total evidence and, in the light of correct principles of interpretation, to find out what the Spirit is saying to the Church today.