There's a lot of controversy about this question. A fellow Christian on Facebook has written very passionately about it and begins his analysis with, what I think, is a series of questions that cuts right to the heart of the matter.
First of all, let's not dodge the questions, leading as they are. The first is really telling, the most critical, I think: do we believe that God's character is capable of creating a place of eternal torture, given the fact that He sent His only Son to suffer death on the cross? I think the answer is in the question.
For eternity past, the Son lived in perfect love, harmony, and union with the Father. He was (and is) God and sat enthroned in Heaven enjoying all the glories and pleasures that Heaven can provide. But in time, He humbled Himself for the incarnation. He took upon Himself the form of a slave (Philippians 2:7), a human with a brief and painful life. He suffered every evil that we suffer: He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3). Let's not underestimate the adversity of this alone. He who is the source of all joy wept. He who is omnipotent grew tired and slept. He who provides food for all creatures everywhere knew hunger and thirst. Then, add in the temptations. The Bible says that Jesus was tempted in every way just as we are (Hebrews 4:15). Imagine! Jesus saw Satan fall from Heaven like lightning, defeated before His archangel Michael and His mighty army (God does not appear to have taken part in the struggle directly, from the account in Revelation 12:7-9). In the book of Job, Satan even had to ask God's permission to cause mayhem and misery--such was His power over him. But on earth the roles are almost reversed. Jesus staggers, ravaged by hunger, thirst, and exhaustion while Satan stands, taunting Him: "If you really are the Son of God, prove it!" Doesn't it strike you as torture for the Son of God to endure such humiliation and suffering?
And we haven't even come to the cross. We have made no mention of the cruelest form of capital punishment ever devised, by which men in agony were publicly hung to suffocate slowly over the course of days under their own body weight. We have not spoken of the scourging which disfigured him beyond human recognition and from which (alone) men frequently died. We have not spoken of the terrible suffering in Gethsemane, where He sweat drops of blood (a known medical condition called hematidrosis resulting from extreme levels of stress). It can only be described as torture, torture inflicted on God's own Son, according to God's own pleasure (Isaiah 53:10-11) and deliberate plan (Acts 2:23).
If God is capable of deliberately planning such horrific things for His own Son, whom He loves and with whom He is pleased, what is he capable of doing to His enemies? I would say eternal torment doesn't sound like a stretch.
So, God is unquestionably capable of torture, having deliberately planned it for His own Son. What then of the next question: is God a sadistic tyrant who delights in the suffering of innocents who simply "decided not to worship Him?" Let's think about this. First of all, let's acknowledge who it is we're talking about: it's God here. If we're talking about not worshiping God, we're talking about essentially denying His identity as God and attributing it to someone or something else. It is not at all the same as me refusing to bow down at your feet, since we are both humans, made equals however society may place us. It is me treating you as though you did not exist and carrying on as if your computer's keyboard were you. Even that falls far short for, again, we are equals. You did not create me. You do not know every facet of my being; you do not provide for my every need and uphold me with your power. God does all of that for us, and when we "decide not to worship Him" we commit the gravest affront to His divine nature that is possible by denying its existence and ascribing its attributes to something else entirely, something totally unworthy. There is no real human parallel to this sin, but the Bible comes the closest when it compares it to adultery, a woman leaving her husband to bribe every Tom, Dick, and Harry to bed her and be her new love (Ezekiel 16, for God's view of human infidelity in worship, portrayed as a story about a man and his unbelievably adulterous wife--but be warned, it is graphic). If this were the only crime that those who burn in Hell were guilty of, would they not deserve the punishment?
But let's be realistic here: is there or has there ever been a human being who lived a faultless life, except for not worshiping God? Realistically, no. Even we can acknowledge that with our own trite saying: "Nobody's perfect." The Bible has a rather more drastic (and accurate) way of putting it, quoting from itself in Romans 3:10-18:
Unquestionably, yes. The Bible says in Psalm 135:6 that God does whatever He pleases "in the heavens and on the earth," then goes on to enumerate His judgments on Egypt and various unbelieving nations as among the things that He was apparently pleased to do. Jeremiah 9:34 further lists justice alongside steadfast love and righteousness as the three things in which God delights. To be sure, as 2 Peter 3:9 famously states, God would much rather the wicked repented. But if they do not repent, God is totally capable of dealing out justice by burning them in Hell as they deserve. Does such a thing glorify Him? He certainly doesn't seem to be ashamed of it. In fact, Jesus (God in the flesh) talks about Hell quite a bit and His Apostle, Paul, talks more about Hell than he does about Heaven.
So let's go after the titular question directly: does God send people to Hell? Let me answer that question with another question: in the Bible, is there any other way to wind up in Hell? In the New Testament, in the KJV, the word Hell appears 23 times. Twelve of those times, someone is being cast, thrust, or sent to Hell. Three times it is directly said that the one doing the casting is God (the other verses are in passive voice and leave the actor unspecified). Another of the 23 verses said that it is Christ, the Alpha and Omega, who holds the keys to Hell. If God is the one doing the casting and controlling the gates, then how would one get into Hell unless God threw Him there? Yes, God sends people to Hell. Our sins are our own choice, and it for them we are sent there, but let us make no mistake in Who does the sending. God is the judge, and it is He who condemns, as every parable Jesus ever told mentioning Hell bears out. He told many, and in each of them God is the one who casts out the wicked--they do not voluntarily cast themselves out.
Do they believe a God that would send His one and only Son to die a torturous and humiliating death would create a place that would be used for TORTURE for ALL eternity? Does the character of God come off as a tyrant who enjoys hearing the screams of people who have decided not to worship Him? Would this sound like a way to "glorify" Him as a loving and giving Father? Or does this sound like a way to de-glorify [sic] Him as a mean and unmerciful tyrant?I'm sure, from these leading questions, you understand the writer would answer a definite "no" to the question in this post's title. From my previous post on the topic, you can be sure I disagree with him. However, we do agree on this: what we believe about Hell reflects what we believe about God. If we believe that Hell does not exist at all, then we confess a god who winks at injustice, even on the grand scales we humans have committed it. If we say that Hell exists but that God doesn't send people there or punish them, then we confess a god who is not in control of our world or our fates and is either powerless or unmotivated to own the vengeance he has claimed as his own (Romans 12:19). If we say that Hell is a place where innocents burn, then we profess a god who indeed is a monster. But if we agree with the Bible that Hell is a place where God pours out His wrath on the wicked, then we confess a God who is powerful, good, and just--however hard we may find His justice to rectify with our own ideas of our inherent goodness.
First of all, let's not dodge the questions, leading as they are. The first is really telling, the most critical, I think: do we believe that God's character is capable of creating a place of eternal torture, given the fact that He sent His only Son to suffer death on the cross? I think the answer is in the question.
For eternity past, the Son lived in perfect love, harmony, and union with the Father. He was (and is) God and sat enthroned in Heaven enjoying all the glories and pleasures that Heaven can provide. But in time, He humbled Himself for the incarnation. He took upon Himself the form of a slave (Philippians 2:7), a human with a brief and painful life. He suffered every evil that we suffer: He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3). Let's not underestimate the adversity of this alone. He who is the source of all joy wept. He who is omnipotent grew tired and slept. He who provides food for all creatures everywhere knew hunger and thirst. Then, add in the temptations. The Bible says that Jesus was tempted in every way just as we are (Hebrews 4:15). Imagine! Jesus saw Satan fall from Heaven like lightning, defeated before His archangel Michael and His mighty army (God does not appear to have taken part in the struggle directly, from the account in Revelation 12:7-9). In the book of Job, Satan even had to ask God's permission to cause mayhem and misery--such was His power over him. But on earth the roles are almost reversed. Jesus staggers, ravaged by hunger, thirst, and exhaustion while Satan stands, taunting Him: "If you really are the Son of God, prove it!" Doesn't it strike you as torture for the Son of God to endure such humiliation and suffering?
And we haven't even come to the cross. We have made no mention of the cruelest form of capital punishment ever devised, by which men in agony were publicly hung to suffocate slowly over the course of days under their own body weight. We have not spoken of the scourging which disfigured him beyond human recognition and from which (alone) men frequently died. We have not spoken of the terrible suffering in Gethsemane, where He sweat drops of blood (a known medical condition called hematidrosis resulting from extreme levels of stress). It can only be described as torture, torture inflicted on God's own Son, according to God's own pleasure (Isaiah 53:10-11) and deliberate plan (Acts 2:23).
If God is capable of deliberately planning such horrific things for His own Son, whom He loves and with whom He is pleased, what is he capable of doing to His enemies? I would say eternal torment doesn't sound like a stretch.
So, God is unquestionably capable of torture, having deliberately planned it for His own Son. What then of the next question: is God a sadistic tyrant who delights in the suffering of innocents who simply "decided not to worship Him?" Let's think about this. First of all, let's acknowledge who it is we're talking about: it's God here. If we're talking about not worshiping God, we're talking about essentially denying His identity as God and attributing it to someone or something else. It is not at all the same as me refusing to bow down at your feet, since we are both humans, made equals however society may place us. It is me treating you as though you did not exist and carrying on as if your computer's keyboard were you. Even that falls far short for, again, we are equals. You did not create me. You do not know every facet of my being; you do not provide for my every need and uphold me with your power. God does all of that for us, and when we "decide not to worship Him" we commit the gravest affront to His divine nature that is possible by denying its existence and ascribing its attributes to something else entirely, something totally unworthy. There is no real human parallel to this sin, but the Bible comes the closest when it compares it to adultery, a woman leaving her husband to bribe every Tom, Dick, and Harry to bed her and be her new love (Ezekiel 16, for God's view of human infidelity in worship, portrayed as a story about a man and his unbelievably adulterous wife--but be warned, it is graphic). If this were the only crime that those who burn in Hell were guilty of, would they not deserve the punishment?
But let's be realistic here: is there or has there ever been a human being who lived a faultless life, except for not worshiping God? Realistically, no. Even we can acknowledge that with our own trite saying: "Nobody's perfect." The Bible has a rather more drastic (and accurate) way of putting it, quoting from itself in Romans 3:10-18:
"as it is written: 'None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.' 'Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.' 'The venom of asps is under their lips.' 'Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.' 'Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.' 'There is no fear of God before their eyes.'"Before God, even our attempts at righteousness are tainted, filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). We are so far from the inherently innocent people we imagine ourselves to be! Viewed through God's all-piercing and perfect gaze, we all rank of the same level of repellent evil that we perceive in Hitler. I don't think that anyone for a moment would argue that Hitler doesn't deserve to burn in Hell. So the question then becomes something much different: is God capable of dispensing justice as He sees fit, and if so does He take pleasure in it?
Unquestionably, yes. The Bible says in Psalm 135:6 that God does whatever He pleases "in the heavens and on the earth," then goes on to enumerate His judgments on Egypt and various unbelieving nations as among the things that He was apparently pleased to do. Jeremiah 9:34 further lists justice alongside steadfast love and righteousness as the three things in which God delights. To be sure, as 2 Peter 3:9 famously states, God would much rather the wicked repented. But if they do not repent, God is totally capable of dealing out justice by burning them in Hell as they deserve. Does such a thing glorify Him? He certainly doesn't seem to be ashamed of it. In fact, Jesus (God in the flesh) talks about Hell quite a bit and His Apostle, Paul, talks more about Hell than he does about Heaven.
So let's go after the titular question directly: does God send people to Hell? Let me answer that question with another question: in the Bible, is there any other way to wind up in Hell? In the New Testament, in the KJV, the word Hell appears 23 times. Twelve of those times, someone is being cast, thrust, or sent to Hell. Three times it is directly said that the one doing the casting is God (the other verses are in passive voice and leave the actor unspecified). Another of the 23 verses said that it is Christ, the Alpha and Omega, who holds the keys to Hell. If God is the one doing the casting and controlling the gates, then how would one get into Hell unless God threw Him there? Yes, God sends people to Hell. Our sins are our own choice, and it for them we are sent there, but let us make no mistake in Who does the sending. God is the judge, and it is He who condemns, as every parable Jesus ever told mentioning Hell bears out. He told many, and in each of them God is the one who casts out the wicked--they do not voluntarily cast themselves out.
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