Habilitationsschrift--Fachbereich 1, Evangelische Theologie--Duisburg, 1977. / Bibliogr. p. 219-224.

The Lutheran reformers Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchton had clear views about the possibility that some people will end up in a tormenting hell after death. For them, hell is a likely destiny for those who have not received the gift of righteousness from God. Other theologians have been skeptical about the idea of hell, for different reasons. For example, some think that it is impossible to combine the belief in a loving God with the thought of an everlasting punishment. Others think that those who go to heaven cannot be truly happy if they are divided from some of their family and friends, who are in hell. The purpose of this essay is to examine if it is possible to affirm universal salvation within the Lutheran tradition. To do so, I have examined different theological views on what happens after death: the belief in hell, the belief that there is no hell, and the belief that nothing happens at all after death. Some of those who believe in hell think that it is a place of everlasting agony as a punishment for sins committed on earth, some believe that hell is painful because God is the source of life and joy and therefore eternity without God is a place of misery. Some think of hell in terms of annihilation or conditional immortalism: that the souls of those who do not enter heaven are destroyed after death, or that those who do not enter heaven will not be resurrected and will stay dead. Since the purpose of this essay is to study universalism within the Lutheran tradition, I have discussed what the core of Lutheran theology is, namely justification through faith. An important question is that of predestination and free will. Those who defend the doctrine of hell often argue that people must be able to have a free choice: to choose God or not to choose God. If someone does not want to meet God after death, there must be an alternative. Traditional Lutheran theologians are skeptical about the idea that people have a free will, especially in relationship with God. They believe that the act of justification and the gift of righteousness is a gift from God, it is not something that people can chose themselves. In the discussion, a central issue is how theology can change within a tradition. My conclusion is that it is possible to be a universalist as a Lutheran if you believe that God choses to predestinate all people. The main problem is about faith: how the believer responds to God’s calling. Belief must be understood in a different way from Luther’s and Melanchthon’s views.