About Christians concept of Hell?

Question

I keep seeing Christians saying that (1)god doesn't send us to hell, we choose to go, (2)that he must separate himself from us after we die because sin can't exist in his presence and (3) that just as a father must punish a disobedient child, he must punish those who don't believe.

(1)If god created the heaven, earth, hell scenario, then he did choose to send sinners to hell. That was the punishment he chose. If he considers me a sinner then he does send me to hell. Why would a loving god who only wants to save me from hell have created hell in the first place?

(2)If we can't be in heaven because sin can't exist in the presence of god and god is omni-present, how can sin exist at all?

(3)Would you as a parent throw petrol over your child and set it alight because it didn't clean it's room?

Good 2b Pharoh - But justice requires a punishment that equates in degree to the crime/sin involved. Is eternal punishment justice for a finite crime?
You haven't actually addressed the contradiction I pointed out in (2).

Berry123 - But didn't god know in advance that there would be death and sin and didn't he then choose hell as a punishment for man?

beautifuldolore4 - Thanks for answering, but in your answer to the third point you say god can't be around sin, but that is my second question. How can he be here on earth with us if sin exists here? Or conversely, how can sin exist in the presence of god here on earth?

arewethereyet - I see your points, but in the third point, if my a child was doing as you say, wouldn't a loving parent do EVERYTHING in their power to prevent it happening? Wouldn't they rather teach the truth to the child than punish them for lack of understanding?

mr_dees_65 and Tuberoot - Thank you. So far you are the only two to have actually read and tried to answer the questions.

Moises_Frias - Now that definition and belief I can at least understand. As an atheist, though, I had already accepted the end of existence after my death. It was the concept of eternal torture and damnation that bewildered me.

J - They aren't my usages. They are statement repeatedly made to me by Christians.

I'm not going to choose a best answer. While there are some very good explanations as to why hell isn't the eternal torture and torment that Christianity preaches to the world, no-one has actually answered the questions. Thank you to everyone who answered.

Merry Christmas and Blessed Yule.

Answer 1

God has created Hell I believe so that the non believers will be sent with the UN-Holy Angel ,the Devil

Answer 2

Since you have asked about the Christian hell, this answer is limited to the New Testament. Three Greek words geena G1067, Hades G86, and Tartarus G5020 were translated as hell in English. The definition and corresponding verses for each are given below:

γεεννα geenna {gheh'-en-nah} of Hebrew origin 01516 and 02011; TDNT - 1:657,113; n f AV - hell 9, hell fire + 3588 + 4442 3; 12 1) Hell is the place of the future punishment call VGehennaV or VGehenna of fireV. This was originally the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the filth and dead animals of the city were cast out and burned; a fit symbol of the wicked and their future destruction.

Mat 5:22, 5:29, 5:30, 10:28, 18:9, 23:15, 23:33
Mar 9:43, 9:45, 9:47
Luk 12:5
Jam 3:6

αδης hades {hah'-dace} from 1 (as negative particle) and 1492; TDNT - 1:146,22; n pr loc AV - hell 10, grave 1; 11 1) name Hades or Pluto, the god of the lower regions 2) Orcus, the nether world, the realm of the dead 3) later use of this word: the grave, death, hell In Biblical Greek it is associated with Orcus, the infernal regions, a dark and dismal place in the very depths of the earth, the common receptacle of disembodied spirits. Usually Hades is just the abode of the wicked, Lu. 16:23, Rev. 20:13,14; a very uncomfortable place. TDNT.

Mat 11:23, 16:18
Luk 10:15, 16:23
Act 2:27, 2:31
1Co 15:55
Rev 1:18, 6:8, 20:13, 20:14

ταρταροω tartaroo {tar-tar-o'-o} from Tartaros (the deepest abyss of Hades);; v AV - cast down to hell 1; 1 1) the name of the subterranean region, doleful and dark, regarded by the ancient Greeks as the abode of the wicked dead, where they suffer punishment for their evil deeds; it answers to Gehenna of the Jews 2) to thrust down to Tartarus, to hold captive in Tartarus

2Pe 2:4

Answer: None of the verses found support your three usage.

Answer 3

You are not really asking about hell. You have asked a series of deeply philosophical questions about the nature of God. I recently posted a similar answer to another question, but I think the basics are the same.

1) God doesn't want anyone to go to hell. But here's the problem: If he wanted to, God could have populated the universe with robots - beings that would just do his bidding. There would be no sin, no rebellion, and no hell. The problem is that it's impossible to have a relationship with a robot, so God chose to create beings he could have relationships with - beings that have free will. Beings with free will have equal capacity to love or hate, to choose good or evil. So that we are free to choose good, we must be allowed to choose evil. If not, we aren't truly free. God created hell because free creatures won't always choose the right path.

2) Sin exists because of free will (see above). God didn't create sin; it is a natural, required outcome of creating beings that are equally capable of choosing good or evil. You are right that God is good. He can't stand evil. It cannot be in his presence. This is why each of us needs a sinless savior - Jesus Christ. In the same way that a criminal pays for his crime by doing time, Jesus took the rap for our sins so that we could be with God in a sin-free state.

3) God does not do this. The Bible tells us that God doesn't want anyone to go to hell. Due to free will, however, he can't stop us from doing evil. If I ask a more reasonable question back to you, I hope you will understand. What if you, as a parent, told your child it was wrong to murder, yet your child committed murder? Would you pat him or her on the head and say, "That's okay."? I think not. If you're honest, I think you'll admit that punishment is in order.

Answer 4

1. God does not send us to hell indeed; we have choices, it is our choice that decides where we go.

2. You've got this one just a bit mixed up, but I can see how it'd seem strange. Sin cannot exist in Heaven, and God chooses not to see sin in us if we love Him. Think of it like this: if God does not see sin, and all you are is full of sin, then you are not known to God.

3. No, you are so right, I'd never throw petrol at my child for any reason. But what if the child holds the gas can over his head and screams he's going to light the match because he's mad at me for telling him to clean his room? If that were the scenario (which is a bit more appropriate), would you then be so accusatory to the parent as you seem to be toward God? I doubt it.

Answer 5

Actually the Bible as it is written in Hebrew and Greek and the translations and transliterations in English don't come close to the meaning as it was written.For Example Hell was a garbage pit outside of many cities in the Bible,according to the Hebrew transliteration,not translation.That's the problem many different denominations have translated what the Bible says and it doesn't say that at all.God loves all of his children he may not love what they are doing but stills loves us all.There is only one judgment its in the book of Revelations its called the White throne judgment and those who refuse to choose God will be ; turned to ashes from within and never remembered again'So shall Satan and his followers.All prophecy must be fulfilled before this happens and the anti- Christ'reighn will be ended.God Bless

Answer 6

some have that concept of hell, I do not..... Hades, Hell, the Separation from God, yes all the same, but hell is NOT the burning fire some make it out to be...... If you would read the Bible, study it carefully you will also see the meaning of hell..... It is the separation of man from God.. yes God created Paradise, which WAS separated by a *great divide* evil on one side, good on the other, until Jesus went into the *center* of the earth and removed the good and brought them into the Fathers' presence.... Hell is the place evil goes to be *burned* with regret NOT fire...... Now, the book of Revelation does speak of the *lake of fire*, that part I am NOT sure about..... but, I really do not think nor believe that *fire* as you speak of is part of it... I still think the *lake of fire* is a constant and insistent torment of *regret*..... living memories of the *regrets* or *could have beens*.... but, that is just my humble thinking....... go in peace....... God bless
PS- and God did have to have a place to put satan and his followers..... that is why there is the hell part....
#2. and there is sin here on earth, again if you would read and study the Bible, you will learn that satan is the *god*, *ruler* of this world today.... God lost man with the original sin..... man fell from grace....... that is why Jesus came, to restore the *grace*.......

Answer 7

I've never seen the first part (1) of your question addressed in a way that makes any sense. The answerers make excuses for the sadistic nature that would necessarily be involved in creating a "hell" to begin with, or ignore it completely.

But, the answer (part of it, anyway) that really got me here was: "...God is being merciful by throwing those who reject Him into the lake of fire so that they do not have to exist any longer knowing that they disobeyed and rejected God. If you knew he existed without a doubt and you know you rejected him for your entire life..would you want to exist knowing what you rejected?"

This is just too silly. As an atheist, I couldn't care less if there were a god or gods. If there were proof that one or more gods existed, of course I would believe in it/them. However, it wouldn't change the way I live my life. Therefore, I would not consider it "merciful" to be thrown "into the lake of fire" (if it existed), by a god (if it existed) when I've been content to be without belief in a god for most of my life.
.

Answer 8

Wow...conviction at work. OK..soooo...God created heaven and earth and everything in it. God gave everyone free will..including..we believe...angels for awhile. Sometime during that time an angel...Lucifer..decided to rebel against God and he became a fallen angel and took 1/3 of the angels with him. God had to punish him..so he banished Lucifer from heaven and sent him to hell. Hell is just the absence of God. In the Bible it talks about the burning lake of fire, but I believe that will only come on the day of judgement. Those who choose..because of the free will that God gave us...to turn away from God will be thrown into the lake of fire and will cease to exist.

Sin only exists because God gave everyone and everything free will and Lucifer defied God and started to try to get everyone else to defy God also.

And..no..I would never light my child on fire. It's not so much punishment as the fact that God can't be around sin..just like fire cannot exist in water. If you think about it, God is being merciful by throwing those who reject Him into the lake of fire so that they do not have to exist any longer knowing that they disobeyed and rejected God. If you knew he existed without a doubt and you know you rejected him for your entire life..would you want to exist knowing what you rejected? Just a thought.

Answer 9

What Has Happened to Hellfire?

WHAT image does the word "hell" conjure up in your mind? Do you see hell as a literal place of fire and brimstone, of unending torment and anguish? Or is hell perhaps a symbolic description of a condition, a state?

For centuries, a fiery hell of excruciating torments has been envisioned by religious leaders of Christendom as the certain destiny for sinners. This idea is still popular among many other religious groups. "Christianity may have made hell a household word," says U.S.News & World Report, "but it doesn't hold a monopoly on the doctrine. The threat of painful retribution in the afterlife has counterparts in nearly every major world religion and in some minor ones as well." Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Jains, and Taoists believe in a hell of one sort or another.

Hell, though, has acquired another image in modern thinking. "While the traditional infernal imagery still attracts a following," states the aforementioned magazine, "modern visions of eternal perdition as a particularly unpleasant solitary confinement are beginning to emerge, suggesting that hell may not be so hot after all."

The Jesuit journal La Civiltà Cattolica observed: "It is misleading . . . to think that God, by means of demons, inflicts fearful torments on the damned like that of fire." It added: "Hell exists, not as a place but as a state, a way of being of the person who suffers the pain of the deprivation of God." Pope John Paul II said in 1999: "Rather than a place, hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy." As to the images of hell as a fiery place, he said: "They show the complete frustration and emptiness of life without God." Had the pope described hell in terms of "flames and a red-suited devil with a pitchfork," church historian Martin Marty said, "people wouldn't take it seriously."

Similar changes are taking place in other denominations. A report by the doctrine commission of the Church of England said: "Hell is not eternal torment, but it is the final and irrevocable choosing of that which is opposed to God so completely and so absolutely that the only end is total non-being."

The catechism of the United States Episcopal Church defines hell as "eternal death in our rejection of God." A growing number of people, says U.S.News & World Report, are promoting the idea that "the end of the wicked is destruction, not eternal suffering. . . . [They] contend that those who ultimately reject God will simply be put out of existence in the 'consuming fire' of hell."

Answer 10

1) All people are not His children. That's a Biblical representation of scripture. I challenge the Christian community on this matter.

2) God does not want everybody. He is revealed in the Bible as being selective. At first by choosing only certain men to respond to Him, and later by selecting only a part of the Hebrews to carry His oracle, and then later by choosing only a part of Judah to carry the oracle.

3) Those who are not His children are not loved by Him. So there is no valid connection with those who are not choosing God's way.

4) God gives the ability to respond to Him positively to those He chooses. They have the choice on whether to follow Him or not. But initially He makes first contact. ( See John 6: 43 - 45 )

So the often seen phrases, "God loves everyone" and "We are all God's children" are lies.

My fellow Christians are at fault for spreading the lie. They need to learn what John 3:16 REALLY means. And the fact that many of them haven't only goes to show that they are not studying the scriptures, and not learning from a capable pastor.

My fellow Christians need to wake up or go through their entire Christian lives without the power of discernment it takes to pick out a swine from one who is being guided by God yet has not committed to trusting God.

Answer 11

you are only a child of God if you know Him. when we were created He made us with His words, but when He cleansed us from sin and remade us, He did it by His very blood!

through one man (adam) sin entered the world, and through one man (Jesus) that sin was taken away.

Romans 8:29 "For whom he did FOREKNOW, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."

this is all based on that which He knows before-hand. God looks at time and creation as if it had just started and just ended all at once. He is alpha and omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last. the people we grow into by our decisions is whom He foreknows, when the life in us is complete, who we are in the end. if you don't have Jesus, you do not have life, you remain in death, in the dark. all died in adam.

it isn't all cut and dry who goes to hell and who does not, God didn't make such a man to just fling Him into hell... yes, you yourself did nothing to get yourself into the sinful state you are in, the same is said for salvation, we didn't do anything to earn it. it IS a free gift from a loving God. He isn't guiding His creation to the fire, He is directing them away from it, most of us are just too stubborn to open our ears or our hearts to this, it is the nature of man to pre-judge and find fault in God, but it is the supra-nature of man to let God be the judge.

God is not some dictator to keep you in check. He is a loving God who is chastening His kids, so that they may not fall or fail any longer, but grow to the stature He has determined.

2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not WILLING that ANY should PERISH, but that all should come to repentance."