SWM 108 – What does the Bible say about hell?

SWM 108 - What does the Bible say about hell? Check out the show notes here for more details and links.

This podcast episode is a Bible study about the topic of hell.

One of the most confusing subjects in Christianity is the topic of hell. I think it's so confusing because most base their beliefs on a handful of passages and then a heavy dose of pop culture.

And the popular view is that hell is a place of eternal torment where vengeful God sends you for all of eternity for not obeying Him. People use this belief to try and scare people into being Christians. The "If you don't, you'll go to hell and be tortured for eternity" type of evangelism.  

Unfortunately, this makes the basis of your salvation one of fear rather than love and also turns God into a sadist rather than a loving Father. Because what sort of loving God would create trillions of people, knowing the vast majority would reject Him and then keep them alive for eternity to torture them?

That is a difficult question for Christians to answer, and they usually resort to an argument that amounts to "He's God and can do what He wants." 

If you read certain parts of the Bible the way you must justify this view, it also makes heaven a front-row seat of the torture of hell, making all saints sadists who will revel in the agony of the lost for eternity.

It's no wonder people look at Christianity and think you must be insane to follow such a God.  

You cannot support this view without leaving out large portions of the Bible. Instead, I think the Bible shows that even hell shows a loving and merciful God who gives us a choice between eternal life or eternal death. Then He grants us our selection like a loving father would.

So, let's see what the Bible says about hell. Do people get tortured for eternity? Is it just an infinite existence of everlasting torment? Is God really that sadistic?

Now, I know this subject is going to upset some people. I challenge you to read it until the end. Check the Bible verses for yourself. This post will be mostly Bible verses with my thoughts interspersed so you can know what I'm getting from those verses.

Do your own study. I don't require you to agree with me, and I'm more than willing to be challenged on this so long as you do it in good faith. We had quite an interesting discussion about it in our supporter's forum.  

If you have questions, please post them in the comments on the blog post so others can participate. If you're feeling shy, you can email me as well.

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