Why Would God Send People to Hell?

"Why would a loving God send someone to Hell?"

At one time, most people wouldn't have dared to ask this question, at least not out loud. As times change, as we become more sophisticated and try to shake off our reliance upon traditional mores, this question is asked more frequently - as it should be.

Why Would a Loving God Send People to Hell?!

There's a certain amount of judgment built into this question. That judgment being - "If God really loves us, why would/how could he punish us this way." In other words - "The existence of Hell proves that God is not a loving God."

To adequately address the question, I think we'll have to define what Hell is.

It should be noted that the Bible doesn't answer this question directly; if it did, there would be no reason for this publication. The Bible does give us clues and we're told to seek out the truth. What you'll find here is my studied and prayed upon belief.

What's really important is not the Hell that I avoid, but the Heaven that I receive. If you don't know what I mean, contact me.

What is Hell?

Some readers will believe that Hell is a fictitious place born of man's fears and desire to control the masses. For purposes of this publication, we'll have to presuppose that there is a Hell, for how can we study why a loving God would send someone to a place that does not exist?

There are three basic beliefs as to what Hell is:

1. A place where sinners go after they die to be punished for eternity by God.

2. A place where evil people go after they die to be tortured for eternity by Satan/the Devil.

3. An after-death separation from God.

1. The first view is that God actively tortures His creation - indicating that God is mean and vindictive. That's not love.

2. The second view is that God passively allows the torture - this seems to indicate that God doesn't care what happens to us. Again, that isn't love.

3. The third doesn't seem all that bad on the surface - if I didn't need God in life, why would I need him in death? This is not what most people envision when they think of Hell.

This is how many non-Christians view the Christian God – mean, vindictive, arrogant and bossy. As a Christian, I can tell you that this would be hard for me to reconcile in my own mind - if it were true. The bottom line is - it’s not true. The Bible doesn’t say it and I don’t believe it.

"And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever." - Revelation 20:10 NIV

Hell is a place designed to hold Satan and his demons but Satan doesn't rule it. This quote shows that Satan will be among those tormented. Note that this passage does not tell us who will be doing the tormenting, just that Satan will not.

Throughout Scriptures, separation from God is shown to be the ultimate punishment and this is what I believe Hell to be.

So, you may ask, "What about the Lake of Fire and the Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth?"

The World's a pretty messed up place: thievery, violence, anger, injustice. Sin surrounds us and seems to run unchecked, but it does not run unchecked. God's presence is in this World and that presence restrains sin. Imagine what would happen if God's presence were to be removed - then sin would run a muck. This World would very quickly become a living Hell.

What is Hell? Hell is the one place in all of creation that God chooses to not be.

God loves us dearly but He also respects our Free Will, the very free will that He's given us. He wants us to seek Him but he won't force us to. If we don't accept God's forgiveness during our natural life, then we're asking to be removed from God's presence and He honors our desire. He doesn't want us to, but God loves us enough to let us choose to be separated from His presence, from His mercies, from His Son, from His love.

What would it be like if God would allow unredeemed soul into Heaven?

In many places, the Bible says that Sin cannot bear to be in the presence of the Holy God even now that He partially veils Himself from us: demons shriek and beg for mercy, men try to hide, even the sin-tainted Earth itself will flee from God's presence in the end times.

If an unredeemed (therefore, still sinful) man were allowed to enter Heaven (the unveiled presence of God) that would indeed be cruel punishment!

God does love us.

Please read this webpage before posting your comment.

As basic as this request may sound, many of the comments posted here come from people that obviously have not read the page. I think that sometimes people read only the headings and assume that they know what the paragraph says without actually reading the paragraph.

I don't sensor legitimate comments but, I just don't have time to defend arguments that I haven't made or positions that I don't hold. I appreciate your understanding.