Hell.

Why would a loving God send people to hell? Isn’t this against His very nature?

As far as I can see, the so-called ‘doctrine of hell’ is the biggest argument thrown against Christianity, and one of the worst defended aspects of the Christian faith. I was quite tentative about preparing a post on something so fundamental to many people’s questioning of faith. When it comes to issues of hell, I want to emphasise that this is my understanding of how works, tested against the Bible, and is what makes the most sense to me. The sole purpose of this argument is to look at how God and hell can go together without being a contradiction. There are other biblically-based theories, and I don’t mean to criticise them here, rather this is the way I see it to fit together, so that I can know that my faith does make sense. It’s also worth mentioning that there’s a reason the question of hell is so difficult – we simply don’t know enough. There are all sorts of mysteries surrounding the afterlife, and essentially we won’t know the real story till we get there.

The idea I see as most logical is known as annihilationism, and is based on the idea that a person who follows God is granted eternal life, while one who doesn’t suffers complete death in hell, they are destroyed. When I first looked over this idea I was somewhat sceptical, but on further research it actually makes quite a lot of sense and does work with the Biblical account of hell.

The Old Testament’s view on the afterlife is somewhat vague, and offers little more than an understanding of an afterlife existing, and different places for different people. It’s mainly in the New Testament that the well-known physical ideas of hell emerge, such as an eternal fire. But looking into it closely, most of the images likened to hell are those of fire, a force which consumes and destroys, or are terms like ‘destruction’, ‘perish’ and ‘death’. These images and words all speak to me of complete destruction, and this is what I see hell to involve. And it seems that this understanding of hell fits most closely with the images presented in the Bible, while considering God’s mercy.

This sounds to me like a very just and merciful treatment of humanity, which allows for salvation for those who ask it, while those who don’t are destroyed, they cease to exist. The well-known verse of John 3:16 seems to confirm this – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. There are many references of this type, only some of which I have noted below, but all seem to support this idea as a plausible understanding of hell.

The main challenge brought against this idea is that annihilation isn’t really a punishment. I think that’s possibly more a matter of opinion, as I would argue that ceasing to exist would be a huge punishment, especially compared with an eternal life with God. It may not be seen as the same sort of punishment envisioned by those used to the fire-and-brimstone idea of hell, but at the same time this form of torture doesn’t seem to fit with God’s loving nature. Regardless, the thought of taking away the gift of life, and particularly eternal life, could be seen as a severe punishment, especially from the perspective of a person of faith. If you say to a child “you’ll get no dessert if you don’t finish your veges”, it’s definitely considered a punishment, and I see it to be the same with taking away the privilege of eternal life. I should also add that there is significant suggestion in the Bible that there may be two ‘stages’ of afterlife, one which involves a ‘waiting place’, Sheol or Hades, and a second stage (after the second coming), which is where I see complete destruction to come in. It may be that this waiting place involves separation from God, a torment in itself, and this may be where ideas of more tangible punishment come into things. The important thing to note here is that there’s no guarantee there will be no consequences other than being destroyed, and so the idea of faith remains very important.

I also know that this argument takes a bit of the sting out of Christianity. The idea of endless torture and suffering has long been used as a reason for becoming a Christian, and maybe that’s why the traditional views of hell have stood the test of time. I don’t mean to devalue faith at all, or to pretend that ‘hell’ is any less worse than it really is. I still hold my Christian beliefs about the need for salvation and faith as essential, but I also needed to reconcile ideas about Hell with the nature of God. I think I’ve managed that here, and I hope it doesn’t discourage any from the need for faith. For me, this doesn’t mean belief is any less important. And besides, I don’t think faith is something that comes from simply being scared of the possibility of hell.

This has been a particularly difficult post to put together, and it has been hard to prepare some thoughts that I can actually live by. As always I looked at this as a question of my own faith as much as something for others to read, trying to understand how basic Biblical teachings on hell actually work, and that it all makes sense and is worthy of my faith. The theology of hell is a complex one, and different people have different ideas about it. But as always the crucial factor in my opinion is seeing that the Biblical teachings on hell fit in with the nature of God, and understanding that it all fits together in the big picture of Christianity.

I want to finish by saying that many will disagree with my ideas here (including my editors), and I am prepared to accept that I may well be wrong. Probably the majority of people accept the standard idea of hell, where non-believers will suffer in hell and so forth, and I can’t say that it’s an impossible scenario. If the more standard ideas make sense to you, or it’s something you just don’t need to question, that’s great. But the ideas here are very much biblically tested, and are possibly aimed more at those who struggle with the Christian idea of hell, and it is a major questioning point in their faith. Please, by all means leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Some Bible verses to check out on this topic: 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10; Matthew 10:28; John 3:16; Matthew 7:13; Matthew 25:41; Matthew 18:7-9; Mark 9:42-49.