If there is universal salvation, someone might object, then what difference does it make whether one believes or not, whether one is a sadist or a saint?
On my view, the difference between the fates of believers and nonbelievers, or between the fates of sadists and saints, is not in the ultimate outcome but in what each one believes about the ultimate outcome. It is their failure to believe in a good ultimate outcome — that disbelief itself — that is the sufficient punishment of nonbelievers and sadists. And I don’t mean to imply that all nonbelievers are sadists. But I do mean to imply that the unbelief of both is equivalent to a belief in a cruel pagan god, the kind that is pleased with the utter death of humans and other animals.
But what about the Christian interpretation of the sacrifice of Jesus as a way of placating an angry God? Well, I reject that interpretation, and I don’t think it is consistent with the New Testament. The crucifixion of Jesus is a turning of the table on the idea of placating an angry God. And the corrupt and spiritually blind high priest and Sanhedrin were interested in placating the worldly power of Rome and satisfying an implacable and inhumane legalistic religion. Jesus is both fully human and fully divine, so his crucifixion is an attempt to kill a man who is God, and does not please God. Then why does he will it? So that Jesus may be visibly resurrected from that death, showing that we, too, will be resurrected after our deaths. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:16-19: “For if the dead do not rise, then neither has Christ risen; and if Christ has not risen, your faith is in vain, you are still in your sins. And then also those who went to their rest in Christ are lost. If by this life in Christ we are no more than hopeful, then we are the most pitiful of all people.” And in 2 Timothy 2:11-13: “This word is to be believed: If we die with him, we shall live with him; if we endure, we shall be kings with him; if we disown him, he will disown us; if we lose our belief, he is still to be believed, for he cannot disown himself.”
(Translation by Richmond Lattimore)
Jesus’ message is life everlasting. If we disown him, that means we don’t believe in life everlasting; that is, we believe in eternal death or everlasting destruction. Our disbelief is his disowning us. He cannot disown himself; but if we don’t believe him, he can’t believe in himself for us. Notice Paul says, “if we lose our belief, he is still to be believed.” That is, even if we don’t believe it — and that disbelief itself is our punishment — it is still true that we have everlasting life. It’s just that we don’t yet believe it and so can’t enjoy it and instead live with the dread of death as permanent unconsciousness lurking always in the background of our lives. If we believe Jesus, that dread is replaced by joy. And there is good reason to believe Jesus. The very idea of permanent unconsciousness is really unthinkable. Just try to imagine it.