Why would God create hell?

Question

I'm confused. I've been raisied in a chrristian household. I know more about reeligions of all kinds than the average person. But I just don't get hell. Assuming Christianity is true, why hell? It doesn't seem fair to be punished for making the wrong choice. I mean isn't the point of bein punished to learn? It doesn't make sense that a loving God would make an eternal hell. Especially when some people die @ 21 an some people die @ 101. According to such beliefs, once we die, if we've chosen wrong, we're skrewed. There's no way to fix it. Wouldn't any human being fall to his knees in the presence of such a God? On earth theres s much uncertanty, but when all that is stripped away, would not every human repent? And if so, why would such a loving God not show them forgiveness. I mean, we have the chance for ultimater forgiveness on earth, but once dead is that chance over? That doesn't seem fair in any way.

(Please don't answer with anything about the religion being wrong.)

Answer 1

Yeah, that's why I believe Hell is reserved for only the truly evil people. The murderers, rapists, and child molesters. The people who really screw other people over and spread misery and hatred in their lifetimes. These people made a choice to do really really bad things so it's not unfair when they get to hell and it's too late.

I think God deserves more credit than we give him. Everybody thinks that heaven or hell just hinges on whether you call yourself a Christian and say some prayer or not. I don't think God would reserve eternal damnation for just anybody. It's to punish TRUE evil.

Answer 2

OK, First of all, I also have a very difficult time dealing with the reality of hell. However, I am not clear about your question. It is not taught anywhere that God condemns people to hell for their bad choices. By bad choices do you mean choosing the wrong religion. Usually most people are born into a religion and do not choose it, but whatever the case may be I do not believe that God would condemn a person to eternal damnation for that. I was born a Roman Catholic and according to the catechism, God condemns people to hell for serious mortal sin, that is a sin such as murder which is done deliberately knowing that it is against the will or God yet the person still commits the sin and has absolutely no repentance in their heart. However, to off set this, the story is told about the two thieves who hung next to Jesus on the cross. One of them who evidently expressed remorse for his crimes just before he died was told by Jesus that "He would be with him in Paradise so even though that thief had lived a life of sin and made the wrong choices -- if you want to call it that -- still asked for forgiveness at the last moment and was able to "Steal" heaven. Hope this wasn't too long winded an answer.....I like your question.

Answer 3

God created the heavens and the earth. Hell is what will be left on earth after the final coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Anyone today who knows of the choice to repent and live for God's glory and chooses not to is destined to be left behind during the rapture.
Satan will rule for 1000 years. During which time Christians will be killed or tortured for their beliefs. The world will be ruled by all that we know to be bad. When the angel, Gabriel, decided he was more powerful than God, he was cast down from heaven, and took 1/3 of the angels with him. (I'm sure you know all this).
I do not know where he resides, but I do know he is in the lake of fire along w/ unbelievers. Where is heaven? It is a place where we will live eternally w/God. We have to keep the faith. Just like we have faith there is a God.
God does not punish. He will allow us to live thru the consequences of our wrongdoing, thou. This is how he teaches. If we are 21 or 101 and have never, ever heard of the Gospel and eternal life, then we would be like the innocent children and swept up to the heavens.
During the rapture there will still be the opportunity of repentance, and praying the Lord Jesus to come live in the hearts of those who choose to believe. I believe folks will be given every conceivable opportunity to believe and repent.
So, where is hell?, everywhere the Lord God is not.
I hope I have helped a little. It's a very complex question and a good one!

Answer 4

mandbturner3699 has the correct answer. Hell was not meant for mankind, but that is where those who reject God will end up, along with the devil and his angels.

Paul tells us that we reject God willingly. It is not a matter of a poor choice, although it IS a poor choice. Every human has a conscience to know what is right and wrong, good and evil. But we love evil, we rejoice in it, revel in it. We invent ways of doing more of it. (Romans 1)

When we have continued in that way, God allows our conscience to be seared, and we become even more depraved. (I Timothy 4) We get closer and closer to a point of no return.

The real issue is one of pride. This is the original sin. We think we know better than God. We want Him and Heaven on our terms, not His. Why would He give us more chances after we see Him and realize what idiots we've been?

The earth is the place where we choose. This is why we Christians are so annoying to people. We don't want to see people get "skrewed." We want to see our family, friends, and yes, even our enemies, come to faith so they won't suffer an eternal death and torment. We beg, plead, cajole (and some even threaten) people to repent. But, like I said, they love their sin, they want Heaven on their terms, not God's.

People ask, "If God loves us so much, why..." (Whatever argument they want to make.) But God DID show His love for us. When we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

When people go to hell, they must step over Christ's dead body to get there. It's a shame, and people who pooh-pooh hell are going to be in for a rude shock. First, they will face their Judge, then they will do before Him what they refused to do on earth, they will bow the knee, and confess "Jesus is Lord." (Philippians 2:10-11) Then they must go to the lake of burning sulfur, where there is no pardon, no parole. (Revelation 20:15)

Answer 5

I guess it all depends on your personal beliefs..I personally don't believe in hell well not as a place I believe as human living breathing beings we are currently in our own personal hell trying to make the best of it and learning from our mistakes. I believe that to die without faith kills the soul and we know nothing further but to die with faith we move on to a greater reward.

You have to remember that man wrote the bible and it is possible that not everything is accurate you could have ten people read the same chaper in the Bible and when ask what they learned get ten different answers. It is all amatter of interpretation.

I don't believe in hell because I don't think that a merciful god would create such a place of torment, I think hell is something used to keep christians from straying from the church. Again it is an interpretation, Adam and Eve changed Eden by eating of the forbidden fruit and they were made to suffer on earth just like each and everyone of us suffers in someway in our lifetime. Just my 2 cents.

Your pastor may be able to shed some more light also. I had a pastor tell me that my interpretations of the Bible were my own and that if I believed them and had faith then that was all that mattered.

Answer 6

God creates hell and heaven for enforcing a real justice.In this world there no real justice.There are many unjustice.There are many people who did wrong doing but they did not receive a punishment or its punishments are too light.Accorrding to our holy book Al Qur'an at resurrection day God will judge us by giving the list of what we have done during our lives in this un eternal world.Someone whose good doings are far more than his/her bad doings he/she will get rewards and will go to heaven.But someone whose bad doings are far more than his/her good doings he/she will get sins and go to hell..In God court our body parts such as legs,hands,eyes,nose,ears etc will be our witnesses and our mouth will be shut up.We can not tell a lie.Our angels recorded our deeds second by second during our lives.Angels can not be bribed.They are honest.They are always comply to the instruction of our God.Our rewards for good doings will be decreased by our sins for our conceiting,cheating,killing,insulting and slandering others.The hell will be inhabited by satans and those people who have more sins than their rewards.Everyday in the hell they will be punished by very very hot fire.They will be given a boiling water for drinking and burning iron for eating.Their skins will be blistered and grow a new skin and then blistered again...In the God's court individual person will be judged one by one and no one can help him/her..We should be responsible for our own deeds.Our wealth is no use.

Answer 7

To punish the fallen angels. Read Milton's "Paradise Lost".

In the old testament, God was not all that loving all of the time.

The gentleness of God is more a characteristic of the new testament, rather than the old testament.

Civilization was pretty rough in the middle east in the time the old testament was written. So it makes a certain amount of sense that the religion was rougher.

Jesus Christ seems to have brought forth the first step in ending feudalism.

Remember, Jesus Christ was not in the old testament.

It was a whole different story.

Answer 8

I was raised in Christianity as well. However, I was taught that hell doesn't exist and it's just a scare tactic to get people to go to church. I'm sure you are a good person and God loves you and all the little bunnies and what not. The people that disagree are the conservative christians that love the president and tell everyone that they must repent. I say enjoy your free will because I think death is the end of all things. If it's not I don't think life would have much purpose.

Answer 9

Hell, Sheol (Hebrew), or Hades (Greek) have the meaning of not an individual burial place, but the common grave of dead mankind. Whereas the Greek word Gehenna is used to symbolize eternal destruction.

The Bible actually indicates whether or not the dead experience pain. In Ecclesiates 9:5, 10: "The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all....All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol, the place to which you are going."

Psalms 146:4 says "His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish"

Job actually prayed for God to hide him in hell, while he was undergoing his trial from Satan the Devil. If it was a place of fiery torment, that would not make much sense. Also, that sheds light onto the chance of getting out of this common grave of mankind.

Revelations 20:13, 14 says "And the sea gave up those in it, and death and Hades gave up those in them, and they were judged individually according to their deeds. And death and Hades were hurled into the lake of fire. This means the second death, the lake of fire."

Eternal torment is not compatible with God's personality. Jeremiah 7:31 says "They [apostate Judeans] have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, in order to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, a thing that I had not commanded and that had no come up into my heart." If it never came into God's heart, surely he would not do this on a larger scale. Would a parent hold a child's hand over fire to punish him for wrong doing?

1 John 4:8 says that "God is Love".

Answer 10

Hi,
I guess the question should be why do people not receive the gift of life away from this place described as the lake of fire which is the 2nd death?
Take yourself for example, you obviously are aware of what you are bringing up, so if you decide to reject the Lord, than you will infact know why this place exists.
Freewill really, and pride for those that say they do not need a saviour.
Anyways....No one is guaranteed tomorrow, so tonight would be a great time to make things right with God. -Takecare.
-LIVE4TRUTH=]