A truely loving God will not allow a place like Hell to exist?

Question

What say you?

Answer 1

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

you think?

Only a just God will allow a place like hell to exist. Why will a person deny themselve all earthly lust, live a righteous life, loo stupid in the eyes of others while doing it.... the go and chill in the same place with Hitler, Mao TseSung, Idi Amin, Osama BinLaden e.tc?

Now were is the justice? where is the fairness?

It doesn't matter what arguement yo put out there. The afterlife only has 2 options: heaven or Hell.

Answer 3

You have described the doctrine of Universalism. The concept exists in many of the world's religions

In Christianity, Universalism, Universal reconciliation, or universal salvation, is the doctrine that all people will eventually be saved and go to heaven at some point after they are dead. This is based on the belief that a loving God would not submit any person, regardless of their sins, to everlasting torment, but would instead reform them.

The concept doesn't deny the need for retribution, it simply suggests that even the sinner is ultimately forgiven and welcomed into the Kingdom of God.

The Universalist Church in America is now a part of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). There is also an active UU Christian organization associated with the UUA.

Answer 4

You are right and you are wrong. A truely loving God will allow a place like Hell to exist, however he/she would never send anybody there.

According to alot of research I have done on the subject I believe that some people choose to go to Hell. For whatever reason I don't know, but God does not send anybody there.

Answer 5

I think our concept of Hell is a very human concept. There are some references to Hell in the Bible, but most of our ideas are from or modified by the secular world.

Still, Hell does seem to contradict the loving God Idea. Consider that if any given person would have a 50% chance of being tormented for Eternity, then it would be unethical for God to allow more souls to be created.

And the chances, according to most Fundamental Religions, is much less than that.

Answer 6

Oh no. God let's hell to exist because he could punish some humans on their actions. What happened to Hitler and Stalin? They all went to hell.

Imagine hell as a jail for the most notorious crooks from earth.

Answer 7

For truely God loving people,it won't.

Answer 8

O.K., here it is one more time. God is love, but He is also just, and cannot be in the presence of sin. He gives each soul, somehow, a chance to accept or reject Him. Those who reject are given thier wish, to be without Him. I believe there are levels in hell. Not all suffer to the same degree. The main aspect of hell is seperation from God, not hellfire and brimstone.

Answer 9

That would be like saying a truly loving parent would never punish or correct a child. I don't believe it's that God wants any of us to land in Hell for eternity. I just believe it's the threat of Hell that is supposed to help govern behavior.

Answer 10

to be a loving God, He wants the best for us, therefore, He refuses to tolerate unresolved sin. That is why He prepared heaven, a place where no sin will exist. He is a God of love and a God of justice.

Answer 11

Well that would be true except that God is not only merciful He is also Just and wether we like it or not we have to accept that Gods justice is perfect and does not discriminate like worldly justice,personally I really hope that no one goes to Hell it must be a rea terrible place.