Is Hell Real?

You’re in a conversation and someone says, “I don’t believe a loving God would send anyone to Hell. He wouldn’t even allow a place like that to exist.” What would you say?

It’s easier to believe in things like Heaven, redemption, and eternal joy with God – you know, the things we want to be true --- than those things that are hard to imaging and even stomach, like eternal punishment.
 
Hell is a hard thing to talk about, but the next time it comes up in conversation, here are three things to remember:
First, God doesn’t force anyone into Hell, but He doesn’t force anyone to love Him or be with Him either.
Second, Jesus taught that Hell is real, and talks about it more than anyone else in the New Testament.
Third, Hell does not diminish God’s love; it displays it.

Comment Policy: We encourage civil discussions. Please keep bad language, personal attacks, off-topic comments, and general bad behavior off our site.

Further Reading:
Chan, Francis and Sprinkle, Preston. Erasing Hell: What God Said About Eternity, and the Things We've Made Up. Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2011

[BBMontalban]

"My husband doesn't WANT to beat me!! I CHOOSE to get beaten, when I rebel against him!!

The beatings are a display of how much my husband loves me!!"

[stinkyegirl]

It also says In The Bible to not have braided hair

[shellybelle]

God: Pushes you into the sea off a boat.
Also God: says he'll throw you a life ring if you commit to him.
Me: was this really my choice?

[jamesBFC]

Christians tell me to believe in Jesus and accept him as saviour or I'll go to hell.

Muslims tell me that if I don't believe in and accept Allah as saviour then I will go to hell.

I'm kinda stuck here guys...

[Hannibu]

How can one be happy in Heaven knowing others suffer in Hell for eternity? This is absurd.

[NotGoodAtNamingThings]

If hell is proof of God's love then your God is a sadist. "I love you so much that I designed an eternal torment just for you." The very idea is absurd, and that people believe it even more so.

[alihoussney]

The same God who is love (1 John 4:8) is also just (2 Thessalonians 1:6).

[nphoenixcrimefighter]

Well done. Question, if God is omnipresent how are we in hell without God?

[SakuraAsranArt]

The argument here is that a loving God not only condones eternal punishment in hell but that this is actually proof of that God's love for us, yes? Let me show you just how messed up that is. If you take the three points this girl makes at 2:03 and exchange the words "God/Jesus" for "My Spouse/Partner" and the word "Hell" for "beating" (with allowances made for sentencing structure of course) suddenly, you're not listening to a calm argument from a nice Christian lady anymore, you're listening to a person trying to justify domestic violence. That's because Christians are in an abusive relationship with God. I don't believe that God exists but that doesn't change the fact that Christians are in a proxy abusive relationship through their churches, their communities and ultimately their own minds. This relationship is SO abusive that the young lady in the video, who is likely a very lovely person, is willing to stand in front of a camera and argue in favour of eternal punishment (that's forever btw, FOREVER! Which is a really, really long time!!) being an act of love. The reality is that it's not an act of love, it's the act of a megalomaniacal psychopath. Lucky for her, and us, that megalomaniacal psychopath is a fictional character.

[fubaralakbar]

"Reality doesn't conform to our feelings, or to the popular vote."
Please PLEASE explain this to the man-made global warming crowd.

It really is amazing how we think we can just project our beliefs on to God, and they will just come true. Who do we think we are?

[jakec]

None of this answers the question as to whether Hell is actually real. It just cites the bible and the bible is a book. It's not proof of anything. And it doesn't address the fact that a being cannot be all-loving while allowing eternal, conscious suffering, despite having the power to stop it.

[cobine]

doesnt force you, yet hits u with a “….by the way if u dont follow me, like thats cool but, have fun in hell *smirk*”

[horsepowerenthusiast]

No, it's man made to keep us in line in spite of fear.

[newyorksbeerreviews]

So how are you going to feel while you're in heaven and all your atheist friends are on fire in How dare you threaten people! If you think people who JUST don't believe deserve to be set on fire, than you are a serious monster and so is your god! You, ma'am is a reminder of the movie Children Of The Corn.

[IsaacNussbaum]

*WHY SINNERS AREN'T GOING TO BE TORTURED IN HELL*
1. No body = no nerve endings. No nerve endings = no pain.
2. Ezekiel said that the soul who sins shall die. (Ezekiel 18: 4)
3. Solomon said that he who pursues evil will die. (Proverbs 11: 19)
4. Paul told the Romans that the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6: 23)
5. Peter said that sinners will be reduced to a pile of ashes. (2 Peter 2: 6)
6. Luke said that sinners will be burned up like chaff in a fire. (Luke 3: 17)
7. Matthew said broad is the way that leads to destruction. (Matthew 7: 13)
9. Paul said that the end of the unrighteous is destruction. ((Philippians 3: 17-18)
9. Peter said that fire is being stored up for the destruction of the ungodly. (2 Peter 3: 7)
10. Sinners can’t be tortured forever because only the redeemed live forever. (John 3: 16)

[timnorman]

Infinite punishment for a finite crime is immoral and evil. If hell is real then the god who created it is a monster

[ominous-omnipresent-they]

God: _"I don't force my creations to love me. Whadda think I am, some evil, vengeful, narcissistic, megalomaniacal tyrant? All I'm saying is that if they don't love, I'll subject them to an eternity of unfathomable torment and hellfire. I mean, come on, is it really that big of a big deal? It better not be. Oh, ummm, I'm just playing. You're totally free to answer that however you choose."_

The level of intellectual dishonesty in this video is disturbing.

[Hannibu]

"truth is never measured by how much we like it reality doesn't conform to our feelings or to the popular vote" ... and puff the irony meter explodes.

[Theeduckie]

This was an ad and I only came here to say your first point disputes itself.

We either love your god or go to your hell. Yes we aren’t forced to love the god, but if we don’t, we go to hell. God won’t make us go to hell, but if we don’t love him, we will go there.

How do you not see the toxicity in this relationship.

If I told my girlfriend that if she doesn’t love me the way I want, she sleeps outside, would I be a piece of shit?
The answer is yes.

[naushadsheikh]

I appreciate your work but...
Can you please explain me what God did with Saul (Paul) in book of Acts.
Was that freewill of Saul ??