THE JUSTICE OF GOD?
Does "the perfect
justice of God" DEMAND
an ever-burning hell and eternal punishing of the
lost?
Some
theologians declare that the "justice of God" demands
eternal punishing--even eternal torture of the most vicious
kind--of the souls of those who have sinned in their
physical life and not come under the blood of Jesus for
forgiveness of those sins. If someone protests that
such an unlimited punishing for a limited
life-time of sin doesn't seem "fair," the answer given is
that God has no obligation to be "fair" by human standards.
That is absolutely true. His ways are not our ways. However,
it is perhaps reasonable to think that God would be "just"
and "fair" by His own standards.
The
standards of justice, and righteous punishment, given by God
himself in the Law of Israel handed down through Moses, should provide us with
some insight into His ultimate standards of justice. What do
we find in the Law of the Old Testament?
1.
Punishment fit the crime‑-"an eye for an eye."
(Deuteronomy 19:16-21)
2. The
punishment for such crimes as theft was restitution, with an
extra financial penalty to be added to the repayment.
(Exodus 22:1-15)
3. The
ultimate punishment for the worst crimes, including that of
blasphemy, was death‑-not
torture. (Leviticus 26:16)
4. Some
crimes did call for a physical beating as a punishment if
the person was found legally guilty of wickedness. But such
beatings were scrupulously limited to 40 blows or fewer, in
proportion to the seriousness of the wickedness that the
person did. (Deuteronomy 25:2-3)
5.
There was
no provision for torture as ongoing punishment.
This may not
seem significant until one considers human ideas of punishment
prevalent at the time. Torture was a frequent tool of control by
tyrants in the ancient world. Minimal crimes often meant maximum
punishment. In fact, humans have continued down through history
to rely on "cruel and unusual punishment." Even the framers of
our American Constitution felt it wise to include a prohibition
against such punishment, since it was so prevalent at that time. In
some parts of Europe until very recent times you could be hung
for stealing a loaf of bread‑-never mind that the motive was to
feed your starving children. To this day in some Moslem
countries, the punishment for a thief is to have a hand chopped
off.
Our minds
recoil at the thought of such barbarity. But when it comes to
God, Christians are suddenly willing to believe He plans to set
aside all His own standards of justice and rely on cruel and
unusual punishment--torture for
eternity for human souls. Yet all the Scriptures paint a picture of a
God who will consummate the ages with the same justice He
proclaimed through Moses‑-punishment of the wicked according to
their deeds:
That servant
who knows his Master's will and does not get ready or does not
do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the
one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will
be beaten with few blows. (Luke
12:47‑48 NIV)
It is unfortunate that most
Christians do not think through the "logical conclusions" of the
teaching of the theologians of their denomination about the
topic of Hell. Certain doctrines which seem just, rational,
sensible, and in line with the whole counsel of scripture on
first glance, may have "ramifications" which go where most folks
don't want to tread.
The doctrine of an ever-burning
hell and perpetual torture is one of those areas. When most
people think of someone going to Hell, they likely add in their
own mind "because they were wicked in this life." It's not hard
to envision a monster like Hitler being tortured endlessly for
the crimes against humanity which he inflicted on millions. But
what about the sweet, gentle next-door neighbor girl who died at
age twelve from an auto accident? Her parents were
non-churchgoers who never introduced her to the Bible. Of course
she committed sins in her short life--all humans do. But what
could she have done that would inherit for her eternal torture
in an ever-burning Hell?
What about the aging grandfather
who was kind to everyone throughout his life, was always quick
to share whatever he had with those less fortunate than he, and
spent his retirement years volunteering to help build homes for
Habitat for Humanity? He died of a heart attack never having
been presented with a credible witness for Jesus. His only
exposure to the "Gospel" was the ranting of flamboyant preachers
he saw while channel-surfing on TV. He wasn't impressed with
their phony "miracles" and their constant badgering for viewers
to send in generous donations so that they could build a bigger
TV studio ... or buy a bigger car. Of course he committed sins
in his long life--all humans do. But what could he have done
that would inherit for him eternal torture in an ever-burning
hell?
The reality is that the vast
majority of Protestant and Catholic Bible teachers,
commentators, and theologians insist that the girl, the
grandfather, and Hitler are all going to the same place, with
the same basic ultimate fate--punishment and torture for
eternity. And is it really any comfort to know that the torture
that Hitler is slated to endure is "greater" than that which
will be endured for aeons by the girl and the grandfather? Here
is how one Roman Catholic priest, a writer of children's
"religious inspirational" books in the 1800s, put it in
describing what one young person far less than Hitler in
wickedness will endure:
Look into
this room. What a dreadful place it is! The roof is red hot; the
floor is like a thick sheet of red hot iron. See, on the middle
of that red hot floor stands a girl. She looks about sixteen
years old. Her feet are bare, she has neither shoes nor
stockings on her feet; her bare feet stand on the red hot
burning floor. The door of this room has never been opened
before since she first set her foot on the red hot floor. Now
she sees that the door is opening. She rushes forward. She has
gone down on her knees on the red hot floor. Listen, she speaks!
She says; "I have been standing with my feet on this red hot
floor for years. Day and night my only standing place has been
this red hot floor. Sleep never came on me for a moment, that I
might forget this horrible burning floor. Look," she says, "at
my burnt and bleeding feet. Let me go off this burning floor for
one moment, only for one single, short moment. Oh, that in the
endless eternity of years, I might forget the pain only for one
single, short moment." The devil answers her question: "Do you
ask," he says, "for a moment, for one moment to forget your
pain. No, not for one single moment during the never-ending
eternity of years shall you ever leave this red hot floor!
(John Furniss, The Sight of Hell, 1855)
(See more on
Furniss's detailed descriptions of Hell in the article "Harmless
Hell--Or Horrific Hell?")
And Furniss's scenarios were not
viewed as outlandish at all by those in his own religious
circle. Here's what his religious superior wrote in endorsement
of this book:
I have
carefully read over this Little Volume for Children and have
found nothing whatever in it contrary to the doctrines of
Holy Faith; but, on the contrary, a great deal to charm,
instruct, and edify our youthful classes, for whose benefit
it has been written. --William Meagher, Vicar General,
Dublin, December 14, 1855
Nor are such scenarios uncommon
in the 21st century. Furniss's book appeared to be a speculative
fictionalization of what he theorized the punishments of Hell
would be like. But here is one brief scenario from a 1993 book,
A Divine Revelation of Hell by Mary Baxter--who claims
that her descriptions are based on her own actual out-of-body
experience of a "visit" to Hell accompanied by Jesus:
The sounds of people in torments were everywhere and there was a
thick horrible odor. Many pits can be seen in the left leg of
hell as well as evil spirits and demons. The pits were filled
with fire and they were everywhere, as far as one can see. On
closer inspection, the pits were shaped like a bowl, three feet
deep and four feet across. There were red hot coals of fire on
the side of each pit and in the center of the pit was a soul
that has gone into hell. Fire would start at the bottom of the
pit and rise up, engulfing the lost soul, leaving the soul caged
in a burnt skeleton. These souls could feel the flames, as wails
of regret and excruciating pain came from them. The fire would
then die down, and then would rise up again, sweeping the
tormented soul. This happened day and night.
(For more on Baxter's claims,
see "Harmless
Hell--Or Horrific Hell?")
Baxter's book
has had wide distribution, is available at most Christian book
stores, and is praised on numerous Internet websites and forums
by readers.
There is no
indication in these books, or in many more books and articles
like them, that these descriptions are only of the torments of
the most "wicked of sinners" like Hitler. They are portrayed as
the common fate of the vast majority of all mankind. For, of
course, only a tiny percentage of the total population of the
world for all of recorded history has even heard the name of
Jesus, let alone been given a real opportunity to have the
Gospel clearly explained to them and have their minds open by
the Holy Spirit to be able to make a conscious choice "for or
against Christ."
It is not
just those who have had "visions" who are so convinced about the
reality of the tortures of Hell. Many contemporary theologians
insist that the scriptures themselves, without any assistance
from speculation or visions, establish both the reality and the
need for such tortures. Below is a sample excerpt from one major
"Reformed" website. If you examine the whole article
from which this excerpt comes, you will find that the author
never touches the issue that billions upon billions of people
throughout history have never even heard the name of Jesus, let
alone have heard a clear message of the Gospel. He speaks only
about "the wicked" and their fate. Yet the ultimate reality is
that this is the same fate that the young woman and the elderly
grandfather mentioned above will face if this author's
understanding is correct.
Note
particularly the wording that has been bolded below. It makes an
extremely strange parallel between the horrific evil of ancient
peoples sacrficing their children to Moloch in the fires of
the valley of Tophet (Gehenna) ... and what the author insists
is the "just" decision of God to do the same exact thing--but
not just for a short period, but for eternity. In the passage,
he speaks of those who "reject Christ and His gospel" as if
every one he expects to be in Hell ... the vast majority of
mankind from throughout history ... actually deliberately chose
to reject Christ. This author is typical of those who write
"apologetics" for the ever-burning Hell scenario. He utterly
avoids any mention of the strange ramifications of his
assertions when moving beyond those who willfully and with full
knowledge rejected Christ.
http://www.reformed.com/pub/hell.htm
The wicked, unbelieving Jews
of old would come to Tophet to sacrifice their children to
the god Molech (Jer. 7:31). At Tophet the idolatrous Jews
placed a large, bronze statue of Molech, shaped like a man
with outstretched arms and hands. A fire would be built
within the statue. When the statue was red hot, the
idol-worshipers would place their baby sons and daughters
onto the outstretched, red-hot arms and hands. Their little
infants would die the most painful, excruciating death
imaginable: their skin would be seared off their bodies,
their flesh would be roasted; they were burned alive.
The screams, cries and
screeches of their own children’s agony was unbearable, even
to these wicked, debauched parents. Therefore, drums were
played to drown out the hideous screams of the tortured
infants. Hence Tophet, in the Hebrew, signifies the beating
of drums. Therefore Tophet is a perfect symbol of hell
where “God takes His rebellious children, casts them into
the fire, [and] puts them into the arms of destruction”
forever away from Christ and His saving blood. Will there be
drums to drown out your screams when you sink into the
flames of hell—you who reject Christ and His gospel?
Tophet became associated with
judgment and slaughter in Judah’s history. The armies of
Babylon would come and slay so many people of Judah that
there would be too many bodies to bury. Thousands upon
thousands of bodies would lie in the open fields to be
consumed by birds and animals. Tophet would be filled with
the bloated, rotting bodies of rebellious Judah. “... The
historical Tophet and the gruesome events that occurred
there are a foretaste of the destruction and torment of
hell. God Almighty’s proclamation of damnation against
unbelieving, rebellious Judah will echo forth from the lips
of Jesus Christ against all those who reject the gospel.
...By the time of the birth
of Jesus Christ, Tophet (or Gehenna) had become a garbage
dump for Jerusalem. Gehenna was also used to dispose of the
dead bodies of criminals. Fires burned continuously to
consume the garbage. The garbage and dead bodies were also
consumed by worms (maggots). In the same way, hell is the
ash heap—the garbage dump—of all human history.
Those who believe in Jesus
Christ and repent of their sins go to heaven or paradise ...
. But those who refuse to repent and submit to Jesus Christ
become eternal garbage. Without Christ’s cleansing blood,
sinners are polluted and unclean before God. Because of your
sins, you are like a rotting corpse awaiting the fire of
God.
But not a fire that will consume
you--a fire that will torture you forever.
And thus we
return to the original question: Is it biblically reasonable
that the God who instituted the Law at Mt. Sinai that so
carefully matched punishment to fit the crime, and who decried
the evil of those who burned their own children to death, actually has
created an ever-burning Hell of torture and torment for billions of
His own children?
The
purpose of the articles on this website is
to gather and
present the evidence from the scriptures
that clarify that
God's Perfect Justice
does NOT demand such a scenario.
This site contains a collection
of articles, on the topic of Hell and the Afterlife, that may
each be used independently for research purposes. But it also is
designed as a systematic, sequential overview of the whole
topic, which can be read like a book.
For those who would like to take
advantage of this perspective of the content, the articles are
arranged in the
Reading Guide as they would appear as chapters in a book, along
with a few reference chapters at the end such as would appear in
a book Appendix.
Use the
links below to go to the next article, previous article, or
first article
in the Reading Guide sequence.
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PLEASE
NOTE:
No single short article can comprehensively cover
any aspect of the topic of Hell. If you have
questions or concerns regarding the material in this
article, be sure to first read through the site
FAQ before writing to the
author. It may already specifically address the very
points you are wondering about.
Unless otherwise
noted, all biblical references in this and other articles on the
Is It True What They Say About Hell? website are from the
New International Version (NIV).
All of the articles on this
Is it true what they say about Hell? website were written by Pam Dewey, with
the support and sponsorship of Common Ground Christian
Ministries. For more of Pam's inspirational and educational
writings, visit her Oasis
website.
All website content
© 2007, Pam
Dewey and Common Ground Christian Ministries
All rights reserved. Material may
be copied for personal use of the site visitor. For permission
to copy for any other purposes, please contact the author at
oasis7@gmail.com
