Just who is God trying to scare with this stuff about Hell?

Question

If I don't believe in God, then I don't believe in Hell either. So telling me I'm going to Hell for not believing in God doesn't mean anything to me.

However, if I believe in God, then I believe in Hell, and believing in God means I'm not going to Hell.

So what purpose does the existence of Hell serve? It doesn't scare the non-believer into believing, and it is not a threat for the believer either.

Seems the only purpose Hell serves is to reassure the believers that non-believers will suffer.

Who do you think God is trying to scare by telling us about Hell?

Answer 1

Great question!

The whole idea of rewards and punishments after death, is a really bad sales idea. Invest your whole life and what do you get? A chance of your reward after this life ends. I am suprised that such a primitive marketing technique catches anyone these days.

Not even most of the English bishops can handle the idea of hell, they have had to get rid of it as if offends their consciences too much. Not those evangelical group though, they cling to the nastiest part of reigion as if they came up with it.

Not many rewards to offer the poor peasants 2000 years ago, and punishments (well they were so bad in their lifetime eg loss of children due to disease) that the only way to control the masses effectively was rewards and punishments for eternity. The fact the concept of hell lingers is a testament to people's arrogance coupled with ignorance.

Anyone who believes in hell (apart from a child) is displaying the very worst humanity has to offer. The fact they can sleep at night will be the one thing that I will always struggle to comprehend.

Answer 2

Since God paid the ultimate price to deliver us from death, Hell and sin through the horrible death of His ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, he is just in condemning those who spit on the sacrifice of His son by refusing to repent and obey His commandments.

God's commandments are necessary because human nature is bent heavily toward sin and they need some direction so they don't destroy themselves through disease, war, drugs and whatever else. The commandments aren't a list of do's and don'ts but rather a safe guide to help us see what is right.

One example - Thou shalt not kill - When someone kills someone else several things happen. A person dies, the family of that person suffers sorrow, and the killer either is given life in jail, execution or is killed by an enraged family member or whatever else. It is a lose/lose situation and so God tells us we need to avoid this destructive behaviour.

You can apply the rest as you look at the other commands of God. You will see clearly if you look at them in that way.

Now there are people who will not obey God for whatever reason, and there are multitudes of reasons and multitudes of people living in sin which is disobedience to the commandments of God. None of the reasons holds water with God who is Holy and Just and will not tolerate sin.

Hell doesn't exist for the purpose of scaring anyone. Hell exists because there has to be a place for the unrepentant sinner to go, and he would feel out of place in Heaven where everyone loves one another and everyone loves God above all! Hell exists as the righteous punishment for those who refuse to be delivered from sin.

Answer 3

"God," of course, isn't trying to scare anybody with Hell. Hell is an invention of men primarily for purposes of manipulating other men.

Why is it such a powerful idea? Maybe not to people like you or me, but evidently to others? It starts with fear of the unknown, death being the ultimate Unknown. So we decide that this mortal life is only a prelude, and invent an "Afterlife" in which we are immortal. To compensate for the perceived indifference of Nature to the human concept of justice, we then partition this Afterlife into "Heaven" and "Hell," in the former of which we will be eternally rewarded for our earthly righteousness, while our enemies will burn for their transgressions against us in the latter. Hell then becomes both a threat and a revenge wish-fulfillment.

Historically, Hell was a sort of rhetorical supplement to the physical compulsion of the sword, which was the real way Christianity, like most religions, spread and took hold.

Answer 4

Actually most people that believe in god are going to hell as well. Even Satan believes in God. You might not believe in God, but that doesn't change the fact that he exists. The reason you don't believe in God, is because you don't want to. That is the very reason you have to come on here, to try and find more excuses not to believe in him. So God will allow you to believe the lie, because when one hates the truth they can never find it.

Answer 5

Hell isn't for those that don't believe in God; hell is those that "know" the TRUTH but choose to reject it and go into sin. For one that hasn't had access to the TRUTH, they are innocents and may end up bumping elbows with all the prophets and angels, and even God.
There are some "so-called" believers that may get to experience how hot satan turns up the heat.
We are all sinners, we just pray that God can see the good in our heart.

Answer 6

Hell was invented by Satan. In the garden of eden he told Eve that she would positively not die if she ate of the fruit and disobeyed God. He led her to believe that she would live on somewhere.
And today that lie is alive and well. Almost everyone believes in a burning hell or a blissful heaven.
That was not God's original purpose or punishment.
LIVE OR DIE
those are your only two choices.
You can learn about God and his will for you and live forever OR you can do your own thing and die...not fly, not fry, just die.

Answer 7

Its like a positive and negative, two sides to every story.

The two, good and evil need each other in order to exist. Eliminate one, then you eliminate the other.

So the eternal quest to eradicate evil gives people a sense of purpose.

Satan / Devil was created by God. He was God's left hand man. But Satan crossed the line and so was banished. Therefore, God could not be so perfect, he made mistakes.

Religion, is based on books and peoples interpretation of them and of events. It what we do do with that information and interpretation that makes a difference.

Answer 8

Hell is not really a place. It is a misconception introduced to Christianity by the Roman Catholic Church from their previous life as Pantheism with the Roman Empire. Do you recall hearing about Hades, Elysian Fields, Tartarus? These are all what eventually became modern "Christian" ideas about heaven and hell. However, the mention of Hell in the Bible is clarified by other parts of the Bible for those who are willing to accept the connection. Hell in essence is the total separation from God. If you no longer have a connection to God, who is the source of Life, you will cease to live...this is what is also called the Second Death. The first death is merely when our physical bodies stop functioning completely. Our minds, and bodies return to the Earth. Our life force, which some call spirit returns to He who gave it. Judgment day is going to take place in the future. After that time, those that God remembers to take with Him to paradise will be resurrected. Those that chose not to be part of that group by their lives and actions will be resurrected to acknowledge the justice of God's decision to exclude them. At that point, they and Satan and the 1/3 of the Angels that chose to depart from heaven will be destroyed by fire, as will our planet Earth....
That's not the end of the line...there is a promise and prophecy that the New Earth will be better than the current one. Those who went to live with God in paradise will come back to the New Earth, with God. The New Earth will be HQ for God. We will be immortal by that time with new bodies. There will not be eternal suffering for the damned. There will be once and for all an end to all suffering and pain, shame and sorrow after judgment day.

Answer 9

Being Atheist, I have no fear of hell. I think the christians probably made hell up over 2000 years ago as a means of giving them an "either or" sort of thing. For the weak minded, it was an easy way to get them to follow. Hence, christianity's long lineage of...well, not so smart people. Plus, that gives them that feeling of superiority..."We get to go to heaven and all you heathens rot and burn in hell, aren't we SWEET?!"

Answer 10

Imagine buddhist monks who just want to repent their sins and do good deeds for the rest of their life. I sincerely hope they don't go to hell for not believing in God.