The Council That Never Was – Volume IV
Prologue: The Last Horizon
The great forum stood silent. No neon. No machine. No marble. Just horizon.
Above, stars burned as if freshly made. Below, an abyss rumbled—not with fire, but with grief.
And between them: a narrow path.
Here the council gathered again—not for systems or crises, but for the end.
Christ did not speak.
Not yet.
For first, they must.
Chapter 1: Eternal Joy or Eternal Judgment?
Jonathan Edwards stood first. His hands trembled not from fear, but from holy awe.
“The glory of God is best seen in His justice. The joy of the saints and the damnation of the wicked both magnify His name.”
Gregory of Nazianzus frowned.
“Would you delight in such division for eternity? Then the joy of the righteous would be poisoned.”
Augustine interjected gently:
“The city of God rejoices not in cruelty, but in order. The damned are not tortured—they are separated. And they chose it.”
Barth stood, eyes ablaze.
“No! All judgement has been borne by the Lamb. In Him, hell is overcome.”
Calvin:
“But not all are in Him. The decree of reprobation is not a flaw—it is God’s sovereign will.”
Wesley raised his hand.
“Predestined to damnation? Then why call it love? Even my Arminian bones cannot bear that gospel.”
Hans Urs von Balthasar stepped forward, holding Dare We Hope…?
“I do not claim that all will be saved—but that all may be. Love will not violate, but it will never stop knocking.”
Chapter 2: Hell and the Image of God
Anselm spoke with clarity.
“The gravity of sin is measured not by the sinner, but by the offended. Hell is the mirror of God’s holiness.”
Maximus the Confessor countered:
“But the Incarnation heals all wounds. If Christ assumed all humanity, how could any part remain forever lost?”
Moltmann, sombre:
“Hell is the wound in God’s side. It exists—but not because God wills it. He suffers it.”
Bonhoeffer:
“Then let us not speculate with cold systems. If we preach hell, let it be with tears.”
Gutiérrez:
“And remember—the flames of hell are already burning in slums and genocides. Do not turn eschatology into escape.”
Calvin, unmoved:
“Hell is not a failure of love—it is love rejected.”
Chapter 3: Heaven and the Beatific Vision
Now the table brightened. The weight lifted.
Aquinas rose like a cathedral.
“The vision of God—beatific, unmediated—is the final joy. The intellect made for it. The will completed by it.”
Augustine:
“And in that vision, we shall rest—and see—and love—and praise.”
Pascal:
“Then the heart will be full, not because it understands all things, but because it no longer needs to.”
Schleiermacher:
“And all feelings shall find their completion.”
Balthasar:
“And all beauty shall be one face—Christ.”
Chapter 4: The New Creation
Moltmann walked forward.
“The resurrection is not a metaphor. The cosmos will be reborn. Heaven is not escape—it is renewal.”
Irenaeus added:
“Flesh shall rise. The tree in Eden shall bloom again in the City of God.”
Cyril of Alexandria:
“Christ’s flesh is risen—and so ours shall be.”
Bonhoeffer:
“The world is not abandoned—it is being redeemed.”
Gutiérrez:
“And the poor shall inherit it.”
Chapter 5: The Last Judgement
Now, the Lamb appeared.
He did not speak.
But in His hands were the wounds.
In His eyes, memory.
Barth fell to his knees.
“You are the Yes of God to man.”
Calvin, trembling:
“You are the Judge I could not fully see.”
Edwards, undone:
“You are the glory beyond all fear.”
Gutiérrez, weeping:
“You are the justice I longed to touch.”
Balthasar, quiet:
“You are beauty enough to undo hell.”
Luther, lifting his eyes:
“And still, You are mine.”
And Christ said:
“Behold, I make all things new.”
Epilogue: No More Debate
There was no more need to speak.
No footnotes.
No councils.
No “perhaps.”
Only glory.