I cannot grasp how a loving God can create a place where people can suffer burning fire for eternity? Tell me?

Question

how?
Its a thing viler than any sadist on the earth can concoct. Painful fire never ever ending - it is almost impossible to imagine. Surely God could have made burning fire for a few minutes and then the extinguishing of souls instead. Was Jesus was just making a metaphor for something else? And doesn't the bible state that most people on the earth are going there?

Theodore Hotwing - how can you not believe in hell when Jesus spoke plentifully on the subject

Kris - feel free to correct any false assumptions I have made. I am interested in what you think I have said that contradicts the bible

Answer 1

What would be the alternative? Taking people who hate God, who have chosen to exclude Him from their lives, and force them to spend eternity in His intimate company anyway?? How would that be loving? God has given every person the opportunity to spend eternity in glorious happiness and complete fulfillment. He has also given each person the right to accept that tremendous offer, or to spit in His face and cast Him out of their lives. God loves each person so much that He honors their individual choices. Therefore He has to provide a place where those who have chosen to live apart from Him can do so. That place is hell. And the agony of being there isn't fire. It's total separation from God, and therefore from all that is good, which is far greater agony than mere fire ever could be.

Hell is what gives earthly life a purpose. If there is no hell, then everyone, regardless of how they live their earthly life, will end up in heaven. Therefore, what possible reason could there be for these few years of struggling and suffering? Does God just enjoy watching us suffer before He brings us into heaven?

Answer 2

He didn't. That's Satan's lie to drive people away from a loving God.

2 Peter 3:7-10 says the earth & ungodly men shall be burned up. This earth is where hell will be after the righteous are resurrected. The fire is not eternal, but the result of the fire is eternal. Likewise, the punishing is not eternal, but the punishment is eternal - there is no coming back from this 2nd death.

Ezekiel 28:18 says Satan will be brought to ashes on the earth. Ashes don't burn.

Malachi 4:3 says the wicked will be ashes under our feet.

When all the Bible texts on a certain subject are brought together a complete picture shows that God is truly a loving Creator. You will find a good study called "Is the Devil Really in Charge of Hell" at the following link:

http://www.amazingfacts.org/items/study_guides.asp

Might as well check out their other study guides. Satan loves to warp doctrine to his own benefit. Including what happens when you die & the rapture.

God Bless your search for truth.

Answer 3

Good question, I suppose.

First, most Christian thelogians/apologists agree that the flames of hell is a metaphor. They aren't literal flames.

Second. Hell is a place that is seperation from God, not exactly physical agony. Hell respects the humanity of the person - the person has not chosen to go to heaven, and would not want to go there. They have chosen.

Some... I believe... Christians believe that the souls are "extinguished." I have not studied this in depth, but I don't think this theory holds up. The main thing is, Hell is the seperation from God's precense. That doesn't mean it would be enjoyable for the person there but -

Last of all, there are different intensities of (not physical) pain the person would have. It is stated in some books, such as Revelation, that it will be worse for some people, so it logically means that it will be less painful for others. What they recieve is what they deserve - so Hitler would be worse off than your average guy.

I'm sure I'm missing something, but I hope this helps.

Answer 4

I questioned that too and found a better answer here:

http://mercy.urantia.org/cgi-bin/webglimpse/mfs/usr/local/www/data/papers?link=http://mercy.urantia.org/papers/paper117.html&file=/usr/local/www/data/papers/paper117.html&line=116#mfs


P. 1285 "God first loves man and confers upon him the potential of immortality--eternal reality. And as man loves God, so does man become eternal in actuality. And here is mystery: The more closely man approaches God through love, the greater the reality--actuality--of that man. The more man withdraws from God, the more nearly he approaches nonreality--cessation of existence. When man consecrates his will to the doing of the Father's will, when man gives God all that he has, then does God make that man more than he is. "


P 953: "The Jewish traditions of heaven and hell and the doctrine of devils as recorded in the Hebrew scriptures, while founded on the lingering traditions of Lucifer and Caligastia, were principally derived from the Zoroastrians during the times when the Jews were under the political and cultural dominance of the Persians. Zoroaster, like the Egyptians, taught the "day of judgment," but he connected this event with the end of the world."

P. 953 "Almost every group had a different idea regarding the destiny of the ghost soul. The Greeks believed that weak men must have weak souls; so they invented Hades as a fit place for the reception of such anemic souls; these unrobust specimens were also supposed to have shorter shadows."

P. 953 "Early man entertained no ideas of hell or future punishment. The savage looked upon the future life as just like this one, minus all ill luck."

P. 953 "Egyptians had a religion far above that of the surrounding peoples. They believed that a disembodied soul, if properly armed with magic formulas, could evade the intervening evil spirits and make its way to the judgment hall of Osiris, where, if innocent of "murder, robbery, falsehood, adultery, theft, and selfishness," it would be admitted to the realms of bliss. If this soul were weighed in the balances and found wanting, it would be consigned to hell, to the Devouress."

Answer 5

Going through the answers I have seen many people who claim that the flames are a metaphore. But how do thet know this? The only way they can make such claims if they went through reincarnation, but they don't believe in that.
In my opinion, it makes no sense. If the xtian god is all loving he didn't need to create a place of utter horror, if someone has been charitble, decent, honnest etc all of their lives but chose not to believe in the christian faith why send them to the same place as rapists and murderers etc? I used to be a xtian but questions such as this made me realise that it isn't for me so I turned away and have now found peace.

Answer 6

I've tried and tried to find some reference in the bible that says people will burn in hell for all eternity! In fact, in the book of Revelation (chapter 20 verse 14), the bible says that "death and hell were cast into the lake of fire" and calls this "the second death". Perhaps what actually happens is exactly what you suggested...that hell is a temporary place where you will suffer the knowledge that you had the chance to accept God's invitation but you turned it down...and then, once the final battle is over, hell and death will cease to exist!

I just wish other Christians could grasp the concept that many of the references to hell are designed to motivate US to share our faith NOT something we are supposed to use to scare other people into believing!

Answer 7

Another valid arguement against the existence of God. At least God in the form that Christians like to believe.
Trouble is, it was all created by man (man can be far more sadistic then creating a burning pit) to exert control on those less well educated then themselves. Its how priests became more powerful then kings.

Answer 8

People suffer in this life, only because it's temporary. And about the fire, he will come and rescue the Christains first. So if you're not a believer, that's when he sends the fire. And yes, the bible even says it will be as hard as fitting a camel through a needle.

Answer 9

Tarts: Satan a fallen angel aka Lucifer betrayed god and fell from heaven angry that god loved humans more than him. In turn Satan was cast down, and created, rules, lives, in hell. Collecting more evil souls to fight god with.

Battles between heaven and hell. good and evil.
get it?

Before making assumptions get the story right.

Answer 10

Gods ways are above our ways. We don't have to understand it, but we better accept Jesus as our personal savior and go to heaven. God as our creator could have made it very difficult for us to go to heaven, but He made it easy, Jesus paid the price for us. The bible says God is not willing that any should perish but that all would come to salvation.