The biblical concept of hell is hard to swallow for many Christians, let alone non-Christians. Atheists have the worst time with hell. Hell just seems unreasonable to so many people. Hell makes God out to be the bad guy.[1] As Judge, God comes across as hateful, unforgiving, vengeful, retaliatory, and hard. But, God sometimes hates,[2] withholds forgiveness,[3] takes revenge,[4] retaliates,[5] and is hard.[6] These characteristics are not vices. In man they are vices. But they are virtues, insofar as they describe the moral attributes of God.
This article will show that sometimes God is hateful, unforgiving, vengeful, retaliatory, and hard, but that He is also loving, forgiving, just, longsuffering, and tender. And, in demonstrating these moral attributes of God, this article will show that hell is not only justified, but necessary.
THE NATURE OF HELL
Background
The word most often translated in the New Testament as hell is the Greek word, Gehenna. Gehenna comes from the Hebrew word, Hinnom, which means “lamentation.”[7] Hinnom is a deep valley outside the city of Jerusalem where King Solomon built an altar to the false god, Molech.[8] Kings Ahaz and Manasseh and the idolatrous Israelites offered their children there as live burnt sacrifices to Molech.[9]
Drums are supposed to have been used to drown out the cries of the victims. Later, during the time of Christ, the carcasses of dead animals were dumped there. [10] It became the trash heap for the Jerusalem metropolitan area. [11] Carcasses and refuse were burned there continually. [12] Fires could be seen there day and night. [13] The putrid stench of rotting garbage mixed with the acrid smoke of burning carcasses boiled up from the dreadful place and could be smelled for miles. [14] It was considered the most unholy place in all of Israel. [15]
Annihilationism and Cruelty
Some hold a view of hell which is known as Annihilationism. This view of hell argues that people only suffer in hell for a period of time, and then they simply cease to exist.[16] But, annihilation would not be punishment. It would be relief from punishment.[17] However, this view of hell is not supported in Scripture.
Many of those who hold Annihilationist views do so because they believe that eternal punishment is cruel, and they cannot reconcile God’s nature with cruelty. A major problem with this view is that it tends to minimize or ignore the gravity of the evil of sin and the harm that it does to the heart of God. Annihilationism also tends to bring into question God’s sense of justice. Humans, however, do not stand in judgment of God. God stands in judgment of humans. It is not for mortals to elevate their own sense of justice above God’s, to say nothing of their sense of mercy, grace, and love.
The Bible states that hell is an eternal condition without relief.[18] Hell is not described in the Bible as either a temporary place or as offering a limited term of punishment. Since God is eternal, and the purpose of hell is to provide a place that is away from the presence of God, hell must necessarily exist for all eternity.[19]
Hell is a Choice
Far from being something foisted upon the unsuspecting, hell is chosen by those who enter therein. Hell is not a torture chamber where people are harmed against their will. [20] Hell is self-inflicted. [21] Noted French atheist, philosopher, and playwright, and father of existentialism, Jean-Paul Sartre, suggested that hell is a place whose door is locked from the inside.[22] The sentiment was that hell necessarily involves the volition of the sentenced. The willing participation of all those sentenced to hell turns the blame back to the sinner. God does not desire that humans commit sin, nor does He desire that they chose hell over heaven. But, He has given humans the independent and free will to choose. Most humans choose hell.
THE JUSTIFICATION FOR HELL
God is Love
God’s love demands a Hell. [23] God is love in the ontological sense. Love is not simply something God does, but it is what He is.[24] If there is no hell, then God is not loving. True love does not coerce, but persuades.[25] The great Christian scholar C. S. Lewis noted that God does not force us to love Him.[26] Rather, He woos us.[27] God does not merely override human will, he draws us to Himself.[28] But, not everyone accepts His calling. God is loving, and God is love.
The highly regarded Christian apologist Norman Geisler argues that because it is God’s nature to love, He allows people the freedom and choice to not love Him.[29] Those who do not accept His calling, who disobey His command to love Him, who reject the wooing of His Holy Spirit, must be allowed to separate from Him.[30] Hell allows separation from God.[31] [32]
God is Just
God’s justice demands a hell. [33] If there is no hell, then God is not just. What justice is there if the wicked have no punishment? God is a worthless judge if every soul, wicked or righteous, receives eternal life. Where is the justice for the millions slaughtered in the holocaust of Adolph Hitler, if there is no Hell?[34] Every time a person sins, he or she is rejecting God.[35] This rebellion against God cannot go unpunished or God is not just. [36] [37] But, God is just. He is pure and cannot tolerate sin.[38] He is the righteous judge. [39] God gives mercy and grace because He is longsuffering.[40] He is slow to anger and gives time for repentance.[41] But, ultimately His judgment must come to all who transgress Him.
God is Sovereign
God’s sovereignty demands a hell.[42] If there is no hell, then God is not sovereign.[43] If there is no Hell, God has no victory over evil.[44] If evil is allowed to continue throughout all eternity, with no judgment or punishment, then God is not in ultimate control, and He is not sovereign.[45] But, God is sovereign.[46] As Creator, God is in complete control of the universe.[47] For good to triumph over evil, there must be a Hell. [48]
The Cross of Christ
The crucifixion of Christ implies a hell.[49] If there is no hell, then the crucifixion of Christ was meaningless. Humans are sinners and condemned to hell for the sin.[50] If people are not being saved from something (Hell), there is no need for a crucifixion. The incarnation of Christ was a waste of time if there is no Hell. What would be the purpose of the second person of the Trinity, Christ, coming to earth and taking upon himself human flesh, living a perfect life, and then offering that life as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for man’s sins, if there was, in fact, no penalty to be paid? [51] But, the crucifixion was the penalty for our sins, and that penalty is Hell.
The Free Will of Man
Man’s dignity and free will demand a hell.[52] If there is no hell, then man has no dignity or free will. Man must be allowed the freedom to choose or reject God. If man has no choice, man has no dignity and no free will. But, man is made in the image of God. Man is a free agent with a dignity and a free will. God has allowed man a measure of sovereignty. But, man is corrupt, and unwilling to submit to God.[53] In the Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis wrote “There are only two kinds of people in the end, those who say to God ‘Thy will be done’ and those to whom God says, ‘Thy will be done.’”[54]
CONCLUSION
There is significant justification for the biblical concept of hell. Hell is the ultimate destination of the wicked. It is a place where terrible torment will be experienced forever by those who are the enemies of God. Hell’s inhabitants will choose it as a direct result of their rejection of God. God will not force anyone to serve Him, thus His love requires that He provide an eternal abode for those who do not desire His presence.
God cannot leave sin unpunished, thus He provides an eternal abode for those who are unforgiven. God rules and reigns over the whole creation. His triumph over evil is ultimately represented in hell.
God provided a way of salvation through the substitutionary sacrifice of His own Son. Those who are saved through faith in Christ are saved from God’s wrath which is expressed in hell. Without hell, there would have been no need for the death of Christ on the cross.
Man is no robot. Heaven and hell are his eternal options. Man’s dignity is upheld and his free will is afforded through the options of heaven and hell. Without hell, man is an automaton.
Hell makes God neither unjust nor cruel. Injustice and cruelty are sins. God’s nature is pure and holy, and He cannot sin. God is fully righteous in His judgments and cannot be righteous without a hell. Hell is both justified and necessary.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sartre, Jean-Paul. No Exit, and three other plays. New York: Vintage Books, 1989.
Edwards, Jonathan. The Works of Jonathan Edwards. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2003.
Lewis, C. S. The Screwtape Letters: With Screwtape Proposes a Toast. New York: HarperCollins, 2001.
Smith, William. Smith’s Bible Dictionary. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 1986.
Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1994.
Geisler, Norman. Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1999.
Russell, Bertrand. Why I am Not a Christian. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1957.
Strong, James. The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible: Classic Edition. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991.
[1] Bertrand Russell, Why I am Not a Christian (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1957), 593-594.
[2] Romans 9:13 just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.”
[3] Matthew 6:15 “but if you do not forgive others, then your father will not forgive your transgressions.
[4] Romans 12:19 never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of god, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the lord.
[5] Lamentations 3:64 you will recompense them, O LORD, according to the work of their hands.
[6] Numbers 11:11 so Moses said to the LORD, “why have you been so hard on your servant? and why have I not found favor in your sight, that you have laid the burden of all this people on me?
[7] James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible: Classic Edition (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991), 942.
[8] Jeremiah 32:35 “They built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-Hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had it entered my mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
[9] William Smith, Smith’s Bible Dictionary (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986), 249-250.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1994), 1150.
[17] Norman Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1999), 312.
[18] Daniel 12:2 – Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. Matthew 18:8 – If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. Hebrews 6:2 – …the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. Jude 1:7 – just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
[19] 2Thessalonians – 1:9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power,
[20] Norman Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1999), 312.
[21] Ibid.
[22] Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit, and three other plays (New York: Vintage Books, 1989).
[23] Norman Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1999), 311.
[24] 1Jo 4:16 – We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
[25] Norman Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1999), 311.
[26] C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters: With Screwtape Proposes a Toast (New York: HarperCollins, 2001), 69-70.
[27] Ibid.
[28] Ibid.
[29] Norman Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1999), 311.
[30] Ibid.
[31] Ibid.
[32] 2Th 1:7-9 – the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.
[33] Norman Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1999), 311.
[34] Ibid.
[35] Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2003), 1.109.
[36] Ibid.
[37] Romans 2:5-16 – But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, Ro 2:6 who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: Ro 2:7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; Ro 2:8 but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. Ro 2:9 There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, Ro 2:10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Ro 2:11 For there is no partiality with God. Ro 2:12 For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; Ro 2:13 for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. Ro 2:14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, Ro 2:15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, Ro 2:16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.
[38] Habakkuk 1:13 – Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness with favor…
[39] Psalm 7:11 God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day.
[40] Psalm 145:8 the LORD is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.
[41] Ibid.
[42] Norman Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1999), 311.
[43] Ibid.
[44] Ibid.
[45] Ibid.
[46] Exodus 15:18 – “The LORD shall reign forever and ever.” Ps 93:1-2 – The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; The LORD has clothed and girded Himself with strength; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved. Ps 93:2 Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.
[47] Ne 9:6 “You alone are the LORD. You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them and the heavenly host bows down before You.
[48] Norman Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1999), 311.
[49] Ibid, 312.
[50] Ezekiel 18:4 – …The soul who sins will die. Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[51] Norman Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1999), 312.
[52] Ibid, 311.
[53] Acts 7:51 “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. Matthew 23:37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.
[54] C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters: With Screwtape Proposes a Toast (New York: HarperCollins, 2001), 69-70.
