If an all-loving and benevolent God really loves sinners, how can he send some of them to hell?

Question

I'm trying to follow a pattern of logic here: okay, I'm God, I create Adam and Eve, my most wonderful creation, to keep me company because I'm lonely and I want someone to share eternity with. I already created some angels, but they got cocky, and one of them got ESPECIALLY cocky, and I named him Satan, or the Devil. (I'm PERFECT, but I guess I screwed up, what can I say?!). I love Adam and Eve unconditionally, but I kicked them out of my lovely garden because they were tempted by Satan to eat some fruit that I forbid them to eat! I KNOW that they're not perfect, just like I knew the ANGELS weren't perfect, but I'm punishing them anyway! After all, I'm God, what're ya' gonna do?! But I'm STILL all loving, so I'm gonna send some of Adam and Eve's descendants to hell (a home for Satan--wow, aren't I generous to my enemy? It IS fire, but at least it's home!) for not following some rules that I wasn't very clear about anyway!! Are you getting this people? Good, cuz I don't!!

I suppose that I should have known that people would throw logic to the wind when God is involved! I ask for logic? They throw bible verses at me! Forget your question, forget logic, I'm a Christian!! They cannot, and WILL NOT think outside of their self-imposed "bible box"!!

It's not that I don't appreciate the answers--I'm just disappointed when people create something out of nothing at all.

Answer 1

That is exactly what I have been telling you. He wouldn't. Sin and hell and the bible are all man made, not God made.

Answer 2

True, God is all loving. It is also true that God created Adam and Eve, but not because he was lonely, but because he wanted to. God is perfect, and perfect beings don't need anything. God created Adam and Eve with the ability to choose. If they did not have the ability to choose, then they would be programmed to do exactly what you tell them to do.

You are missing one part of the equation: God is infinitely just. If God is infinitely just, then he has to punish sins. If he lets people go without punishment, then he could not maintain his justice. But out of his love, he paid the punishment human kind owed to him himself. In doing so, he can maintain is justice and demonstrate his love at the same time. Humans then have the choice to accept God's payment or choose to try some other way to pay for sin. The payment that is good enough is God's payment though. This pattern of logic makes perfect sense to me.

Answer 3

First of all, where do you get the information that Satan is in hell? According to the book of Job, Satan goes between heaven and earth. He will not be bound until Armageddon, at which point he will be bound in the abyss or bottomless pit for 1000 years (Revelation 20:3). He will then be loosed for a short time, gather another army, and then be sent to the lake of fire (Revleation 20:3, 20:7, 20:10). Ok; with that out of the way.

Besides being all loving, God is fair and just. Now, could God allow someone to break the rules and not be punished and still be fair and just? No. So, even though He loves everyone, God must, because of His nature, be true to His word. He loves all and desires all to come to Him, but if they do not, He has no choice but to judge them. It grieves Him, it hurts Him, but He must do it. It does not mean that He did not love that person; He does. It means that person broke the rules as set before him.
And, the rule is not that hard to understand: Christ is the only way to heaven. That is the rule. Really, it is not that hard to understand. God was clear about it. Many, many people understand it. Many who understand the rule chose not to follow it. Is that not sad? To be knowingly, willfully disobedient of such a simple rule. God must really love us to make things so simple and then allow us to go on when we thumb our noses at Him. He keeps giving us chances out of His love. He does not want to punish us. That's where I have trouble with the logic of the thing. How can He still love us? I guess that's where the benevolence of His nature comes in, huh?

Answer 4

Well, for starters, the angel was named Lucifer. but that doesn't really matter because his only purpose is to kill, steal and destroy. Lucifer thought he was above God. That the creation was better than the creator. Next, God gave us free will. He didn't want mindless drones. He wanted relationship. He wanted us to love Him for who He is, not because we had no choice. That wouldn't have been love. He gave us free will to choose Him or reject Him. Choose Him, you choose life. Reject Him, you choose death. And I'm pretty sure Adam and Eve didn't misinterpret Him saying "Just don't eat the apple", He gave them one rule. One thing they weren't supposed to do. And they did it anyway. In the bible, God says, "If you love me you will obey me". They introduced sin into this world. And there are always consequences to sin. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but somewhere down the line, it always comes beack to bite you in the butt. If you really want to get clear on the rules and the mind of God, read a bible. Try starting with the new testament. You will learn more about love than anywhere else.

Answer 5

Hey, you got a good question and a pretty good scenario going, but step back a minute and enter free choice. Every creature God ever created was given the freedom to choose to love and obey God. Lucifer became jealous and chose to hate God. Adam and Eve were created to fill the gap in heaven after Lucifer and his sympathizers were banished (can't really co-exist with someone you hate). Thus they became Lucifer's targets to get at God. When they chose to sin (notice it was a very simple test, if they'd passed it, Lucifer wouldn't have been able to bug them ever again) they had to leave the garden because if they ate the leaves of the tree of life they would live as sinners suffering sins effects for eternity. God is our source of life, when we reject Him, we choose death, and because out of His love for us, He can't force us to choose Him He has to allow us what we chose. Does this make sense?

Answer 6

If God does not contain Himself in human affairs, why might he contain Himself interior the heaven and hell? God gave us unfastened will, we are made in His photograph and likeness- co-creators. If we pick to create a hell God won't end us from experiencing hell, yet hell does not exist. We create our certainty. God will on no account infringe on our unfastened will additionally if it potential our species will become extinct. yet he's talking by using many masters showing us a thank you to get to the place we would pick to circulate. Edkhart Tolle's e book a clean Earth and the hot Revelations by using Neale Donald Walsh are large examples. human beings say that God judges human beings, that existence is a try, and you the two flunk or pass, why might the writer of an entire universe layout issues after our college equipment? there is extra under heaven and earth than is ever dreamed of in our philosophies and our religions.

Answer 7

GOD Creates the Creation.
Adam kicks GOD out of the Creation.
Adams Spirit is messed up in the Process.
GOD cannot Flow though Adam anymore or HIS power would destroy Adam.
Adam is Lost (GOD not flowing through Adam Spiritually)
Adam has kid's, all born Lost (messed up Spirit passed down the Line of Humanity)
If you get Born-Again (Spirit Recreated) GOD flows through you again you go to Heaven.
Simple, easy--what's not to understand?
Ditto............

Answer 8

no. it is because Adam and Eve betrayed God and turned their back to him that he decided not to save them. Sinners have to choose whether or not they want to be saved by the Lord. If they don't want to live eternally, that's their choice and God respects it.

Answer 9

Well, simply put-you kinda got it backwards. God does not send anyone to hell. He can save you from it-but He does not send you there. Hell is a result of sin.

Answer 10

i wish this would stop.
god made rules just like a parent make rules so that the kids don't get into trouble. god made free will and that free will is what people used to sin, not god. god doesn't MAKE you sin. he gave us choices to see what our free will does to help us decide on what path to take.he gave us choices when is the product given thru free will.