This is a compilation of arguments for and against the doctrine of hell, posted online for simple archiving. Material heavily adapted from “Case for Faith” by Lee Strobel (henceforth referred to as "CFF"). Views presented here are not necessarily reflective of all my personal opinions.
Introduction
Define/Describe subject of discussion: Hell, contrasting the literal description with the definition in CFF, as well as a brief mention of how hell is portrayed in other cultures. These descriptions are mutually exclusive.
There are 162 references in the Christian Scriptures (New Testament) that warn of Hell. Over 70 of these references are attributed to Jesus.
Literal definition of hell:
1) a) A place in another dimension, filled with fire and brimstone, where people experience mental agony. This hell will be physical as well after the 2nd coming.
Matthew 13:42 “They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Parable of the weeds)
Luke 16:24 “… send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.”
b)A place where one is bound hand and foot (Matthew 22:13), cut in pieces (Matthew 24:51) and whipped severely (Luke 12:47).
2) c) Eternally separated from heaven
Luke 16:26 “…between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.”
2 Thessalonians 1:9 “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.”
Metaphorical definition of hell
This view has only been promoted since the 16th century. This arose due to moral objections and the conflicts between certain imagery if taken literally. For example hell is described both as a place of darkness and a place with fire. Refer to CFF pg 244-246
As C.H. Pinnock, an Evangelical writes: "Everlasting torture is intolerable from a moral point of view because it pictures God acting like a bloodthirsty monster who maintains an everlasting Auschwitz for his enemies whom he does not even allow to die. How can one love a God like that? I suppose one might be afraid of him, but could we love and respect him? Would we want to strive to be like him in his mercilessness?"
1) a) An eternal state of separation/existence apart from God and all that is good, for the unsaved
2) b) No literal torture takes place, but the physical and mental anguish of being cut off from goodness is so indescribable that one has to use the “fire and brimstone” imagery as a comparison. Therefore, Hell is a punishment but not a “punish-ing”
Depictions of hell in non-religious works
1) Featured in the poem “The Divine Comedy” written by Dante. Dante’s inferno has 9 circles of hell, with the punishment in each circle fitted to the nature of the sin. For example in the 2nd circle “lust”, souls are blown about to and fro by the terrible winds of a violent storm, without hope of rest. This symbolizes the power of lust to blow one about needlessly and aimlessly.
2) Featured in Plato’s works as “Tartarus” and “Hades”.
3) The concept of punishment in the afterlife is present in many religions and cultures. Banishment to the 18 levels of the underworld in Chinese folklore and the weighing of the heart in the Egyptian underworld are examples.
Looking into 8 individual objections in CFF
1) How can God send children to hell? (CFF p 248-249)
Argument in a nutshell: The act of sending innocent children who have not known God, to eternal torture in hell is cruel. This goes against the notion of a loving God.
Some Catholic Christians believe in the “Limbus Infantum”, where unbaptized children remain there without hope of deliverance. While they do not suffer the punishment of hell, they are also excluded from the blessings of heaven. No direct scriptural evidence.
Psalms 51:5 “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”
Counter-arguments
I. The biblical language about fire and flames is figurative and thus God does not sanction actual torture in hell.
II. In the afterlife, all personalities of souls reflect what they would have been as adults. Thus there will be no children in hell and also no one in hell who, if they had a chance to grow up to be adults, would have chosen to go to heaven. No direct scriptural evidence, but can be deduced based on how humans were originally meant to be in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were created as adults.
III. Children are viewed as part of the kingdom of heaven. Children who die before the age of accountability (and are incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong), will not be damned.
Luke 18:16 “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
2 Samuel 12:23 “I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”
Deuteronomy 1:22 “And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad…”
Isaiah 7:16 “But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right…”
2) Why does everyone suffer the same hell? (CFF p 249-251)
Argument in a nutshell: Hell is unfair because everyone is subjected to the same eternal punishment regardless of their deeds on earth. God’s justice is proportional.
Counter-arguments
I. The concept of a one size fits all punishment is unscriptural. The Bible teaches that there are different degrees of suffering and punishment.
Matthew 11: 20-24
Luke 12: 47-48 Contrast “beaten with many blows” and “beaten with few blows”
Rom 2:6 “God will give to each person according to what he has done.”
3) Why are people punished infinitely for finite crimes? (CFF p 251-253)
Argument in a nutshell: Hell is unfair because it is an infinite punishment (with no hope of probation), for sins committed in a finite life.
Counter-arguments
I. The degree of punishment meted onto a person is not dependent on the length of time he/she took to commit a crime. It is dependent on the severity of the crime and nothing can be worse than rejecting the message of grace and belittling Jesus’ sacrifice for us.
4) Couldn’t God force everyone to go to heaven? (CFF p 253-254)
Argument in a nutshell: If God is grieved by Hell, why does he not force everyone to go to heaven?
2 Peter 3:9 “…He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
Counter-arguments
I. Forcing everyone to go to heaven dehumanizes them and dishonours their freedom of choice. It would be unloving to force a person into a relationship with God if he/she is not willing.
II. Since God is righteous, he judges and distinguishes the righteous from the wicked. A God that makes no such distinction is amoral.
1 Peter 1:17 “Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.”
5) Why doesn’t God just snuff people out? (CFF p 255-258)
Argument in a nutshell: Is it not more merciful and just for God to annihilate the unsaved rather than to subject them to eternal punishment?
This is the doctrine of annihilationism and conditional immortality. There is no conscious existence, if any existence at all, of the wicked after death. Matthew 25:46 mentions eternal punishment; but this could refer simply to annihilation itself being permanent, and ending all life and consciousness for eternity.
Psalm 37:38 “But all sinners will be destroyed; the future of the wicked will be cut off.”
Counter-arguments
I. Everlasting separation is morally superior to annihilation. God is morally justified in honouring Man’s choice of separation, but God is not morally justified in removing the existence of a person. This is because Man was created in God’s image and that in itself has intrinsic value that should not be destroyed. God will not treat a person as a means to an end (heaven).
II. Annihilationism is inconsistent with scriptural descriptions of hell and punishment in the afterlife. Sinners continue to exist after death and will be physically resurrected in the 2nd coming to be judged. Also, annihilation goes against the scriptural view that there are different degrees of punishment for the wicked.
Daniel 12:2 “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.”
Matthew 25:46 “they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” It is obvious here that “eternal” in this context is an attribute of the duration of punishment/reward.
6) How can hell exist alongside of heaven? (CFF p 258-259)
Argument in a nutshell: If heaven is a place without sorrow, how can hell exist if the very existence of the condemned brings great sorrow?
Counter-arguments
I. People in heaven are mature enough to realize that hell is the only morally legitimate outcome for the unsaved. It is a way of honouring “choice”. The soul can rejoice in God’s sense of justice and divine companionship, while having a sense of grief for others.
7) Why didn’t God create only those he knew would follow him? (CFF p 259-261)
Argument in a nutshell: If God knows the future, why did he create people whom he knew would never turn to Him and would therefore end up in hell?
Counter-arguments
I. God created Man on earth with the free will to make choices that affect other people. When God chooses to create someone with free will, he/she will inevitably have an influence on the spiritual growth of others around him/her. This can work in a positive or negative fashion.
Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
II. In traducianism, all souls trace their lineage back to their ancestors. An individual’s soul is derived from the soul of his/her parents and so on. God's creation is finished (Genesis 2:2), thus no new souls are created directly, but are instead transmitted by natural generation just as the body is. This is in contrast with the idea that God creates each soul individually. If traducianism is true, then God only created Adam’s soul. Subsequently, God plays no part in creating other souls of people who make the choice of either turning to Him or refusing Him. God, however, does “balance” different ancestral chains to get as many people into heaven as possible.
(Personal note: I think traducianism is unbiblical in that it implies that a soul can be divided infinitely and that Jesus would not have been born without sin since his soul was derived from Adams)
8) Why doesn’t God give people a second chance? (CFF p 261-263)
Argument in a nutshell: Since God is a loving being, He should give people a second chance after death to repent, now that they are fully aware of His presence.
Catholic Christians believe in purgatory. Non-believers who have not yet known God in their lifetime will stay in a place of purification where they are given a chance to accept God’s grace. The length of their stay varies according to each individual and his willingness to repent. No direct scriptural evidence.
Counter-arguments
I. God would have done everything He could, to give a person a chance to know Him. There will therefore, be no excuse for anyone to claim ignorance. This could explain why the 2nd coming of Christ has been delayed so far.
Hebrews 9:27 “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.”
Romans 1:18-20 “The wrath of God is being revealed… since what may be known about God is plain to them…for since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities… have been clearly seen…[and] understood… so that men are without excuse.”
II. There is no guarantee that people will take this “second chance” to repent. Indeed, their hearts might be irreversibly hardened by a lifetime of depravity.
Romans 1: 28-32 “… since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind…although they know God’s righteous decree…they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”
III. The current life is the period during which Man is held accountable for all his deeds.
2 Cor 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”
IV. If people saw the judgment seat of God after death, it would be so coercive that they would no longer have the power of free choice to reject God.
Conclusion
The doctrine of hell is a sensitive issue that should be handled with care, and yet at the same time, cannot be ignored by any Christian. It is normal to feel uncomfortable with the concept of eternal punishment in hell and one should not gloat about the fate of the unsaved. Strobel urges us to use our feelings of discomfort to galvanize us into action to spread the gospel of salvation. The concept of hell can also enables us to better appreciate the free gift of salvation.
“Far be it from you to do such a thing- to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike… Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” – Genesis 18:25
References
1) The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel
2) A summary of Christian Doctrine by Louis Berkhof
3) http://www.religioustolerance.org
4) http://bible.org
