“Hell is not filled with people who are deeply sorry for their sins,” Carson stated. “It is filled with people who for all eternity still shake their puny fist in the face of God almighty in an endless existence of evil, and corruption, and shame, and the wrath of God.”

People who end up in hell do not repent, from what the Bible tells us, said respected New Testament scholar Don Arthur (D.A.) Carson on Sunday at The Gospel Coalition National Women’s Conference in Orlando.

Carson, who is co-founder of The Gospel Coalition along with Pastor Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, said that as far as he can see in the Bible, “there is no hint anywhere that people in hell genuinely repent.”

Pointing to the well-known parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, Carson, who is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill., noted that in the story the rich man dies and from hell he looks up and sees Lazarus and Abraham. But instead of admitting that he was wrong to treat Lazarus poorly while they were alive, the rich man continues to boss him around.

“Wouldn’t you expect him (rich man) to say, ‘Oh Lazarus, did I get that one wrong? I am so sorry. Would you please forgive me?'” Carson posed. “But he doesn’t even address him. He was a nobody in the days of his flesh. The rich man doesn’t deal with nobodies; he goes straight to the top.”

Paraphrasing verse 24, the theologian recalls the rich man saying, “‘Father Abraham, tell Lazarus to go dip his finger into water and bring something to cool my tongue. It’s pretty hot here.’

“Where is the repentance in that? He still thinks he is the center of the universe! He is still going to order Lazarus around! There is no brokenness, there is no contrition, there is no shame!”

Moreover, the rich man argues theologically with Abraham, “‘No Father Abraham you got that one wrong. If someone rose from the dead that would really make a difference, don’t you see?’

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