What is hell? Throughout the years, many Christians have responded that hell can be summed up in three words: eternal conscious torment. But how could it possibly be fair for God to make people suffer eternally for a finite number of sins?
It’s a good question and a hard one at that. I’ve wrestled with the doctrine of hell for a number of years. While believing that hell exists, I’ve wondered if the classic historic teaching on hell might have misstated scripture’s teaching. While I’ve come to believe that hell is eternal conscious torment, I’m sympathetic to those who struggle with the doctrine and who see other possibilities.
Let’s make a quick case for why hell is best understood as eternal conscious torment, and then wrestle with the question of fairness. Before we dive in, it deserves to be said that Jesus often speaks of hell using metaphorical language, so we ought to approach this issue with humility.
Where does Jesus speak of hell as eternal? Jesus says that hell is a place “where the worm never dies” (Mk. 9:48). He also references hell as the “eternal fire” (Mt. 25:41). In the book of Revelation, John likewise speaks of hell as the “eternal fire” which is both a physical and spiritual realm whereby the human body is cast into the lake of fire in body, soul, and spirit. Another convincing passage for the eternality of hell is in Matthew 25:46, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
How do we know that hell is conscious torment? We see this in the story of Lazarus and the rich man: “The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame’” (Luke 16:22-24). Jesus tells us that hell is a place where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mt. 13:42).
Now, let me share the two pieces that make me pause a bit on the eternal part of this equation. First, is Jesus’ emphasis of what he offers as “eternal life.” John’s gospel, in particular, highlights the eternal nature of Jesus’ gift. Now, it is clear, to be sure, that Jesus is emphasizing the abundant and good nature of this life and more so in the eternal nature of the promise. The second piece that gives me pause goes back to the Garden of Eden. In the Garden there were two trees in the center of the Garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which Adam and Eve were commanded not to eat from, and the tree of life. The presence of these two trees have led to much speculation among theologians. Because there is nothing recorded in scripture about Adam and Eve eating from the tree of life, many theologians conjecture that part of the reason God cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden was the protect them from having to be eternally damned with the consequences of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. These two pieces of evidence give me pause in considering whether those who believe in annihilationism might be right. While it is impossible to square God annihilating unbelievers immediately, I wondered if it was possible that after a time unbelievers were annihilated.
In the end, the clarity of language elsewhere in scripture (“where the worm never dies,” “the eternal fires”) convinced me of the existence of hell as a place of eternal conscious torment. I believe that God was merciful in preventing Adam and Eve from eating from the tree of life. Casting them out from the Garden of Eden protected Adam and Eve from remaining in their corrupted state eternally. Ironically, as Jesus would tell us in his ministry, to find eternal life, they would have to lose their (earthly) life. Instead of a curse, death became a gift for those who trusted in Christ. But for those who continue to reject God and eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they will be punished eternally.
But how is hell fair?
It’s fair because God is the Creator, the Sovereign, and the Judge. As the only eternal being and the source of life, God has the right to do with his creation as he pleases. Fortunately, God is also the fullness of all that is good and so we know that he only does what is pure and right. Because of this we know that all of his judgments are just.
Why would a just God allow any creature not to live eternally with him, though? We are now venturing into the realm of speculation, but it appears as though that worship is the highest order of his creation and most powerfully exhibited by those in his creation who bear his image: human beings. While lichen and tarantulas and Neptune all glorify God, God is most glorified through us. If God made us like June bugs, then we would praise him as June bugs. But he made us in his image and with that we have the option to accept him or reject him. It appears as though part of the reason for the power of our praise is through free will. While it appears we can praise him even in our rejection of him (Esau in Romans), he is most praised in our trust and obedience.
In other words, how is God allowing us to reject his purpose for us with no consequences fair to him?
And so, God grants us the freedom to trust him or not. And with that comes the gift of being able to enter into his presence eternally, or experience life without him eternally. There are those who joke that they wouldn’t want to go to heaven anyway. Hell will be way more fun. This is a grievous mistake.
More serious theologians, such as CS Lewis have suggested that hell will be locked from the inside, that we will be outside of God’s presence by our own willful rejection forever. There is more truth here. And yet, it still misses the mark. Jesus, after all, speaks of hell as a place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” meaning that it is a place of profound regret.
But how can it be fair for God to condemn us to eternal torment for a finite number of sins? This is perhaps the most challenging question to answer. It can only be answered speculatively, as this specific question isn’t addressed in scripture. The reason likely lies in the connection between sin and God.
Theologians have noted that even in our own criminal system we take into account who was injured by our actions. Forgive the gruesomeness of the following analogy, but please bear with me if you will. Imagine that I stand with a spade in hand. In the first scenario, below me is a pile of cotton balls. I place my foot on the space and drive it downward into the cotton balls. In the second scenario, below me is a patch of green grass, I drive the spade down through the grass, destroying thousand of blades, through the earth, and sever an earthworm. In the third scenario, below me is a patch of green grass with a hamster on top. I drive the spade through the hamster, cutting it in two and then through the grass. In the final scenario, is a young girl. I drive the spade through her neck, decapitating her.
All would agree that while the action I took was exactly the same in all four scenarios, the morality of the action was drastically different. You could add in even more gradations, say a snake between the earthworm and the hamster, or a puppy between the hamster and the little girl. The point is this: my action moves from what no one would describe as a sin (spearing cotton balls) to what everyone would describe as sin (murdering a child) even though I didn’t “do” anything different. Even those with the most sensitive nature toward the killing of any living thing would probably even be okay with my accidental killing of an earthworm. They would probably say I crossed the threshold into sin when the hamster was introduced. What changed? The object of my action.
The moral distance between the earthworm and the little girl is far. No one has ever spent jail time for killing an earthworm, but I would rightfully be sentenced to life in jail or worse for killing a girl. How much greater is the distance between the little girl and God? E ven though the law will hold me accountable, my sin of killing carries an eternal consequence because it is ultimately committed against an eternal God. Therefore, since God is eternal and perfect, my sin is worthy of eternal punishment (which either I will bear or God will bear for me). It’s not so much about the type of sin or the duration for which I sin, but about the eternality and holiness of the God against whom I sin. We would do well to humbly consider the worth of the Sovereign God we sin against when we consider the heavenly calculus of how eternal conscious torment is an appropriate judgment for our sin.
The good news is this, friends. As heavy and weighty is this judgment that hangs over us, Jesus has willingly taken it on for all of us. As hard as it is to fathom why we would deserve hell, it is harder still to fathom why God would choose to bear this wrath on our behalf so that we might be with him for eternity.
As Paul reminds us, “the consequence of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life.” Take the joyfully given gift of Christ today! How good is our God!
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