Can the existence of an all-loving God be reconciled with the existence of a hell in which the faithless burn forever?
Numerous biblical passages clearly state that the unredeemed will burn forever in the eternal state (e.g., Matthew 3:12, Mark 9:43). This outcome is so horrific that it seems to scream against any claim that God is an all-loving being. Indeed, many people believe that the biblical descriptions of hell so obviously contradict the claim that God is omnibenevolent that they think there is no need for them to consider the Christian message any further. This post provides an overview of why the existence of eternal burning does not, in fact, logically conflict with the existence of an all-loving God.
One of the central precepts of Christianity is that man is, at his core, a relational being meant to experience love with God and with one another. Said another way, the most essential, elemental aspects of man’s existence are defined—in a literal sense—by the state of his relationships with God and others. This point is made in Genesis 3:17, which indicates that the state of man’s relationship with God is so profoundly important that the entire material order was transformed into a reflection of the indifference and self-centeredness that the first humans exhibited toward God when they prioritized the acquisition of a selfish end over their loving relationship with God (“Cursed is the ground because of you,” NIV).
Self-centeredness and indifference to others is the essence of the concept known as “sin.” More broadly, sin can be defined as that which undermines love. Sin is a wrongful decision or act, synonymous with “evil.” Every sinful or evil decision—no matter how small or insignificant it may appear to fallen mankind—is a choice that sacrifices love in exchange for some kind of reward or fruit that a self-seeking individual hopes to acquire or experience. If love is the central purpose of creation, this means that even the most seemingly trivial sinful decision undermines the central purpose of creation.
If man is designed as a relational being who is meant to experience perfect, uncompromised love with his Creator and with one another, and if even the ‘smallest’ sin entirely undermines this purpose, what hope is there for any of us to be able to experience the purpose of our existence? After all, it is all but impossible for any of us to get through even a single waking day without exhibiting some sort of indifference toward others, or engaging in some sort of self-centered decision-making in which we place ourselves above others. Self-centeredness and indifference are woven into the utmost depths of our beings.
Not only does self-centeredness and indifference seem to occupy the very center of our existence; it appears to serve as the governing principle around which all life in our world operates. Every living thing in this world—even bacteria—grows, develops, and proceeds about its existence in a manner that is blind or otherwise indifferent to the effects of its own self-furthering actions on other life forms. Even the rules that govern how the physical order operates seem totally blind and indifferent to their impact on life. The universe could care less whether we exist; it goes about its self-furthering expansion with absolutely no regard for us whatsoever.
Given how deep-seated this indifference is in our world—given that the very fabric of the material order itself operates in accordance with blind, immutable rules—how can man possibly overcome the indifference and self-centeredness that forms such an integral part of our own physical existence? What does it take to free us from such a foundational, elemental aspect of our beings?
Both the Old Testament and the New Testament contain prophesies that describe how sin is to be destroyed (summarized further below). These prophesies contain one of the keys to understanding why eternal burning is not logically inconsistent with the existence of an all-loving and all-powerful God. To fully understand why the existence of hell does not logically conflict with the existence of an omnipotent and omnibenevolent God, one must first identify and meticulously examine all five of the prerequisites of love.
This post is not the place for such an in-depth examination. Here, only two of the prerequisites of love are identified and briefly analyzed, for the limited purpose of showing how the eternal burning of the unredeemed does not logically conflict with the existence of an all-loving God. These two prerequisites are as follows:
(1) Love requires each person in a relationship to place faith in the other;
(2) A person must first exist as a timeless being in order to have the capacity to experience timeless love with the eternal God.
Starting with the first of these two prerequisites, if a faithless person dies and then receives certain knowledge of both God’s existence and omnibenevolence, this newfound knowledge will itself preclude that person from being able to establish the faith that is necessary for him to experience love with God. Faith, by definition, requires the absence of certainty. If faith is a prerequisite of love, this means that faithless fallen beings cease to have the ability to experience love with God once they acquire sure knowledge of God’s existence and absolute goodness.
The second prerequisite (man’s existence as an eternal being) provides the reason why eternal separation from God does not logically contradict God’s all-loving nature. Specifically, if God’s reason for creating man with an immortal soul is to enable man to experience timeless love with God, then God’s creation of man as an eternal being constitutes an act of love. But this act of love in no way precludes the existence of hell, for the simple reason that eternal being—by definition—leaves no alternative but for beings to exist somewhere.
When the implications of these two prerequisites of love are combined, it results in the following conclusion: if a timeless being has excluded himself from a timeless, loving union with God due to the absence of faith, that being continues to exist, albeit separated from God. Eternal separation from God is thus the inevitable endpoint for faithless, timeless beings who acquire certain knowledge of both God’s existence and omnibenevolence. For these reasons, eternal separation from God is in no way a contradiction of God’s all-loving nature.
But what about the issue of eternal burning? Matthew 3:12 declares that the condemned will be subjected to “unquenchable fire” in the eternal state (NIV). Matthew 18:8 also references this endless burning, calling it an “eternal fire” (NIV). It is referenced yet again in Mark 9:43, where it is described as “the fire that never shall be quenched” (KJV). Does such a fate not logically conflict with the assertion that God is all-loving?
In order for man to be transformed from his current state of sinful, temporal existence to a sinless, timeless state of existence similar to that which was experienced by Adam and Eve before the Fall, man must be completely freed from sin. The act of freeing man from sin is described in numerous biblical passages as a purifying fire that will commence on the Day of Judgement, consuming all sin, along with the entire temporal material universe (Malachi 4:1, Isaiah 1:31 and 9:18, Psalm 37:20, Matthew 12:36—37 and 13:40, John 15:6, Revelation 21:8, 1 Corinthians 4:5, 2 Corinthians 5:10, 2 Peter 3:7).
With every last facet of sin thus consumed, Isaiah 65:17 states, “the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind” (ESV). Revelation 21:4 states, “death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, for the former things have passed away” (ESV). With the entire temporal universe now incinerated for the sake of totally freeing man from sin, God will then remake creation into one that exists entirely outside the construct of time. With creation now remade in a manner superseding temporal existence, and with the sins of all of mankind now completely burned away, the faithful will then enter into the experience of unadulterated timeless love with God.
However, a different fate awaits the faithless. As a result of their refusal to place faith in God prior to acquiring certain knowledge of God’s existence and omnibenevolence, these eternal beings have become forever faithless. Faithlessness is the opposite of love. Anything that is opposed to love is sin. This means that the very beings of the faithless have become manifestations of sin in a timeless form.
As God’s purifying fire is unleashed onto the entirety of man’s fallen realm—totally destroying all of temporal existence and every sin that was ever committed within it—EVERY form of sin will ignite. Consequently, the same fire that is employed by God on the Day of Judgement to completely free the faithful from their sin will indefinitely consume those who have become timeless beings of sin by virtue of their faithlessness. Indeed, according to Isaiah 1:31, the evil deeds of the faithless will be the very spark that sets them alight.
God’s fiery consumption of that which is the opposite of love cannot, by definition, logically be regarded as unloving. This last point is worth repeating because many people are likely to have a difficult time bringing themselves to acknowledge the simple truth of it: purely as a matter of logic, it is not unloving for God to impose eternal fiery destruction on that which is, and will forever be, the antithesis of love.
In summary, because God is all-loving, he makes man as an eternal being for the sake of allowing man and God to experience timeless love with one another. Because faith is a precondition of love, faithlessness undermines man’s ability to experience timeless love with God. Anything that undermines love is sin. Because sin must be consumed as part of God’s loving restoration of man’s fallen realm, God’s application of fire to those who have become timeless beings of sin through their faithlessness is an act that is entirely compatible with the assertion that God is all-loving.