HOW WE CAN ACCEPT THE DOCTRINE OF ETERNAL HELL

The famous 19^th century atheist, Robert Ingersoll (1833-99), expressed the problem of hell this way:

·       “Eternal punishment must be eternal cruelty…and I do not see how any man, unless he has the brain of an idiot, or the heart of a wild beast, can believe in eternal punishment.”

It would seem that his charge has some merit. If God is love, punishing those who reject Him for all eternity seems to reflect vengeance and not love.

Although I want to answer this charge in a way that will make sense to an atheist, I have to admit that this will be difficult. For one thing, it is difficult to defend something that we understand only very partially, and there is a lot that God hasn’t revealed to us, especially about the end of times (Deuteronomy 29:29; 1 Corinthians 13:12).

The Christian understands that if God created this world, He has the right to do with His creation as He so chooses. Certainly, if we plant a garden, we also have the right to destroy it. However, to many of us, the concept of an eternal hell of torment seems both overly severe and unjust, even if God does have that right.

Nevertheless, there are many considerations that soften the bite of Ingersoll’s charges. For one thing, some of the language describing hell is clearly poetic (non-literal). For instance, the picture of God stoking the fires of hell seems to be highly figurative. How do we know this? The torment of hell is related through an assortment of metaphors. Often, Jesus made reference to “the furnace of fire:

• [Angels] “will cast them [unrepentant sinners] into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13:42)

However, Jesus also described this place of torment where “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” as “outer darkness”:

• “Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'” (Matthew 22:13)

At least one of these expressions has to be metaphorical, but probably both are. It seems that this torment is instead the product of having eternially lost the blessings of God:

• "There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. (Luke 13:28)

Although these sinners did not want God, they certainly want His many blessings.

From these three verses, it seems that God is not going to proactively stoke the fires of hell. However, suffering will accompany eternal punishment.

There are other verses that argue that eternal punishment will not be a blanket punishment delivered indiscriminately to all those who reject God. Instead, Jesus taught that the punishment would fit the crime:

·       "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.” (Matthew 11:21-22)

Judgment will be more tolerable for some than for others. It will depend upon how much we understood and how much unrepented evil we’ve committed:

·       And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. (Luke 12:47-48)

This teaching bears directly upon the death of infants and those who have minimal understanding. However, there is another consideration that speaks even more directly about the justice of hell.

To some degree, it seems that condemnation is self-chosen. Jesus taught that even though the Father had given all judgment to Him, He wasn’t going to judge:

·       “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict [“Judgment”]: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” (John 3:17-20; 5:45; 8:15; 12:47; Gen.3; Luke 16)

How is the unbeliever “condemned already” since Jesus claimed that He wasn’t going to judge? He is “condemned already” because he has loved the darkness instead of the light of Christ, and he runs from the light so that his deeds and moral deficiencies will not be exposed.

Taking this logic one step further, if the unbeliever hates the light of Christ in this world, he will certainly hate it in the next life when the light of Christ exposes everything. Consequently, there are many verses that demonstrate that the unbeliever will run from the light to a place of suffering, even to call the mountains to fall upon him to hide him from the light:

·       Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. (Revelation 6:15-16; 20:11; Isaiah 2:20-22; Malachi 3:2)

I can hear the skeptic scoffing that, “If your God is omnipotent, he surely can change the unbeliever into a believer so that he wouldn’t have to endure hell, even if it is self-chosen.” However, this represents a failure to understand the omnipotence of God in a Biblical way. Instead, we understand that God cannot violate His nature. Perhaps there is something in His nature that requires that He allow the unbeliever to choose his own destiny, even if it is eternal punishment.

It does seem that God will give all what they want – heaven for the one who wants to be with Him and hell for those who prefer shelter from the light. At some point, God gives up on the dedicated unbeliever:

·       “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! (Psalm 81:11-13)

From every Biblical indication, it seems that God has done His part. Consequently, there is nothing unjust about Him allowing people to pursue their own destinies. Would changing them into an entirely different being be just? Clearly, this would go against their own will. Therefore, they would protest against this form of spiritual lobotomy.

But why eternal torment? Wouldn’t it be more merciful for God to pull-the-plug? We call this annihilationism – the total extermination of both body and soul. (I cringe at the thought!) Perhaps God will provide them with this option? Some verses describe hell as “destruction”:

·       “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)

While man can kill the body, it seems that God can kill both body and soul. Do we have a human right to heaven? Not according to the Bible! But neither does the unbeliever choose to be with God. It would be like the mouse choosing to be with the snake.

Yet we still find the doctrine of hell troubling. We know lovely people, even family members, who seem self-destined to this horrid fate. How do we live with this understanding?

It seems that our Lord is always confronting us with such perplexities. Will we follow and adore Him despite them? Abraham did. God instructed Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, the very heir whom God had promised to Abraham. It seemed like a contradiction. However, after following his God for more than 40 years, Abraham knew that God would provide a way of escape, a solution. Abraham didn’t understand, but he trusted that God had His gracious reasons for withholding this knowledge from him.

Those of us who know God may not understand all the dynamics of hell, but we trust that God will work everything out in accordance with His character of love and righteousness.

Meanwhile, the Ingersolls will continue to scoff. However, there is no answer for those who do not want an answer. The Pharisees didn’t want an answer. They had seen Jesus’ many miracles but ascribed them to Satan. No amount of reasoning would make any difference.

Why then did I write this essay? Not for the unbeliever but for the struggling believer who has yet to come to a place of acceptance of this doctrine of eternal judgment.