Why Hell?

[Guest Daave]

None of us like to think that hell is a real place with real people in it and that death and hell will one day be cast into the lake of fire. But to deny it is to deny that the scriptures are accurate and true. As distasteful as we may consider hell and the lake of fire, the undeniable fact is that scriptures support these very things.

Where is the flood of people sacrificing their lives to reach those who have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ? Isn't that what the first century church did?

Should not these be the questions we are asking ourselves?

The fact is; real people are dying and never hearing the gospel and are destined to hell and the lake of fire.

The fact also is; that we are not willing to sacrifice our lives to reach them.

Daave

[secondeve]

None of us like to think that hell is a real place with real people in it and that death and hell will one day be cast into the lake of fire. But to deny it is to deny that the scriptures are accurate and true. As distasteful as we may consider hell and the lake of fire, the undeniable fact is that scriptures support these very things.

Where is the flood of people sacrificing their lives to reach those who have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ? Isn't that what the first century church did?

Should not these be the questions we are asking ourselves?

The fact is; real people are dying and never hearing the gospel and are destined to hell and the lake of fire.

The fact also is; that we are not willing to sacrifice our lives to reach them.

Daave

I believe the original question was how to reconcile the ugliness of hell with a loving God, Daave. As for people 'sacrificing their lives,' the image seems either overly dramatic or somehow ironic where (any) religion is concerned. For what other concept have people started more wars than any other, burned witches, sacrified humans and animals, engaged in ritual scarring/circumcision, led pogroms?

[Guest Thomas I believe]

Old ground, but it bears repeating....

It's is God's desire that NO ONE be condemned to Hell. That is why God sent His only Son, Jesus, to bear the sins of the WORLD upon Him, so that ALL may have Eternal Life.

Perfectly said ! Amen !!!!

[secondeve]

Thomas and Phil121:

If that's the case, then why (hypothetically) convert if we aren't going to hell by staying athiests? Or does the salvation only apply to those who believe- in which case, even if all men & women had their sins forgiven, not all are going to heaven.

[Candi770]

Daave, your soo right: where are the laborers. Hell is real-and people are going right now-

Lord stir us up to action!!!!

Candi

[red77]

IMO Nobody chooses to be burned alive forever and ever; the very idea is absurd. If choosing the "right" religion (and there are so many past and present to choose from) is the only choice one can make to avoid such a fate then that would be a decision made under duress and fear - not a decision made out of love.

I love my children but if they disappointed me I certainly wouldn't dowse them with gasoline, light a match to em and tell them as they writhe in agony that I'm only doing it because it's what they wanted and because I love them so much. So why would an all merciful, loving God (who supposedly loves us with a love so great we can't even comprehend it) do that to us? And why should we believe that He would just because we read it in a very old book compiled by unknown authors?

[note to mods; I really think this needs to be posted. Surely I'm not the only person who has had these thoughts meander thru their mind.]

I'm of a like mind, this doctrine is solely based on using extreme fear to manipulate and has nothing to do with love - something which should be at the heart of the christian message, its very rarely i see any consistency on this subject either......several people I've spoke with say hell is a fiery pit, others psychological torment of being seperated from God, some people I've chatted with think its a fiery pit and psychological torment....how that makes sense is beyond me.........and then others quote the lake of fire and obviously some view that as literal and others metaphorical..........yet all these people claim they have biblical truth on the subject...........some of them are wrong as they contradict each other..........!

Its also IMO a bit disingenuine to say that all people who havent made the right choice in this life are deserving of eternal torment.........because its always from the perspective of those who are convinced that they wont have to suffer themselves, hearing phrases like God wouldnt be just if he didnt punish people with torment is oh so easy to say, words are cheap sometimes........

From what I've read and understood God is the saviour of all men, especially those that believe, and he wills that all men be safe and come to a knowledge of the truth.........is God incapable of reconciling all men unto himself......if you believe in eternal torment then seemingly he is.........fortunately I dont believe in a 'semi' omnipotent God whose mercy and love are paradoxically limited..........

[red77]

Where does the Scripture say that humans will suffer eternally in hell?

Mr 9:41

Edited May 30, 2006 by red77

[red77]

I have been thinking recently about this topic and have not been able to come up with a reason why God should send anyone to ETERNAL suffering in Hell.

This problem has been troubling me because I was recently asked this question and could not find an answer. I would greatly appreciate some help with this issue.

ppl send them selves to hell.....everyday. Oh what needless pain we bear all because we do not carry ... everything to God in prayer.

[Guest Sunshine & Smiles]

God doesn't SEND anyone to Hell. Hell was created for Satan and his angels who followed him in rebellion-it was never created for man to be a part of. Man in his rebellion has chosen Hell to be blunt. It's actually an act of love that God would allow man to go to Hell-if He forced Heaven upon them (something they've shown they don't want) would He be loving? He loves man enough to let him do his own thing even if that means a man choosing Hell.

Very Nicely said. I totally agree.

God gave us Freedom of Will, its up to us. Its our decision.

God laid out all the facts, and gave us the choice. Choose Him and you choose life, choose not and you have the consequences.

There are, however, other points of view regarding hell.

But, thank you Ronald, for the lovely way you put things here.

Sunshine

[secondeve]

Sunshine:

If I know someone has a drinking problem and I leave a bottle of whiskey in their house where they can see it, am I to blame if they drink it all and make themselves sick? True, it was their choice to drink, but when it comes to decisions regarding achohol, they have a weakness that is a kind of disease. Some might be strong enough to resist, but some others don't. But if, knowing this, I leave the bottle there and they succumb to a weakness I know they had, then I'm helping to make them sick by putting temptation in their path.

Carry this analogy on to what you've just said about God. He loves us and trusts us enough to leave us with the whiskey, but if we then chose it, and he knew we were weak, why put the bottle there at all? We chose, true, but not necessarily while we were in posession of all our faculties and were corrupted by an illness beyond our control. Giving us the whiskey is a test of the strength of our character, but some things - like this achoholism - interefere with our abilities to make choices. The man in the hypothetical might have had strength enough to go without a drop and not to buy it from the shops, to avoid parties where it was being served- but a whole bottle, left just for him in his house, with nobody looking?

The point I'm making is this: if you're wanting to argue that God is right to leave temptation in our paths knowing our individual weaknesses for it, then it is not %100 our fault if we make the wrong choice, and we are neither %100 deserving of hell as our reward nor were we %100 responsible for our fall.