If hell is not used as a threat, then why mention it at all?

Question

Do you guys use it as more of a gentle warning? Maybe you see it as a “truth” and you seek to inform your children of a danger and gently guide them away from it? Isn’t that just a nicer way of putting what is still in essence, a threat? Especially considering, for example; a car reversing down a driveway is a perceivable danger and ones children should most definitely be warned of it, but hell is not perceivable and is not a danger to life at all, so the only purpose of its existence is as a threat, do you follow my logic? And if you think God or Jesus or whatever other omnipotent being you believe in protects you from hell, then why mention it at all? The fact that the choices one makes throughout life affect whether or not one goes to hell can only mean that hell is used as a threat to make one more likely to make what are believed to be the rights choices, can’t it?

How many different ways can a threat be worded but still be a threat? Read below and find out....

Answer 1

As the church has become less powerful over the ages, it can no longer issue death threats, like it did when it was all powerful such as during the inquisition. So these days it seems to rely on after death threats, ie, you will burn in hell etc, to keep people in a state of fear and sub-survience.

Answer 2

Well... as the first part of your explanation says. I believe it is a Truth. (I know you've probably heard of this before) It is not a threat, it is a promise. A promise that if you do certain things, or fail to do certain things you are promised a one way trip to hell. Hell is not a threat it is a consequence of ones actions. You are guaranteed to get there eventually if you fail to accept your sins and ask for forgiveness.

Parents don't simply "use" hell as a way to guide their children to do the right choices, loving parents do actually WARN children of a true consequence that is bound to happen is they do not repent. It is a danger to life, but far more than this earthly life (a lot of us) now believe to be the only life. So, in conclusion...why SHOULD we warn others (including children) of hell if it is not a threat? The only reason is because some of us (called Christians) know of reality, and of what's coming after this life if we do not repent to the Lord... so we want to warn the world, and make sure that everyone knows what will happen after death if they do not listen. We don't win any sort of awards, we do it out of love.

I also agree with misty0408, she is completely right.

I hope i understood your question, and that i was of some kind of help.

Answer 3

I personally don't think much at all about hell. I bet most people, believers or not, don't. The "Hell" threat comes from God and Jesus reinforced that while he was here. You can read that for yourself without any Christian telling you. So it only comes down to whether you believe it or not. I do, I guess you don't. When the day comes that we pass on, and it will, then our beliefs won't amount to a hill of beans. God is the final judge. I believe He will do as he said he'd do. For me? It won't matter as long as I seek after his will in my life. My purpose is not to stay out of Hell, it's to have a relationship with God our creator. Far more productive thinking than fear.

Answer 4

If you believe in heaven and hell then you believe that good choices are rewarded and bad choices are punished. That same can be said for any reality spiritual or not. Hell is a consequence for a "bad life lived" just as jail is a consequence for breaking the law. Most people don't break the law, not because its wrong, but because they don't want to go to jail. They don't want to suffer the consequences of those actions. The same can be said for spirituality. If you believe in God and the Devil then you live a good life because you don't want to go to Hell. You don't want to suffer those consequences. We are all human and very very flawed, if there were no consequences to our actions alot more of us would do alot more wrong. Imagine a world with no laws. How many people do you think would still be good and honest and how many wouldnt? So yes, hell is deterrent or "threat" if thats what you wanna call it. If you believe that knowing you'll be punished for doing something bad somehow rinders you incapable of making the right choice then what do you say to those people that do wrong and fully believe that they are going to hell, but still CHOOSE to do wrong anyway. Its called free will.

P.S God does not protect you from hell, its your choice. He just tells what how you need to live in order not to end up there, but again its your choice to listen.

Answer 5

I look at it as tough love.

If your child was warned in school and at home about the dangers of drug use and decided to ignore the information and use it anyway (so he could be cool and popular), and eventually became a drug user, you would tell him that you loved him but unless he seeks help, he can't live in your house anymore. That is was too disruptive.

Now he knew the consequences beforehand but took a chance and lost.

That is how I see God dealing with us. As a Father to a child. The threat of hell is not being able to be a part of the family anymore because of the choices that were made against what the Father intended for you.

Answer 6

You might want to do a study on hell. It's not what you think.

You are correct though about using it as a threat; threats and fear as a motivation don't last long.

The reasoning behind it being mentioned though could be that there will be no surprises later, and no one can use the excuse, "I didn't know."

Answer 7

I suppose it doesn't matter how you classify it.

The true Christian believes that it is a real place. People that have not repented of their sins and accepted Christ's death on the cross as payment for their sin debt will be cast there.

So, regardless of what you want to call it the true Christian is duty bound to warn you about it.

We don't look at it as a fictional place. We know that you probably do. Should that dissuade us from warning you? Hardly.

Will doing so offend you? Probably. Should that dissuade us? Of course not.

After all we believe that on judgment day your opinion will change dramatically. We don't want you to find out that way when there is no chance for redemption.

Hopefully you can understand the motivation that drives us.

~Neeva

Answer 8

Hell was always a threat and only a threat. The only reason to mention it is to scare people into doing what you want them to do. The church has used it to "force" us to make the "right" choices,e.g. the ones the church wants us to make. After all, a saint can serve God as a sinner if it serves God's purpose.

Answer 9

A lot of people post about Hell, I just answer the question
It must be they believe in it and fear just takes over

Answer 10

If hell is not real then it is not a threat. Why do you worry, if you do no wrong. That is why you take it as a threat, you know you are doing something wrong. Need I say more.