Why is God not loving enough to practice unconditional love?

Question

Let's face it... he created a Hell where unbelievers are to go for simply not being convinced of his existence. There, according to most Christians, they will be forever burned by flames.

I, a very imperfect human, would not wish that upon my worst enemy.

I'm not even saying he has to let them into heaven (it would be much kinder to just let them cease to exist).

Isn't it time Christians admitted that their idea of God is certainly not a very loving one?

Folks, I would believe in God and Christianity if I thought their were good reasons. I just have never seen any in all of my searching.

Sorry folks, but no one is exactly convincing me... It appears that God's love is nothing but conditional (meant for the select few that happened to be raised in a particular culture). An alternative he could simply provide is just to not let anyone go to Hell.

St. Preachy the verbose - you have had this explained to you many times: If it is sin that sends us to hell, and the way to be forgiven for your sin is to accept Gods love and ask forgiveness, and you don't believe in God, then you are being sent to hell for simply not being convinced of his existence.

In other words, if I knew God was real, and Jesus was his son, I would ask for forgiveness and do whatever I had to to be a good Christian. But as you know, I am not convinced of his reality any more than you are convinced of the reality of Shiva.

St. Preachy the verbose: I reread John 6. It seems you would still need to be convinced of the legitimacy of the scriptures (hence be a believer) to follow that. Therefore, those that are not convinced that the Bible is true any more than the Koran is, would not go to heaven.

chrisgaffrey: As always, an extremely thoughtful answer. I'll have to start by disagreeing with one of your ideas: I do not think YOUR ideas of Christianity are what are shared by most Christians. Don't get me wrong, I think you have much more knowledge and insight than most people (that is why I enjoy your Q&A's so much) but in my experience, most people believe in the hell-fire that will be the fate of non-believers.

I know you are correct when you say "...belief about God's existence doesn't mean salvation or heaven. If so, the devil, who believes God exists, would be in heaven. Rather, believing in God, trusting God's love and mercy and wanting to do God's will..."

I just think anyone who believed in God, would try to trust in his love and mercy. But you have to believe first to get there.

It's not that I criticize him for giving free will, it just that if it requires that you believe in him, he should have at least provided some reason to believe in his existence.

That is, at least provided some evidence that Christianity is more correct than any other religion out there. And at least that there was a good reason to believe in a God in the first place. He has done none of those, and this seems like to important of a question to be playing games with. God could have provided a decent reason to believe in the words of the Bible and still not interfere with free will (e.g. he could have made some very specific predictions that the writers could not have known about - e.g. the eruptions of certain volcanoes or the appearance of comets on specific dates). Jesus supposedly performed miracles including appearing to multitudes after his death, but that did not preclude free will. But now we are all asked to take this on faith that the words of the Gospels are correct and not works of semi-fiction.

"Think for a moment. If a person died rejecting God, do you think it possible for them to even receive the gift of union with that which they rejected?"

Well, if by "rejecting God" you mean simply not being convinced of his existence, then at the time of death they would be unfairly judged. It is a lot different to reject someone gift when you know it is offered and not believing there was a gift (or gift giver) in the first place.

"By the way, do you know the differences between believing, doubting, and disbelieving are?"

I think this is rather the key of what we are talking about. But I think we should non-believing in there as well. That is where I am.

I have been seeking God most of my life. I have been praying, reading and studying all that I can. This more than anything has lead me to atheism.

Tom H - You believe a judge should send someone to life in prison for a traffic violation?

SonoranDesertGirl - What you have described is what is done to teach someone who will learn in the future. According to most Christians, Hell is forever, so how can anyone learn from that. Perhaps you still resort to the "we just can't understand God" argument. But then, how can we ever hope to be correct in interpreting his words or will?

See my follow-up questions.

delsydebothom - Have you really encountered many people who "hate" God. Almost everyone I encounter who is not Christian is either following some other religion - and therefore believes they love God, or they are atheist or agnostic and are simply not convinced by the weak arguments they have been given

Answer 1

I have read through this pathetic miasma of responses to your question and must add my 2 to 25 cents worth.

First, this idea that "God is love" comes from sayings in the Gospel of John and also a famous treatise in Pauls letters to the Corinthians (First book, Chapter 13). If we contemplate these passages, the gist is not that "God is love" but that We should be (unconditionally) loving. That is, the passages outline a code of conduct.

Not all Christians interpret the Bible and Christian lore in the same way as certain fundamentalists Christians do. Some even understand and interpret the Bible in its historical and cultural context and in its theological context. Then all this fire and brimstone stuff takes on a different meaning that is not so antagonistic in modern-day practice of religion.

Of course, it is much easier to throw the word "love" around and have fundamentalists "Christians" tell people that if they don't "love" God or Jesus, they will be burned in hellfire. This is a cause of suffering and strife in the world, in my opinion.

In the non-canonical myth of how Satan was thrown out of Heaven, the story goes that Satan went into a bloody tiff because God wanted the angels to honor mankind. Satan would only bow to God. To me, the "meaning" of the myth is that people are supposed to "love and serve God" by (unconditionally, humbly, and nonjudgmentally,) "loving" and serving each other--not by bowing to an ideal and performing lip service.

Second, there are a myriad of belief systems about God out there. A certain population of Christians hold the idea that God created a place called Hell where God will dump everyone who these Christians don't understand or feel threatened by. This is different from saying "God created Hell." No. Certain religions Believe that places called heaven(s) and hell(s) exist and that souls go there for one reason or another. Whether they actually do or not and why should not be a matter of presupposition. Afterall the passages about fire and brimstone in the Bible are countered with sayings about "who knows the mind of God" and what not.

Answer 2

You made the statement that you are a very imperfect human and therefore would not wish hell on your worst enemy. That is good because as an imperfect being, that sort of thing is not your prerogative. You have had this explained to you multiple times, and that's just by me. People don't go to hell for being unconvinced of God's existence, they go to hell for their sin. They have no excuses because they have a conscience. Another problem is that your definition of love is not quite accurate, at least not in terms of God's love. God loves the world in a general sense, which is why we aren't all dead now, but he loves his own in a particular sense, because those are the ones he has foreknown and redeemed from eternity past. The reprobate, whether you think it is fair or not, glorify God by receiving justice. The redeemed Glorify God by receiving mercy.

Edit: No you wouldn't. John 6

Edit: You have missed my point, I think. You will not believe unless the father draws you, although you may know on some level. It is in that sense that I say you can know it is true and still not respond in faith.

Answer 3

"Let's face it... he created a Hell where unbelievers are to go for simply not being convinced of his existence. There, according to most Christians, they will be forever burned by flames."

dude he did not create hell, Satan did, God only gives us a choice where we want to be; Heaven or Hell and Heaven could be achieved if we have Faith

"I, a very imperfect human, would not wish that upon my worst enemy."

us Christians too coz we are supposed to turn the other cheek, but I am seriously having trouble with that, lol

Our God is a loving God, all we need to do is to repent and make up for all our sins and then he will take us back into his bossom, next he created everything for man's comfort, and our God does not have to be pleased with offerings and stuff the reason that he asks for some offering back in the day is for us to show him that we are still devoted, he prefers it if we spend those energy in helping each other out

"I'm not even saying he has to let them into heaven (it would be much kinder to just let them cease to exist)."

if you have seen REAL and PURE evil, you would not say that, you will also cry for justice, not kindness


And our God died in the Cross for us, for our sins, even the sins made by non-believers, how is that for unconditional love???

Answer 4

God was created by man, not the other way around, which is why his "message" seems to flip-flop every time you turn to another preacher. God was designed to be "the ULTIMATE FATHER; THE ULTIMATE HUSBAND, THE ULTIMATE DISCIPLINARIAN, THE ULTIMATE PROVIDER OF PLEASANT THINGS, etc., etc.,... you get the picture. This way people who are led to believe all this are motivated to be socially good (He KNOWS what you're up to, just like Santa Clause) motivated to help the poor (for that warm, fuzzy feeling, and so that the rich can continue ignoring them both) and motivated, in the case of men at least, to support the children they sire and the women who get stuck raising them. God may not actually exist, but gods have always served very useful functions as tacit controllers of the people in almost every given culture or civilization. Let them believe. They're happier that way. It's easier for them. Reality does, after all, suck by comparison.

Answer 5

God is very loving. He sent His only Son so that we could have fellowship with Him. God is also a God of Justice. Since Jesus in His time on earth was very clear that no one comes to the Father except by Him.

It is appointed for man once to die and then the judgment. I believe that there will be different levels of punishment. Before I was saved I had a dream where I was alone and there was no one else there in a cave like structure no fire but all alone.

Answer 6

Why is God not loving enough to practice unconditional love?

Because God is a many faceted being. All of his attributes combine in perfection that goes far beyond our understanding. His love does not negate his righteousness. His compassion does not negate his holiness. His mercy does not negate his integrity.

Isaiah 55:6 "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Ezekiel 18:23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?

Answer 7

Who said God wishes that upon mankind?

You assume things you know nothing about including God.

How many times have I read here that non believers are looking for a hand basket for a fun ride to hell?

Does that sound to you like people who really care?
Listen you have a choice ...God gave you a way out of that scenario if you want it. You don't have to purchase anything not even a ticket out.

God ask that you love Him and trust in His Son Jesus Christ ..accept what He did for you because you are not perfect enough for heaven. You turned His offer down. What an insult. You made the choice so now who isn't loving here?

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Our job as Christians is not to convince you . We walk by faith for we have tasted that goodness of God's love in our lives. You won't ever understand till you hit bottom with nowhere else to go but up.

Answer 8

On the contrary, sending those souls who develop the condition of "hell" to a seperate partition of the universe to live in their misery is what they demand of him, implicitly. They didn't want God. I'm not saying you don't; only God can know if you've been entirely fair with the arguments presented to you. Not even you can judge that, and I'm even less qualified.

Having a seperate place to keep the souls who are in hell away from those who are not would seem to be a matter of practicality--you wouldn't want someone flailing around, seething in the fire of their own loathsome hate trying to attack everyone in heaven.

Answer 9

God does practice unconditional love- we have done nothing to deserve His love and mercy, however, He sent His Son to die for whole world, and because of that love we have a chance to spend eternity with Him- if he did not love us, He would not have offered us that choice. In the following verses after the famous John 3:16- it says that we are condemned already if we do not believe. We all deserve hell, all we have to do to not go there, is admit we are a sinner, in need of Jesus as Savior. God's desire is that ALL come to the knowledge of the truth. His love and salvation is a free gift. You must accept the gift though- He is reaching out to you to give it to you, it is you who are ignoring it, so yes, you do miss out on His gift of unconditional love.

Answer 10

Hmmm...The Bible never condemns anyone for what he is or is not convinced of. The Bible says we ALL deserve the hell you described because of our rebellion against God's rule. Now, the God you mock became a man and took the punishment that our rebellion deserved. In other words, God said here is the penalty for rebellion and BTW, let me take that penalty for you. The amazing thing is He did all that while we were still rebels. No one was sorry for their rebellion, no one asked to be rescued. In fact we were cursing God and mocking Him even as He died in our place. Unconditional love? Doesn't get much more unconditional than that.