Martinus: Livets Bog, vol. 3, sect. 893

893. At this point one may well object that this suffering is meant to act as a deterrent for beings on the physical plane. But what has become of the "free will" that according to the teachings of ecclesiastical Christianity we possess? If Providence uses this "eternal hell" as an image to frighten us, it is totally analogous in its method to the robber who, with loaded revolver, demands of his victim "your money or your life", with the difference, however, that the robber's threat is in reality nothing other than a pure caress compared to Providence's "everlasting" or never-ending "sea of fire". Does it not seem too much to expect of human beings that they should base their everyday lives on pure neighbourly love when Providence has not only failed to base its own life and appearance on this wonderful principle, but dominates by using methods that are actually even worse than those used by the worst criminals? As a rule, the criminal has the temporary triumph of satisfying his will regarding the coveted material gain, money or other things of value by means of his threats or terror, but what does Providence gain with its threat of terror and "hell"? By using this threat does it succeed in getting any neighbourly loving being at all into its "heaven"?
As love is not an act of will but an ability that one either has or does not have, similar to any other state of competence, whether material or mental, it can just as equally not be forced on beings using threats of punishment and vengeance. Is it conceivable that the competence and capability of so-called geniuses is due to a fear of some terrible fate or other? If becoming a genius was just an act of will, why are not all human beings geniuses? There is certainly no lack of desire and will to become a genius on the part of ordinarily gifted human beings, even without the threats of a dreadful fate. Moreover, it does not look as if Providence has had much success with this method. If it had, not one single being would end up in "eternal hell". Since Providence cannot guarantee the beings' redemption or salvation, not even with threats of such a refined punishment as being eternally consumed by fire, but that the stream of beings that are on their way to that grim place is known as the "broad road", the fact then emerges that "eternal hell" has no benefit whatsoever with regard to human beings' so-called "redemption" or future "salvation", especially as the beings that do actually manage to enter the promised "heaven" can be only those beings that are most terrified by the threats of "hell" and who out of fear of the "everlasting fire" sought to comply with all the precepts and ideals of neighbourly love. But if this way of behaving towards their neighbour were dictated by the fear of "punishment" or "eternal damnation", it would not be dictated by love. The behaviour of such beings is at best merely a sustained form of learned behaviour. But an enforced behaviour or conduct towards one's neighbour cannot in any situation be love. Love is exclusively a manifestation that one willingly feels joy in giving, regardless of whether in doing so one gains a light or a dark fate. Indeed, is it not so that "No one has greater love than he who lays down his life for others"? It is not so surprising that in the view of ecclesiastical Christianity "the road to hell is broad".
As neighbourly love cannot possibly be imposed by using threats or compulsion, not one single being will enter into "heaven" by means of the "spiritual hell". All beings without exception are therefore irrevocably condemned in advance to this "eternal damnation". It is no wonder that one here has had to make use of sacraments and formulas offering "grace" and "forgiveness of sins". How else could one ever be "saved" or enter into "heaven"? As these sacraments are based on "faith" in this "grace" and in the "forgiveness of sins", and "faith" is also an ability that is not subject to the will, neither can these phenomena justify the "eternal hell". As the ability to have faith in these sacraments is on the decline, the "stream" to "hell" is also here becoming "broader" and "broader". And the beings are thus through no fault of their own cast into an eternal culmination of torment from which they can never be freed.