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In ''Mere Christianity'', Lewis also emphasizes the understanding of salvation as deification to the exclusion of the Roman Catholic and Protestant thought that salvation includes being "pardoned," or "justified" by God. Finally, Lewis did not believe in a penal hell, choosing instead the understanding that "hell" is the unfortunate state of mind of a person who has not developed the capacity for love and joy, regardless of their religion (see ''The Great Divorce'' and ''The Last Battle''). In the entire corpus of Lewis's work, it is impossible to find a statement of belief in "penalties against non-believing sinners," "penal atonement" or any such heterodox Roman Catholic ideas.
Instead, Lewis agreed with [http://www.stathanasius.miss.on.coptorthodox.ca/Menu/Patrology/SchoolOfAlexandria/DeansClement.htm St. Clement of Alexandria] that God's punishment of all humans is a "wise fire" that delivers us from evil to good, gloom to joy, if only we had enough sense and trust to "lay ourselves open" to God's infinite justice. In ''Problem of Pain,'' Lewis describes divine retribution as the painful but salutary and joyful process by which God plants a "flag" in our "horribly rebellious soul." According to Lewis, we will not be saved from hell until we permit God to render his infinite wrath upon us. This is a very radical notion that Lewis adopts directly from the central thought of his "master" George MacDonald. (See Lewis's book: ''George MacDonald, An Anthology''.) This paradoxical theology, present which has unmistakeable antecedents in ancient Christianity, is totally contrary to what most of his modern audience understands to be the "Christian Gospel," and thus Lewis dares speak of it only in the most indirect terms in his theological literature and in the most oblique allusions in his fantastic literature:
