# Christians: what is Hell like? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 20, 2013, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-hell-like/676797 "2013-12-20T04:19:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-hell-like/676797/1 "2013-12-20T04:19:38Z")
Consider this the companion to the [“Christians: what is Heaven like?” thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=710789) Christians: what do you believe Hell to be like for those who have gone (or will go) there after they die? A friend of mine said the worst Hell he could imagine was to be strapped into a chair and made to watch big-screen reruns of all the bad things he ever did and all the people he ever hurt, amplified by a deep, visceral understanding of what he had done and what the effects were, and to feel for himself the pain he had caused and the shame that it brought - for all eternity. So what do you believe awaits you if you are turned away at the Pearly Gates? ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-hell-like/676797/2 "2013-12-20T08:12:19Z")
Hell is exactly like Heaven. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-hell-like/676797/3 "2013-12-20T10:31:40Z")
Not sure how Christian he is, but Neil Gaiman wrote[a wicked little short story](http://holdinghandswithhades.edublogs.org/seven-deadly-sins-part-7-the-others-by-neil-gaiman/) on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-hell-like/676797/4 "2013-12-20T12:24:36Z")
I think the Squirrel Nut Zippers [have an excellent discussion of the subject](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uiYp8xKjLM). ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-hell-like/676797/5 "2013-12-20T17:38:45Z")
We’re not reading our Faust, are we? > [@](#): > > ``` > FAUSTUS. Was not that Lucifer an angel once? > > MEPHIST. Yes, Faustus, and most dearly lov'd of God. > > FAUSTUS. How comes it, then, that he is prince of devils? > > MEPHIST. O, by aspiring pride and insolence; > For which God threw him from the face of heaven. > > FAUSTUS. And what are you that live with Lucifer? > > MEPHIST. Unhappy spirits that fell with Lucifer, > Conspir'd against our God with Lucifer, > And are for ever damn'd with Lucifer. > > FAUSTUS. Where are you damn'd? > > MEPHIST. In hell. > > FAUSTUS. How comes it, then, that thou art out of hell? > > MEPHIST. Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it. > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-hell-like/676797/6 "2013-12-20T18:34:26Z")
This is Hell, not that there are not hotter levels. but yes, you are here. The reason why we don’t feel the torment described is we are being shown mercy by God, as hell was not designed to refine people, but fallen angels. But we mixed ourselves up with them, and it bought them protection as God will not turn up the heat till His human children are removed from the flame. Is it ‘eternal’? yes and no. Without God, and connecting to God, your only choice is a cycle of reincarnation which means dieing over and over again (eternal death). Each time you are refined a little further, and also for the most part sink a little lower into a hotter hell. Eventually you will be refined out of it, but it may take several cycles. And yes there is a version of Hell where the protection fo God has been removed. But even though Hell may be eternal, staying there is scriptural not. Jesus gives us the power to raise people from the dead, and God desires all His children to be saved, and God’s plan is perfect (so none can be lost). It’s just a question of how much Hell you wish to experience. Also to mention there is a place worse then Hell, called ‘outer darkness’ (speaking from personal experience), It’s your very own universe - that contains nothing - forever and in every direction and you have no power or energy and it is icy cold. The worst part is the isolation. I do believe those who have experienced outer darkness, when they have advanced enough, will one day go back to that place, with strength and power and say with authority over that universe ‘Let there be light…’ And here we are. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-hell-like/676797/7 "2013-12-20T18:38:58Z")
Sheol/Hades Hell that happens from death to the Resurrection/Last Judgement- probably vacillates between full consciousness & a fitful haunted sleep in which one is isolated, dwells on failures & opportunities one could have done better, & being apart from God. It may be purgatorial & there may even be movement from there into, if not Paradise, then a hopeful look into it. Gehenna/Lake of Fire Hell - That state at the Resurrection/Last Judgement in which one sees onself as they truly are in the Light of the full Kindness & Fairness of Deity, and clings to one’s darkness while cowering under the Harsh Unflinching Glare of Perfect Love & Perfect Justice. Being enveloped in the Compassion of God and being tormented by it for aions of aions as long as one chokes off the Holy Lifebreath of the Divine (aka ‘blaspheming the Holy Spirit’). Can one eventually surrender to & embrace the Divine? I don’t know, perhaps. Might God mercifully allow such a self-damned soul to sputter out of existence? I don’t know, perhaps. I’d rather not risk either nor would I encourage anyone to wait to find out. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Toothpaste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@James\_Toothpaste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Toothpaste)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-hell-like/676797/8 "2013-12-20T22:16:45Z")
Exceedingly hot fire that is super uncomfortable, and endless torture caused by various monsters. Lots of loud noises, and it smells like poop but the scent is magnified. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Toothpaste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@James\_Toothpaste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Toothpaste)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-hell-like/676797/9 "2013-12-20T22:22:13Z")
> [@James\_Toothpaste](#): > > Exceedingly hot fire that is super uncomfortable, and endless torture caused by various monsters. Lots of loud noises, and it smells like poop but the scent is magnified. Or at least that’s my idea of hell.