Why does Hell have to exist?

[turnorburn]

Maybe the angels would have a pat answer to the fire question "why the fire" it was made for them. They knew our God is a consuming fire as said by Peter in the book of Hebrews, I'm thinking Satan knows for sure..

tob

 

[VirginShallConceive]

but yet lets people suffer and burn in Hell for all of eternity.

Heaven is a place with God. Hell is a place without God.
People let themselves be without God, without Christ. Do you think God should force them to be with Him for eternity if they don't want to be with Him in the first place?

One major thing you're not covering here-- and I mean major-- is that there are people who have still never heard of Jesus. These people don't let themselves be without God. They have no choice but to live their lives without God. God left them hanging out to dry, if He exists.

 

[Randy]

A loving God warns and warns as rebukes are given to the living for our good as in "choose life".

O that all men of all times were afforded this opportunity to "choose." Billions have likely lived and died throughout the ages that never had the 'priviledge' of know of or about God and God's commands. This lack of knowledge stood between them and their ability to make the choice you spoke of. That's not even mentioning the millions that have been mentally handicapped, died as children, etc.

Jesus wasn't sent to punish but to bring Gods salvation.

Jesus was apparently sent to proclaim the nearness of the Kingdom of God, to collect those that would have a part in that Kingdom, to live and die as to become worthy of being the King of God's Kingdom, and to conquer death so mankind could have the hope of age-lasting life under the reign of the Kingdom.

I think the theme of scripture is with Light comes accountability. God is just. For example Sodom and Gomorrah. How can they have a better judgment then those that heard and saw all that Jesus did yet rejected that testimony? Would that be that God judged them in regard to the flesh and not the spirit? Why is it written in the past God left sins of world outside of Israel unpunished? (pre Christ) So then God was just to send Jesus to those held captive and in fear of the law. Jesus stated if He had not come and preached to them they would not be held guilty but as is was many stated they did see and rejected the Fathers message. Therefore Jesus stated their guilt remained. How about the powerful last testimony that will be given at the end of the age ref Rev 11? What about those that continue to sin and reject that message as well? So God warns and warns. Those that sincerely have a Love for God will listen and learn from Him and go to the Son. And Jesus will raise them up on the last day.

I would state for someone who has never heard of the gospel message that they will come before the Lord and He will make a judgment concerning them. I would add that nothing is hidden from the Lord. So I don't state they are lost or saved. I have never met anyone who hasn't heard of Jesus.

Jesus stated Himself He came to save. He was sent by the Father to the lost sheep of Israel first and the motivation was Love. Those that go to Him will never die.

R.

 

[Infinity]

but yet lets people suffer and burn in Hell for all of eternity.

Heaven is a place with God. Hell is a place without God.
People let themselves be without God, without Christ. Do you think God should force them to be with Him for eternity if they don't want to be with Him in the first place?

One major thing you're not covering here-- and I mean major-- is that there are people who have still never heard of Jesus. These people don't let themselves be without God. They have no choice but to live their lives without God. God left them hanging out to dry, if He exists.

What baffles me more is the fact, that there are only 2 options. Either you (quote on quote) live in complete misery for eternity or you will be happy for eternity. Heck, the way I see it, believing in purgatory and limbo atleast makes a tiny bit more sense (even if the entire concept of all of this is silly)

 

[josefnospam]

God is the God of Love as we so often hear but he is also the God of Rightous Judgement on men who sin.. He created light and Darkness. He made peace and created evil................Isahiah 44:7 Jesus is Lord of all. "If I asend up into heaven thou art there. if I make my bed in hell thou art there......Plsm 139:8 Jesus endured hell for all his peoples sins. We don't have to and thats Good News.

 

[josefnospam]

Heaven is a place with God. Hell is a place without God. People let themselves be without God, without Christ. Do you think God should force them to be with Him for eternity if they don't want to be with Him in the first place?

God doesn't force anyone to be with him in eternity. Men end up there because they are sinners and refuse to believe only him. He reaches down into that awful pit were all mankind is and Gives Life to those he choose. Men are spirital dead and God gives them Spirital life.
It's amazing that God saves anyone but he does and when you are Born of the spirit you will be forever thankfull. Praise God. He rules over his creation right now as the living God and his name is Jesus Christ the Lord.

This is an intresting question. Why hell.....................Seems there are many different veiws of hell.

 

[JohnD]

There's more to mankind than meets the eye.

When someone asks this kind of question and the question just like it (where do we go in death?) I must remind them you have to ask what happens to all three parts of us because we are not just flesh but spirit and soul as well.

When asked why there is a hell, it is the separator of good from evil in eternal places where spirits (even evil ones) cannot die and have to be put somewhere.

What God in Christ did here in the physical realm has repercussions in both the physical and the spiritual realms.

Colossians 1:20 (KJV)
20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.



Hell was prepared for the devil an his angels.


Matthew 25:41.

People do go there, but it was originally intended for the devil and his fallen angels.

 

[ejected]

The bible says that some will suffer many stripes more than others. So how does eternal hell fit in with that?
I don't know. Is there a heavier punishment for Hitler over sweet granny that clung to her religion rejecting Christ? I don't know.
We look through a glass darkly.

Their smoke shall ascend forever as a testimony....but does that mean they r eternally frying? I don't know.

Those not written in the book life were cast into the lake of fire where the devil and his angels are....ARE? Still alive?

Ok for the devil...he deserves it....we get that....but do the Christ rejectors simply burn up or do they live screaming bloody murder forever? I don't know. Sorry I'm no help!?

 

[Webers_Home]

.

It's a horrific thought of living your life, working, making a living, getting married, having kids, etc. Then grow old and die and wake up in Hell.

I totally sympathize with your feelings. Take my brother for instance. He and I are both pushing 70 and he's secular to the bone; as if my brother and Esau were cut from the same cloth. My brother is going to hell and there is no more I can do about it than the wives and children who looked on as their husbands and fathers went to a watery grave when the Titanic went down. I don't particularly like my brother; but thinking of him living out his futile, self-centered life only to end up enduring permanent suffering in the afterlife is an unbearable thought.

Now one thing about my brother is that he isn't going to hell by surprise like some primitive aboriginal in the Amazon jungles. He knows there's a God, he knows there's a judgment, and he knows the consequences for refusing to comply with God's wishes. In other words; my brother isn't going to hell against his will; but in point of fact; early on in life he deliberately chose hell so he could live on his own terms rather than God's. My brother, honest to gosh, has the classic attitude that it is better to rule in hell than serve in heaven; and when he gets to hell that's exactly what he will try to do because it is in my brother's nature to dominate others.

There's an actual case history of a man in hell depicted at Luke 16:19-31. It appears to me that he isn't actually aflame like kindling in a fireplace; in other words; he isn't on fire; but rather, amidst fire; which is more like being inside an oven than an incinerator. The man's primary concern isn't that he's in pain, nor that somebody might assist him to stop, drop, and roll to put out the flames; but to bring him some water because he's so badly dehydrated. Oddly, no mention is made of his being in actual pain like burning your skin with a blow torch. His discomfort seems related more to the heat of fire rather than to contact with fire. That's interesting.

Why does there have to be a hell?

Well; one of the Greek words for "hell" in the New Testament is geena (gheh'-en-nah) which refers to a canyon valley (a.k.a. the valley of the son of Hinnom, Josh 15:8, 2Chrn 28:3, et al) situated south of the old city walls of Jerusalem. In Christ's day, a portion the valley served as the ancient city's landfill, where fires were kept burning day and night doing the double duty of incinerating a constant waste stream of urban refuse and the carcasses of dead animals and low income citizens; which suggests to me at least one of hell's purposes is sanitary disposal; in other words: disease control.

why can't he just zap the unsaved out of existence?

I suspect that one of the reasons is because Man was created in the image of God; therefore Man has to remain in existence just as God has to remain in existence. I don't mean to imply that humans are born with eternal life. I'm only saying that once a human is in existence; it has to stay in existence until such a time as somebody finds a way to put Man's creator out of existence.

God is a God of love

In the movie "To Kill A Mockingbird" Gregory Peck is called home to shoot a rabid dog. Did he shoot the rabid dog because he hates dogs? No, he shot the rabid dog because he loves his family and has a concern for their safety. In other words: the so-called God of love warehouses toxic people in a fiery penal colony to protect the non-toxic people from getting poisoned by them. So it would seem that hell serves the dual purpose of sanitary disposal and quarantine.

Buen Camino
/

 

[Guest]

One major thing you're not covering here-- and I mean major-- is that there are people who have still never heard of Jesus. These people don't let themselves be without God. They have no choice but to live their lives without God. God left them hanging out to dry, if He exists.

Romans 1:20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

 

[VirginShallConceive]

One major thing you're not covering here-- and I mean major-- is that there are people who have still never heard of Jesus. These people don't let themselves be without God. They have no choice but to live their lives without God. God left them hanging out to dry, if He exists.

Romans 1:20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

You are actually satisfied with that answer?

 

[Guest]

One major thing you're not covering here-- and I mean major-- is that there are people who have still never heard of Jesus. These people don't let themselves be without God. They have no choice but to live their lives without God. God left them hanging out to dry, if He exists.

Romans 1:20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

You are actually satisfied with that answer?

Where did the answer come from?