# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![adhay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@adhay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhay)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/121 "2010-02-15T16:57:08Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > He gets a free pass to charbroil all the natives in Borneo who have never heard of the Catholic church or Jesus. All those reared in Muslim country ,with Muslim parents and schools are doomed to endless sizzling. This is some kind of loving god. I truly marvel at and, in a twisted way admire, **Curtis** ’s ability to OP imponderables in GD and draw in pages of responses from seemingly intelligent people. Obviously, I must include myself :o although I will say that I have learned it is a fools errand to engage him directly. His style is basically to assert an assumption in the form of a question and then kick back and watch the responders debate among themselves, occasionally interjecting ‘what if?’, ‘could be’ and ‘what about?’ to keep things moving. Jesus wept. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/122 "2010-02-19T22:13:44Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > Does God love the people whom He ends up sending to Hell? God loves you always. Hell isn’t someplace God sends you because he hates you. Hell is the state of being out of God’s grace, it is a place you put yourself because you turn your back to him. All you need to do is turn around and there he is. But hell becomes eternal because you simply can’t bring yourself to turn to him. At least thats the way I feel about it. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/123 "2010-02-19T22:26:26Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > God loves you always. > > Hell isn’t someplace God sends you because he hates you. Hell is the state of being out of God’s grace, it is a place you put yourself because you turn your back to him. All you need to do is turn around and there he is. But hell becomes eternal because you simply can’t bring yourself to turn to him. At least thats the way I feel about it. Let me ask you seriously. Why would you want to turn to god? And why wouldn’t you? Presuming for a moment that we aren’t insane, we all do things for reasons. This suggests to me that if a person is voluntarily looking away from God, there is a reason, and that they believe that that reason trumps the reasons to turn to God. So. Unless looking at God is _lame_, or looking away from god is _pleasant_, everyone’s going to at least take a glance. (The reason we atheists get away with it on earth is because being an atheist is awesome. Also, we can find anywhere to look at.) So, assuming it’s not better to look away, why do you suppose people wouldn’t look? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/124 "2010-02-20T00:24:26Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > I have an indisputable cite that evolution is true: the collection of all science books and papers in existence. Plus all the non-science books and papers in existence. There may be a few other things in there that don’t have anything to do with evolution, but I feel there’s nothing wrong with expecting you to sort through it all and pick out the relevent bits. > > Let me know when you’re done. OK, then you accept the theory of evolution as absolute truth, where does that leave you? Is this the bible you want, the word of your god? Does it offer eternal life? Does it give you unconditional Love in such amounts that you just want to thank and praise your god? Does your god offer to adopt you as His child? If you are less then satisfied with your god, shop around, there are other options, there is so much more. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/125 "2010-02-20T00:31:58Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > OK, then you accept the theory of evolution as absolute truth, where does that leave you? Is this the bible you want, the word of your god? Does it offer eternal life? Does it give you unconditional Love in such amounts that you just want to thank and praise your god? Does your god offer to adopt you as His child? > > If you are less then satisfied with your god, shop around, there are other options, there is so much more. Evolution has nothing to do with any god, of course. It’s simply a process. I could just as easily have mentioned that gravity or the rules of poker or the existence of cheese is substantiated in some subset of the complete body of all literature - the point of the post was just to criticize you for offering _the whole frikking bible_ when asked for a specific cite, after all. (Shows what I get for being subtle.) As for the specific advertisements you make for your version of diety, I’m uninterested in the latter two, and have conditions about the first. Like, I don’t want eternal life if I’m going to be spending it in Hell, to speak somewhat on the topic of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/126 "2010-02-20T01:29:09Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Evolution has nothing to do with any god, of course. It’s simply a process. I could just as easily have mentioned that gravity or the rules of poker or the existence of cheese is substantiated in some subset of the complete body of all literature - the point of the post was just to criticize you for offering _the whole frikking bible_ when asked for a specific cite, after all. (Shows what I get for being subtle.) He asked for God’s plan for salvation, it took God Himself the entire Bible to put that into words. If it takes God that many words, how am I suppose to do it in less? > [@](#): > > As for the specific advertisements you make for your version of diety, I’m uninterested in the latter two, and have conditions about the first. Like, I don’t want eternal life if I’m going to be spending it in Hell, to speak somewhat on the topic of the thread. Hell is death, not life, but life come with those other conditions. Why is it a deal breaker that God wants to adopt you? ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/127 "2010-04-18T15:56:35Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > What a bunch of victim-blaming bullshit. > > Hell serves no purpose. Eternal punishment serves no purpose and can never be deserved. > > The typical attempts to characterize Hell as the choice of the victims is rebutted by the fact that they did NOT have a choice as long as God refuses to provide any evidence of his own existence or justification for giving him fealty, and by the fact that _Hell serves no purpose_. If God doesn’t want to let somebody into his awesome clubhouse, he can just zap them out of existence. No need to either actively make them suffer, or passively allow them to suffer (and for God, there is no distinction between active and passive). All suffering in Hell is purely gratuitous, pointless and incompatible with a benevolent God. > > The free will argument falls apart if God is omniscient. He already knows who will go to Helll and who won’t. all he has to do is create only people who will freely choose good. This does not contradict their free will. He would only be creating people who he already knows with his omniscience will choose good all by themselves. An omniscient God has no excuse for creating people who will choose evil and end up in Hell. Just thought I’d share the following from someone posting on the de-conversion blog: There are many innocent people who suffer in this world and do not deserve it in any way. Those people will have greatest rewards in heaven. I totally understand if that seems like small consolation right now when people are in the midst of suffering. But Heaven is supposed to be something when can’t even come close to imagining and it will last forever. A perfect world. It will be the way Earth should have been if sin hadn’t entered into the equation. But God has to allow these terrible things to play out until the end. Not because he enjoys us suffering, but because “we” are the “example world”, the fallen race, compared to the rest of the universe. God is showing the rest of the worlds out there what happens when someone other than God is in charge. Lucifer. The main problem why Lucifer can’t do a good job, other than the fact that he is not a god, is his reasons behind rebelling against god. He was jealous of Jesus’ position next to God. He was the highest angel, but he became arrogant and greedy and wanted to be in Jesus’ place, becoming a part of the God-head/trinity, in essence become God. His envy and hatred reached point where he sowed the idea among the other angels that he could do a better job than God. Now God knew what was going on and he could have wiped Lucifer from existence right then and there, but that would have terrified everyone else. It would have shown that anyone who speaks against God is immediately wiped from existence. Job spoke against God and God allowed it because he wanted Job to come to understand why God’s way was righteous. Not just tell him he had to think that way or else he would be wiped from existence. This great struggle of good and evil in this world has to play out in order for the entire universe to understand WHY Lucifer’s objections to God are wrong. God wants his creations to understand and obey him out of love, not fear. And another thing, you guys are arguing about how impossible it would be to create the world in 6 days and other extraordinary things. Hello, he’s God, he is not bound to the laws of physics. He created the laws of physics… If you consider String Theory, they could exist right next to us and we would never even know it. Yes, the “aliens” are learning what happens when you sin. It shows that no one but God, can be “God.” Any other way than God’s way only causes problems because God’s way is perfect and good. God’s way would be like “hey please don’t pollute the rivers because it has consequences down the road.” But someone else’s way would be “but I have to pour my chemicals somewhere, so I’m going to have to disregard what you said.” God’s way is the only way because for example, there’s only one way to keep your body healthy. Eating healthy foods, exercising, clean air, etc. You cannot keep healthy any other way because that is what your body needs. God’s not a “killjoy” with all his rules. They are needed. The rules are there to protect you and actually make you enjoy life. You can feel safe and happy when no one does horrible things to you. If there weren’t any rules or people didn’t follow them, everything would dissolve into chaos. The word “chaos” defines our world right now. Look around you at all the horrible things people do to each other every day and it’s a vicious cycle that never ends. No one is happy when someone does something mean to them. I am not talking about being “sugary sweet” to everyone, nothing so superficial, but to have compassion, mercy, and respect for everyone you meet, no matter who they are. We have to be the “example” because we are the ones who sinned. God could have wiped Adam and Eve out of existence and started over with a new pair that wouldn’t have been so foolish. Frankly, that’s what I would have done if I had been God when that happened. But he didn’t. He was merciful enough to give them and all of their descendents a way to redeem themselves. Satan and his angels were cast to earth, so they are aliens, so to speak, and yes, they’re right here watching us. The good angels are among us and watching all that we do as well. The good angels help us and are also writing down all that we do, good and bad, and report back to God with it. What they are writing down is what will be used as evidence in the final judgment for whether we lived a good or bad life. ## This is God and the universe is an inconprehensively vast terrain. Do you really think humans and angels are the only races God has every created? They are not allowed to interact with us because we are the fallen race. We’ve been placed in a “time-out” zone. Like when you send a bad child to the corner for “time-out”. Until our “time-out” or probation is over, and final judgment comes we will not come into contact with these alien races, but they are watching us very closely. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Satan was the very first sinner. This is a huge battle between good and evil and unfortunately earth is the battleground. The good and bad angels are among us and we arn’t even capable of seeing or touching them–\> explaination in string theory. Apparently, this person worships in the Church of String Theory, wherever that may be, and claims Biblical evidence for all of the above. ---
**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:** [April 18, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/128 "2010-04-18T19:14:09Z")
It is logically impossible for God to be engaged in a war with evil. Evil cannot exist without God’s will. Satan cannot exist without Go’s will. God knew what Satan would do before he created him. All of Satan’s actions are therefore God’s will. In any alleged cosmic battle between good and evil, God is only playing chess with himself. He does not, and _cannot_ have any enemies. It is logically impossible for Satan (or anybody else, for that matter) not to do God’s will. If it were not God’s will, it couldn’t be done. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/129 "2010-04-18T19:20:52Z")
Logic is to religion as oil is to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_? ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/130 "2010-04-18T19:44:51Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Logic is to religion as oil is to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_? Ah…another poster apparently so full of faith that he/she is blind to the methods employed by those who would believe in a God; despite the fact that direct human observation and science are _silent_ on the matter, or one who doesn’t understand the word “Logic.” ---
**Author:** ![adhay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@adhay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhay)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/131 "2010-04-18T19:45:18Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > … He does not, and _cannot_ have any enemies. It is logically impossible for Satan (or anybody else, for that matter) not to do God’s will. If it were not God’s will, it couldn’t be done. **Dio** is no doubt referencing a bit of apocrypha recently translated from the Deep Sea Scrolls (red letter edition). > [@](#): > > And Jesus spoke unto His apostles saying, > In those days will Satan appear to many as Christ > And preach the doctrine of Perfect Forgiveness. > > He will deny that sin exists and heal many in My Name > And the multitudes will believe. > > Shall I say, ‘Woe to them who recognize healing in Forgiveness?’ > Nay, for they see truly. > > And Peter said, Lord, if this be true, > How cometh Satan as Thy accomplice? > > And Jesus said, Know ye yet not Our Father’s Will? > And His apostles grew silent and each had cause to examine his soul. ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/132 "2010-04-18T20:12:41Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It is logically impossible for God to be engaged in a war with evil. Evil cannot exist without God’s will. Satan cannot exist without Go’s will. God knew what Satan would do before he created him. All of Satan’s actions are therefore God’s will. In any alleged cosmic battle between good and evil, God is only playing chess with himself. He does not, and _cannot_ have any enemies. It is logically impossible for Satan (or anybody else, for that matter) not to do God’s will. If it were not God’s will, it couldn’t be done. The flaw in your argument, as I see it, is that you consistently imply—if not directly state at times----- that because Satan (et al) were created, and are allowed to exist and practice their craft, it isn’t simply evidence of God’s “will”, but his _approval._ If this God exists, it’s all his, right? And…it must be true that everything that happens must be according to his will; for if he is omnipotent his refusal to act is his implicit endorsement of it. Wrong. He’s got a right to make it interesting, right? Theres nothing intellectually inconsistent with his intention to create beings with the capacity to defy him; to essentially choose for themselves whether to accept his offer/terms or reject them. And whether “salvation” manifests itself as heaven, or ‘heaven on earth’ he appears wants to stock it with people who had the power to choose to want be there, and demonstrate that through their actions/behavior/choices. The fact that he _ **could have** _ made people/creatures that wouldn’t defy him, or that he would have known up front who would/ who wouldn’t defy him, or that he could at any time put a stop to any/all of this, or even that his “offer” may seem coercive to some, doesn’t invalidate the possibility that he _ **didn’t** _; that he _ **chose** _ to create beings with capacity to choose. You might see that as capricious or even unfair, but there is nothing inconsistent with it. In other words, objections to the possibility that he set this whole experiment up (of which we are players in) isn’t based on the prospect that he couldn’t, but rather _ **we don’t like it.** _ People of all stripes----------parents, managers, politicians, soldiers, etc etc-----may allow a set of circumstances to continue despite it being distasteful or objectionable because of a larger, compelling reason. Their ‘tolerance’ for it cannot automatically be construed as an endorsement. ---
**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:** [April 18, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/133 "2010-04-18T20:18:18Z")
> [@raindog](#): > > The flaw in your argument, as I see it, is that you consistently imply—if not directly state at times----- that because Satan (et al) were created, and are allowed to exist and practice their craft, it isn’t simply evidence of God’s “will”, but his _approval._ > > If this God exists, it’s all his, right? And…it must be true that everything that happens must be according to his will; for if he is omnipotent his refusal to act is his implicit endorsement of it. > > Wrong. > > He’s got a right to make it interesting, right? Theres nothing intellectually inconsistent with his intention to create beings with the capacity to defy him; to essentially choose for themselves whether to accept his offer/terms or reject them. > > And whether “salvation” manifests itself as heaven, or ‘heaven on earth’ he appears wants to stock it with people who had the power to choose to want be there, and demonstrate that through their actions/behavior/choices. > > The fact that he _ **could have** _ made people/creatures that wouldn’t defy him, or that he would have known up front who would/ who wouldn’t defy him, or that he could at any time put a stop to any/all of this, or even that his “offer” may seem coercive to some, doesn’t invalidate the possibility that he _ **didn’t** _; that he _ **chose** _ to create beings with capacity to choose. > > You might see that as capricious or even unfair, but there is nothing inconsistent with it. In other words, objections to the possibility that he set this whole experiment up (of which we are players in) isn’t based on the prospect that he couldn’t, but rather _ **we don’t like it.** _ Wrong. Being omnipotent and omniscient means that everything that happens in the universe created by such a being, the being knew and intended beforehand. There is no “choice” in such a case; Satan’s choice was planned beforehand by definition, as were the choices of everyone else. ---
**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:** [April 18, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/134 "2010-04-18T21:14:24Z")
> [@Perciful](#): > > God wishes every person to avoid hell and be saved from it (2 Pet 3:9). Christians do not believe God sends people to hell. Hell is freely chosen by those who reject God. Erm, hold on a minute. I reject God because I think he doesn’t exist and even if I did think he existed he/she/it doesn’t appear to be working in our favor. How does that equate to me “choosing hell”?! And if your answer is something like “hell is the end of existence” then please explain why we need a new word for “being dead”, and why it only turns up in the new testament (you know, the nice and forgiving part of the bible). ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/135 "2010-04-18T21:19:03Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > Erm, hold on a minute. I reject God because I think he doesn’t exist and even if I did think he existed he/she/it doesn’t appear to be working in our favor. > > How does that equate to me “choosing hell”?! > > And if your answer is something like “hell is the end of existence” then please explain why we need a new word for “being dead”, and why it only turns up in the new testament (you know, the nice and forgiving part of the bible). Actually, “hell” is found in both the OT and new OT, although not at all as it is represented by much of Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/136 "2010-04-18T22:28:36Z")
You know, it seems to me that, while religion is often about who is going to hell, mostly faith is about how can I be as God wishes me to be. I am not religious. I have faith that God wants me to love everyone, and that He also loves them. I don’t think Hell, as it is generally believed exists. All that death, and burning, and destruction is simply the ordinary nature of the world. Heaven is about being lifted above it, by the Love in your heart, and in God’s heart. Both are prerequisites of eternal salvation. He **will** do His part. You must choose. And even in Heaven there will be some sadness. We shall mourn, with great love, those who would not be saved. Tris ---
**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:** [April 18, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/137 "2010-04-18T22:41:19Z")
> [@raindog](#): > > The flaw in your argument, as I see it, is that you consistently imply—if not directly state at times----- that because Satan (et al) were created, and are allowed to exist and practice their craft, it isn’t simply evidence of God’s “will”, but his _approval._ > > If this God exists, it’s all his, right? And…it must be true that everything that happens must be according to his will; for if he is omnipotent his refusal to act is his implicit endorsement of it. > > Wrong. > > He’s got a right to make it interesting, right? Theres nothing intellectually inconsistent with his intention to create beings with the capacity to defy him; to essentially choose for themselves whether to accept his offer/terms or reject them. > > And whether “salvation” manifests itself as heaven, or ‘heaven on earth’ he appears wants to stock it with people who had the power to choose to want be there, and demonstrate that through their actions/behavior/choices. > > The fact that he _ **could have** _ made people/creatures that wouldn’t defy him, or that he would have known up front who would/ who wouldn’t defy him, or that he could at any time put a stop to any/all of this, or even that his “offer” may seem coercive to some, doesn’t invalidate the possibility that he _ **didn’t** _; that he _ **chose** _ to create beings with capacity to choose. > > You might see that as capricious or even unfair, but there is nothing inconsistent with it. In other words, objections to the possibility that he set this whole experiment up (of which we are players in) isn’t based on the prospect that he couldn’t, but rather _ **we don’t like it.** _ > > People of all stripes----------parents, managers, politicians, soldiers, etc etc-----may allow a set of circumstances to continue despite it being distasteful or objectionable because of a larger, compelling reason. Their ‘tolerance’ for it cannot automatically be construed as an endorsement. What’s logically inconsistent about it is not the omnipotence, but the omnibenevolence – or to be more precise, the combination of omnibenevolence, omnipotence and omniscience. He can do all this stuff, of course, but he can’t do it and still be good. All evil is _unnecessary_, therefore there can be no reason consistent with omnibenovelence to create it and sustain it. Anything accomplished by allowing sufferening can be effortlessly accomplished _without_ allowing suffering, therefore all allowed suffering is capricious, therefore an omnimax God cannot exist. ---
**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:** [April 18, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/138 "2010-04-18T22:47:46Z")
> [@raindog](#): > > Actually, “hell” is found in both the OT and new OT, although not at all as it is represented by much of Christianity. The Bible contains no otherworldly place of eternal suffering and torment. All of the words frequently translated as “Hell” in both the Hebrew Bible and in the New Testament refer to other things, usually just death or the grave. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/139 "2010-04-18T23:27:06Z")
> [@diogenes the cynic](#): > > the bible contains no otherworldly place of eternal suffering and torment. All of the words frequently translated as “hell” in both the hebrew bible and in the new testament refer to other things, usually just death or the grave. ot: > [@isaiah 66:24](#): > > “and they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.” nt: > [@mark9:](#): > > 47-48and if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of god with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48where > " ‘their worm does not die, > and the fire is not quenched.’ ---
**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:** [April 18, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757/140 "2010-04-18T23:33:16Z")
Do I really have to go through the Gehenna explanation again? Suffice it to say that those passages say the flames are eternal, not the suffering. They are references to death. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-people-who-go-to-hell/527757.md?page=8)