Luke 12:48

[InSlaveryToChrist]

Luke 12
47. And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
48. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

QUESTION 1:

Is the one here who "knew not" the will of God and who committed sin a representant of a handicapped person or a person who is simply not yet conscious of good and evil, "neither having done any good or evil" (Rom. 9:11)?

QUESTION 2:

What does it mean to be "beaten with few stripes"?

 

[Willem van Oranje]

I understand this to mean that there will be degrees of punishment in hell. All will be punished eternally, and all will be unfathomably miserable, but some less so than others. Some puritans at times used this as a spur to encourage the unconverted to perform acts of civil righteousness in order to "gain less stripes." However I think we need to be very careful how this doctrine is presented to insure that we don't give the impression that hell is "not so bad" for some people, which is not true at all.