Hell

Question 1

What are the 5 ways in which hell is described in the Bible?

Answer 1

1. figuratively as a rubbish dump
2. where the useless people are thrown
3. where the good wheat is kept but the leftover husks and weeds are burned to get rid of them
4. bad people are thrown into a lake of fiery sulphur (Rev 21:8)
5. figuratively being downwards, below the physical world

Question 2

What issues does the concept of hell raise?

Answer 2

1. can the existence of hell, with eternal punishment that can never be escaped, be compatible with the existence of a perfectly loving and perfectly just God?
2. it might be hard to think of any sin that we could commit where eternal pain, with no chance of parole, would be a fair punishment (David Hume)

Question 3

What problem did David Hume raise about hell?

Answer 3

the whole idea of hell calls God’s justice into question because (in his view) a finite sin can never deserve an infinite punishment

Question 4

What is the counter-argument for the point that it might be hard to think of any sin that we could commit where eternal pain, with no chance of parole, would be a fair punishment?

Answer 4

whenever we do wrong, we wrong God, and that every kind of wrong deserves eternal punishment because wrongdoing God is eternally bad

Question 5

What is the problem with the idea that whenever we do wrong, we wrong God, and that every kind of wrong deserves eternal punishment because wrongdoing God is eternally bad?

Answer 5

pain for all eternity would be a fair punishment for relatively minor offences, such as pretending that your friend looks great in the jeans she is trying on, just because you are bored with shopping and want to go home.

it is hard to imagine a perfectly loving God allowing his creation to suffer for all eternity. When a loving parent punishes a child, even if severely, the punishment does not go on forever, but just for long enough to teach the child a lesson - so surely a loving God would not allow eternal punishment in hell?

Question 6

What problems does eternal punishment raise?

Answer 6

1. how can a perfect loving God allow eternal punishment for his creation
2. eternal punishment may become as boring as eternal pleasure - we may become immune to pain and suffering and stop feeling it any more
3. what does eternal punishment achieve, if there were no possibility of redemption?

Question 7

What is John Hick’s opinion on hell?

Answer 7

He rejects the traditional doctrine of an eternal hell because, in his view, it is incompatible with will believe in a God of love. He argues that this belief was developed as a form of social control, encouraging people to be fearful of disobeying the teachings of those in religious authority, but that it is not conceivable that the God of infinite love and mercy could consign his creatures to a punishment from which they had no hope of escaping.

Question 8

What view about hell is gaining in popularity? (+strength)

Answer 8

the view that hell refers to a second death for the person who has not gained entry into heaven. The body dies, at the point of physical death, and then the soul dies. In this view, the soul is not eternal in the way God is eternal but can be brought to an end if this is the will of God.
This view avoids the problems created by the idea of eternal pain and suffering, which are seen no as literal but as metaphorical

Question 9

Where does the view that hell refers to a second death for the person who has not gained entry into heaven come from?

Answer 9

REVELATION 21:8
“but the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the sexually immoral, those who practise magic arts, the idolaters and all liars - they will be consigned o the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death”