How can a loving God send people to hell

How can a loving God send people to hell for an eternity?

Subjective analysis always leads to flawed determination due to the inherent inability to view things apart from personal prejudices and dogmatic prepossessions. In other words, many just do not have the capacity to comprehend that a God of love can send anybody to hell for an eternity. This inability to comprehend a God of this magnitude is due to an inherently flawed belief system predicated upon erroneous assumptions about this God. Many people have their reasons for believing what they believe, and the beliefs as well as reasons are legion. That does not mean that I will be converted to their way of belief if they have not sufficiently demonstrated credible evidence in support of what they have espoused. Of course we are brought around again to that bogey man of subjectivity where people pick and choose to suit their own fancies with regard to beliefs.

I, however, have had hard questions answered, and demanded reasons suitably addressed, with regard to my own personal quest for the existence of God and reasons why I should be a Christian as opposed to something else. Of course this gets into things that you may be ill-equipped to comprehend seeing that you could possibly be an unbeliever reading this, and therefore at a disadvantage when it comes to comprehending and understanding spiritual things. I cannot do anything for you in that regard beyond that which I have already done. I have made web-pages which you can access at: http://orin.net

We are saved by the unmerited favour of God through faith in his only begotten Son, and that alone is sufficient to bring one about to spiritual enlightenment if one is willing. However, if you are not, the Bible will always remain to you an unopened book - that is unless you have a change of heart. God is in this world "unproveable" though not undemonstrable. Neither can you adequately "prove" that he does not exist. So is Hell. My claim to God is a demonstration of the evidence leading one to the realisation of the existence of God based upon facts and credible evidences usually accepted by normal rational persons possessing average common sense. In Greek, the "anias" type of person is deficient in this quality, and therefore defies logic and rationality in his persistent refusal to be able to arrive at conclusions normally attained in the unimpaired mind leading to acceptance of demonstrably viable facts.

In this dispensation, we have two alternatives justifiably placed before us; eternal life, and eternal damnation in the torments of hell. To disbelieve it will not alter its certainty, nor even make it go away. Because we chose to disbelieve that such a loving God could never do such a thing, only demonstrates our abysmal ignorance of the essence and character of God. If the love of God were as sloppy and sentimental and subjective as our own, we could never count on him to be consistent in anything. God would then be totally unreliable. The love of God is a seeking of the highest good of his creation, based upon the qualities of his character, and that highest good also includes dealing with the problem of our sin in a manner that is acceptable to the just requirements of his essence; for God cannot compromise his essence and still remain God when dealing with man.

Also, this love is directional. It is directed towards those who are his, and against that which would be in any way threatening to the purity of the eternal state of his chosen ones, thus the confines of hell for the unregenerate, unrepentant, rebellious reprobate. Let us look at this from a human perspective. Why did we drop the Atom Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? To end the madness of a people completely crazed and out of control who posed as a menace to the rest of humanity. It was a gesture of love which was directional - seeking the highest good of the rest of the world.

If there were any other viable alternative it would have been plied. The prospect of massive losses in a landing were prohibitive. Therefore we dropped the bomb. So it is with God. The human soul is eternal. Hell is for the unregenerate, unrepentant, rebellious reprobates who choose to remain maladjusted to the justice of God, hate God, despise his will, and love sin and carnality. The highest good for those who adjust to the justice of God through the prescribed manner of exercising faith in Jesus Christ, would be for God to make an eternal separation between the eternal souls of his children, and the eternal souls of the damned. Hell is in essence the only viable solution to contain and end rebellion in the universe. It cannot be allowed to continue on eternally, in essence, wearing out the toleration and forbearance of God and his people. But God is still just and fair, for there are degrees of punishment in hell. Dear sweet unbelieving grandma won't suffer the same degree of torment as will Adolph Hitler.

God is the one who has set the values for the function of all matter and forces in the universe - the uncaused cause which caused these effects. He has also set the standards by which men as free moral agents are to govern themselves. This is evidenced in everything that is done by man having a consequence - either good or bad. You have heard of the wrath of God. Do you think that he is some peeved deity in the sky, waiting to pounce on our every infraction? No! The wrath of God is built into the system. There are consequences at work in everything we do. The wrath of God is thereby continually in effect, as is the blessing of God conversely. If God were to deal with our rebellion in an on-going basis, he would be perpetually angry, and that would hinder the characteristics of his essence which we preferably desire, namely his blessings.

Should we, according to our own estimation of things, go to heaven? Human nature is almost hopelessly flawed in and of itself, and therefore is wholly unsuited for the determination of what is to be the standard by which we govern ourselves. It is a fallible feature not to be relied upon for any moral determination given the depravity of man and the subjectivity of the sinful nature of each. Its application is usually arbitrary and without definitive precedent in setting a viable standard of conduct which can be held above the flaws of human nature. Therefore a God-given moral absolute is necessarily applied and essential to the well being of the human species, given the depravity of human nature as it presently stands.

Moral essays presented by many writers with regard to the subject of self-governance are fundamentally based upon the logical conclusions: that God is; that God has created; and that God has presented his will by way of revelation in various forms and at different times. These things are based upon established facts and credible evidences which lend themselves to the determination of the moral laws by which men of God are compelled to govern themselves. Therefore, Hume is justly discredited regarding his observation of the connection between facts and values. My values are based upon demonstrable facts.

Now with regard to Pharaoh and the Exodus from Egypt of the offspring of Israel, the explicit purpose of the demonstration of God in Pharaoh is stated in Ex. 9:16; and that the Lord our God differentiates between his people and the people of the world system is stated in Ex. 11:7. God is partial to his own, and rightly so. God wiped out all humanity in the flood due to their total corruption, but he did so only after 120 years of warning by Noah, at whom they mocked and jeered. But according to his foreknowledge, though, he knew that most would not repent; but they at least had a more than lengthy fair warning. They were all believers, though, when the rains came; but the time of their repentance was past. Men, women, and children, along with all animal life perished, apart from those spared by the providence of God, which came through obedience to his will.

God is sovereign. He is accountable to no-one, and owes no explanation, though, clearly, scripture is replete with explanations. God elects his people according to his foreknowledge of their choice of him. His election is not arbitrarily based upon a whim of sovereignty. God is fair, and gives undue chances to many.

Annanias and Sapphira didn't lose their salvation when they lied to the Holy Spirit, but God did make an example of them for the sake of his church in its infancy. The message was, you can't fool God. God dealt the same way with the Israelites who witnessed the miracles of God first-hand. When they grumbled and rebelled they were dealt with severely, for they were without excuse after having seen the provision of the Lord. Whenever a major change was in progress, it was the time God chose to be more strict in the revelation of his will.

Uzziah died trying to steady the ark. To us it seems cruel that he died as a result of trying to do a good thing, but the higher principle was that only the priesthood of the Levites were allowed to touch the Ark of the Covenant. God is eminently able to extrapolate. If even one of the Egyptian first-born were to seek after the one and only true God, according to the foreknowledge of God, he would have been spared. The children of the ungodly do not go to heaven by virtue of their immaturity, for, according to the foreknowledge of God, they most likely were going to turn out equally as paganistic as their parents were by virtue of their upbringing. Thus the admonition in 1 Corinthians 7, where the children are sanctified by at least one believing parent - else they would be unholy, or, in other words, unconsecrated.

Regarding capital punishment, to sentence to death the defiant is to ensure the protection and preservation of the progeny of God (those truly born again). Are you truly born again? Statistics say that of those presently claiming to be born again, 55% deny the existence of the Holy Spirit; 52% reject the literal existence of the Satan; 28% believe that Jesus, while on earth, committed sins; 34% believe that good works earn salvation; and 35% claim that Jesus was crucified, but did not physically rise from the dead. Anyone who claims to be a "born-again believer", and yet adheres to any of these beliefs, better take stock of himself; for if so, he is on a freight train to hell!

Now look at what AIDS has done because the perpetrators of perversion were not kept in check by society, but given preferential status. Of course there will be hapless victims, because transfusions etc. are man-made solutions, no matter how meritorious they may be; but by and large the will of God is accomplished in that the rebellious receive within themselves that recompense that is suitable for their perversion (Romans chapter one). The victims who are God's children will be blessed through extrapolation, and those who do not belong to God will perish anyway. You are subject to the second death by your own personal preference for such, knowing all the facts; "for those who believe are not condemned, but those who believe not are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God," (John 3:18), according to the foreknowledge of God.

It may not seem fair or just to your finite, fallible human mind, but of course, this is due to a lack of knowledge of, let alone a healthy respect for, the Word of God, which is the specific revelation of himself to mankind, which follows the general revelation of himself through his creation. When men reject God and turn thumbs down to a knowledge of God, he gives them over to their own depravity as a judicial act of the function of his justice (again, Romans chapter one).

We are free to choose our destiny. It is to be an informed choice. God knows what you will choose; but his knowledge of it does not preclude free choice, because we still have the liberty to choose. This is why I have always said they are elements totally unrelated one to the other. Knowing what one will choose is not the same thing as causing that choice. Choose - God, or no God - the two avenues are set before each of us. Choose heaven - or choose hell. We are all obviously free to choose the one or the other. One alternative offers eternal bliss, the other, eternal damnation. I can choose God; and you can choose no God. Did anybody make this choice for me? Was there any coercion? Did anybody force your hand?

Did anyone make up your mind for you? Of course not! Now, just because somebody might guess what your choice will be, does that have any bearing on the exercise of your free volition? What is the difference between guessing what you will choose by a human, or knowing what you will choose by a Divine? Neither have any influence over your ability to decide apart from persuasion. Just because God knows how you will choose does not mean he did not present before you two alternatives for selection, nor allow the ability to decide. He does not cause that choice. Just because God knows your choice does not mean that that was the only one you could make.

His foreknowledge is not a determining factor in our ability to choose; but only in his choice of you as one of his - election, if you will - based on the foreknowledge of your choice which you make of your own accord.

Foreknowledge is not foreordination, predestination, or even predetermination (though these can be a result of foreknowledge). I argue this with Calvinists all the time. They are so thick they cannot see the difference. Calvinists are wrong in teaching the arbitrary election of believers according to "irresistible sovereign grace", which is itself a misnomer. God is a God of fairness, and to be true to his attribute of integrity, he cannot arbitrarily choose, as a whim of sovereignty, one person over another. God chooses those who will be his according to his foreknowledge of their choice of him. This is fair and just.

You just need to get past the hurdle of thinking that because God has knowledge of all things, that he must direct all things according to that knowledge, if he is at all all-powerful and able to do the same.

Omniscience does not necessitate predetermination to make possible what One knows will happen. This is a man-made limitation imposed upon God which would in effect render him impotent, if that were even possible at all. There is no imperative that God must determine every little detail of our lives in order to be secure in his omniscience. Permissive will and directive will are two alternate attributes of the nature of God, the one allowing the exercise of free will, and the other not permitting it. It is God's prerogative to exercise each at his discretion, depending upon the necessity as it arises.

He is God, and therefore not subject to the laws and limitations which he has imposed upon us as our sovereign. We cannot call him on the carpet for what we perceive to be injustices from a limited human perspective. Foreordination can be based on omniscience and omnipotence, but is not absolutely required in all cases. Latent omnipotence mustn't always act; and when and if it does, it would only serve to fulfil what omniscience knew would happen anyway. God's omniscience does not preclude our ability to exercise free will. Probability and possibility prove choice as indeterminate, but foreknowledge of choice doesn't demonstrate causation, and neither does the exercise of choice invalidate the attribute of God's foreknowledge. It, therefore, is not God's fault if we have no alternative but to partake of the eternal destiny which is the consequence of the path we have chosen.

We have all had the lengthy opportunity to seek and find, and to make the necessary adjustments. God is a holy and a righteous God who cannot compromise his essence in order to preserve a citizenry that is maladjusted to the demands of his holiness and righteousness - elements of his essence. Therefore, Jesus Christ, who was the visible manifestation of the invisible God vicariously satisfied the just requirements of the demands of God's holiness and righteousness on our behalf through his death, burial, and resurrection from the dead. We are thus afforded an opportunity to adjust to the justice of God, before the justice of God adjusts to us.

It behoves us all to place our faith in the atoning work of Christ in our behalf so that we can be cleansed from our sins, and be made acceptable to God through Him. That is the only way to avoid Hell. There is no other alternative. As far as I can see, most everybody offers subjective opinions formulated from a basis of an imperfect understanding of the written revelation of God as it should be commonly understood. All have opinions, but they are based upon ignorance or hear-say, rather than an intimate experiential knowledge of the word of God.

One cannot espouse the teachings of Jesus on one hand, and then on the other, reject what what he taught concerning eternal damnation and hell. Neither is it possible to credibly adhere to his teachings of love and good will, while at the same time, rejecting what he also taught concerning accountability and judgement. How we pick and choose! Either he was a liar and a raving mad lunatic - or he was the Son of God telling us the truth of things as they stand.

The Records of the eyewitnesses testify that the miracles he did were the credentials giving validity to his entire message, and that his entire ministry bore the stamp of God's approval from heaven in many signs and wonders. The Gospel could not possibly be an invention of human design, for its success would be doomed from the start with the requirement that one believe in the ridiculously absurd notion that One rose from the dead, in order to partake of its benefits. No, the Gospel is of divine origin - not an invention of man to subjugate his fellows. What think ye of Christ? He is the linch-pin upon which everything else turns. Adjust to the justice of God, before the justice of God adjusts to you. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (not a mere mental assent, but a faith that issues in actions which demonstrate what you truly believe), and thou shalt be saved.

Avoid the impending eternal torments of a real and existent hell before it is too late! Once we close our eyes in death, there is no turning back - our fate is sealed. History is replete with the death-bed agonies of atheists as they slip in the eternity of hell crying out because of the flames before they've completely left their body. Make your calling and election sure. Place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as the satisfaction of the justice of God in your behalf, and you shall be saved and enjoy the eternal bliss of living in Jesus' presence with our almighty God, along with all the benefits that accrue with such a decision.