In responding to universalist Thomas Talbott, Craig floated the hypothesis that God might wipe the recollection of lost loved ones from the memories of the saints. That way, the saints could enjoy eternity, since they'd be oblivious the hellish fate of their lost loved ones.
I don't think there's anything necessary wrong with the idea that God might erase certain traumatic memories. However, in the case of parents, siblings, spouses, and kids, we're not talking about fairly isolated memories, but the time we spend with them day in and day out for decades. So many other memories are necessarily entwined with the life we shared in common. It would be like people with senile dementia who suffer from huge gaps in recalling their life.
I wonder, if God erased our parents, siblings, spouses, and/or kids from our memories, isn't it possible (in a strong sense) a part of us would be lost or erased as well, if our lives are so intricately interwoven with theirs? We'd be like Swiss cheese, not whole.
ReplyDeleteIf this were the case, then we might wish to search for our missing pieces. Like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle. Or like the tin man, scarecrow, or Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz looking for their heart, brain, or the way home. It'd seem to be a strange existence to say the least. These lacunas in our memories might lead us to be like Joel and Clementine in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, searching for one another at the end of the film.
One other option is that we will have full knowledge, and a more complete understanding of everything.
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