The Cosmic Horror Of Hell

There are things that are erroneously attributed to the cosmic horror genre, such as the notion that some creatures or facts could possibly transcend logical truths, which some people are stupid enough to equate with the perceived laws of physics that of course could differ from fictional world to fictional world.  Nothing is metaphysically beyond the laws of logic even if that thing cannot be known by humans.  The laws of logic are necessary truths: things are only true, false, possible, impossible, knowable, or unknowable in light of reason, and not because of anything else in an ultimate sense.  Any other things that are true can only be so because it is logically possible or logically necessary.  Another thing mistakenly attributed to cosmic horror is that fear of the kind inspired by the great eldritch beings can only be atheistic or at least non-religious in nature.  Not only do Lovecraft's literary entities feature a literal deity in Azathoth, making the the Cthulhu mythos blatantly theistic, but religions like Christianity already have elements of cosmic horror.

An ultimate being that could reduce you to total nonexistence with a mere thought, as different as Yahweh is from many Lovecraftian entities, is very distinctly Lovecraftian in a sense.  The difference is that Yahweh is not blind to his creation as the deity Azathoth is, for Azathoth is said to be accidentally sustaining the universe as he sleeps, nor does he use humans only as purely disposable tools or objects of amusement like Nyarlathotep or Cthulhu.  Yahweh is, as I have called him, the "benevolent Azathoth" even as he is said to harbor genuine hatred for many who refuse to live for anything more than their own whims (see Leviticus 20:23 or Psalm 5:5-6, for instance).  He is indeed in some ways the type of being that would exemplify many characteristics of conventional eldritch entities.

One key difference, though, is that not even Azathoth is the type of deity that seems to have a moral nature and to have prepared an afterlife of justice for humans.  Yahweh is.  The Christian hell, though it is thoroughly misunderstood by almost everyone inside and outside the church, as well as God's nature itself, are actually rich with cosmic horror for those who do not willingly seek out of embrace the truth about God on this worldview.  I mentioned God having the power to erase someone from existence by only thinking about it.  This is somewhat close to what the true Biblical penalty for sin is for the general unsaved--the eventual, unrevoked loss of consciousness in all of its forms (Ezekiel 18:4, Matthew 10:28, John 3:16, Romans 6:23, 2 Peter 2:6, and so on).  The God who hates entire categories of sinners, not just their sins, allows them to perish or directly brings them to a state of cosmic death.

There is an evangelical misconception of a hell that leads to permanent death of the soul not being something to truly fear.  As a righteous being, in fact, as the very being whose nature dictates whether morality exists and what is or is not good, God would not do that which is unjust in order to bring about a utilitarian goal.  Eternal conscious torment for all fallen beings is objectively unjust by Biblical standards, and whether a person subjectively prefers this or prefers annihilationism has nothing to do with which would be just.  Despite this, there is still much to fear about a hell one would only exist within for a temporary period.

Forever being excluded from every nonsinful pleasure (of which there are many, including a much broader variety of sexual acts than many in the church are comfortable with admitting), from every intoxicating or fulfilling experience, and from the very chance to seek redemption is in no way a minor punishment, and the weight of this might be felt all the more by someone who wishes that they could live forever, just in a more idyllic world than this.  There is cosmic horror even in annihilation of the soul, the ultimate fate for the typical unrepentant being according to the Bible.  Whether this concept is subjectively terrifying or objectively deserving of fear is irrelevant to whether it is just.  It is still the case that the second death and the deity who enforces it in many ways have their own cosmic horror.