The Great Divorce ~ C. S. Lewis

The Great Divorce is Lewis' supposal of what would happen if a busload of souls from Hell was given an excursion to Heaven. Lewis is quick to point out in his foreword that the book is not supposed to be a theological work speculating on what really happens in the afterlife. The setup of the story is just a frame to contain the ideas. People in Hell do not have the ability to suddenly repent and choose Heaven after a field trip to the latter!

The narrator observes several conversations between the Hell-dwellers and the people in Heaven who have come there specifically to reason and plead with the tourists. A recurring idea in Lewis' Platonian mind was the notion that everything we have and are right now is insubstantial mist in light of the real that is perfect, and which we will experience on reaching Heaven.

The insights on why people reject God and choose Hell instead are profound. One thing becomes clearer as the story goes on: the people in Hell are there because they want to be. What did Satan say in Paradise Lost — "Better to reign in Hell than in Heaven serve?"

Source: WiseWoman

Interesting blog about C.S. Lewis