Some non-Christians think that it is a bit strange for some Christians to focus on the notion of hell. They wonder why some Christians emphasize hell and eternal punishment in the afterlife instead of the idea of not being with God for eternity. This essay will explain what bothers such non-Christian about Christians emphasizing hell, as well as how the latter could point to a moral issue in the former.
The Christian View of Hell
Let’s talk about Christianity first. Contrary to the popular misconception, Christianity does not teach eternal punishment. It teaches a God who ultimately wants people to spend eternity in perfect happiness. When Adam fell into sin, there was a separation between him and God. He couldn’t communicate with God intimately like he did before. Even though there was a separation, God still showed Himself to Adam. It just wasn’t a perfect communion, which is what God intended in the beginning.
Christ came into the world to die for us in order to repair that broken relationship and restore perfect communion with God. That is why Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Christ taught people, and especially Jews, who once were in perfect communication with God. They had fallen from that grace due to sin. Christ then restored that grace through His death, burial, and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3–4).
However, even though Christ had repaired this broken relationship, not all of the people who knew Christ would stay in a close relationship with Him. There were some who didn’t like Him. They thought they could do better on their own by their own works, instead of depending upon His grace through faith in Him. If you know your own heart well enough, or if you’ve seen other people reject Christ (you may have even rejected Christ at one time), then you know that the possibility exists for someone to reject God’s offer of redemption through faith in Christ. God’s love remains for them, but they forfeit fellowship with God, and thus end up in hell.
This seems like a sad thing to happen. It breaks God’s heart when His loving offer is rejected. However, hell is not a place of eternal punishment. Instead it is a place where God gives up on His created beings because they give up on Him. In essence, what one has to understand about hell is the absence of relationship with God. It is a place where one can’t know God. It is the opposite of heaven. In heaven, people are able to have a perfect relationship with a perfect God through His perfect love. Hell is the complete absence of God’s presence because people have rejected it or aren’t able to handle the fullness of God’s love in heaven.
You might say, “Why not just let them into heaven without any conditions.” Well, hell is the condition. God can’t allow sinful human beings into heaven without holiness and purification of the soul. So until that happens, it is impossible to enter heaven. Hell is not a punishment; it is simply the necessary condition. Jesus calls it “outer darkness” because it is the opposite of being in the light of the Son in heaven (Matthew 22:13). There is no darkness in heaven.
So, when Jesus says in Matthew 25:46, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life,” he is saying that there are two types of people who will exist for all eternity. One will be in a perfect relationship with God because of His saving grace through faith alone, and the other won’t be able to have a relationship with God because they don’t desire it. This isn’t bad news. These people brought it upon themselves. After the first century, most people won’t want to be in hell, and those who desire it will probably get there. It is only for those who don’t.
Moral Arguments against Hell
The main reason why some non-Christians can’t stomach the idea of hell is because they value life too much to see it destroyed. They don’t believe people should have anything destroyed so completely that they wouldn’t want to revert into that state if it were possible. They want to live forever. Maybe they believe that humans are inherently good, or maybe they just fear the loss of everything important to them. Whatever the case, they want to live life to its fullest. In their eyes, nothing is worth suffering, let alone losing everything.
Someone might ask you why you bother reading philosophy when it causes you pain. You probably would answer, “Well, I love philosophy, and I want to do what I love. Besides, it isn’t all pain.” Similarly, a Christian would rather ghave a perfect relationship with God than anything else. He doesn’t need his mind corrupted, because he wouldn’t have to suffer at all anyway.
But another concern is the fact that in his current state in heaven he can’t sin. If that is true, then why even bother? Who needs heaven in the first place? This would be like saying that we shouldn’t become Christians because Christians can’t sin. What good will it do us? This is not the gospel of the kingdom of God!
It is the good news of salvation, not the bad news of lost. Sometimes Christians emphasize hell because they need to be reminded of the negative implications of sin in their lives. Christians can’t bear the image of God well if they are not motivated to do good and avoid evil. This was the main reason why Paul used fire in the Book of Galatians as an example of motivation for avoiding evil (Galatians 5:4). It is the same reason why Jesus spoke in parables about fire (Mark 9:43, 45, 47). Some Christians emphasize hell because it is a great motivator for avoiding evil so that people can participate in the image of God fully (Genesis 1:26–27). Without this motivation, they’d probably be bad people.
But besides being an inspiration for being good Christians, the idea of hell is also good news because it helps us realize that not all non-Christians are going to heaven. It encourages us to pray for our friends and family who aren’t Christians. We want to see them come to God, and to get them to repent. When we realize that some non-Christians won’t come to God, it shows us that we need to value life and spend time with people while we can. By doing so, we are helping them, because we are letting them know that God loves them. By loving them, we are showing them a God who is not judgmental, but loving, gracious, merciful, and kind.
Concluding Remarks
Many non-Christians think that Christians emphasize hell to the point of exaggeration. They think that God doesn’t want to punish anybody, but instead He wants everyone to be saved. But God is a God of holy justice, and He judges people fairly. It is those who love the One who judges that don’t have to worry about not being with God in heaven. For others, if they disregard the grace of God and refuse to receive His offer of salvation, then they won’t be able to enter heaven. It is their own fault, and God leaves them there as a result.