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Why did God create hell?
I understand that, assuming God exists, He can't have unrepentant sinners enter heaven, but why did He create hell for sinners to go to? Why couldn't God just make the sinner stop existing? Why does He feel the need to torture the unbeliever for eternity?
13 Answers
- RyenicLv 48 years agoFavorite Answer
You can't understand, because you are being told a lie! Seriously think about this:
If God keeps people in hell alive and conscious for eternity for no other reason than to suffer unimaginable agony, then God would also have to protect them from burning to death (fire disintegrates) and He would have to give these undeserving souls his greatest gift; everlasting life (the same gift He's giving to those who praise Him). Why? Because to torture them forever, he would have to protect them (a loving thing to do) and keep them alive forever (give them his greatest reward; everlasting life). So, he would be loving and cruel at the same time? That just doesn't make sense!
Also, keep in mind that they would have to be immortal souls (spirits). Spirits are not affected by fire, fire is earthly; it needs oxygen to survive just like we do; fire doesn't affect the spirit realm! (Read the account in the Bible of how an angel protected Daniel and his companions from burning in a fiery furnace (Dan. 3:1-28; particularly verses 26 and 27)
From the very beginning God told Adam: "For dust you are and to dust you will return.” He never told Adam he would be going to Heaven, nor to Hell, but back to the dust where he came from. The scriptures also state: “The wages sin pays is death.” (Romans 6:23) So, the punishment for sin is death, not burning in Hell.
The Bible also states that: "For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing." Or, as another translation puts it, "...the dead are unconscious." (Ecc. 9:5) So, they wouldn't even know they were being tortured if that was the case.
Please do the research and seek truth.... God DOESN'T torture people! The eternal Hell fire doctrine is a ploy to keep the masses down and a tool to keep people from wanting to worship God, and its working like a charm. Many, many people don't believe in God or want to worship God, because of this false doctrine.
Please learn the truth, and the truth will set you free...
- 5 years ago
You're undoubtedly correct. God IS love and did not create a fiery Hell. Believe about this When Adam and Eve have been created what was once the only intent they'd die? It was once the breaking of Gods law. Note what's written within the e-book of Romans (Romans 5:12) "12 this is the reason, just as through one man sin entered into the world and dying through sin, and accordingly dying spread to all men considering that that they had all sinned." ..... It used to be best for the reason that Adam sinned that we have now loss of life. Therfore if Adam had no longer sinned, we are able to conclude that he would nonetheless be alive today. What's the point of that? Well if we do not forget the customary words within the original Bible languages we see that the words rendered as "hell" in English customary meant the grave of mankind. Also if hell is scorching why is it to be destroyed by using being trown right into a fiery pit together with dying. Here in Revelation 20:thirteen-14 "13 And the sea gave up the dead that have been in it; and dying and hell delivered up the lifeless which have been in them: they usually were judged each man consistent with their works. Hell: or, the grave 14 And demise and hell had been solid into the lake of fireside. This is the 2d loss of life." That text is from the King James Bible. Realize the element hell: or, the grave that is the fott observe in my electronic variant showing that hell is the grave. Without that foot observe we're simply told that "And death and hell had been cast into the lake of fire" Ths simply suggests that death and the grave are to be done away with. The fiery pit in the days of Jesus and the Apostles was once the garbage dump out facet Jerusalem where a fire used to be saved buring to eliminate rubbish utterly as soon as and forever. So demise and "hell" the grave are to be utterly abolished, and nobody is there being tormented. We are informed there is going to be a resurection of each the great and the dangerous (Acts 24:15 "15 and i've hope toward God, which hope these [men] themselves additionally entertain, that there is going to be a resurrection of each the righteous and the unrighteous.")
- scrubbagLv 78 years ago
I honestly think it was Man's idea, not God.
God did not tell man to stone women for being unfaithful, man thought that up. So things such as that, are put into the bible or the Quran, and people then take it that God said it.
There was a place in Jerusalem, that people would throw away their trash. It was a place that had fire, brimstone...and in their language, it was called Hades or something like that. a lake of fire, and things not wanted, were disposed of there.
So somewhere along the line, people started saying that bad people would be sent to ...Hell (hades)...and they would then spend eternity there.
I once knew a four year old kid, who was told by his parents, not to pull up the grass in the yard. The kid was staying with a friend of mine, for a few weeks, and he would NOT go outside by himself, because he was afraid of the devil. His parents had told him, that the devil was outside and would get him, if he pulled up the grass. That kid, would not go out by himself.
That was years ago, but I wonder if he is still afraid of such things. It is sad that people can say such stupid things.
And to me, Hell is just the same, it is a place man had for burning trash, and they turned it into the eternal damnation place.
I think that God would allow anyone to go where they choose to go. If a person does not believe in God and just wants to die and be buried, and not live again....God will grant that. Not Hell, just a grave.
Also, those who want a life after death, but not want to be with God....He will also grant that. They can then spend eternity away from Him.
And those who want a life With God, will be granted that also.
God will just be doing, what we want for ourselves....and obliging us.
You see, God has the power to change us all, into non sinners, if He chose to do so. But He wants us to make the choices, and He will then, allow us our choice.
That is the whole purpose of our being human. To be able to choose and make decisions on what we want, and how we want to live. God could have easily just let us be animals, and we would not have these choices. But He didn't. He wants us to choose, to use our Free Will.
And He will NOT remove that from us. What we choose, we get.
- 8 years ago
Because the unrepentant DESERVE Hell. One Greek word for Hell used in The New Testament is Tartarus, which indicates endless torment.
- wisdom artistLv 48 years ago
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Source(s): After life education expert but remeber every one answer diffent every one after life diffent also., - ?Lv 78 years ago
The lake of fire is what God creates and casts Satan with others into at the end of the 7 year tribulation.
- ?Lv 78 years ago
I would like to share with you where the word Hell was translated, because through understanding of the original language with how it has been translated today is an eye opener. The word “hell” is found in various Bible's however in the same verses other translations read “the grave,” “the world of the dead,” and so forth. Some other Bibles simply transliterate the original-language words untranslated. What are those words? The Hebrew she’ohl′ and its Greek equivalent hai′des, which refer to the common grave of dead mankind; also, the Greek ge′en·na, which is used as a 'symbol' of eternal destruction has been translated Hell in many translations. So why do they use two different meaning as the same? In both the majority of Christendom and in many non-Christian religions it is taught that hell is a place inhabited by demons and where the wicked, after death, are punished (and some believe that this is with torment), these have no biblical support to their views. Therefore when people try to reconcile these adopted pagan views with bible teaching there is much confusion, no wonder you can't get a straight answer.
Let me show you what I mean~
What sort of people go to the Bible hell?
Does the Bible say that the wicked go to hell?
Ps. 9:17, KJ: “The wicked shall be turned into hell,* and all the nations that forget God.”
Does the Bible also say that upright people go to hell?
Job 14:13, Dy: “[Job prayed:] Who will grant me this, that thou mayst protect me in hell,* and hide me till thy wrath pass, and appoint me a time when thou wilt remember me?” (God himself said that Job was “a man blameless and upright, fearing God and turning aside from bad.”—Job 1:8.)
Acts 2:25-27, KJ: “David speaketh concerning him [Jesus Christ], . . . Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,* neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” (The fact that God did not “leave” Jesus in hell implies that Jesus was in hell, or Hades, at least for a time, does it not?)
SO here you can see the bible is teaching both Good and Bad go to Hell..... or should we say the grave?
Does anyone ever get out of the Bible hell?
Rev. 20:13, 14, KJ: “The sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell* delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.” (So the dead will be delivered from hell. Notice also that hell is not the same as the lake of fire but will be cast into the lake of fire.)
Why is there confusion as to what the Bible says about hell?
“Much confusion and misunderstanding has been caused through the early translators of the Bible persistently rendering the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek Hades and Gehenna by the word hell. The simple transliteration of these words by the translators of the revised editions of the Bible has not sufficed to appreciably clear up this confusion and misconception.”—The Encyclopedia Americana (1942), Vol. XIV, p. 81.
Translators have allowed their personal beliefs to colour their work instead of being consistent in their rendering of the original-language words. For example: (1) The King James Version rendered she’ohl′ as “hell,” “the grave,” and “the pit”; hai′des is therein rendered both “hell” and “grave”; ge′en·na is also translated “hell.” (2) Today’s English Version transliterates hai′des as “Hades” and also renders it as “hell” and “the world of the dead.” But besides rendering “hell” from hai′des it uses that same translation for ge′en·na. (3) The Jerusalem Bible transliterates hai′des six times, but in other passages it translates it as “hell” and as “the underworld.” It also translates ge′en·na as “hell,” as it does hai′des in two instances. Thus the exact meanings of the original-language words have been obscured.
Where did the concept of hell come from if not the bible?
“Of all classical Greek philosophers, the one who has had the greatest influence on traditional views of Hell is Plato.”—Histoire des enfers (The History of Hell), by Georges Minois, page 50.
“From the middle of the 2nd century AD Christians who had some training in Greek philosophy began to feel the need to express their faith in its terms . . . The philosophy that suited them best was Platonism [the teachings of Plato].”—The New Encyclopædia Britannica (1988), Volume 25, page 890.
Source(s): Therefore, what you see is a evidence of complete mistranslation of the original Greek and Hebrew words for the grave to support a heinous man made doctrine that God is unjust by sending people to a place of pain and torment for ever just because of sins they have done over a matter of a few days, months or years. What Really Is Hell? http://m.wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2002521 - Salted PingasLv 58 years ago
Because he needed a place for people who enjoy masturbation, fornication, and alcoholic beverages (like me) to go after they die.
- Anonymous8 years ago
The concept of HELL being God's divine punishment has been taught by the church for centuries.
The truth of the matter is that Hell is what we are going to do to ourselves. - Let me explain.
God told Adam - "...Be fruitful and multiply, replenish and subdue the Earth. Have Dominion." With that word - Dominion, - God gave the Earth to us. The human inhabitants of this world. The dominion of it is NOT within HIS ability to take back. When God gives dominion... or rulership... It is FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE.
When Adam committed a sin that changed his own immortality to mortal, and then eventually passing to death... That dominion passed on to the subsequent generations of HUMANS. WE ARE THE RULERS OF THIS WORLD.
For God to work in this world, HE needs the (for lack of a better word... ) permission of a HUMAN. - I will explain that in a paragraph or two... - But first... Rulership of this world will be the WORSE scenario, soon...
Sometime in the near future, some medical researcher is going to discover how to manipulate our DNA, and lengthen our life-spans. Eventually, aging and death will be something that we can stop completely. - ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY. - When a drug is discovered that makes humans immortal, it will be hoarded. Only a select few will be given immortality. The rest of humanity will be enslaved. As the generations come and go, the cumulative education level of man-kind will drop... until man is as uneducated as the ancients... They will be troglodytes.
When one of these slaves begins an uprising, ( as is inevitable... ) the punishment will not be death... It will be immortality, ( the offender will be given that DNA drug. ) and then SET ON FIRE. ( Eternal torment. ) HELL IS SOMETHING THAT WE WILL DO TO OURSELVES. Eventually, the humans in charge will burn everyone, FOREVER. They will learn a scientific, medical procedure to raise dead people to replenish their slave ranks. These will be burned eventually as well. Then an accident will happen, and the humans in charge will slip into the lake of fire that they built, and then there will be no-one left to stop it. ALL HUMAN BEINGS ARE DESTINED TO BURN FOREVER.
EXCEPT... JOHN 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
But God gives dominion for better or for worse. HE does not have the RIGHT to interfere...
Except with permission. - The permission HE needs is THE BLOOD OF JESUS.
Romans 10:9 and 10 is how to be covered by the blood of Jesus.
"That if thou confess with thy mouth the lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
This will give HIM the right to take the individual out of that inevitability of hell. - Now more about permission.
God needed Jesus to sacrifice himself, to PAY for the right to take anyone who does the with their heart and with their mouth part out of the inevitable ending that we will do to ourselves.
But God needed permission to sacrifice his son. HE got this permission from Abraham. God told him to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Abraham took Isaac on a long, long walk to the place of sacrifice, and tied Isaac and raised his knife. At this point, an angel from God told Abraham not to hurt the lad... because the permission was given, without the blood spilled.
That was the "PERMISSION" for God to sacrifice HIS son, Jesus. God needs humans to do everything that HE wants to accomplish. Every building that HE wants. Every charity that HE wants... Everything that GOD wants done on the Earth, must be done by humans. Jesus, paid for God's right to save us... EXCEPT - It was not permission to save ME. I must Give God permission with my heart, and with my mouth.
Hell is what we will do to ourselves. It is NOT from God. That lie is a CHURCH CONTROL. ( You better straighten up, or God is going to burn you... - This is inevitably followed by the other church lie... - "For your $1,000 gift, God will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing... - These lies are for the church's service to the collection plate.)
Hell is NOT from God. - Please read my blog at philo-servant.tumblr.com
Source(s): I have studied, to show myself approved; A workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Feel free to ask any follow-up questions at philliposcarservant@yahoo.com