Is everlasting torment merciful?

Question

I have wondered for a long time about the Christian belief that it is more merciful for God to send unbelievers to hell, than to simply wipe them out of existence. Would you rather live a day in and day out existence of constant torment, or simply not exisit? If simply being erased from existence is more merciful, than why would God (and how could He) choose to keep His creations alive only to suffer to no end? (I know some will say that it is our choice, but it is God who chooses the purported punishment. Is this necessary, or just desired by Him for some reason?)

Answer 1

Hello,

God is very loving, why would God who is loving and forgiving send us to burn in hell? That goes against everything God stands for, doesn't it? But when we sin he wants to forgive us, in fact 2 Peter 3:8, 9 says, "However, let this one fact not be escaping YOUR notice, beloved ones, that one day is with Jehovah as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. Jehovah is not slow respecting his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with YOU because he does not desire any to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance." (I welcome you all to look this up in your own personal copy of the Bible)

So you see, not only does He want us to repent, He is also patent with us. How loving! Don't you think? It goes with His personality in fact we have the scripture at 1 John 4:16 that say "God is Love" which is very straight forward. So again, this would go against God’s personality. But back to your original question on Hell, do you know that after you die you are conscious of NOTHING of at all. Ecclesiastes 9:5 tells us that "For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten." So if all bad people were going to be burning in hell, this would go against what the Bible says, and we know God can not lie. Titus 1:2 says "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began." Then we have the scripture in 2 Timothy 3:16 that says all scriptures is inspired by God.


Psalms 146:4 "His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thought do perish." So again, here we see that our thoughts are gone. If we were going to burn in hell, don't you think it would make sense that we would be aware of it.


Ezekiel 18:4 "The soul that is sinning it itself will die." Notice that it doesn't say that it will burn in hell, just that it will die. And as we learned above in Ecclesiastes 9:5 the dead are aware of NOTHING.


Hell is nothing more than the common grave of mankind. Webster’s Dictionary says that the English word "hell" is equal to the Hebrew word Sheol and the Greek word Hades. In German Bibles Hoelle is the word used instead of "hell"; in Portuguese the word used is inferno, in Spanish infierno, and in French Enfer. The English translators of the Authorized Version, or King James Version, translated Sheol 31 times as "hell," 31 times as "grave," and 3 times as "pit." The Catholic Douay Version translated Sheol 64 times as "hell." In the Christian Greek Scriptures (commonly called the "New Testament"), the King James Version translated Hades as "hell" each of the 10 times it occurs.—Matthew 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27, 31; Revelation 1:18; 6:8; 20:13, 14.


The question is: What kind of place is Sheol, or Hades? The fact that the King James Version translates the one Hebrew word Sheol three different ways shows that hell, grave and pit mean one and the same thing. And if hell means the common grave of mankind, it could not at the same time mean a place of fiery torture. Well, then, do Sheol and Hades mean the grave, or do they mean a place of torture?

Before answering this question, let us make clear that the Hebrew word Sheol and the Greek word Hades mean the same thing. This is shown by looking at Psalm 16:10 in the Hebrew Scriptures and Acts 2:31 in the Christian Greek Scriptures. Notice that in quoting from Psalm 16:10 where Sheol occurs, Acts 2:31 uses Hades. Notice, too, that Jesus Christ was in Hades, or hell. Are we to believe that God tormented Christ in a fiery hell? Of course not! Jesus was simply in his grave.

When Jacob was mourning for his beloved son Joseph, who he thought had been killed, he said: "I shall go down mourning to my son into Sheol!" (Genesis 37:35) However, the King James Version here translates Sheol "grave," and the Douay Version translates it "hell." Now, stop for a moment and think. Did Jacob believe that his son Joseph went to a place of torment to spend eternity there, and did he want to go there and meet him? Or, rather, was it that Jacob merely thought that his beloved son was dead and in the grave and that Jacob himself wanted to die? Yes, good people go to the Bible hell. For example, the good man Job, who was suffering a great deal, prayed to God: "O that in Sheol [grave, King James Version; hell, Douay Version] you would conceal me, . . . that you would set a time limit for me and remember me!" (Job 14:13) Now think: If Sheol means a place of fire and torment, would Job wish to go and spend his time there until God remembered him? Clearly, Job wanted to die and go to the grave that his sufferings might end. In all the places where Sheol occurs in the Bible it is never associated with life, activity or torment. Rather, it is often linked with death and inactivity. For example, think about Ecclesiastes 9:10, which reads: "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 [grave, King James Version; hell, Douay Version], the place to which you are going." So the answer becomes very clear. Sheol and Hades refer not to a place of torment but to the common grave of mankind. (Psalm 139:8) Good people as well as bad people go to the Bible hell.

GETTING OUT OF HELL

Can people get out of hell? Consider the case of Jonah. When God had a big fish swallow Jonah to save him from drowning, Jonah prayed from the fish’s belly: "Out of my distress I called out to Jehovah, and he proceeded to answer me. Out of the belly of Sheol [hell, King James Version and Douay Version (2:3)] I cried for help. You heard my voice."—Jonah 2:2.


What did Jonah mean by "out of the belly of hell"? Well, that fish’s belly was surely not a place of fiery torment. But it could have become Jonah’s grave. In fact, Jesus Christ said regarding himself: "Just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights."—Matthew 12:40.


Jesus was dead and in his grave for three days. But the Bible reports: "His soul was not left in hell . . . This Jesus hath God raised up." (Acts 2:31, 32, King James Version) Similarly, by God’s direction Jonah was raised from hell, that is, from what would have been his grave. This happened when the fish vomited him out onto dry land. Yes, people can get out of hell! In fact, the heartwarming promise is that hell (Hades) is to be emptied of all its dead. This can be seen by reading Revelation 20:13, which says: "The sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell [Hades] delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."—King James Version.


I really hope that this helps you out some.



Source

New World Transclation of the Holy Scriptures

Kings James Version

www.watchtower.org

Answer 2

No it is Not.. But it is Just. God has arranged a way that He may show His mercy on man. Through the substantial sacrifice of Jesus Christ God is now able to show mercy on all those who will except mercy. If a person refuses to except that gift then God being perfect must have His Justis satisfied in the only way left to Him. He must bring that judgment down on the sinner... Jim

Answer 3

If the christian god were real, it is safe to say that he is in fact a malevolant and infinitely cruel entity.

I would never wish to be denied the Nihil. The concept of living eternally, no matter what the consequences, is not something I would wish to consider. That people could be forced into that is a horrific fate... and something only a truly cruel entity could inflict.

Thankfully thats not a problem.
I will cease to exist some day... and that shall be the day I am most content.

Answer 4

Everlasting torment is not as it sounds, it is acuually and act of kindness on GOD'S part. Everlasting in this context is bruning until you are burned to ashes; for hell as the bible clearly states, for someone who gets there is the second DEATH. Which means GOD do'nt want whoever goes there to be burining everlastingly;FOR HELL WAS REALLY MADE FOR THE DEVIL AND HIS ANGELS. read REV20:14 and21:8 also MATT 25:14.

Answer 5

Perhaps. But the all merciful God left it up to you to choose so you cannot be angry when you get whatever you asked for. Then the need to question Hell's existence or the exact extent of it's horror would not be a factor.

Answer 6

God in his mercy has given you the way out through Jesus. It's up to you to accept the gift of eternal life.

Answer 7

Hellfire and eternal damnation is man's interpretation of scripture. As you say, we all have a choice ! I am Jewish to the extent that I believe that Heaven is eternity with God and Hell is eternity without Him. Rest of the time, I prefer The Protestant Faith.

Answer 8

No it isn't and that is why such an idea is totally untrue. Hell is not a place of torture; it is where all souls or people go who die. It is the common grave or place of burial.
Souls do die; they are not immortal--"The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself."--- Ezekiel 18:20
How do we know that hell is the grave? Well, we can read many verses in God's Word that assures us of that fact. Here are but a few:

Psalm 139:8--"If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there." (If hell is a fiery,hot place of torture, would David think God (psalms 83:18) would be there ?
Amos 9:2--"Though they dig into hell, From there My hand shall take them; Though they climb up to heaven, From there I will bring them down." ( Can you dig into fire? No, but you can dig into the earth and God can find you no matter where you try to hide.)
Jonah 2:2--"And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice." ( The belly of the fish would have been Jonah's grave, if God had not rescued him.)
Revelation 1:18--"I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." (Why would Jesus need keys to hell? Because the dead do not have to stay in hell forever; they can be resurrected back to life.)
Revelation 20:13-14--"And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." (Hell delivers up the dead, meaning a resurrection from the grave), and what happens to death & hell? They are thrown into the lake of fire, meaning total destruction.
Christendoms concept of hell is a pagan teaching. God is love and tortures no one.
It makes Satan and his demons happy when people make God out to be sadistic and cruel. The pagan hellfire doctrine has turned many away from worshipping God-----how sad.

Answer 9

He is merciful in that He gives them what they want--an existence without God.

Answer 10

Hell is satans abode. Thats why Satan is working so hard to get ppl to come be with him. He dosn't want to suffer alone. When you die you either go to heaven or hell and your right, I'm going to tell you that it's your choice. The punishment for sin is hell. If you don't want to go there, I strongly suggest you come to repentance and give you heart to the Lord. God is so merciful to you now, giving you a choice. You choose to go to hell. Not God.

God does not "send" you to hell for no reason. No sin can enter heaven. You choose to go to Hell yourself.

Answer 11

We Christians was taught in our churches that hell is going to be forever, well, thats NOT what the bible teachess, anyone teaching that the sinner will burn in hell for ever and ever will have a BIG problem the day Jesus returns