Does God love people in hell?

[Homer]

Hi Steve,

Interesting! You wrote:

Is this possible? Some think so. Some think it is the will of God to let men decide for death rather than to be forced to love. Others feel that man can choose his own destiny, but that complete escape from the love of God is not on the list of choices available to man—so that God really does win all the chips (as certain scriptures seem to indicate).

Which appears to be an admission that UR is as deterministic as Calvinism. As long as men are free, they are free to remain in rebellion. I have noticed that a great many of the advocates of UR have Calvinism in their background.

[steve]

Well, you know I don't have any of that in me. I do have a high view of the love of God, though. Love may very well determine, "I will not stop reaching out until my child comes home." This is not the same thing as Calvinistic determinism (in fact, it is the opposite). We would probably agree that God can determine His own actions, but not those of free moral agents. I am not sure that I place as high a confidence in man's persistent stubbornness as in God's patience. No man has yet demonstrated the ability to resist pressure forever.