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If God created hell and Jesus is God and Christians love Jesus...?

If God created hell and if Jesus is God, then Jesus creates eternal torture and the grand design that routes people to it. But Christians often say they love Jesus. The reason seems to be that he sacrifices himself to himself to appease himself as a work-around so his believers will be spared the eternal torture he created.

How can you love Jesus, the creator of this system? Do Christians secretly think it was Satan that created hell? Or do you believe that hell is really emotional and spiritual torture consisting of eternal separation from Jesus/God? Then how do you love the creator of eternal emotional/spiritual torture?

I hope people will continue to challenge every part of this question and i apologize for bringing it up in the Philosophy section and not R&S.

But just to clarify, given some confusion I may have inadvertently generated through my wording, this is an if-then question. I do not state that God did create hell. I asked an IF-THEN question. For the record, the question should probably read:

IF you think God maintains a place of eternal torture, and IF you think Jesus is God, and IF you love Jesus, THEN how can you have those thoughts (God/Jesus maintains a place of eternal torture) together with that feeling (love for God/Jesus)?

I ask how these three items can coexist in one person:

1. the belief that God maintains a place of eternal torture

2. the belief that Jesus is God

3. love of Jesus

Please continue to challenge any part and/or all of this question, including an assumptions or implications with which you disagree.

Thank you, everybody, for fascinating, challenging responses.

Update:

Of course, the easy answer is God and Hell don't exist, which is why i added the "If.."

Update 2:

So Mrs. Damien, if god did not create hell, then he must not be omnipotent, the creator of all things, right?

Update 3:

Thanks fdrc, i guess my premise or conclusion is trying to understand why or how Christians get out of the logical conclusion that there is no god or hell..., i know in the R&S section, i'm dealing with a biased group (in general)., thanks.

Update 4:

Thanks Lucky, but i was wondering how you could love Jesus and god, even tho they created a place of eternal torture, it doesn't make sense. It's like saying you'll be"punished for all eternity for the sins you committed, you'll be tortured and your soul will be plagued by demons till the end of time, etc. etc...buuuut .........Jesus loves you." Did i miss the logic somewhere?

Update 5:

Nick P, and what about death bed repentences, did Hitler get a ticket into Heaven if he repented the last day of his life, while the person who led a good life without hurting anyone, but denied god's existence end up in hell.... where's the justice in that?

15 Answers

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  • cmw
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Unless your name is Sarah, you plagiarized this. You didn't, "add the if," as you put it. See link.

    As an editor, plagiarism is repellent to me. It's also illegal. :-)

  • ?
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago

    You did not miss any logic at all and in fact your three statements are the truth.

    What believers know is that God is an eternal being. And he created eternal beings like the devil and his angels as well. In fact Matthew 25:41 says that hell was originally made for only the devil and his angels.

    And he created man with an eternal soul as well.

    The reality is that while God is eternal love he is also eternal holiness and he is the eternal righteous that judges against sin. Those are eternal qualities of God that will never change.

    So he has eternal places for those who choose to live with God in his eternal love. And he has an eternal place for those that do not and will experience his eternal punishment.

    This plan existed long before he created the universe with man in it. The love of God through Jesus Christ was to show how a loving God was willing to die for a rebellious and evil man. And that when men saw themselves and their deeds in light of God's love they would repent of their sins and turn to God.

    No man on the day of judgment who has heard the gospel message can tell God they were innocent and did not accept the truth and repent of their sin. The only one they can blame is them self.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    I'm a little confused; if you are here to argue logic, then you need to state a conclusion drawn from your three premises; so the conclusion

    Christians can love Jesus follows.

    Nothing in your premises denies this conclusion because you have not stated any reason that because God maintains a place of eternal torture Christians can not love.

    THIS is why your question belongs in R&S and not philosophy. Your question has nothing to do with philosophy, or logic. I know this sounds elitist . . . I'm not trying to do that. I am legitimately trying to help by pointing out that philosophy is not religion, has nothing to do with religion and should not be confused with religion. Even the religious proponents of philosophy (Aquinas, for instance) merely argued for the existence of God, not for the efficacy of any particular sect (in his case Jesus as Savior (not necessarily God by the way) was accepted).

    If I were a Christian trying to refute your premises I would challenge the first premise; either the words "belief" or "maintains".Even if I admit the premise (and you know as well as I do most of the so-called Christians here are not going to do that) I could still argue that love for Jesus/God is NOT disproved by your argument.

    Source(s): alot of well meaning people come to Philosophy to try to avoid the nutbars in R&S, but they are simply followed here by the same biases. Of all the arguments for or against the existence of God yours, the problem of "evil" is the strongest against the concept. The theists have an argument that is equally strong (or at least equally not disproved) which is the problem of first cause. I actually reccomend something I found at Barnes and Noble, a series of CD lectures by Peter Kreeft called "Questions of Faith" which looks at 20 logical arguments for and 20 against the conclusion. You can find it in the discount rack as these lecture series didn't sell too well. good luck!
  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    That is a very good question!

    You deserve a medal for, "BEST QUESTION ASKED EVER". LOL.

    I am a Catholic, and I hate to say this, but I don't know if God created hell, or if Satan did.

    Jesus is God. I think that many Christians believe that Satan created hell, not God.

    I also believe that hell is an emotional and spiritual torture consisting of eternal seperation between God and the person.

    I think everything that is Religious is a mystery. (Like the Trinity, hell, heaven)

    This has always been the story that I was told:

    God had arch-angels lined up. One of them, named Michael was doing wrong and went againest God. God then sent Michael to a terrible place called Hell. I think that is how Hell was formed. Not really God creating it, but I guess that God wanted Michael (who is the devil) to be driven out of hell to a place where he could never come back to heaven again. I don't know though.

    Great question though!

    GOD AND HELL AND HEAVEN ALL EXIST!!! LOL

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  • nick p
    Lv 4
    1 decade ago

    This may have some weight, if it were true that all people deserved the same rewards. But, is that true? Does the person who only works one day a week and the person who works all week deserve the same pay on Friday? Does the person who studies for the test and the person who doesn't and doesn't pass deserve the same grade? Does the person who abducts children and the person who lives in accordance with the laws of their country deserve the same freedoms? Some people deserve to be punished for the crimes they commit. I can love God knowing their is a place where those who hate God and want nothing to do with goodness are going to go just as I can love a country who punishes murders and child molesters by putting them behind bars making it safer for those who do not do such things. It's as simple as that.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    Amazingly, I have just read a piece by Khalil Gibran which has just reaffirmed my belief in God, by reminding me that I also have to believe in the Devil. Now being a gentlemen and no scholar, I have too say that you have missed that one important piece of the puzzle by not including the Devil. As for me, Jesus is less and less fitting into the equation. Gibran stated that Man is in between these to ?celestial? beings, as one represents good and all of its qualities and the other represents evil and all of its qualities. Without them, Man would have nothing to avoid (hating, murdering, raping, lying, stealing etc), or strive for (love, charity, courage, loyalty, etc). Without those sins and virtues, man would still be ****-ting in the woods, like some ape. Yes, overall, man sucks and has a lot of explaining to do, but at least he is, was, and ever will be something worth being. By thanking God (believing) or pissing on the Devil (believing), we're still better than some chimp swinging in a tree. And I say that in the sense that we're here for a reason.

  • Anonymous
    5 years ago

    We are all unworthy but Jesus came from heaven and died on the cross so you have two options you can live your life thinking that their is no God and we are all crazy and maybe your right but if your wrong then you will go to hell and spend forever in hell the lake of fire. So the answer to your question is in its self. God gave you the right to make decisions and we all get to chose what we do. if you want to talk more you can IM me. God Bless

  • 1 decade ago

    Jesus is God the Creator. He created hell for satan and his angels, not for man. All who reject His sacrifice on the cross for our sins will end up in hell. You must be born again to avoid hell. Gods love is that He gave His life on the cross so we could AVOID dying in our sins. No greater love than a man lay down His life for his friends.

  • 1 decade ago

    Well, you see, you really should have read the Bible before you posted this, even if you're not a christian. To make it short, One of the angle(satan) thought he was just as powerful as God, he got aprox. 1/3 of the angles with him for a rebellion so God cast them to "Eternal Jail". Then Satan tries to lure people in there, God protects you from there. And Jesus is not God, it's his son... I thought that was obvious enough with all the 'baby jesus' manger collectables for sale around christmas...

    Source(s): States all this clearly in the BIBLE.
  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    unfortunately rationality cant be used to answer this question because those who believe those things dont do so through rational ways. we are all humans and as such all our actions and thoughts dont necessarily all have rational roots, as the belief and love of god clearly show.

    oh and ... i dont know much on the subject and could be wrong but isn't jesus the son of god? "if God created hell and if Jesus is God"

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    1 hell is a "home" for fallen pride, the one who betrayed God is existing-right, in hell his place its kindda his little apartment, ...wha? "bad guys" need a place too. So God gave him his place, he loves everybody and gives a chance to everybody.

    2 Jesus is loved by Christians not for creating a torture, but for LOVE he had for human kind, he sacrificed his Innocent blood to wipe our signs (He did willingly). It is an example of FORGIVENESS and LOVE. And Christians are worshiping this love not torture. The torture Jesus choose for himself, so we won't have it and He wasnt peeking for what and for whom, in His way we all deserve it, cause all signs we did are from Devil, he believes in lighter side in each of as.

    3 Devil is an example of what might happend when you go against that love and light.

    .....i dunno, is it really so hard to understand or u just dont want to?

    EDIT ok, intentions of God was not to create torture, but when u dont follow Him, thats what happens-hell, devil, signs, troubles. the point is not to see God as the gray old man who will punish you if ll not listen, but as the wisdom of life, life does has its "law and order",...some kind of path which leads you to the best any could be or have.

    devil and hell is a living example of what will be if you broke the law and order a.k.a pure love (cause law and order is to follow if you are not clear enough to accept pure love, and do not get in trouble yourself at first) ......and it wasn't Gods wish to create hell, hell is a product of going against love, which did devil. ...and the second BIG point is, the biggest democrat is God, he can do anything, he knows everything, he is the source of life, but he is generous enough to let us choose what we want ourself + by that he reavels his trust and love for human kind, concidering us not to be dump enough and come to the light willingly, not forcefuly.

    .....why punishments? (preventions from going further in a wrong direction) cause as the main thing for good parent is to teach his child about the difference between good and bad (and parental love in its purest form will be the closest to the eternal love) as the same God is not turning his face from us as soon as we did smthg wrong, but send us signs, gives us another chance or call it consequences of our own wrong choice (crossing the "law and order" of life itself, and hell will be the final destination, limit)

    Jesus loves you by washing of ur sins, torturing himself. Can you crusify urself for ur neibour? ..or ur enemy? He did id and he does, but if we dump and like blind kitties then wha? If you r fallen of the rock and refuse to take helping hand?

    He did what he did (more then enough), now its ur time, thats why i regard God as the biggest democrat.

    hell and torture was "introduced" to God by sinners, the product of their choices.

    nick p, there is no "money" in haven, they dont give "change", its a final port, you have it or u r not, u can be half good half bad on the earth, there will be one or another after judgement day, does it bugs u? it really shouldn't, thats jelousy talk, sinnnnnnnnnnn! ))))

    Michael never was fallen angel, thats misunderstanding. It was many, if i am not wrong 13, but Michael never was the one. Michael is Arhangel, the leader of seven Arhangels and all haven's forces.

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