# Does God Love People Who Go To Hell? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 5, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757 "2010-02-05T03:17:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/1 "2010-02-05T03:17:39Z")
Does God love the people whom He ends up sending to Hell? ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/2 "2010-02-05T03:19:09Z")
The answer depends on how many Stanley nickels in one Shrute buck. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/3 "2010-02-05T03:21:43Z")
Your own position is that he does, but could you provide an argument as well as a topic of debate? I would say it’s possible. But I don’t believe it would be a good thing if he did. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/4 "2010-02-05T03:23:17Z")
Dude, you are not going to find enough religious people on this forum to have a discussion about this with you. The best you could hope for is some atheists chiming in to say that there is no God. And this is another drive-by post with no content at all in the OP. “Here’s a link - discuss it” is not a very interesting OP. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/5 "2010-02-05T03:23:58Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > Does God love the people whom He ends up sending to Hell? Only someone who doesn’t think very hard would assume that anything rational would torture something it loved willingly. This leaves several options. The religious don’t think very hard, god is irrational, hell isn’t torture, or he has no choice about sending them to hell (and thus is not omnipotent). Someone, I’m sure, will point out if I missed something. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/6 "2010-02-05T03:24:24Z")
What god? Oh hey god! What the hell do you think you’ve been doing the last couple of thousand years? What? Send me to hell? What for? In other words: I don’t care what god thinks. If it can explain itself to me, then fine. So far it hasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/7 "2010-02-05T03:28:22Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Dude, you are not going to find enough religious people on this forum to have a discussion about this with you. The best you could hope for is some atheists chiming in to say that there is no God. And this is another drive-by post with no content at all in the OP. “Here’s a link - discuss it” is not a very interesting OP. There are quite a few religious members here (most notably FriarTed) and I already have an OP with a content. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/8 "2010-02-05T03:29:53Z")
You do? Where is it? ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/9 "2010-02-05T03:30:48Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > There are quite a few religious members here (most notably FriarTed) and I already have an OP with a content. Ok, seems you want the biblical answer. God loves everyone. If that doesn’t satisfy you, maybe you should start looking at reality instead. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/10 "2010-02-05T03:33:19Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > You do? Where is it? Look at the OP I asked a question that’s pretty straightforward. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/11 "2010-02-05T03:52:10Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > Look at the OP I asked a question that’s pretty straightforward. 1. The question only makes sense if (condensed version) you believe there is a god and a hell and that god is the entity that sends people there. 2. If you accept all that, there’s still the matters of (also condensed versions) what god is, if god is even capable of loving people, if we should consider god to be moral, if god has any business judging people when it could be doing something useful in reality, etc etc. I just can’t get to any answer; the question spawns more and more questions unless of course you think that there isn’t a god. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/12 "2010-02-05T03:57:13Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > Ok, seems you want the biblical answer. God loves everyone. He just expresses his love in very “special” ways. Massacres, tortures, plagues, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/13 "2010-02-05T04:03:33Z")
First, define god, hell, love… ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/14 "2010-02-05T04:12:38Z")
I removed a link to another message board from the OP. **Curtis LeMay** , if you want to have a discussion with the posters here, let’s keep it here and not drag another board into it. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/15 "2010-02-05T04:16:31Z")
The Bible says no. Therefore, the proud will not be allowed to stand in your presence, for you hate all who do evil. You will destroy those who tell lies. The LORD detests murderers and deceivers. ( **Psa. 5:5-6** ) The LORD examines both the righteous and the wicked. He hates everyone who loves violence. ( **Psa. 11:5** ) The generally accepted tenet that “God loves everybody” is not explicitly in the Bible. The traditional concept of “Hell” as a place of eternal punishment is also not actually in the Bible. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/16 "2010-02-05T04:17:20Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Only someone who doesn’t think very hard would assume that anything rational would torture something it loved willingly. > > This leaves several options. The religious don’t think very hard, god is irrational, hell isn’t torture, or he has no choice about sending them to hell (and thus is not omnipotent). > > Someone, I’m sure, will point out if I missed something. 😃 Or that said god operates the world on a free will model and humans choose their destiny, which could concievably fall into the “has no choice… (and thus not omnipotent)” option. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/17 "2010-02-05T04:21:07Z")
> [@missred](#): > > Or that said god operates the world on a free will model and humans choose their destiny, which could concievably fall into the “has no choice… (and thus not omnipotent)” option. 😃 I tend to see the “free will” model as god throwing dice and see who turns up 6. I don’t really see how that absolves god from doing better. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/18 "2010-02-05T04:28:19Z")
I’ve read things to the effect that Hell is defined by people whom God loves, but they don’t love him back – and he respects their choice and withdraws Himself utterly. From that it follows that if God is the source of all good, then such people are in a bit of a pickle. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/19 "2010-02-05T04:31:34Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I’ve read things to the effect that Hell is defined by people whom God loves, but they don’t love him back – and he respects their choice and withdraws Himself utterly. From that it follows that if God is the source of all good, then such people are in a bit of a pickle. Only if that god is the only one. But in any case that would mean that reality is hell. I won’t say that reality is all that great, but I can imagine worse. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Pray\_for\_peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pray\_for\_peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pray_for_peace)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/20 "2010-02-05T04:31:50Z")
**Curtis** , Why do you think there is a Hell? Why do you think God **sends** people there? These aren’t rhetorical questions. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757.md?page=2)