Is eternal punishment fair????

Question

Compared to a short life on earth.

Answer 1

I am a religious person, a Christian even, but I have to admit that I think this is a good question. Seems fair enough to me. I would argue that it depends. So many people have different views on what exactly you have to do (or not do) to end up with eternal punishment. I am not vain enough to suppose I know the answer to the question: who gets eternal punishment (if anyone) and who does not?

You are right. It is a short life. It doesn't seem fair. However, I do think that there are some people who deserve it. There are a handful of universal and obvious wrongs that very few will argue are ok. Those that do are the guilty, trying to create an excuse for their selfish actions. Pre-meditated murder. Rape. Torture. Oppression. These are a few things that are universally accepted to be evil in pretty much all cultures. The people who commit these acts know they are doing wrong. They may cook up some concocted excuses for them, but deep down inside we all know that these acts are wrong. If you KNOW an act is wrong and will hurt someone in a terrible way, and you are selfish enough to do it anyway, then I think that justifies eternal punishment. The key, however, is that you have to know it is wrong. There are circumstances, to be sure, that open up a lot of questions about what we "know" and what we don't.

So I think that it IS fair under certain extreme circumstances, regardless of the shortness of life. People know how short life is. They should not abuse it by abusing others. Anything beyond the extreme, however, I think it would be foolish to claim to know the answer to it. Does anyone really get eternal punishment? If so, then who? Why? How do you know? "Because God said so" is not really an answer. That is the same thing as saying you don't know. I, for one, don't pretend that I do know. Your question is a good question, but unfortunately it is one for which we do not have all the information.

Answer 2

Yes it is.....Jesus gave His life for us, a gift, so that we wouldn't have to spend eternity apart from Him. All we have to do is accept His gift.
Think of it this way. Someone gives you a present, with no strings attached. It is a gift to you from them. If you open it, you get the wonderful gift inside, if you choose not to open it (because you don't think you deserve it or you just don't think you should right now) then that gift just sits there and has no benefit to you. Until you choose to accept what has been given freely to you it just sits there. And the person who gave it so freely feels pain and even rejection that they have offered something to you and you just let it sit there. Doesn't make sense does it........Life is short, you are right about that. So why waste time? Why not accept that gift while you are still living and while the gift is still available??

Answer 3

What would be the alternative? Forcing people who have totally rejected or hated God during their lives on earth to spend eternity in His presence?? Would that be fair?
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Answer 4

Is killing off the firstborns of an entire nation for the deeds of one man fair? Is wiping out the entire earth and starting over with just what fit on an ark fair?

Is poverty fair?
Is starving to death while others are grossly overweight fair?

Is any of it fair? Should it be?

Answer 5

No, it's not fair. That's why it doesn't exist.

Find the present moment. The timeless is the only thing that is real. Punishment depends on time. Suffering depends on time. Kill time, and those things don't exist. They are illusions.

The only hell there is is to be identified with your own suffering. But it's all an illusion anyway, so there really is no hell, no eternal punishment.

Answer 6

Is eternity in heaven fair, considering how much we mess things up here on earth?

No. This isn't about fairness. It is about judgement and mercy. Those who choose to accept the mercy, avoid the judgement. Simple.

Answer 7

The book of Enoch stated that no one is going to hell, but
for some reason when the Bible was composed, these
writings were left out. They (the powers that be)
at the time felt that it contradicted the mainstream preachings
of the disciples, althoug Enoch was well represented as
a Christian follower in the bible.

Answer 8

well that's a good question but to answer that you would have to know what kind of god cares about you John 3:16 shows us that god loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten son Jesus Christ and you know all humans are sinfully so he must really love us all 1John 4:8 talks about how god is love so if Jehovah god is love he would not permit suffering therefore we will not burn in hell for eternity.

Answer 9

As for the doctrine of hell consider the following:

1. Wouldn't everyone repent when faced with hell?
2. Would God let out people who repented?

One argument against hell is this: No person in his right mind would choose eternal punishment in hell over heaven. Therefore everyone would repent when sent to hell. If God lets the repentant leave, hell will be empty (and therefore can be disregarded). If God doesn't let the repentant leave, God is unjust for continuing to punish them after they've repented.

The trouble with this line of reasoning is that repentance is not simply a matter of one saying, "Okay, I'll say whatever you want me to, just get me out of here!" Repentance involves acknowledging one's guilt, feeling remorse and the desire to change one's behavior, accepting Christ's sacrifice as substitutionary punishment for one's wrongs and agreeing to love and obey God (including Christ as God the Son). This includes by definition acceptance of eternal punishment in hell as just punishment for one's sins; while the skeptic may still object that continued punishment of the repentant is unjust, the repentant will respond that their continued punishment is deserved and could only end through God's mercy.

However, in reality people in hell won't repent, in particular not any skeptic who makes the above argument. If one thinks God is unjust for punishing people in hell, actually going there isn't going to make one suddenly decide that God is just and deserves one's love and worship after all. People are given their entire lives on Earth as an opportunity to repent and accept God; if they refuse each day of their lives to repent and believe they're justified in doing so, it's hardly conceivable that punishment in hell would change their minds.

Since hell is comprised of those who would never repent, the second question is only a hypothetical one; it could be argued either way. In practice, someone who would repent in hell would be given the opportunity to repent on Earth and would presumably repent before they died, not after.

As for etermal punishment for finite life of sin, the answer is this our sin bears an eternal consequence because it is ultimately against an eternal God. When King David committed the sins of adultery and murder he stated, Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight (Psalm 51:4). David had sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah, how could David claim to have only sinned against God? David understood that all sin is ultimately against God. God is an eternal and infinite Being. As a result, all sin is worthy of an eternal punishment.

An earthly example of this would be comparing attacking your neighbor and attacking the President of the United States. Yes, both are crimes, but attacking the President would result in far greater consequences. How much more does sin against a holy and infinite God warrant a terrible consequence?

In short, hell and heaven were created out of God's love for mankind as a consequence of free will. God will righteously respect the choices a person makes and grant them the eternal life they sought through the exercise of their own free will.

I have simplified much of the doctrines behind these concepts. I suggest you do some careful study of the attributes of God to digest these hard sayings. Start with some basic introductions to theology, especially the attributes of a perfect being (God) and go from there.

Answer 10

you don't burn forever in hell fire. The hell fire incinerates your spiritual body ie your soul and it dies in an instant. eternal damnation just means your dead forever. God is not a mean God and he would take no pleasure in seeing anybody roast forever. He just would'nt allow it. For the four hundreth time hell is a result not a place!!!