Is Eternity in Hell an Unfair Punishment?

If sin is finite, how can it possibly be just for someone to go to hell for all eternity? Isn't it unfair to give an eternal punishment for a crime that took a finite time to commit? Karlo Broussard answers this objection to hell on Catholic Answers Live.

Karlo holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in theology from Catholic Distance University and the Augustine Institute, and is currently working on his masters in philosophy with Holy Apostles College and Seminary. He also worked for several years in an apprenticeship with nationally known author and theologian Fr. Robert J. Spitzer at the Magis Center of Reason and Faith.

Karlo is one of the most dynamic and gifted Catholic speakers on the circuit today, communicating with precision of thought, a genuine love for God, and an enthusiasm that inspires.

[chasingamy]

I can't comment on the morality or ethics of an eternal place of conscious torment because our personal opinion of what's "fair" is irrelevant to the eternal creator. But I will say this much, if a neverending punishment is a reality for even one being, then it would have been better for humanity to not have been created in the first place.

[sidborromeo]

Vague answers. Make it simple. One person commits one mortal sin, the punishment is eternal damnation. Another person commits the same mortal sin 100 times, the punishment is exactly the same. How do you justify that?

[HillbillyBlack]

What I told the atheist: how is being angry about the set up change the reality of the outcome? We spitefully thumb our nose to God in rebellion because we don't like the system set up. Yet if we continue on that path until the end, we end up in the very same place we despise God for creating in the first place. Does that really make any sense? Especially since it's avoidable? Salvation is given freely for the forgiveness of sins by God, who came in human form to die for that punishment. Why reject that simply because hell was created for those that don't want to God?

[itskarl]

When one says "finite sin" it does not refer to the time it takes to commit the sin, but precisely the gravity of that sin. There is no sin which has infinite severity, that's just a preposterous thing to say. If I burgle someone's house, that would be a crime it might potentially take many years to recover from, financially and emotionally, but it would not take eternity. If anything mortals do on earth causes God an _eternity_ of grief, then God is clearly too sensitive to be allowed to create any sentient beings at all. That would mean God had _zero_ dignity, not infinite dignity. If God had infinite dignity, there was no sin we could possibly commit which could inconvenience him in any way, so Aquinas has got that completely backwards.

[justaguywithaturban]

wow, thank you universe for making me a ex Christian, god of the Bible is unjust and merciless, without love.

[deeveevideos]

1 Timothy 4:10 — The New International Version (NIV)
10 That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.

[bearinasuithaha]

Don’t worry guys. Gods only saying that if you try your best to love each other you will still fail and deserve an eternity of punishment at my decision. Nothing short of begging for my forgiveness will be sufficient. You must acknowledge how kind I am or suffer for ever

[scentsoftravelmeditation]

Thing is, even if the evil narcissists were to be let out of hell, they would return to narcissistic evil and hypocrisy. Just like Satan

[Darth_Vader]

Even Jesus Christ Himself said of Judas Iscariot. "It's BETTER for that Man to have NEVER been BORN."

[peterpappas]

A more simple answer. How do you know if you're speeding? You compare the speedometer in your car with the posted speed. If you drive over the speed limit then you are legally punished with a fine. Using this illustration, the 10 Commandments are the "posted speed." God is holy and every person has broken the law of God (Romans 3:20). Doesn't God have the right to punish you? The good news is Jesus Christ paid for the punishment we deserve. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved from God's punishment for breaking His law (Romans 10:9).

[gracianomendoza]

We have the Divine Mercy of God in the end. It is God's decision and prerogative. He is ALWAYS JUST AND RIGHT

[bigboioncrack]

NO IT IS UNJUST NO ONE EVEN LIVES FOR ETERNITY

[quietwyatt]

Being forced to live forever could be just as bad – maybe worse – because the longer you live the odds of anything happening to you increase. And anything happening includes getting sent to jail for life.

[narutony]

No. Absolutely not. In absolutely no way shape or form should anyone be punished for all eternity. The only way to earn an eternal punishment is to do an eternal wrong. If a man who has devoted themselves to god in mind, body and soul imagines a naked woman but forgets to actually repent for it, then they go to hell and suffer for all eternity. And for what? For dishonoring god for a few minutes? Nevermind all the honor given to god for the 90 years that man was alive and worshipping day in and day out. One strike and you're out. Please explain how that is remotely just.

[chosenskeptic]

Sin is the transgression against the law, we are no longer under the law or judged on our adherence to the law, but on belief and grace.

[laurameszaros]

Of course infinite punishments for finite crimes are revolting, grotesque, unfair in every conceivable sense. This is where Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism are far more just, and also far more congruent with what might be termed natural law than either Christianity or Islam. Grave sins are indeed gravely punished within the Oriental wisdom traditions, but once the karmic debt has been expiated, so to speak, the "slate" is wiped clean and returns to "zero", where it then has the opportunity to build itself spiritually once again. This may well take aeons for the individual to actually accomplish, but the principle of growth is acknowledged; the individual is permanently responsible for his/her actions and their consequences. I like this - it seems like natural justice to me, and although all my ancestors have been Catholic, it is the reason why, having had the opportunity to become a student of comparative religion, I decided to abandon the ancestral fold and seek truth and inspiration elsewhere.

[holgerlubotzki]

The gravity of the offense of not being convinced? You people are actually *EVIL!*

[Demonoicgamer]

We don’t sin against god though we sin against humans and I’ll usually get the response well we are image bearers of god but A. That would mean well don’t have free will and B. The only reason we have value is cause he said so.

[cheath]

Not EVEN ONE SCRIPTURE being quoted to support your idea of roasting for eternity as just punishment. Even true God does not have any desire in his heart to roast anyone as stated in Jeremiah 7:31. Your reasoning is a gross blasphemy to God who is "Love" and the lover of "Justice".

[drumsandcymbals]

Billions and billions of years in hell is a milisecond compared to an eternity in Heaven.