Reconciling the Existence of
Hell with 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. Put differently, 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 (knowledge of good and evil) over their loving relationship with God.

Self-centeredness and indifference to others are 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 purpose of human creation, this means that even the most seemingly trivial sinful decision undermines the whole reason for our existence.

If man is in fact 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 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 do self-centeredness and indifference seem to occupy the center of our existence, they appear to serve as the governing principles 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 are totally blind and indifferent to their impact on life. The temporal 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 and self-centeredness is in our world—given that the very fabric of the material order operates in accordance with blind, self-furthering rules—how can man possibly overcome the indifference and self-centeredness that forms such an integral part of our own 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 describing how sin is to be destroyed (summarized further below). These prophesies contain one of the keys to understanding why the existence of hell 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 a God who is both omnibenevolent and omnipotent, one must first identify and carefully examine all five of the prerequisites of love. This page is not the place for such an in-depth analysis (which is provided in the book). Here, only two of the prerequisites of love will be briefly discussed, for the limited purpose of showing why the existence of hell 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 (in the afterlife) 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 the prospect of 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 possibility of eternal separation from God, for the simple reason that eternal being—by definition—leaves no alternative but for beings to always 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 endless burning in this place of eternal separation from God? Matthew 3:12 declares that the condemned will be subjected to “unquenchable fire” in the eternal state (NRSV). Matthew 18:8 also references this endless burning, calling it an “eternal fire” (NRSV). It is referenced again in Mark 9:43, where it is once more described as “the unquenchable fire” (NRSV). Does such a fate not logically contradict 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 prophetic 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” (NRSV). Revelation 21:4 declares: “death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away” (RSV). 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 of the construct of linear 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 as a result 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 emphasizing because many people are likely to have difficulty bringing themselves to acknowledge the simple truth of it: purely as a matter of logic, it is not unloving for God to impose eternal 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 purpose of enabling man and God to experience timeless love with one another. Because faith is a precondition of relational love, faithlessness undermines man’s ability to experience timeless love with God. Anything that undermines love is sin. Because faith cannot be developed in the face of certainty, faithless individuals become permanent manifestations of sin at the moment they acquire certain knowledge of God’s existence and all-loving nature. Because all sin must be consumed as part of God’s loving restoration of man’s fallen realm, God’s application of destructive 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.