Glen Miller on christianthinktank.com does offer many good arguments on many things, but this idea by Lewis is not one of them. Souls in Hell certainly would choose to go to Heaven as well as back to earth if they could, and would welcome death, if it is TOO LATE!!!
If all are as the rich man in the literal story of him and Lazarus in Lk, 16, it reveals that those in Hell are conscious, humbled, not contentious, and earnestly desiring both relief as well as the welfare of those on earth.
They now have the kind of heart that would accept Christ, but which grace God owes no man, and having spurned/sinned away their days of grace, resisting conscience and rejecting Christ by rejecting whatever light they have, which light comes from Christ. (Jn. 1:9) having "loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."
While they may not have much or any comprehension of all the virtues of heaven, rather than raging against God, the rich man reveals one who can see he has no case, and in fact one day will admit, as a matter of fact will confess, as if in regretful realization,the worthiness of God, and give Him glory: "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." (Revelation 5:13)
I believe the souls in Hell, while not yet realizing the full extent of their guilt until the great white throne judgment, know that their judgment is just, which makes their suffering worse, as they cannot hope that justice will set them free.
But it may be postulated that if the true believer ultimately only wants to see God glorified, then if they went to Hell then they could be thankful that God is justified in all His sayings and doings (I for one too often contend with my Maker, as if I can run the universe better!), and rejoice that He will be exlted. Of course, that would not the Hell for them that it is for others. But we should be willing to go to Hell if that would best exalt God and give Him the most glory.
May the Lord receive the reward of His sufferings, which believers will.
"Lazarus and the Rich man" is not a literal story. It's a parable. The Lazarus of that parable was not a real person living it up in Paradise, nor was the rich man a real person suffering the torments of Hell fire.
[[Souls in Hell certainly would choose to go to Heaven as well as back to earth if they could, and would welcome death, if it is TOO LATE!!!]]
no sir they will not- The rich man did NOT desire to go to heaven, He simply wanted people to tell his relatives to choose another path
The rich man was in hades, not hell- These people have not been judged yet, and were awaiting judgement- then they are thrown into hell
Matt. 8:12, “but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
nothing about repentance or wanting to cross into Heaven
[[They now have the kind of heart that would accept Christ,]]
To say people become contrite, and would choose heaven IF given the opportunity when in hell is to suggest that God is an unjust God who over punishes and shows no mercy when people finally ‘recognize the mistake they’ve made’.
There is NO indication in God’s word that this is so- There is however every indication that they will be so furious that they will gnash their teeth in anger and rebellion against God- the rich man only asked for pity, not for salvation
The bible NEVER teaches there is a desire for repentence in Hell- unsaved people go there because they hate God and will NOT obey Him- they go to their father the Devil who also hates God and who also rails against God.
The rich man STILL wanted to dictate how things should be by asking that the rules be suspended for him- that does not sound like humbled, non contentious- but rather continued disobedience
While it is true every knee WILL bow, there is no indication that they like what they are doing- But rather they do so because they must because truth is truth-
[[Souls in Hell certainly would choose to go to Heaven ]]
There is no biblical basis for this- there is a biblical basis for the idea that sinners go to hell willingly, and that their sin continues on for eternity because God is NOT an unjust God-
rev 19 (v. 9)...They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds (v. 11), and that Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great (v. 21).
[[Read what Dr. James White of Alpha & Omega Ministries said in a sermon titled “The Carmen Christi” at Arann Reformed Baptist Church earlier this year(around 47:15 mark):
…right now God restrains the madness of man, but once the restraint is taken off in hell itself, what torture must it be to stand upon the parapets of hell screaming your hatred of God for eternity, knowing there is nothing you can do any longer, to in any way hurt God or his creation. People say “we are going to be partying in hell”. No. You are going to be alone. Alone with your hatred and self destruction.
You don’t stop sinning. That’s why the punishment doesn’t stop. And I am convinced that if you were to reach into the pit of hell, 10,000 years into eternity, grab a smoking soul, bring it out and sit it down, and say “Here’s your choice: either love the Lord your God with your heart, soul, mind and strength and worship Him in purity or turn around and walk right back in to where you are” every single one would turn around, spit at you and dive right back into where they were.]]