To the editor:

Bruce Springsteen’s reply (Public Forum, Jan. 13) to my letter says that the “idea of hell is … the most vicious, appalling notion to emerge from … the human psyche” and “is the most gross perversion of proportional justice and sincere love imaginable.”

Springsteen’s assertions have no true standard, so it appears that his standard of justice and love would be himself. Dostoevsky says this: “If there is no God, then I am God.” The Bible (God’s word) states that sin is against God. God is an infinite being and all sin against Him deserves infinite punishment. A sin is a cosmic crime against a cosmic law. An infinite time (so to speak) is needed for a finite being to suffer infinite punishment. The need for the God-man to suffer this is clear.

True love is to love justice and holiness, which renders such punishment on cosmic criminals. Hell is very moral. Love is not just what makes us feel good, but is what is good for truth and justice. Springsteen’s standards of “justice” and “love” have no viable standard. Hell is only against human-centered reason and morality rather than true reason and morality. In fact, apart from God we have no reason for reason and no real standard for morality. People use reason and morality to argue against God when neither could exist apart from Him. The doctrine of hell is perfectly reasonable and moral. Hatred for it demonstrates the truth of the Bible: Humans don’t want to retain knowledge of God.

Richard Smith,
Lawrence