Is the status principle beyond salvation? toward redeeming an unpopular theory of hell

Abstract

In this paper I examine a recent objection to the retributive punishment theory of hell, specifically that the theory entails something obviously false: that it is possible to commit an infinite sin. I defend the moral principle behind one account of infinite sin, a principle referred to as the Status Principle (that other things being equal the higher the status of the offended the party, the more serious the sin). I show that recent objections to this principle are far from conclusive, and that the principle is more plausible than perhaps initially thought.